IRIS POV
The summons comes three days later.
A guard appears at the cottage door in the morning. His face is blank and his voice is flat when he speaks.
The Alpha wants you. Now.
Iris's heart stops completely. She's been waiting for this moment since she arrived at the compound. Three days of preparing with Eleanor. Three days of learning things that made her face burn. Three days of standing at the window wondering what he really looks like. What his voice sounds like. What kind of man spends that much money on someone he doesn't care about.
She changes into the grey dress even though the guard doesn't say to. It feels like the right choice.
The walk to the main house feels impossibly long and impossibly short at the same time. The compound is quiet today. Warriors train in the distance. Guards stand at checkpoints. But everything feels like it's watching her. Waiting to see if she'll survive what's coming.
The guard leads her through the front entrance of the mansion. The cold hits her immediately. Everything inside is marble and dark wood and shadows. Her footsteps echo off the stone floor like she's the only person who's ever walked these halls.
They climb the stairs. Second floor. Left side. The guard stops at a door and knocks twice.
Come in, a voice calls from inside.
The guard opens the door and gestures for her to enter. She does. He closes the door behind her, leaving her completely alone.
James Blackwell sits behind his desk like he's been waiting for her. Like he knew exactly when she would arrive. His study is massive with books lining every wall and windows overlooking the territory below. But she barely notices any of that. She only sees him.
He's more intimidating than she expected.
In the warehouse, everything happened too fast. She caught a glimpse of him and that was all. But here, in this room, she can really see him. He's tall even sitting down. His shoulders are broad. His hands are large and scarred like they've done things that hands shouldn't do. His face is sharp angles and cold calculation. His eyes are grey like winter and they're looking at her like she's a business transaction.
Which she is.
He's maybe thirty years old. Maybe older. There's something ancient about him. Something that's seen too much and felt too little.
Sit down, Miss Chen.
There's a chair across from his desk. She walks to it slowly and sits. Her hands are shaking so she presses them into her lap where he can't see.
Do you know why I asked you here?
To explain things. Iris says quietly.
He nods like she's passed some kind of test just by answering.
The marriage is a transaction. You know this. Your father sold you. I bought you. We're exchanging property for money. I want you to understand that this is all it is. Don't expect anything more. Don't expect kindness or affection or interest in your opinion.
Yes, Alpha.
You'll appear at pack ceremonies beside me. You'll wear what I tell you to wear. You'll smile when I tell you to smile. You'll stand silent and decorative and completely unremarkable. The pack needs to see that I have a bride. They need to see proof that the Alpha is normal. That he has a home and a future and a woman who will bear his children.
I understand.
Eventually you will become pregnant. You will carry my child. You will give birth to the heir. And then you will do it again if I decide I want more children. Your body exists for that purpose. Your mind is irrelevant. Your feelings are irrelevant. Do you understand?
Iris nods because speaking feels dangerous.
He leans back in his chair and steeples his fingers.
I don't want to know about your past. I don't want to hear about your family or your pack or your feelings about being here. I don't want to know what you think or what you feel or what you want. You're a receptacle for my needs and nothing more. Is that clear?
Yes, Alpha.
Good. You'll move into my chambers within the week. Eleanor will prepare you for that night. For now, you'll continue to stay in the cottage. You'll continue to learn what it means to be part of this pack. You'll prepare yourself mentally for what's coming.
Iris wants to ask what that means. What exactly is coming. But she stays silent.
He stands and walks around the desk slowly. He's studying her like she studies a problem in her head. Analyzing. Calculating. Determining her worth.
He stops in front of her.
Look at me.
She raises her eyes to his face. His expression doesn't change but something flickers deep in those grey eyes. Something she can't read.
Your father raised you to be invisible. That's good. That's exactly what I need. A wife who doesn't draw attention. Who doesn't question. Who doesn't demand things. If you can maintain that invisibility, you'll survive here. If you can't, well.
He doesn't finish the sentence.
If you can't?
Let's just say the last three didn't work out.
Her blood goes cold.
What happened to them?
He goes back to his desk and sits down like the conversation is over.
You can go now. Eleanor will contact you with instructions for your transition to my chambers. Don't make me regret this purchase, Iris.
She stands on shaking legs.
Is there anything I should know? Anything you need from me before then?
His eyes lock on hers and for just a moment, she sees something in them. Something dark and angry and broken underneath the ice.
Just be ready. Don't fight. Don't cry. Don't plead. Accept what's coming and you might survive it.
She walks toward the door.
And Iris.
She stops with her hand on the door handle.
Welcome to the Blackwell Pack.
She leaves his study and closes the door quietly behind her.
The guard is waiting in the hallway exactly where she left him. He escorts her back through the mansion and down the stairs and out into the compound. The entire walk, she feels like she's floating. Like the ground underneath her isn't quite real.
Back at the cottage, Eleanor is waiting inside.
Well, the woman says. How did that go?
Fine. I think.
Eleanor smiles and it's not a kind smile.
Then you passed the first test. The Alpha doesn't usually bother explaining anything to new brides. The fact that he spoke to you means he's still interested. Some of them he just sends guards to come get in the night without ever meeting them first.
What happened to the ones he never met?
Eleanor's smile fades.
Don't ask questions that have answers you can't handle.
That night, Iris lies in the bed and thinks about his words. Don't fight. Don't cry. Don't plead. Accept what's coming.
She thinks about the three brides who didn't work out.
She thinks about the way his eyes went dark when he looked at her.
She thinks about what it means to be owned by someone who feels nothing.
And she realizes that she has less than a week to figure out how to survive a man who's already decided she's either going to break or disappear.