It took Nina a few seconds to realize what he had just said.
He couldn't be serious.
Her eyes widened in horror as she stared at him. He was going to sleep with her?
She thought he didn't touch other people? Did that not include sex!
"Alpha, you cannot have a wedding night without a wedding. It is not the tradition."
The Matriarch scolded disapprovingly.
Rodrigo glanced at her, his expression deathly calm. "And who makes such rules, grandmother?"
The Matriarch's expression visibly tightened. Her fingers curled around the armrest of her chair.
"She is not your Luna until the rites are done."
The Matriarch knew exactly why he was doing this. He wanted to frustrate her plans. He had never consummated any of his previous marriages—not once. This was nothing but a power play.
But she refused to let him win.
"If you insist," she said coolly, "we can have the wedding first thing tomorrow morning. The wedding night can follow tomorrow evening."
Rodrigo locked eyes with his grandmother. For a long moment, neither of them looked away.
Then he smiled. It didn't reach his eyes.
"I leave the Vermont Estate at six in the morning. Whatever preparations need to be made should be completed before then." He tilted his head slightly. "If you are even half a minute late, this wedding is cancelled."
The Matriarch's lips thinned into a hard line. "Consider it done."
Nina's teeth sank into her lower lip, her pulse racing.
So she was going to sleep with him tomorrow?
What difference did one day make?
Rodrigo nodded once. "Good."
Without acknowledging anyone else at the table, he stood and strode out of the dining room. His footsteps echoed down the corridor until they faded into silence.
Nina stared down at her trembling hands.
"After you finish your meals, you will be taken to your quarters to rest before the big day tomorrow."
The Matriarch's voice was brisk. She didn't look at Nina as she spoke.
Marjorie's eyes lit up. She nodded eagerly, barely suppressing her excitement. Nina watched her squeeze Jonathan's hand under the table, and the two of them exchanged a look of barely concealed glee.
Nina let out a heavy sigh.
She must have murdered an entire village in her past life to be cursed with such evil parents.
She stared at her plate of untouched food. Her appetite was gone. Her stomach was in knots, twisted so tight she felt like she might fall sick.
She didn't know how long she sat there, zoned out, staring at nothing.
Then she felt a touch on her shoulder.
"Do not worry about it."
Nina's head snapped up.
Charlotte stood beside her, close—too close. Her smile was warm, her voice soft and but Nina didn't know why she felt dread wash through her.
"I mean, the wedding night. He doesn't touch people, he's not touched one in a very long while. So he will not touch you."
When had Charlotte come to her side?
She looked around the table. Everyone else was gone. Her parents. The Matriarch. Even Dominic.
She was alone with this woman.
Nina stood up quickly, stepping back. "Thank you," she mumbled, putting a few inches of distance between them.
Charlotte smiled and closed the gap again.
Nina's lips parted.
Charlotte wasn't saying anything threatening. Her expression was pleasant, even kind. But her presence was suffocating—the most intimidating energy Nina had ever felt. It made Marjorie's cruelty seem amateur by comparison.
Nina's legs felt rooted to the spot. She couldn't move. Couldn't breathe.
Sweat broke out on her forehead.
"Or," Charlotte said softly, leaning closer, "you could run away," She paused, her eyes glittering. "I can help you."
The words made Nina's blood run cold.
On the surface, it sounded like an offer of kindness. But something about it felt wrong. Calculated. Like Charlotte was trying very hard to make sure the wedding never happened.
But why?
Nina opened her mouth to respond, but footsteps echoed from the corridor.
"Miss Sabrina. Come with me."
Nina turned toward the doors.
An elderly woman stood in the doorway, glaring at Charlotte with undisguised hostility. She was short, with a round face and white hair pulled back severely from her forehead. Her expression was stern, her gaze pointed.
The moment Charlotte saw her, she stepped back from Nina.
"It was nice meeting you, Sabrina," Charlotte said smoothly, her smile still perfectly in place. Then she turned and walked out of the dining room without acknowledging the woman.
