Claimed by My Beastly Husband

Chapter 5 – The Cold Wedding Night

The chamber doors shut with a hollow echo, sealing Seraphina in with the man who was now her husband. Her heart raced, trapped between dread and defiance. The heavy silence pressed against her chest, louder than the murmur of wedding guests had been.

Kael strode across the vast chamber, his black cloak trailing behind him, a dark shadow that seemed to consume the firelight from the torches. The room itself was vast—stone walls adorned with tapestries of wolves, swords, and storms. A marriage bed, carved from ebony wood, stood at the center like an unspoken decree.

Seraphina’s breath caught as she looked at it. This was the final tether of the vows she had been shackled with.

Kael turned toward her, his eyes dark and unreadable. “You look pale,” he said. His voice was calm, but in its calmness lay command. “Do you fear me, wife?”

She clenched her fists at her sides, refusing to let him see her tremble. “You’ve given me every reason to.”

A ghost of a smirk crossed his lips, though it did not reach his eyes. “Honest. Good.” He moved closer, each step deliberate, measured. “But fear won’t protect you here. Strength will.”

Seraphina lifted her chin, her defiance sparking even as her knees threatened to buckle. “Strength is all I have left.”

Kael stopped in front of her, towering over her with an intensity that made the air feel heavier. His hand rose, brushing a strand of hair from her face. The touch was surprisingly gentle, yet she flinched as if burned.

“You are mine now,” he murmured. “Not because you chose it. But because it has been sealed.” His thumb lingered on her jaw, tracing its line as though testing her resolve.

Seraphina jerked her head away, her voice trembling with a mixture of anger and fear. “I will never belong to you.”

Something flashed in Kael’s eyes—dangerous, primal, but restrained. “We’ll see,” he said softly.

He reached for the ties of his cloak, shrugging it off. The garment slid to the floor, revealing a body honed by battles and burden. The sight of his bare arms, marked with scars, reminded Seraphina that this was not just a man—this was a beast forged in fire and blood.

Her pulse quickened. She backed away a step, her gaze darting toward the door. But Kael was faster. His hand caught her wrist, firm but not cruel, pulling her toward him.

“Running will not save you,” he said, his voice low, almost coaxing. “You made your vow. Now you will honor it.”

Seraphina’s heart pounded. “I was forced into those vows.”

His eyes darkened further. “And yet, they bind us just the same.”

For a moment, silence stretched between them. His grip loosened, and she felt his restraint, the tension of a predator holding itself back.

“You resist me now,” Kael said, his tone even. “But resistance cannot last forever. You will learn what it means to be mine.”

Her breath shuddered, and anger rose like fire in her chest. “If you think I will bow to you like some obedient pet, you are wrong.”

Kael’s gaze locked with hers, sharp and unrelenting. Yet, instead of fury, there was something else lurking beneath—curiosity. Admiration, even.

He released her wrist, stepping back. “Good. I don’t want a pet. I want a wife who can withstand my world.”

The words hung in the air, heavy with unspoken meaning. For a moment, Seraphina didn’t know if she was relieved or more afraid.

Kael walked toward the bed, sitting at its edge. He removed the heavy rings from his hands, one by one, placing them on the table beside him. Then he looked at her again.

“Tonight is yours to decide,” he said finally. “I will not take what you cannot give. But understand this, Seraphina—you are mine in name, in law, in vow. Whether you fight me or not, the world already sees you as the Beast’s wife. That is a truth you cannot escape.”

Seraphina stood frozen, her chest rising and falling with ragged breaths. His words unsettled her—less because of their dominance, and more because of the restraint behind them. He could have forced her; he had the power. Yet he had not.

It was a different kind of control, one that made her feel even more vulnerable.

Her voice was quiet, almost breaking. “Why me?”

Kael tilted his head, his gaze steady. “Because your family’s debt demanded a price. Because the world needed a spectacle. And because…” His voice softened, though his eyes did not. “Because fate has a cruel sense of humor.”

She turned away, her hands trembling. Tears burned her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She would not let him see her broken.

The chamber was thick with silence, save for the crackle of torches. Seraphina moved to the far side of the room, as far from him as the space would allow.

Kael lay back on the bed, his body relaxed, though his eyes never left her. “Rest, wife. Tomorrow, the world will test you. You’ll need your strength.”

She clenched her fists, standing rigid by the wall, her heart aching with fury and helplessness. She hated him for his power, for the vows that shackled her, for the life stolen from her. Yet, deep within, she hated herself more for the strange, treacherous flicker of curiosity he awakened inside her.

The night stretched long, cold, and heavy. She did not sleep. Neither, she sensed, did he.

Two souls bound together, caught in a storm of dominance and defiance, waiting for the battle that had only just begun.