Tempted by the Bear - Complete (25 page)

I
sabelle

I
hate to say it
, but Annie’s going to be a great prima. Hammers are tapping, and a saw whines loudly as a voice rises above the din to give an order. I glance around at all the werebears she managed to get to help build the De Rozier clan’s temporary housing. Once she saw Sven’s physical condition and the emaciated state of Tristan’s girls, she wasn’t having any part of making a single De Rozier wait to come here. She’s rallied the troops to get their dorm built as soon as possible.

And it’s not just Le Roux working. She wrangled Luke and some of his frat boys who come from both the Robichaux and Veilleux clans. A couple of them are also warriors I train for the Robichaux, and I’m trying my best to avoid them. No need for awkward moments that could reveal I’m sharing all the Le Roux warrior secrets with another clan. So while I’d much rather be doing physical labor, I’m in the kitchen, helping Annie prepare to feed them.

A light breeze blows through the open windows. With all the foot traffic going in and out, Annie turned off the air conditioning, and I’m in the least amount of clothing I can get away with to counteract my overheated body.

Sweat trickles down between my breasts as I smear mayonnaise on a piece of bread, and an evil thought about Luke’s tongue crosses my mind. Annie pulls me from my fantasy when she says, “As soon as you run out of the turkey, you can start on the ham.”

A pile of sandwich meat slaps on the counter next to me as I say, “Got it.”

“When you get a chance, you must thank Luke for me.” Annie is by the window and watching the men.

Most aren’t wearing shirts, and I can’t help but tease her. “They do offer quite the view, don’t they?”

She turns to me and takes it like a champ. “Yes, they sure do. Tristan’s lucky he’s got the true mate bond going for him.”

“Annie!” I chuckle. “I didn’t know you had it in you.” I let out a cat-like growl. “Does my brother know you’ve got a cougar thing?”

She gives me a stern look. “I don’t think jealousy would become him. Do you?”

“No. Most definitely not.” I know she’s bantering back, but I suspect she’s half serious, so I wink. “Your secret is safe with me.”

“Thanks.” She glances out at the work site again and says, “What’s most amazing is seeing Veilleux on Le Roux land.” Annie turns back and makes her way to the oven. The door opens with a light click as she checks on the pies.

I know that the two clans have a long-standing rivalry, and Luke told me he was surprised when a couple of his Veilleux frat brothers offered to help. I wonder if they did it out of curiosity. I also know Annie dreams of peace in the kingdom, so I say, “I think it’s great.”

She says, “You know, I’d never wish for a clan to lose their alpha, or any member for that matter, but maybe without a strong leader, they’re not as inundated with the hatred our clans harbor against each other.”

I recall discussions with Luke about our takeover plan, and he told me he had Lily Veilleux, their prima, in his back pocket. “I thought Lily was their alpha.”

“No, she’s just the acting leader until one of her step-children is old enough to become alpha.”

No Veilleux alpha.
No wonder Luke says they’ll be no trouble for us. That clan is extremely vulnerable, and we should be able to sway them to our side with a few well-placed spells. A smile forms on my face as I imagine being prima of an entire kingdom. People following my every command...

“Isabelle?”

I shake my head and realize I’m holding my knife midair as I fantasize. “Oh. Sorry.” I shrug at Annie. “Just imagining what the kingdom might be like once we have peace.”

Annie taps my arm as she walks by. “Pretty wonderful dream, isn’t it?” She pours dressing over a bowl of pasta and sliced vegetables.

To be in charge of my own life and destiny?
You have no idea.
“Yeah.”

My happy place is quickly shattered when I hear the maniacal laugh of Helga. She’s outside with the triplets and a couple of girls I don’t know. We’re days away from the summer solstice, and my mother’s got to be barely contained. I glance over at Annie when the swishing of her spoon stops, and I find concern etched on her face. I ask, “How’s it going with Helga?”

She sighs. “Your brother told me about her condition.”

Condition?
That’s one way of describing it.

Annie continues as she resumes tossing the noodles. “So we got her a guard. Only we told Helga we needed another nanny for the girls.” She glances up from the bowl to ask, “Do you think she’s okay around the girls? I mean, she’s so
happy
that it can’t be bad, can it?”

I recall my summers as a child with my mother. It was the reprieve that made you question if the past winter had really happened. Sure, she had us do some crazy things, but it was fun. “As long as there’s supervision to keep her from getting them to jump off the roof, it’s fine.”

“Okay.” Annie begins to rearrange the sandwiches I’ve been making, even though they don’t need it. She asks, “Isabelle?”

I think she wants to talk about my childhood, and I shut her down quickly. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to use the bathroom.” The textured kitchen towel is rough on my skin as I wipe my hands before I leave. She may think she can save Tristan, but if my train is on a crash course, then nobody can stop it.

