“And…” Karl continued, his voice slightly lower this time. “She gave me one of the best advice… to buy you from Alma Venus.”
“Oh.”
Claudia’s heart jumped, and a tiny flutter in her stomach made her feel a bit lighter. Her Alph
a was such a complicated man. She wondered if she would ever understand him. The night before, he had done sinful, delicious things to her body then left her there as if she didn’t matter, and now he was telling her that buying her and bringing her into his home had been the best choice he could have ever made, albeit he used different, much less impressive words.
Karl cleared his throat and stood up.
“If it’s okay with you and it’s not too sudden, I’ll go get Matt, and we can leave in an hour.”
She finished her orange juice quickly and stood up as well.
“It’s perfect. I’ll just pack some things. How long are we staying?”
Karl bit the inside of his cheek and thought for a second.
“You are free to stay for as long as you wish.”
Claudia furrowed her brows.
“What… does that mean?”
“I’m coming with you, but I have a lot of meetings to attend here, so I’ll have to get back this evening. I wish I could spend more time at Schloss Blackmane, believe me, but it’s like work never ends.” Just then, his phone started ringing and Karl rejected the call. He sighed and waved the phone a bit before letting it slip back into his pocket, as if to emphasize his point. “Matt will stay with you, though.”
Claudia shrugged and averted her gaze. Of course. It had sounded too good to be real. Karl’s demeanor had changed again. Now he was taking her to the Black Forest Mountains and leaving her there for an indefinite amount of time, and what was worse was that he was trying to make it sound as if he was doing her a favor.
“I don’t need Matt. I think I’ll be safe there.”
“Oh, of course you will! You’ll be with your friend, my brother, my sister, and two packs of wolves. There’s no safer place on Earth.” He laughed, but it sounded fake and he was painfully aware of it. “I’ll still leave Matt with you. You know… You belong to the Dark Wolves now, so it’s fitting to have at least a Dark Wolf by your side at all times. If you need anything, he’s there to make it happen.”
“Sure.”
There was no point in arguing with him, especially since she didn’t care either way. It was very clear to her what he was doing: he had done his duty as a husband and claimed her, and now he was getting rid of her so he could return to his old routine, whatever that routine was. “I’m free to stay there for as long as I wish,” she thought. She didn’t want to be paranoid, but this whole thing was starting to look like a marriage of convenience. When two people were in their first days, or even months, of relationship, they usually wanted to spend as much time together as possible. At least, that was what she had learned from books, movies, and women’s magazines.
“Well… we should probably…” said Karl, pointing to the door.
“Yes, yes.”
Claudia gave him a cold smile and walked past him. Karl held the door for her and took his time to admire the elegant sway of her hips. He inhaled her oriental perfume hungrily and thought of how much he would miss her if she chose to stay at Schloss Blackmane for longer than a few days. He followed her down the steps, and when she went into her bedroom, he stopped in the living room to call Matt. Yes, he knew Claudia didn’t need to be supervised, but he wanted Matt to be there to keep an eye on her and learn as many things about her as possible. He trusted his Beta with his life, and now with his bride. He wanted to learn how to be a good husband to her, but he would fail miserably if he’d keep her here, where she was a huge distraction. He didn’t know how to talk to her, how to act around her… It had been different with all the other women he had slept with, mainly because he hadn’t cared about them and hadn’t gotten involved romantically. But now… now that he was married to this beautiful human, he was at a loss. And Karl Blackmane couldn’t be at a loss. He needed to do everything perfectly, and for that he needed Matt to do some thorough research.
***
Schloss Blackmane was the most impressive thing Claudia had ever seen. It had to be older than Alma Venus, which used to be a medieval cathedral school founded in 597 AD. It was clear it had been renovated many times, and each time the owner had added new architectural elements. The castle had the shape of a U, with a large court yard in the front, and a lush garden in the back. The three towers were impressive, and Karl told her they each had a name and belonged to a different pack of the clan: the Luna Tower guarded the right wing, which belonged to Jocelyn’s Moon Children, the Crescent Tower was in the middle and marked the territory, so to speak, of Max’s Crescents, and the Nox Tower guarded the left wing, which was where Karl and the Dark Wolves stayed when they came home. Given that he rarely visited his family, the left wing was now used by all the members of the clan, as there was no point in getting too crowded in the rest of the castle and leaving that much space empty. If Claudia had found it exaggerated that Karl had a cook and two servants coming in to do the daily chores in his apartment, which was tiny compared to Schloss Blackmane, she was completely mind-blown when Karl told her almost two dozen people worked at the castle. On the other hand, Clan Blackmane was numerous and wolves did tend to make a lot of mess.
They were just in time for lunch, so Karl, Matt, and Claudia made their way to the main dining room, in the Crescent wing. No one had been waiting for them, as Karl had made Max promise he wouldn’t say anything, not even to Jocelyn.
Claudia’s heart was beating in her throat when she entered the dining room and saw everyone already at the table. She only knew two people there, but that was enough. They were the most important: Avelyn and Max. Max stood up and walked to them when he saw them coming in, but Avelyn was too busy with her youngest son to pay attention to what was happening around her.
“See what you did, Jake? I told you to wait. Now there’s milk all over your clothes, and I’m not changing you until after lunch. You’re bound to spill more food on yourself.”
Claudia laughed at how cute and hilarious the situation was. Avelyn was holding Jake on her lap and trying to clean him up with a napkin, while Jake’s brothers laughed out loud and made fun of poor Jake until he got angry, screamed, and punched his oldest brother in the shoulder.
“Don’t fight! You know we don’t allow that at the table.”
Avelyn sighed and finally looked up, not because she had heard Max and Karl hugging and laughing, but because she was hoping someone would take pity on her and give her a hand. When she met Claudia’s eyes, her mouth opened agape and she dropped Jake from her lap. The boy slid to the floor easily, then simply sat there, pouting and throwing punches at his two brothers when they provoked him. He cried and tried to hold onto his mother’s long skirt when she stood up, but Jocelyn was there to take him into her arms.
“Oh. My. God. Claudia?” She ran straight into her friend’s arms. “Oh my God, I can’t believe this. You’re here!”