Garden Beauty

Ivorie parted her eyes as a yawn escaped her mouth. She stretched like a cat before glancing at the other side of the bed. It was empty.

“That stubborn Alpha.” She muttered as she sat up, rubbing her eyes. She got off the bed and walked to the mirror to look at herself. Her hair was dishevelled and her face didn't look ‘queenly’ like it should.

“I need a bath,” she noted to herself, walking into the closet. Almost a minute later, she came out now in a thick white robe.

She paused all of a sudden, it was then that it dawned on her that she didn't know where her bath was.

“Shouldn't there be a maid here?” She asked herself, feeling irritated that Luna wasn't attended to accordingly.

“Guard!” She called, hoping the guard stationed outside was still there. Luckily, the doors were parted and a guard walked in, standing near the entrance with a slight bow.

Ivorie noted that he wasn't the same guard she saw last night.

“Get me a maid,” she said softly and the guard left to take out her order.

She waited by grabbing her fabric and began stitching. She didn't care whatever Regan said about it not being a queenly act.

After a while, a young maid arrived and she took Ivorie to where she would take her bath.

“The Luna can select a personal handmaid of her choice,” the maid said.

“Oh, well that would be later then,” Ivorie responded.

They arrived at a wide room where there was a large bath in the centre. Immediately Ivorie stepped in, three other maids approached her.

The first one was carrying a platter of what Ivorie thought should be bar soaps. The beautiful scent they produced wafted into her nostrils, making her smile. The second was carrying a bowl filled with a strange green jelly liquid. She hadn't seen that one before and she didn't feel like asking. In the hands of the third were folded towels of different colours.

The maid that brought her there came forward and began to pull off her robe. Ivorie was a bit shy because she didn't have many maids to attend to her when she took her bath in Moonbeam pack. It was always just her and Maudi, her handmaid.

After she was stripped down, she stepped forward to the wide square bathtub. It was so wide, Ivorie guessed it could easily contain up to two dozens of people and still give them room to move around freely.

But she didn't intend to share a bathtub with anybody.

She stepped into the bathtub, the warm water welcoming her skin. She sighed deeply as she dipped herself fully into the water. Her aching muscles relaxed in the warmness.

One of the maids began to scrub her body with a soap bar. She washed her hand while the Luna closed her eyes, enjoying the bliss.

Ivorie couldn't just help but compare her pack with this one. Back there, where she was still a princess, she wasn't given this much treatment and attention even as the first daughter of the Alpha.

After the long bath, a maid dried her body with a towel before handing her a fresh robe which she wore before walking down the narrow corridor which led to her bedroom.

After applying some lotions on her body, she got dressed in a simple green gown with beautiful and colourful patterns on it.

Ivorie noticed that she still hadn't set her eyes on her husband today. Although not worried but curious.

“Where is my husband?” She asked the guard.

“I'm afraid I do not know, Luna.” The guard responded with respect.

She decided to take a stroll round the castle. On her way, she saw some maids gossiping and immediately when they spotted her, they dispersed. A smirk played on Ivorie's lips as she walked past them.

She went through an alley downstairs which led to the back of the castle. A beautiful garden was where she entered first. The garden was vast and was filled with so many beautiful flowers.

She smiled as her heart melted on sight. Her eyes lit up with excitement as she entered the garden, tracing her fingers along the flowers.

“I presume the Luna loves the garden,” a voice jolted her. She looked around until her eyes landed on an older woman. She was apparently tending to the flowers.

“You're the gardener,” Ivorie noted and the woman nodded before approaching the Luna.

Looking back at a beautiful bright yellow flower with red spots on, she asked, “What's that one called?”

The woman looked at the flower Ivorie pointed at and smiled, “That is Friya’s Bloom. It was first seen centuries ago by a former Luna of this pack,” the woman explained. Ivorie's eyes lit up with more excitement. The thought of discovering a new species of flower intrigued her.

She asked about other flowers that she didn't know about and the woman was more than happy to tell the Luna about them.

After a while, they both sat down as the woman taught Ivorie how to plant them

A new scent wafted into Ivorie's nose and she knew someone else had arrived.

“A Luna shouldn't be seen planting shrubs,”

Ivorie looked around to see Jenna standing at the entrance of the garden.

She stood up and folded her arms across her chest. “I'm well aware of what I shouldn't be doing, Duchess.” She shot back with a scowl.

Jenna chuckled before walking to Ivorie. “Forgive me, Luna. We started off on the wrong side, I apologise.” She said,

Ivorie's eyes looked into hers deeply, trying to ascertain her true intentions.

“Come on,” Jenna held the white haired Luna’s hands. “You should choose your handmaid. We can go for a tour after that.” With that, she pulled Ivorie with her. The latter wasn't given a chance to object and just followed the Duchess.

Regan stood in the balcony of the room he’d decided to sleep in. He watched as Ivorie and the gardener planted flowers and watered them.

He admired her beautiful dress and how her white beautiful hair billowed in the wind. The sound of her laughter was like music in his ears but he wouldn't admit that outwardly.

Her scent was still fresh and ever so strong in his nose, clouding his senses. He tried his best to control the strong urge to claim her. That was why he had decided he couldn't share a bed with her.

Estan walked to his side, also sighting the Luna.

“Do you plan on telling her yourself? About your mate bond.” The beta asked.

“I still haven't decided what I'm going to do with her,” the Alpha replied.

“You should tell her…”

“I won't!” Regan interrupted in a growling tone. He angrily left Estan's side, but turned back after taking few steps.

“Since she likes the garden so much, she can have it for her personal use. You should know how to go about it, she mustn't know that I gifted it to her”. Having said that, he stormed off.

The beta smirked as he left. ‘Such a stubborn Alpha ‘ he thought as he continued to watch Ivorie.

Just then, he saw someone else joining them. It was Jenna. His brows furrowed at this bad sign.