Freya and Her Beast Husbands

They soon left the room and went to Xavier’s room, so he could grab a shirt and a pair of shoes. Freya waited outside the room while he went inside and the moment Xavier entered the room, Freya’s scent surrounded him.

Normally, his instincts would go haywire at the scent of someone else within what was considered his territory. But for some reason they didn’t. Maybe it was because that part of him saw Freya as his mate.

Although they weren’t really partners in that sense...

Shaking his head to clear the thoughts in his mind, Xavier grabbed a dark grey shirt and a pair of sneakers, quickly putting them on before heading out. Because if he stayed in that room any longer, he was going to have some strange thoughts.

The moment he stepped outside and Freya noticed him, she gaped, "So you do wear other colors..."

"What do you mean?" Xavier frowned, looking down at his clothes. "Is there something wrong with what I’m wearing?"

"No." Freya shook her head. "I just thought you only wore black clothing."

"I mainly wear black because it hides bloodstains the easiest." Xavier retorted.

"Well that turned dark." Freya joked, knowing full well that he was referring to monster bloodstains.

For the most part anyway. She decided not to think of what else he hunted

on those missions of his. Ignorance was bliss. Xavier pursed his lips together, but said nothing. Instead he held out a hand, earning a look of confusion from Freya before she realized what he wanted.

She placed her hand in his gloved one and he moved her hand to bent arm. He then added, "We should stay close so you don’t get lost. The gardens are quite big."

They both knew that was just an excuse, but Freya decided to not point that out. She quite enjoyed holding onto his arm even if she got weird thoughts.

The two silently walked back downstairs, Xavier leading Freya to the back of the mansion. They passed several rooms before they got to a massive entertainment room with an entire back wall covered in glass sliding doors.

The doors led to an outside balcony and beyond that were the gardens. Xavier opened one of the sliding doors and they stepped out onto the white marble balcony.

Either side of the balcony had a short staircase leading to a grey paved pathway. The pathway wrapped around the balcony and went straight down the middle with several parts splitting into other areas of the gardens.

Bushes of colorful flowers created a trim around the pathway, separating the stone ground from the grass. Xavier and Freya silently walked to the center of the gardens where a massive rectangular pond with a fountain in the middle of it sat.

Freya loved the heavy scent of flowers lingering in the air and was a little surprised by how well maintained the gardens were. She even spotted a few trimmed trees in the back.

"It must be a lot of work keeping this place looking good." Freya mused aloud.

"You can thank Ethan for that.... This place is all his work." Xavier said. "Though in recent years he’s had the housekeeper androids help him with maintaining this place. Especially when he goes on trips to other cities."

Freya raised an eyebrow, not sure what to think. She didn’t peg Ethan as the kind of guy who enjoyed gardening. Honestly, he seemed like the type that would detest getting dirt on himself.

Guess you couldn’t always judge others... He was still a bastard though.

"I see..." Freya murmured. "Um... so what does he do? Traveling to other cities can’t be easy..."

During her research of this world, she read that most beastmen lived and died in the city they were born into. Few went to other cities because of the trouble.

One had to get special permission from both cities and needed to be escorted between cities if they weren’t able to deal with Wanderers and monsters roaming the Outer Lands - what beastmen called the land outside city barriers as she also learnt.

Because of that, it was mostly diplomats who went between cities to deal with alliances and treaties.

Plus Ethan was officially considered a hunter and required to serve Central City’s military for at least five years. Unless he had completed his military service already.

"Funny enough, he works as an escort for diplomatic parties." Xavier answered.

"Oh..." Freya murmured, feeling a little stupid for not thinking that. Another thought then popped into her mind. "Wait, if Ethan maintains this, but isn’t going to stay here anymore, then how are the gardens going to be maintained?"

She may not like the guy, but she didn’t want to see the gardens fall apart from neglect.

"The androids should take care of it." Xavier replied. "And if you’re okay with it, then he might come by once in a while to check on the gardens."

Freya knew Xavier said the last part, knowing she was uncomfortable around his younger brother. And for good reason too.

"I suppose that’s fine." Freya finally said as they came to a stop in front of the pond. "He just needs to stay far away from me whenever he’s here."

"That can be done." Xavier nodded his head in understanding.

Silence filled the air once more, save for the sound of gushing water from the fountain, but it was a comfortable one. Freya took this chance to take in more of the garden, noticing that the pond had fish in it.

She made a mental note to ask Xavier what they ate later. Because right now, she didn’t want to break the silence between them.

After a few minutes, they continued walking through the rest of the gardens before heading back inside. And by the time they got back, the sun had already set and little lights lining the pathway lit up changing the look of the garden.

However, Freya was tired and wanted to head back inside. She could always check out the garden at night some other time.