The Wolf's Bride

Chapter 6

The house was... Well... beautiful. Modest, by all means in comparison to my parents' mansion, but I was happy with it.

Alekin had left me on the doorstep to discover it all for myself, saying he had some business to attend to. Whether it was a truth or he simply wanted to get far away from me it was perfect.

The bath chamber was the first room I had entered into. It was surprisingly larger than my bath chamber at home, a pool taking the place of a tub. It was made of dark stone, cool to the touch, but not cold. It was already filled and the water was steaming and sweet smelling, flowers and herbs permeating the water's surface. I decided to take it as a kind gesture from my husband, or whatever servant I had around here, not as a call-out that I stunk, which I did since I hadn't had the reprieve to wash myself since before my wedding.

Discarding my now destroyed wedding dress, I stepped into the pool, tugging the pins out of my hair one by one as I submerged into the warm welcoming water.

I wasn't sure for how long my husband would be gone, and how probable it was that he'd barge in and take me as is if he came back and saw me naked. Against a raging gut feeling that I should just hurry, my limbs utterly melted in relaxation.

It was the first moment I was relaxed since he stepped foot into my home. For a very short second, I didn't actually hate him or anyone else. My brain was simply too focused on how good I was feeling to spare some thoughts to whatever was going to happen.

My eyes focused on each detail of the room, the ceiling was high, a small chandelier full of lit candles hanging from it. From the color of said candles, those, too, were scented. The walls were plated with colorful stones, most of them painted black, some of them blindingly colorful, bloodred, forest green, gold and many other shades catching my eyes. In the corner of the room, closer to the door than the pool, were cabinets, a wide basin of clean water seated upon them and above, a decorated mirror.

On a shelf next to the pool were laid scented oils, gels and shampoos. On another, large towels. Everything was too much like my own home, like a civilized home. It scared me, in a way, to know how much the werewolves had already taken from our society. How much would they take still? Would they ever stop? Did they too seek political power and to add wealth to their names? It could be. It really could, otherwise it made no sense why an Alpha would take a human bride with all the formalities and strike reading deals. It wasn't unheard of, for the werewolves to take human women, but they did it just for torture and fun or to actually eat them. Even if Alekin said they weren't eating humans, I wasn't going to be stupid enough to believe him. What was unheard of was an Alpha taking a human as a bride, not any human, but the daughter of a wealthy, influential family.

It was still nice to think that my husband had given enough thought to what I needed in a bath chamber. At the very least, he could pretend he cared enough to make me comfortable.

If the bed was soft too, maybe I wouldn't fight him when the time came to give him heirs.

I laughed loudly, the sound echoing in the chamber, bouncing off the walls. I couldn't fight him even if I wanted to.

******

The kitchen was well equipped, and I found no human limbs anywhere, or stains of blood. The bedroom, however, had to be the most exquisite room in the cottage. The bed was large, for more than a person, enough room for movement on his part. The curtains were decorated with floral patterns, like the ones at home, but it was clear they hadn't been made by a worker in said field. They were great nonetheless. A large wardrobe was already filled with clothes that weren't mine, but weren't his either. Just normal woman clothing. Although many of them were a size larger than what I wore. A lot of shirts and long skirts and some pants and some robes, one of which I fastened around my freshly bathed body, but no intricate gowns, pompous dresses or accessories.