Page 36
He could make it easy for Isobella. Make Edmond the only choice. It would not be hard. He never could compete with Edmond when it came to women. The way words slid off his brother’s tongue with such ease. All Aubert had to offer was his strength and prowess in battle. His loyalty. That did not count for much when women wanted pretty words. He was the grumpy twin. If he made no effort to change that, Isobella would choose Edmond. After what he had done, it was a fitting penance.
He nodded. “Edmond and I have agreed.”
Gaharet’s gaze lingered on him, as though he could see right through Aubert’s soul. Let him look.
“We have not told her she is our mate. Not yet,” said Edmond. “We wanted to take things slow.”
Gaharet scoffed. “Isobella knows a lot about the Langeais wolves. Who we are, what we can do. It is fair to imagine she knows about mates.”
He shared a look with his brother. Did she know? She had not said a word.
“Mayhap she does, but we vow it to you, Gaharet, this will not end as it did all those years ago,” said Edmond. “Isobella is not Sabine.”
What little they knew of her, Aubert had to agree. Isobella lacked the arrogance of Sabine. So humble, almost embarrassed when she had admitted she did not know why she had been chosen.
That was not the only thing that was not the same. That simple touch in the hall—Edmond’s thumb swiping across Isobella’s lip as she chewed on meat she had not wanted to eat but needed—should have had him throwing his brother to the floor. He should have raged like a wounded boar. Were it Sabine, he would have. He had done. Everything about this was different.
Why? Was it, as Edmond had pointed out, because they were older? More disciplined, their bond stronger? He frowned. They never had uncovered the truth behind Sabine’s demise.
Gaharet was watching him, those keen eyes missing nothing. “Aubert?”
“I—” What was he thinking? That something was amiss about their bond with Sabine? “It is nothing. Memories from the past.” He would think on it. Say nothing for now until he had something other than a feeling of uneasiness to share.
Gaharet sipped his wine, studying them both over the rim of his goblet. A coal shifted in the brazier, sending sparks into the air. The subtle hum of conversation and a feminine laugh echoed through from the hall.
Gaharet tugged on his beard. “Very well. She is your mate. And a newly turned wolf in need of training. You will both take on this task—”
Aubert opened his mouth to protest.
Gaharet held up his hand. “You will both take on this task until such time as Isobella chooses one of you to claim her. At the first sign from either of you that this is a repeat of what happened with Sabine, I will interfere. I will train her.”
Both he and Edmond were on their feet growling at their alpha.
Merde. No one would train his mate but him. He frowned, pulling his wolf back. And Edmond. Yes, Edmond. Though the thought of his brother training Isobella did not raise the same possessiveness from his wolf as if it were Gaharet. Because he had already decided Edmond would be the one to claim her?
He caught a familiar scent on the air and lifted his nose. Aubert scowled as he crossed the room. He wrenched the door open, then grabbed Remi by the back of his tunic, dragging him into the library.
Edmond rolled his eyes. “We are paying you to spy for us, not on us.”
Remi huffed. “I would never know what was going on if I did not take it upon myself to find out.”
Aubert shook him.
“Ease up,” Remi protested.
Aubert shook him again. “You lied to our alpha.”
“What? No, I—”
“When I sent you to get the potion for Isobella’s turning,” said Edmond.
“Oh, that.” Remi’s contrite expression fooled no one. “Well yes, I might have told him you had already turned her.”
“Might have?” Aubert snarled.
“What?” Remi held up his hands. “You were going to do it, anyway. I almost missed it, you were in that much of a rush.”
Aubert snarled. The boy was too impudent for his own good. He needed a good thrashing.
