Her unexpected mate

The wake

*Senya*

By half past six in the morning, dressed in black bombazine up to my chin and down to my wrists, I make my way down the stairs and into the front parlor where additional chairs has been brought in to fill out the various sitting areas because the wake for Serdal Arthur Halfmoon, Alpha of the Lush Valley pack, will be held here throughout the day and into the evening.

He had passed away shortly after midnight on Friday in the county pack house. It wasn’t until yesterday, Sunday, that we had accompanied the casket to the train station for his final journey to the capital. Servant sand pack members had lined the drive at the pack house to pay their final respects. Villagers had gathered along the edge of the road leading to the station. The Alpha

of Lush valley had been loved by many.

So I am not at all surprised now to see our Beta Keton occupying a chair near the gold satin-covered dais upon which the casket encasing the Alpha rests. It is a fanciful thing, the finest mahogany inlaid with silver, bearing the pack crest. My husband had purchased it some time back, but when his fever was at its highest, he had ordered it brought up to his bedchamber, so he could gaze upon his eternal home.

I had found it standing upright in the corner, a morbid affair, as though it was waiting for him to get out of the bed, stroll over, and close himself up inside. Not that he would have been uncomfortable there. The entire thing is lined with stuffing covered in satin. On the inside of the lid, the silk carries an embroidered crest, as though he expected to be able to view it from his position and take comfort in it. Like many of his friends, my late husband, bless him, had a macabre fascination with death.

The crinkling of my dress announces my arrival and the Beta rises to his feet. He appears tired and drawn, with dark shadows beneath his eyes, and I do hope he isn’t on the verge of succumbing to the illness that had taken the Alpha.

“You’re here early, Keton”. I say quietly as I approach him.

He sighs heavily. “I wanted to pay my respects in peace, before the others begin arriving”. Taking my black-gloved hand, he pressing a kiss to my knuckles, scrutinizing me as he do so. “How did you sleep ?”

“Not so well”. I admit honestly, knowing he will attribute the blue half circles

beneath my eyes to my mourning when in truth Aaron Tempest is responsible for

my restlessness. He had come to me in my dreams, his luscious mouth doing wicked things to mine, filling me with guilt because all my thoughts should be focused on my dear departed husband.

Keton offers his arm for support as I lower myself into the chair, before taking the one next to me. “I can’t believe he’s gone”.

Keton and Serdal had been the best of friends, hardly inseparable since their earliest days at school. Keton had accompanied me and Serdal on many of our travels. I do have to give my husband credit for that: through my marriage to him I have seen a good bit of the world. I place my hand over Keton’s, and he turns his up, threading our fingers together. “I fear the next two days will be trying”.

He moves his head nearer to mine. “Hence, my reason for coming early. He was much respected and liked among the packs. They will all come to express their condolences”.

The Alpha will remain in repose in the parlor until tomorrow morning when he will be paraded through the streets in grand style in a black hearse pulled by six black horses adorned in black ostrich feathers and laid to rest at the last Park, the garden cemetery where he had purchased two burial plots. Although I don’t think he had expected to make use of his so soon. His final words to me seemed to relieve me of any obligation to use the one designated as mine: “Love is all that matters. Find someone deserving of yours”.

As though he hadn’t been. It hurts if I contemplate it too much.

Despite being only thirty-seven, he had designed every aspect of the ceremony that will mark his departure from the world. Tomorrow’s activities will not include me as I am too delicate for such a solemn and grief-filled occasion. The public is not to see me grieving. I am to stay in residence and do it privately.

“He had everything planned out, all the way down to his eulogy. Every Christmas Eve, he would pour himself a glass of brandy and rework his eulogy to better reflect his life at that moment. Who goes to such bother regarding how their death is to be handled when they are so young ?” I ask.

“His three siblings never saw the age of twenty. On his father’s side, the members were plagued with ill health and accidents, which is the reason he has no relations from that half of his family. He once told me he saw himself as a lone survivor. It gave him a rather grim outlook, I fear. He always felt the cold hand of death lurking. On the other hand, he did tend to appreciate more than most each day he was given, and tried to make the best of it”. Keton mumbles.

“Was he faithful to me?”

Squeezing my eyes shut, I shake my head in order to erase the words spoken. But after the passion I had experienced last night, I can’t imagine Serdal not seeking elsewhere the same sort of fire that I had been unable to stir to life within him. Opening my eyes, I give Keton a bashful smile, rather certain my cheeks are aflame. “I don’t know why I asked that. Please don’t answer”.

His blue eyes holds sympathy and understanding. “He was involved with someone before you were married, but he had no relations with anyone other than you once your vows were exchanged”.

“Did he love her ? Why didn’t he marry her ?”

“It is not often that Alphas are allowed to marry for love”.

“Is she the reason he had a falling-out with his father ?”

He hesitates for several heartbeats before finally nodding. “His father didn’t approve of the choices Serdal’s heart had made. I think his father would have disowned him if pack laws and the terms of the entailment hadn’t made it impossible for Serdal not to inherit. His father was quite furious and unforgiving. Thank the Goddess for the law that protected his inheritance”.

It was no secret that Serdal’s deep and abiding friendship with Keton had helped him to survive those trying years when his father had cast him out. Even upon his deathbed, as he succumbed to the ravages of cancer, Serdal’s father refused to allow his only remaining child entry into the residence in order to have a final farewell.

“I’m surprised he didn’t rebel and married her”. If he had loved her enough to offend his father, why hadn’t he taken her to wife ?

“The relationship was complicated. It would not have served him well in the end to make it public”.

I wondered if the she-wolf had been married or perhaps a servant. Maybe someone uneducated who would not have fit in at all. Or a by-blow.

Keton gives me a warm smile. “Besides, you caught his fancy. You made him quite happy, Senya”.

While the physical aspect of our relationship might have been lacking, I have never doubted that Serdal had cared for me, and until last night I had never doubted his devotion.

“And if this child you carry is a boy, he will be smiling down from heaven”.

My gut clenches, and my chest tightens. I had needed to plant the seed of a possible heir early, so I had decided to use him as my foil because he was so close to Serdal and people will take his word if he supports my claim regarding the child’s paternity. “There could be other reasons my menses is delayed.” lt isn’t late at all, it had ended a mere five days ago.

“I shall pray you are late for the most joyous of reasons. Serdal had begun to fear the mumps had left him infertile”.

Three years into our marriage, he had confessed his worries to me. At nineteen, he had contracted a rather severe case of the horrid disease that had caused swelling not only on either side of his jaw but in his testicles as well. He had avoided looking at me when he had shared what I realized was an incredibly personal and embarrassing situation for him.

I had feared the lack of ease between us when it came to the bedding had caused my womb to tighten up to such a degree that it wouldn’t allow his seed to take root.

“Please, don’t mention my possible condition to anyone, not until more time has passed. I don’t want to invite any bad luck” I tell Keton now.

“All your secrets are safe with me”.

He looks back toward the casket, and I can’t help but wonder what secrets Serdal had shared with him. More than I will ever be willing to share. I certainly isn’t going to tell him about Aaron Tempest or my plans to return to the Moon Goddess Club tonight. Only I won’t settle for a kiss in the wee hours of the morning, no matter that my knees are going soft simply with the thought of his mouth once more on mine. No, Aaron Tempest will bed me, or I will have to move on to someone more willing to act quickly.

Time is not on my side.