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story massive brick building, spread out all over the place…
                  “Why would I bring you to the town hall on our first day?” Kristofer asked, opening the limo door.  “That’s tomorrow. This is our home. Time to introduce you to the staff.”             
                  Caitlin climbed out after him, staring open-mouthed. He gestured towards the massive front doors of his home, and she followed him, walking slowly towards the front steps.
                  There were two long rows of formally dressed servants standing on either side of the steps. Next to each servant, a massive wolf stood at attention.  The men were dressed like English footmen, and the women wore Empire-line dresses with elaborate embroidery and ribbons.
                  A beautiful, blade-thin blonde, who’d been standing in line with the women, strode over to them and dipped down in a curtsy.  She wore a white Empire line dress with lace trim, and low-heeled satin pumps.  Werewolves generally dressed as if it were a hundred years ago when they were on their own lands, but dressed up in more modern fashion when they hung out in human towns and cities.
                  “Greetings, milady. My name is Elzbetka. I will be addressing you as your highness once the wedding takes place. I am your lady in waiting.” She had a strong Kerslavian accent but spoke English perfectly.  One of Kristofer’s retinue who’d come to America with him. Her tone was formal and correct, but there was an odd tension behind it.
                  “Oh, Caitlin is fine. You don’t need to call me milady. And I don’t need a lady in waiting.”
                  Elzbetka’s blue eyes’ sparked with a brief flash of anger and her smile tightened a notch for just a second, and then she glanced at Kristofer and quickly resumed a polite, respectful expression. “All Alpha Queens have ladies in waiting. It’s traditional.” She managed to put a fair amount of bite into that last word while still maintaining her deferential smile.
                  Caitlin decided she didn’t like Elzbetka any more than Elzbetka liked her.
                  As if sensing Caitlin’s discomfort, Kristofer rested his hand on the small of her back ever so lightly as he guided her up the stairs towards the huge doorway. Little thrills of sensation rippled outward from where he was touching her. She should have slapped his hand away, or at least moved away from him. Yep, she sure should have. And she would. Any minute now.
                  He stopped at the top of the stairs to introduce her to a man of fifty or so, in topcoat and tails.  “This is Taddeus, who is my Beta. He runs the pack’s business affairs.”
                  She knew who Taddeus was. He had been the former Alpha’s son, and for some reason, he had been passed over as pack Alpha.  He was a big, imposing man with a barrel chest and broad shoulders. He certainly had the physique of an Alpha; she’d always wondered why his distant cousin had been chosen instead. She had heard he had a reputation for being abrupt and unpleasant, and rumor had it that his personality had a lot to do with his rejection by the National Alpha Congress, who had final approval over all Alphas.
                  Taddeus nodded at her, expressionless.
                  “Milady.” 
                  Ack. He said Milady. To her.
    She’d heard tales of what life was like for the bride of the Alpha, but she’d always thought they were wildly exaggerated.
    This was really freaking her out.  Last night she’d stood there at the sink in her family’s kitchen, washing dishes while Hailey dried them; now people were curtsying and milady-ing her.  She wondered if all Alpha Queens felt this bizarre sense of displacement, of having been dropped off in another century.