★AZRAEL★
I watched my little wife make her way towards Noah and me. He had been updating me on my schedule for the day while I went through my usual morning exercises.
My little wife was dressed in a corseted purple gown that hugged her upper body most enticingly, granting me an unmistakable view of her cleavage. From the waist downward, the dress flared gracefully, the fabric swaying gently with every step she took.
"It's been almost an hour since I called you down."
I waved for Noah to leave, requiring a moment of privacy with her.
The place where I usually performed my morning exercises could scarcely be called a garden. It was merely a broad grassy stretch fitted with a few handmade exercise contraptions. The actual garden lay some distance away, on the opposite side.
Mira raised a delicate brow. "I'm quite certain it wasn't that long."
She stepped closer, her gaze briefly trailing after Noah. When he offered her a curt, respectful bow, she returned it with equal politeness.
"I was caught up speaking with a servant… and Grandmother Isolde."
I snorted softly.
"And what was she telling you now?"
"Oh, nothing of consequence," she said with a small shrug. "The servant I was speaking with mistook me for one of your women. Grandmother Isolde corrected her."
She said it without any visible reaction upon her face.
"Does it bother you that I have been with women in the past?"
I wondered, even as I spoke, why I had asked the question. It was not as though I truly cared.
Or perhaps I did.
My wife raised an elegant, strawberry-coloured brow. Her features were among the rarest I had ever seen. She was far too beautiful to be entirely believable.
"Why should it bother me?" she asked calmly. "It is your past. We all have a past."
She sighed faintly. I was not entirely certain I needed to know anything about her past, but curiosity, as ever, proved the stronger force.
"And you?" I asked. "Did you have many men in your past?"
I stared at her, my heart thundering—something it had been doing rather frequently whenever she was near, though I could not fathom the reason—as I awaited her answer.
Mira snorted.
She truly snorted.
Her eyes widened as she stared at me. "Forgive me for my very un--"
"It is quite alright," I interrupted. "I am not so strict as that."
I moved to stand closer to her.
"I believe every person ought to have the right to do whatever they damn well please with their lives."
A flash—no, several flashes—of images locked away in a dark basement suddenly surged through my mind.
I shook the thought away at once.
"Oh."
A faint frown marked Mira's forehead, and I quickly adjusted my expression.
"Well, I didn't have any past lovers," she admitted with a small sigh. "I didn't even get the chance to."
A sad, almost nostalgic look crossed her face, though she banished it almost immediately.
"Do you, um… perform your exercises every day?" she asked instead.
"Except Sundays."
"You go to church on Sundays?"
I scoffed at her words and said, "Do I look like someone who attends church, little rabbit?"
She pursed her lips thoughtfully.
"I suppose not."
Her gaze wandered across the space—the scattered equipment, the few dumbbells arranged from light to heavy.
"Why do you not own a gym within the castle?"
"A gym is far too modern for my liking," I replied.
I moved toward the bench on the side and gestured for her to follow. We seated ourselves upon the backrest bench.
"You like upholding the traditions of your ancestors?" she asked.
Yet she did not wait for my reply before continuing.
"I think it is rather nice. That is how things are back home as well."
I looked at her closely. She was staring down at her lap, absentmindedly playing with her hands.
"Do you enjoy it here?" I asked.
"It is only the first day," she replied softly, "but I believe I shall enjoy it. I have not yet met all the servants. I will do that later."
"You do not mind if I do not introduce you to them personally?" I asked, raising a brow.
My little wife lifted her head and looked at me, though she lowered her gaze again almost immediately, as though unable to withstand my unflattering stare.
"Not at all," she said. "I know you are a busy man. You are, after all, the Alpha King."
"Indeed," I murmured.
I rose to my feet. I had already squandered enough time, and I was certain the Pack Elders were already waiting for me.
"I shall take my leave now," I said. "I cannot remain for breakfast, though I will return home for lunch."
I outstretched my hand, which she accepted before rising gracefully.
"It is perfectly alright with me."
She smiled brightly, and the sight did something strange within my chest. I found myself somewhat glad that she was not nearly as skittish as she had been on the first day, nor frightened like my previous late wives.
I closed my hand around hers, feeling the softness of her skin within my palm. She was far too soft to the touch.
I led us both back inside the house.
"If I finish early today, I will give you a tour of the house," I told her as we climbed the staircase.
"Okay," she whispered. "But can you tell me where the library is?"
I did not merely tell her where it was—I showed her. It was one of the rooms located on the fourth floor.
Her bright emerald eyes widened as she beheld the many towering shelves of books.
"Wow…" she whispered, absentmindedly letting go of my hand. "I have never seen a more beautiful library."
After she spent a while looking around, she eventually returned to my side, and we left the library together.
With the way her eyes had sparkled while surveying the shelves, I could already tell she would take immense pleasure in reading them.
Once we reached our bedroom, I immediately ventured into the ensuite while Elowen remained outside.
The door shut quietly behind me as I moved toward the sink, coughing out the blood I had been holding back.
Dark-red liquid pooled inside the basin, and my gaze lingered on it.
Another bout of coughing seized my body, and a silent prayer formed that Elowen had not heard.
When the coughing finally subsided, my head lifted slowly, my reflection waiting in the mirror.
My mismatched eyes.
My pale skin.
And the black, vein-like markings that had begun spreading across my neck and shoulders.
The curse was getting worse.
And I knew that if I did not act swiftly, I would soon die.