The elderly woman's eyes followed her until Charlotte disappeared down the hallway.
Only then did she turn back to Nina. Her gaze softened—but only slightly.
"Follow me," she said, and turned around.
Nina followed the woman out of the dining room and into the corridor, walking a few steps behind her.
Rain had started falling. She could hear it beating against the windows. The corridor was cold, and she wrapped her arms around herself as they walked.
Suddenly the woman stopped and turned around.
Nina nearly bumped into her.
"Be careful around here, Sabrina."
Her voice sounded serious.
"The Alpha does not take kindly to those who align with his enemies."
Nina frowned. Enemies?
Wasn't Lady Charlotte the Alpha's stepmother? How could she be an enemy?
She opened her mouth to ask, but the woman cut her off.
"Four women have died in this house. Four Lunas. All dead within days of their wedding."
Nina's stomach dropped.
"We don't know who kills them. But whoever it is, they are familiar with the Vermont's Estate. They're not an outsider." The woman's eyes bored into hers. "Trust nobody. No one here is your friend."
Nina swallowed. "If someone in this house is killing the Lunas, why hasn't the Alpha caught them?"
The woman went quiet as though surprised that she would ask questions. Her eyes looked at her as though studying her for a moment, then she narrowed her eyes, the skin around them wrinkling;
"Curiosity they say kills the cat," the woman said finally. "Don't ask questions and just do as you are told."
Nina shut her mouth immediately, swallowing hard.
"I am Gina Finnedy," the woman said after a moment of silence. "Head matron of the Vermont Estate. You may call me Gina."
She turned and continued walking. Nina followed quietly, her mind racing.
They stopped in front of a door at the end of the corridor. Gina pushed it open and stepped aside.
Nina walked in—and her breath caught.
The room was massive. A huge bed sat in the center, covered in silk sheets that looked softer than anything she had ever touched. A chandelier hung from the ceiling. The floors were polished marble. Artwork lined the walls. Floor-to-ceiling windows showed the storm raging outside, rain sliding down the glass.
Nina walked to the bed and sat down on the edge.
Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes.
She had never slept on a bed like this. At home, she slept in her dead mother's old room near the basement, on a thin mattress with scratchy blankets.
At least she would have a taste of luxury before she died.
Gina watched her with a strange expression. "The servants will be here shortly to prepare you for the wedding. No sleeping tonight."
Nina nodded and stood up from the bed.
Gina turned to leave, then paused at the doorway.
"One more thing. The doors at the end of this hall lead to the Alpha's quarters. You should never, for any reason, go near that door without his permission."
She met Nina's eyes.
"Unless you'd love to be rolled out, without your head."
Then she was gone.
Nina stood alone in the room, her mind blank, listening to the rain.
Was the Alpha that fearful?
She rubbed her arms as she walked to the window, staring outside.
The storm had turned everything dark and blur. She could barely make out the garden—just shapes and shadows swallowed by rain.
She was about to turn back into the room when her eyes caught the shadow of something and she frowned.
A figure.
It was gorteseque. With an extremely large head, and a tiny body. In place of its eyes were black orbs, and it's teeth were jagged and dripping with blood.
It were looking up.
Directly at her window. Directly at her.
Nina's breath stopped. She stepped back, her heart slamming in her chest.
What was that?
Her face turned pale as she dragged herself slowly back to the window, and just then, a bolt of lightning flashed.
The figure was gone.
Nina blinked and pressed closer to the glass, searching the darkness. Nothing. Just rain and dancing trees.
Had she imagined it?
She stood there for a long moment, her hands trembling against the cold glass, unable to breathe.
No, she was sure of what she had seen. Someone had been there. Was it coming for her? Was it what had been killing the Lunas?
Nina looked around the room, her heart beating loudly against her chest as dread crawled up her skin.
Four Lunas had died here.
She was about to become the fifth.