Chapter16. The Choosing

It was quiet on the way back to the village. The wolves stayed in the city as per the tradition, and I sulked in the corner of the front carriage. My body was deliciously sore, aching in the best places, and I had marks everywhere but I didn’t care. The other girls did, giving me a wide berth, even in the carriage. We had been split evenly this time, and nobody had said a word. We had been given dresses from the alphas as a “thank you for your offering,” and they were beautiful. All of us looked way too rich for the village. Usually we wore our hair in braids, but it was down today, and our dresses were made of fine silk and lace like the beds we had been claimed in. Mine was a deep green that reminded me of Nikolai’s eyes. I was pretty sure that’s why he had chosen it. It was tight across my breasts, pulling them up in a desirable way that, again, I’m sure was on purpose. The sleeves had gold cuffs on the upper arms, were sheer, and floated around my hands, long and sufficiently annoy