“Oh well.”
She started unpacking and looking for an appropriate outfit.
“His Beta and his two Deltas…” she whispered. “Not too fancy.”
She still wanted to impress them, but most importantly, she wanted to impress him. She took out a little black dress, studied it for a second, then threw it to the side. Too serious. She needed something bright and fun, and black had never been her color anyway. She should have given all her black clothes to Amelia when she had had the chance.
“This will do…”
She smoothed down the soft fabric of the dress and held it in front of her, straightening her back and looking in the mirror. It was pale pink, with just the right amount of lace on the chest so it would reveal a full, round cleavage without drawing too much attention to it. It stopped right above the knees, and Claudia decided she might as well wear the black, strappy sandals she usually saved for special occasions because the heels were high enough to give her back pains if she walked too long in them. Satisfied, she gently placed the dress on the bed and went to take a shower.
She wanted to look perfect, so she took a few more minutes to wash her hair and shave, certain that something would happen between her and Karl that night. Her heart started beating faster as she rubbed vanilla scented body milk all over her body, making her dark, chocolate skin glow in the warm light of the sunset. She imagined how Karl’s hands would feel on her breasts, hips, legs… between her legs. She closed her eyes and moaned.
“How can I want him so badly when just half an hour ago I was thinking of staying out of his way? When we didn’t exchange a single word on the way here…?”
Her feelings were too conflicted, which wasn’t necessarily a surprise. Just that morning, she had been fighting depression and the panic that no one would ever buy her. Now, here she was, bought by an extremely rich and influential Alpha, aware he would probably claim her that very night. One moment, she was giddy with excitement, the next she was afraid that Karl didn’t actually like her and he would always be quiet and distant. Her emotions were all over the place, and she knew the situation wouldn’t change until she had a clear, solid answer to all her questions. Unfortunately, they weren’t questions anyone could ever answer to. “Does he really want me?”, “Will I be happy?”, “Will my marriage be good?”, “Will we ever be friends?”.
“Hell, many married couples don’t have answers to these,” she whispered to herself as she got dressed. She stole a glance at her smartphone to check the time, then grabbed the hair-dryer. “I really don’t wanna be late, though.”
Claudia wanted Karl to like her. She wanted his Dark Wolves to like her. She dried her hair just enough so the rich curls would have a pleasant shape, then stormed out of the bedroom. She would have taken the stairs two at a time if the high heels would have permitted it. When she reached the roof, everyone was seated at the table, and the two cook assistants she had seen in the kitchen were waiting to serve dinner. Karl stood up and walked to her.
“You’re here.”
“I’m so sorry I’m late…”
“You’re not late, we’re early.”
He smiled and offered her his arm. Claudia looked into his dark green eyes and decided he was in a better mood than before. Maybe the shower helped, or maybe the three young men at the table had cheered him up. She took his arm and let him lead her to them.
“Guys, I’d like you to meet my lovely bride, Claudia.”
“Hi…” she waved.
A tall, handsome redhead stood up to shake her hand. His grasp felt confident and honest.
“I’m Matt. Welcome to… well, London? This apartment?” He smiled sheepishly. “If we were home, I would say ‘welcome to Schloss Blackmane’, which sounds way more epic than ‘welcome to an apartment in the middle of rainy, foggy, depressing London’. Can you tell that I miss home? No, you can’t… I’m subtle like that.”
A flicker of surprise and curiosity danced in Claudia’s eyes. She liked the guy. Scratch that. She adored him!
“Thank you, Matt. I’m happy to be here. Myrtle Valley is not very different from London. Weather-wise, that is.”
“Oh, this marriage really sucks for you, then.” He let go of her hand, scrunched up his nose, and sat back down. “You should have said ‘no’ to this one,” he nodded towards Karl, who rolled his eyes, “and married someone who lives in Hawaii or something.”
Claudia laughed and turned to Karl. She didn’t know how to answer to that.
“My Beta… Matt is my Beta,” said Karl. “But I swear to God, I don’t know why I still keep him in this position.”
“Because you have a guy crush on me, that’s why,” said Matt and winked at Claudia. “He doesn’t want to admit it. Not even to himself.”
Karl sighed and pointed to the other two men at the table.
“Ethan
and Terry, my Deltas.”
Claudia shook hands and exchanged a couple of pleasantries with both of them. They weren’t as enthusiastic as Matt, but they both gave her the feeling that they were comfortable in her presence, so she decided she might as well relax. Having dinner with four men, all wolf-shifters, was weird, but she knew she could do it. She had to. She could sit down, lean casually against the backrest, breathe evenly, and make small talk.
Ethan was a tall, well-built man with dark blond hair and intense green eyes. The elegant shirt barely covered his rock hard muscles, and his square jaw and aquiline nose told Claudia he was a tough guy, a guy you wouldn’t want to mess with. Terry was just as big as Ethan, but with black hair and black, bushy eyebrows.