Chapter 5 - Hopelessly broken

Aram woke up early, as was his custom when he was sober. He looked at his cell phone and it was only seven o'clock,he had nothing scheduled for this morning, as well as for any time of day. Everyone expected him to want to be alone with his wife and enjoy the honeymoon as much as possible, which was a long way from his reality.

He couldn't stay in bed all day, but he also couldn't go out and be sharing the room with that female who reminded him of everything he wanted to forget. Firewood, he remembered he needed to cut wood. The winter was near and he needed to replenish his stock of dry firewood. That would certainly keep him busy in the backyard of the cabin for at least the whole morning.

When he got dressed and left the room he found her still deeply asleep on the couch, approached closer and shook her slightly to awaken.

—  Wake up girl, I said you need to get up early and put the covers away.

She woke up scared looking around, seemed, for a moment, not to realize where she was. She ran her hand over her hair and tried to secure them in an improvised bun. She pushed the covers away and got up, already beginning to fold everything.

Aram realized that she was still wearing the wedding robes and that she had arrived there without any belongings. He needed to get some things for her to wear, he would have to ask Szafir to arrange.

As she tidied up the room, he put water to warm up to prepare the coffee and sent a message to his friend.

— I asked them to bring you some clothes, you can’t wear this wedding dress forever. They may not be your ideal size, but it’ll be better than what you’re wearing now.

— Thank you, I had nothing to bring with me.

He made his coffee and told her to make hers.

— The village women left the fridge full of food so we wouldn't have to cook. You can take whatever you want and warm up.

She opened the fridge, hesitating, didn’t want to look desperate but she was hungry. She had been unable to eat almost anything at the party due to the tension of being observed by everyone in an unfriendly way.

— Can I really eat anything?

She could not contain the question, because when she was in the power of the two gammas, she was often punished for eating what she should not from the refrigerator.

He stared at her for a moment, as if he had not understood the question.

—That's what I said, choose what you want and warm up.

—Thank you.

He drank the coffee in silence, propped up in the kitchen sink, and watched her eat. She seemed not to eat for months, by appetite and also by the thinness of the body.

— I’d like to know where the fugitives from your pack hid. Where have you been?

— In several places that were as isolated as possible. Their secret to not being caught, I think, was this constant change.

He was curious about her answer.

— They who?

— The two Gammas that ran away while you killed everyone and took me with them.

— And what exactly happened to them after those months?

She thought it best to keep the story she had invented for the wolves, after all, she needed to be discreet about her abilities

— Something attacked them, maybe someone they stole or did something wrong with. I took the opportunity and left.

At that moment someone knocked on the door, he knew it was Szafir with the clothes, and went to answer.

— Here it is, that's what I got at the last minute, in the next few days I’ll bring more. I brought some shoes, too. I'm sorry I didn't anticipate myself but I thought the last thing newlywed males could think of was clothes for his female.

He tore the bag out of his friend's hand showing impatience.

— You don't have to try to be funny, you know this isn't that kind of marriage.

The other male smiled in response.

— Me, my friend? I don't know anything. I'm already leaving, to let the couple enjoy it.

Aram handed the bag to Lucine, who was waiting at the door that connected the kitchen to the living room.

— This should be enough for now, you can change in the bedroom.

— I have a question, where can I keep my things?

Damn it, he hadn't thought of that.

— I'm going to free up space on the dresser in my room, for you, later. Now I need to take care of the firewood.

Aram said and went to the yard, unloading his frustration with the axe.

Lucine went to the Alpha’s bedroom, relieved to be able to take off that ridiculous ceremonial outfit. What was in the bag were two sets of sweatshirts, three shirts and a pair of sneakers. No socks or underwear, at least, was still better than being naked, but she thought that the feet would probably freeze without socks to warm them.

She put on one of the black ensemble t-shirts, her pants were wide and the sweatshirt was kangaroo-style, put on the sneakers and kept the rest in the bag again. She was lost, didn't know what to do, didn't seem to have any task that needed to be done, but she also didn't want to sit on the couch looking out of nowhere. She decided to go find Aram and see if he had any chores for her. Before going to the room, she saw him coming out the kitchen door, she took the bag and dropped it on the couch, before going in the same direction.

When she walked out the door towards what she found to be a large back yard, she immediately braked. He was stripped from the waist up and used an axe to crack some logs of firewood. He employed a force greater than necessary in the task and looked at the wood as if it were a target that needed to be exterminated. With the movements, his muscles were quite evident, he had a very impressive physical composition, even frightening in fact. That whole scene made her go back to the night she saw him in the form of a beast and he killed her whole family. At the time, she felt very afraid, and was sure that she would die too, but when the beast approached her, he only stared at her and retreated, going after some other less lucky wolf.

She believes she had a panic attack after this, only remembers being dragged forest inside by the Gammas. That monster had everything to inhabit her nightmares, yet it had never been so, but now being so close to him, and at the mercy of his anger, Lucine felt a shiver in her spine. She had nothing left to lose in her life, but he could still make her wish he’d killed her, like he killed the others. After all, she knew how cruel males could be when they wanted to.