Page 39

Edmond released her hands. “Come, Isobella, let me show you to the training room.”

Isobella dragged in a breath. With one last uncertain look at Gaharet, she followed Edmond from the hall and up the stairs. She’d be the most dedicated newly turned wolf they’d ever seen. She’d make sure Gaharet didn’t regret her turning. Or Edmond and Aubert. Though, if Aubert was not being punished, why on earth was he so angry with her?

Edmond led Isobella up the stairs, reveling in her warm skin beneath his hand splayed across her lower back. She’d spoken for him and Aubert. Been prepared to take full responsibility for her turning. It had melted something in his chest. Had Aubert stayed long enough to witness it, it could not have failed to affect him too. But Aubert had left the hall as though he could not be gone fast enough.

Edmond stopped in front of the training room door. “We have a special room for training newly turned wolves,” he said.

No need for a light. With the benefit of her wolf’s eyesight, Isobella could make out every single detail of it. The sturdy planks, the large iron bolt and the peephole.

“This will be hard for you. Hard for your wolf being locked away, but also because of what happened to you beneath the chapel.” Edmond pushed the door open. “I am sorry, but it is safer for the wolf and safer for every human within ten leagues of us. Safer for the pack.”

Coals in the brazier bathed the stark room in a soft glow, but nothing could take away from the harsh reality of it—the lack of a window, the forlorn cot, the single table and chair. It was better than the room beneath the chapel, but it was a room designed to keep someone locked in. Today it would be her. And him.

Training was imperative. Isobella had to learn to control her wolf. She was a liability until she did.

Isobella took a deep breath, threw her shoulders back and nodded. “Let’s do this.”

She walked without hesitation into the training room. A room so steeped in emotions, good and bad, it must be overwhelming her wolf senses. Their brave mate. Determined, too. His heart fit to burst, he followed her in. She would make one of them a good mate.

If only Aubert had been here to see it. He raked a hand through his hair. It bothered him he was not at his brother’s side, watching his back. Aubert was more than capable of his task. As an experienced chevalier and a werewolf, few could match him, but it had been so long since either of them had undertaken a task alone it left him…empty. As though a part of him, an integral piece, was missing. Was this how it would be when Isobella chose one of them as her mate? Edmond did not like it one bit.

Isobella wandered about the room, running her hand over the table, then across the back of the chair. She lifted one of the leather restraints on the cot. “You use this room for turnings, too, I take it?”

“Yes. Before we knew of a way to temper its effects.”

The hinges squeaked as Edmond eased the door closed, sliding the bolt on the inside of the door home with a decisive thunk. She spun around, her eyes a little wild and her nostrils flaring. Her wolf did not like being confined. No wolf did. His own prowled uneasily in his mind. Edmond had control of his wolf. Isobella had yet to learn that skill. He braced himself in front of the door, waiting. She wouldn’t be the first wolf to lose control. The deep gouges in the back of the door bore testament to that.

A shiver rippled through her, and her musky scent filled the room. L’enfer. It coated his tongue and made him long to reach for her. Snatch her up, and…

Edmond crossed his arms, tucking his hands away.

Isobella shut her eyes, her hands clenching and unclenching at her sides. She was so beautiful it made his heart ache. Her dark lashes fluttering against her cheeks, those full lips begging to be kissed. He took a step forward.

The crack of a bone in her spine and dark fur sprouting across the bridge of her nose halted him. What was he doing? She was struggling to keep her wolf in check, and he was thinking with his cock. He was not being fair to Isobella. Or Aubert.

He locked his knees and reined in his impulses.

For a brief moment she hovered on the brink of a shift. Then her wolf receded, and her shoulders relaxed.

She opened her eyes. “Sorry. My wolf, it…” She gestured to the room and the door. “It’s not keen on being in this room, but I get why we’re here.” Her gaze flicked to the door, then back to him. “Shall we begin?”

Edmond unfolded his arms and shook out his shoulders, trying to release some of his tension. “I want you to know, whatever happens, you are safe here, Bella. I will be here with you, talking you through it.”

“All right.” She swallowed, her smile a little nervous. “Yes. Thank you.”

“Do not fear if you lose control, if your wolf takes over. I expect it to. It happens to all newly turned wolves.”

“What if…” She wrung her hands. “What if I hurt you?”

Their mate was so sweet. “Chaton, you might have claws, but you are but a hair’s breadth taller than my shoulder. I can take anything you can give me.” Anything? He wanted everything.

She bit her lush bottom lip. “Are you sure?”

Injury wise, yes, but if she kept at her lip the way she was… Could she not hear the pounding of his heart, scent his arousal? If she did, she either did not understand what it meant, or she did not care to acknowledge it. “Do your best. I will heal.” If she drew blood as she had with Aubert that first time, he would not be able to contain his pride.

She wet her lips, and he almost growled. He wanted to force his wolf down, deep, so deep it might not see the light of day for a sennight or more, but it would not go. It was as entranced with her as he was. So unlike the women of the court and their studied smiles, their faux coyness as they simpered and fluttered their eyelashes. She was destroying him, unaware of how captivating she was.

“All right.” She clasped her hands together and rocked back and forward on her toes. “How do we start this? Do I just…”