All in Good Time

Clara

I tried not to hiss as I dipped into the steaming hot water. The bath was boiling – much hotter than I was used to. Back when I still lived with the Moonstone Pack, I took quick, utilitarian baths. I often used the leftover water from Sisley’s bath or even Gerald’s when he wasn’t a lieutenant yet in the Allied Hunters. I would pour the water into a tiny wooden basin and squeeze my body inside. The water would be dirty and lukewarm, though I was grateful for any hot water at all. It was that or bathing in the river. Many other werewolves on the low end of the caste had to do this; it was just another thing to be ashamed of.

Here the bath water gleamed with pale milky pink, green, and purple colors. It was like someone had stolen the aurora borealis in the night sky and deposited it into the bath. The scent was incredible – sea salts, subtle florals, citrus, and spice. They mixed into a fragrance that healed my anxious mind.

I closed my eyes but kept the towel close to my breasts.