Pierre stormed off to the kitchen to make tea. Perhaps the ritual would do for Pierre what it did for Melinda. Louis dialedup the kitchen, gesturing for Melinda to find a comfortable spot on the sofa, and ordered three slices of pie with whipped cream.
By the time Pierre had steeped the tea, room service had arrived.
Louis handed Melinda a plate. “Key lime pie. Some say it’s synonymous with the Florida Keys, but it gets its name from the key limes used to make it.” At Melinda’s raised eyebrows, he winked. “I did a little research.” He always did.Terroirwas important.
He thought he saw a hint of a smile. He’d take it.
Pierre joined them with tea for three, taking Louis’ lead and sitting next to him, leaving Melinda alone on the sofa, the large glass coffee table an effective barrier between them. If giving Melinda space was what she needed, she would have it. The eye twitch and the clench of his jaw told Louis how much it cost Pierre.
Oui.It was a struggle for him, too. But when they were the ones she feared, crowding her wouldn’t help their cause.
Louis scooped a forkful of pie and whipped cream into his mouth. What should be a delight, a balance of sweet and tart, tasted like ash. “Mm, this is good.” He nudged Pierre. “You should try it.”
Pierre stared at the pie as though Louis had served him upescargot. Give a werewolf bloody meat, brains or liver and he’ll salivate. Slugs, not so much.
Pierre shoved a bite of pie into his mouth, chewed and swallowed. Then another, his expression never changing. It was torture watching him.
That hint of a smile was back on Melinda’s lips. At Pierre’s expense. He supposed itwasa little funny—Pierre forcing himself to eat something he detested.
Melinda dug her fork into the pie and cream and took a tentative taste. “It’s good.”
Nothing like food to bring people together. He ate another forkful, then set his plate down. “Now, before we answer your question, Melinda, first there are a few things you should know about the Langeais wolves.”
Melinda plonked her plate down and grabbed her tea like it was a lifeline.Oui.Maybe she was going to need it.
Pierre abandoned the plate of sweet pie and picked up his tea, too. Anything to wash away the combination of lime, cream and pastry. He didn’t have the love of sweet things Louis did, but he had to give it to his twin. Melinda was not as close as he would’ve liked, but she was still here. In the penthouse. With them.
Louis jerked his head in Melinda’s direction. “Tell her all about us, Pierre.”
He shot his brother a filthy look. Typical. Louis was the lover, the charmer. He wouldn’t back down from a fight, but he never liked to be the one to deliver unpleasant news or make a difficult decision.Thathe preferred to leave to Pierre.
He set his cup on the table, leaned forward, elbows on his knees, his hands clasped together save he reach for her. “The Langeais wolves are an ancient pack, and we have a few key differences to other shifter clans.”
He paused. Melinda’s white-knuckled grip on her cup made his chest tight and his wolf whine in his mind.Putain.He’d imagined having this conversation with her. In the afterglow of their lovemaking, Melinda cradled between them, all languid, soft and flushed. Not like this.
“As Annabelle and Stef would have told you, we’re longer lived, impervious to disease and hard to kill.”
Her gaze flicked from his thigh to Louis’ shoulder. She’d witnessed how fast they healed.
“And now you know we can turn humans into werewolves.”
She sipped her tea, trying to cover the little hitch in her breath. Nothing escaped them. She’d have to know that, too. If not from Annabelle and Stef, then from the four days they’d spent together.
“There’s a reason for that.” There was no good way to say this. Best to follow Louis’ lead and dive right in. “Langeais wolves can’t procreate with humans, and sometimes our fated mates aren’t werewolves.”
“Fated mates?”
That was the part she’d focused on? Fated mates? He shared a look with Louis. Perhaps there was hope for them yet.
Fated mates?Melinda’s whole body lit up at the thought.Why do I like the sound of that so much?Then her brain kicked in and absorbed what Pierre had said. Langeais wolves can’t procreate with humans, and sometimes their fated matesaren’twerewolves. “Like Annabelle?”
“Exactly.” Louis grinned and slapped a hand on Pierre’s shoulder. “Our little cipher is smart.”
Ourlittle cipher? The words had her mind tumbling over everything she’d learned, everything she’d seen. The way Gabriel was with Annabelle. How he’d said Pierre and Louis would die for her. How Annabelle had said Isobella would mate not one, but two Montagne ancestors.Twins.Her mind raced to the pace of her furiously beating heart. Could that mean…? Melinda wasn’t sure she was ready for the answer to that question.
“So, Isobella, when she mates your ancestors,” she asked instead, “they’ll turn her into a werewolf and that’ll cure her cancer?”
“Oui, it will,” affirmed Pierre.
