Chapter 2: Please Your Husband

After the ceremony, as the attendants led me through the quiet halls toward the bridal room, I remembered the warning my mother had repeated nearly every day weeks before the wedding.

“No matter what happens, do not upset your husband.”

Rumors had followed Pierce Ashcroft for years. Some people called him merciless. Others described him as a beast who barely tolerated anyone outside his own family.

My parents never cared whether the stories were exaggerated.

“He will be your husband,” my mother had told me. “Your duty is to obey him.”

She had looked directly into my eyes, making certain I understood every word.

“On your first night together, you will do whatever he asks. Don’t argue with him. Don’t hesitate. And whatever you do, don’t stand there trembling like some frightened rabbit.”

Her mouth had curled with disgust.

“Make yourself useful for once, Ruelle. Please your husband.”

I knew what my family expected from a wife.

Obedience, silence, endurance, and a smile convincing enough to hide the pain.

Several hours after the ceremony, I sat submerged in a deep marble bathtub while attendants moved around me, preparing my body for the night ahead.

Steam clouded the mirrors. Fragrant oils shimmered over the surface of the water, filling the room with the scent of jasmine and white roses.

None of it helped.

My stomach had been twisting since morning, and my hands wouldn’t stop shaking beneath the water. Each passing minute brought me closer to the moment I had dreaded from the day my mother announced the engagement.

I wanted to run.

The thought came so suddenly that I almost laughed.

Run where?

I had no money of my own. No friends waiting beyond the estate. I had never even traveled through Estia’s lands without guards following close behind me.

I closed my eyes, hoping for a few seconds of quiet.

Instead, my mother’s voice returned.

“Never forget this, Ruelle. If Pierce finds even the smallest fault in you, our alliance could fall apart.”

“This marriage isn’t only yours to protect. The future of the entire clan depends on it.”

“Do your duty unless you’re willing to watch your people suffer because of you.”

I swallowed against the tightness in my throat.

There was no escaping this.

For generations, the Estia Clan had stood above every other witch clan on the continent. Our influence stretched far beyond magic. We controlled businesses, land, and trade routes that other families depended on.

No one had dared challenge us because they believed the Estia heir still possessed the witch goddess’s blessing.

They believed that heir was me.

But secrets never remained buried forever, and the truth about my uselessness had begun to spread.

To our enemies, my weakness wasn’t merely a private embarrassment for the Holt family. It was proof that the Estia Clan was vulnerable.

For the first time in decades, rival clans had begun testing our borders, interfering with our businesses, and questioning my father’s authority.

The marriage to the Ashcroft family had nothing to do with affection. It was an agreement between the most powerful witch clan and one of the oldest werewolf packs on the continent.

Together, we would be difficult to challenge. That was what my parents wanted.

And if the alliance failed because Pierce found me disappointing, my family would make certain I carried the blame.

When the bath was finished, the attendants helped me out of the water and dressed me in the gown chosen for my wedding night.

The ivory silk slipped over my bare skin. There was nothing beneath it, not even a thin underdress, and the fabric clung to me whenever I breathed.

I avoided my reflection at first.

When I finally looked, my cheeks burned.

The gown was beautiful. Delicate straps rested against my shoulders, and a satin ribbon fitted the material closely around my waist. The neckline exposed more of my chest and collarbone than I would ever have chosen for myself, while the long skirt skimmed the floor around my feet.

One of the maids worked jasmine oil through my hair before leaving it loose down my back. My ginger waves had been brushed until they looked soft and glossy, and the faint floral scent followed whenever I moved.

Every detail had been chosen to make me look desirable.

I looked like the perfect bride.

I just didn’t feel like one.

The wedding had been held at the Holt estate, allowing both families to gather on neutral ground for the ceremony. By tomorrow morning, I would leave the only home I had ever known and move into the Ashcroft residence in Crescent City, where the Blackthorn Pack ruled.

Pierce’s family had already planned a second reception. It would formally introduce me to the rest of their relatives and the pack members who hadn’t attended the wedding.

My parents had spent months arranging every detail. The contracts had been signed. The security had been organized. Even my schedule after arriving in Crescent City had been prepared without anyone asking whether I agreed to it.

Nothing had been left to chance.

When the attendants escorted me into the bridal room and quietly closed the door behind me, unease settled deep in my chest.

The room was larger than my old bedroom. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the estate gardens, where the last of the reception lights glowed among the trees.

The main ceiling lights had been turned off. Instead, amber lamps cast a soft glow across the bedroom and sitting area. White roses stood in glass vases on nearly every surface, their scent mixing with the jasmine oil in my hair.

On the coffee table, a bottle of vintage wine waited beside two crystal glasses.

One of the maids had quietly told me that Pierce hadn’t arrived yet. The news gave me a few precious minutes alone. 

I crossed the room and stopped in front of the windows. From there, I could see nearly the entire estate. The gardens, the stone paths, the high walls, and the dark outline of the forest beyond them.

I had spent twenty years in this place.

Yet I had never truly lived here.

I had never been allowed to wander through Estia’s lands alone. I had never attended a real university or sat in a crowded classroom with people my own age. I had never gone out with friends, stayed somewhere overnight, or made a decision without first needing permission.

My life had existed within the boundaries of the Holt estate.

Guards followed me when I went outside. Tutors decided what I studied. My mother chose what I wore, where I went, and whom I was allowed to speak to.

I had been raised less like a daughter and more like an investment that needed to be protected until it became profitable.

Now the investment was finally being handed over.

The bedroom door opened behind me and my pulse instantly lurched.

I turned as a tall man stepped into the suite.

Pierce Ashcroft.

He closed the door without saying anything. For several seconds, he didn’t even look at me. He loosened the cuff links of his white dress shirt as though the wedding had been nothing more than a long business meeting he was relieved to have finished.

Then he walked to the table at the corner with some drinks and selected a bottle of wine, and poured half a glass.

I remained by the window, unsure whether I was expected to greet him or wait until he acknowledged me.

As he sipped his wine, his striking amber eyes settled on mine.