Werewolf traditions

 "Aren't we going to live here? In this country?"

 "No. We're going to Italy, after the wedding celebration on the blue moon." He said and rolled his eyes, as if he thought it was all nonsense.

 "Why didn't we go straight to Italy? Why didn't we get married there?"

 He took a deep breath.

 "Because my wife wouldn't allow me to have another wedding ceremony in the country that is our homeland."

 "Wife?" Brianna couldn't have been more confused. "You didn't say you were married! Did my grandfather know that?"

 "You didn't ask, and every time I tried to speak, you interrupted me. Your grandfather knows about this condition."

 "Your wife... She's at your house, right?"

 "Yes. She's going to stay here and take part in the wedding. Don't be jealous, Brianna. We werewolves are famous for being very virile."

 Brianna bit her lips in frustration. But she wasn't worried about his wife. If he left her there, she wouldn't get to know the blue-eyed man.

 "It would be easier for me if..."

 "Brianna, I don't care what you think would be easier. You're only leaving this house to marry me. Don't think I'm an idiot. I won't let you get out of your commitment." He said with a changed countenance, and then Brianna understood his foreboding. She would be a prisoner there. He was showing her that she was in his hands. In an unknown city. In an unknown country. Did he pretend to be a good man?

 "You're being rude, Dester. I didn't think I'd be treated like a prisoner. And it didn't even cross my mind to run away from you. But... The way you're treating me now makes sense of your fears."

 "You're just a snob, like your grandfather. I need to treat you this way, to see if I can adjust your ways. I want to adapt you to this life. To my way of being. But we're going to be happy, Brianna. Understand that everything that happens here, in this house, is just learning how a human should behave when she has a werewolf husband. The house staff will also help you adapt to our... Rules."

 Brianna stood up angrily.

 "You're crazy if you think I'm going to accept being treated like this. I'm not a dog to be trained. There's nothing to fix about me. But I do believe that you have misconduct. You looked like someone else when you were courting me."

 "Sit down, Brianna." He ordered without looking at her. "I went there and got you out of the place you were dying to leave. I saved you. Be grateful, Brianna."

 Brianna stood.

 "I'm leaving, Dester. Right now. I'm of age and we're in a free country, right?" She said and was already walking away when he caught up with her and grabbed her by the arm at unnatural speed. When she turned to challenge him, he slapped her across the face.

 Brianna raised her hand to her burning face, her eyes wide in surprise. She had never been slapped in her life, and she stared at him, hurt and inquisitive.

 "You're not going anywhere. I own you now, Brianna. You have to wait for me to give you permission to leave. That slap was for leaving me waiting in the car for two hours. You're not going to be spoiled, Brianna. Now sit down again, or do you want more?"

 Brianna stared at him and knew that he was telling the truth and hoping that she would refuse to obey him. He liked to hit. In order not to give him that taste, she sat down again and remained silent.

 "I'm going to spend most of my time here. Only at night, I won't be here. I'm not going to live celibate because of you. I told you I wouldn't touch you intimately until the wedding, but I didn't say I wouldn't have a wife until then. Have some coffee, Brianna. I don't want you to lose weight. You have a voluptuous, curvy body that I approve of and desire. Don't ruin it. I want to enjoy you the way you are today. If I notice that you're losing weight, we'll lie down together before the blue moon."

 "What does your wife think of that?"

 "She already knows the rules, Brianna."

 Brianna, still silent, forced herself to help herself to the coffee. If she had three options when she left her homeland, one of them had just gone. Now, she could consider that she only had two, because marrying Dester was no longer an option.

 He finished his coffee and dragged her outside, saying he wanted her to see the estate. They walked for about half an hour before she saw a large mansion.

 "That's where I'm living with my wife, and that's also where you two are going to live, to get used to each other, before we go back to Italy. You may have noticed that I have armed men everywhere here. There's no escape. You can walk around the property, but you can't leave it."

 "I need to do some shopping."

 "What kind of shopping?"

 "Clothes."

 "The suitcases I brought don't have enough clothes?"

 "My clothes aren't suitable for the climate here."

 "Oh, that must be true. Talk to the staff at the house where you're staying about it. I know that one of them has a sister who sells clothes from house to house. Choose what you want and what you need. I won't let you lack anything. I want you to walk like a queen. I know I'll be the envy of all the other men with you as my wife."

 "Is that why you want me? Someone to make your friends jealous?"

 "No, Brianna. I want you because I love you. And I want to start a family with you. You seemed to like that idea when you were back home."

 "You still haven't shown me what you're really like."

 "And what I'm really like?" He asked, positioning himself in front of her.

 "You're bad. You like to hit women, and you're a coward."

 Dester slapped her again.

 "Don't ever talk about it to anyone. I don't like hitting women. I like hitting you, with your big nose and your arrogance. You deserve to be beaten for being a snob. I'm trying to correct you. When I realize you're not like that anymore, I'll never hit you again. Until then..."