47 Iris's choice

When Iris woke the next day, it was already noon and her head was laying on Leo's chest. She wasn't worried about the work for the day though, because it was an unspoken rule that you shouldn't expect a newlywed couple to leave their "bed" for the first to third day of marriage. What she didn't know was that in Leo's world, it would be referred to as a honeymoon.

Iris slowly crawled out of bed, trying not to wake Leo. She stood still for a moment feeling the nice cool air on her still bare skin. Before she could start her task however, the rustling of blankets and intense gaze she could feel on her nude backside told her that she failed in not waking Leo up. She pretended not to notice though, as she took the few steps to the stove, while also putting on a show by exaggerating the swing of her hips. She stoked the fire, and set a pot of water to boil, before turning to the source of half her worries. The small pouch that Lucy gave her the day before.

Iris had recently realized how rash she was in marrying Leo for two reasons. The first was when elder grandma told her the plan to make him a king. While she grew up away from cities and politics, she knew enough that rulers would have to marry a woman with a powerful backing, in order to increase allies and power. She also knew, that in certain cases it wasn't strange for such a person to have several wives in order to ally themselves with many groups. Arthur was the most extreme example of this case, though he mostly just wanted pretty women.

The second was that she never considered when they would have kids. By following Leo, there was a good chance that one or both of them might end up dying. As a result they would never have a chance for a family. There was also the risk of her becoming pregnant while traveling, while the only way to prevent this was complete abstinence. There was no way in hell she was going to do that after the previous night.

One other solution, was for her to stay here and try to become pregnant before Leo left on his own. Iris was the least fond of this idea, since it involved Leo leaving on his own, and her raising their child alone. She also felt like this was a solution to replace him with their child if he never came back. She could never handle such an outcome.

Lucy however gifted her something that would solve the problem of potential pregnancy while traveling. In the pouch, was a mixture of herbs that taken as a tea the morning after, would prevent a woman from getting pregnant. It only took a pinch of the herbs, but it required being taken within twelve hours of conception. However she was hesitant on this route, because she knew of elder grandmas past with not being able to have a child. Iris set the pot to boil while she thought about what path she wanted to take.

As the minutes ticked by, she continued thinking while Leo continued watching her. When the pot started boiling, she made her decision. She quickly made a cup of the tea, and started drinking it. As far as having a child was concerned, she was willing to wait until things had calmed down and they were allowed to settle somewhat. She didn't know how many years that would take, but Leo had told her once that in most stories werewolves didn't age like normal humans, and so they probably had all the time in the world.

As for the other matter with other possible wives in the future, she decided that securing a decent home with potential powerful backings, would be more important than wanting her husband to herself. Even if she might have to share him in the future, she was happy with the fact that not only was she first, but that she was the one he wanted to marry compared to political arrangements. Even though he was tricked into it.

After reaching her decision, she turned around and confirmed that Leo was in fact staring at her this whole time. There was obvious desire in his looks, but also concern regarding what she had been thinking about even though he didn't know what it was. Iris felt a smile of warmth and love spread across her face, before she also started feeling the desire return. Her smile turned a little wicked, and she had a spring in her step as she took a couple steps back to the bed, before literally jumping onto it and Leo. The two then resumed their activities from the night before.

***

Leo left the house with a smile on his face, perhaps the largest one he'd had since arriving in this world. It was now the third morning after the wedding. He and Iris had spent the last two days indulging in constant passion, and lust. The only times they had stopped, was in order to cook meals, or small breaks in between when they talked about various things; the stamina of werewolves was a wonderful thing. This was actually the first time either of them had worn clothes since the wedding outfits, as anything they would've put on, probably wouldn't have lasted more than a few minutes before being torn off again.

Leo was embarrassed at first since it wouldn't be a secret what they had been doing, but decided to ignore it eventually. What had greeted them after leaving the hut however, was elder grandma with Natalie and Jack.

"We need to talk." She said simply, before turning around and walking the other way with the other two in tow. Leo and Iris were confused about what was going on, and could only follow them to find out. When they followed them around the corner however, both of them were dumbfounded at the sight that awaited them. The entire village was gathered, but they were all kneeling on one knee and had their heads bowed.