As I approach the bathroom, I hear the groans of two werebears going at it. And when they reach their crescendo, I know I’ve managed to catch the tail end of it. I shake my head as I walk down the hall, but when a girl giggles, I realize the couple is in the bathroom I was going to use. I knock to let them know to hurry it along.

I’m surprised to see Lucy come out and even more shocked when Sven follows her. I squint at Lucy. “I trust you cleaned up after yourself.”

She offers me a sweet smile that can only be the afterglow of her recent activity. “Of course.” Sven nods at me as she drags him along.

The door clicks shut behind me after I enter, and my teeth gleam in the reflection of the mirror as I lick my lips. I send a telepathic message to Luke.
“Lucy isn’t going to be a problem either.”

L
ucy

W
hat a bitch
.
Isabelle’s probably had sex on every surface she can think of, and she’s worried about me cleaning up after myself? I shake it off as I lean into Sven. He wraps his arm around my waist, and the warmth melts away my annoyance as he asks, “Ready to learn about trusses?”

“That’s for the roof, right?”

Sven raises his eyebrows.

I smile at his surprise. He doesn’t know about the power of search engines yet. I gave myself a crash course on house construction to get ready for today. I think the sooner Sven has his clan here, the more comfortable he’ll become. I imagine moving to a climate different from what you grew up in has to be difficult, and being without any friends can’t be much easier. At least Sven has me.

His shirt is damp with sweat, and I move away from him as I pluck at it. “You might want to take this off like the other guys have.”

Sven gazes down at me. “Do you want to show me off?”

I roll my eyes at him. “Yes. That’s it. How did you know?”

The loud bang of lumber being dropped carries over to us as he chuckles and then says, “I’m trying to get used to your weather and customs. If I take my shirt off now, what will I do in July?”

I reach behind him to squeeze his butt. “Take off your pants too?”

He lets out a low growl. “You really shouldn’t make those kinds of suggestions. You know how I hate clothes.” He reaches behind his head with one hand to remove his T-shirt. I doubt he has any idea how sexy that move is, and I take a moment to appreciate his rippling muscles.

I say, “If you keep undressing like that, I won’t stop asking.”

He cuts me a sideways glance instead of responding, because one of the guys is approaching us. A blond man I guess is a Le Roux asks, “Can you come take a look at something?”

“Yeah,” says Sven.

I’m about to follow him when I notice Tori with Keith.
What’s she doing here?
I say, “Hey, I’ll catch up with you later.”

Sven nods in acknowledgement, and I walk over to Tori. I don’t know what Keith is thinking, because there are a lot of Veilleux here, and we can’t be sure Patricia didn’t send in someone dangerous.

Tori smiles when she sees me, and I say, “Hey. You got roped into this too?”

“Yeah. I was going to go to the mall, but Keith pulled the feel-good-about-community-service card.”

Ah, that explains it. I suppose here with plenty of werebears who can protect Tori is safer than the mall. But I still don’t like it. When I glance at Keith, the look on his face makes me think he’s worried too. He says, “I thought maybe she could help Annie with the food.” Now he scowls. “But Tori’s insisting she’d be better with the construction.”

Of course she is. My roommate the engineer. I paste on a smile so she doesn’t see my concern. “You two should help me with the trusses. Sven’s going to teach me all about them.”

Tori says, “Sure. Lead the way.”

Keith is behind her and mouths, “Thanks.”

It’s not ideal, because Tori’s bound to think something’s up by the end of the day if we never leave her alone, but between me and Keith, we should be able to keep her safe. The idea of him biting her is getting more appealing by the minute.

By lunchtime the framing for the roof is done, and we’re headed to the main house for food. When I notice Isabelle, I mumble, “Great. I think I just lost my appetite.”

Tori elbows me. “I overheard some guys talking about Isabelle earlier. I think you’re going to like it.”

“Yeah?”

She nods and darts her eyes toward Isabelle. “But now that I know how well you guys hear, we might need to have this discussion later.”

I watch Isabelle flirt with some of the Veilleux boys, and I say, “I think you’re good. She’s quite busy.”

“Apparently they’re not true mates.”

“What?”
Oh my god.

Tori glances around and drops her voice even lower. “Luke told one of his frat brothers when he was really drunk, so I’m not sure how reliable it is. I guess it’s a big deal, right? I thought you’d want to know.”

“Thanks, it is. My day just got a whole lot better.” My mother is going to die when she finds out. She’s been pulling out all the stops for their wedding, because Isabelle doesn’t have a family that can afford to pay for it. Luke told Mom that Isabelle and he are true mates, because he knows how she feels. Most of my mother’s generation thinks that that werebears should only marry if you find your true mate or a couple’s been together forever and believe their true mates aren’t going to happen. Because Luke and Isabelle have only been dating for a couple months, I bet Mom won’t be so all about Isabelle when she learns the truth.

Now to figure out how to make sure she does, because I’ll look like the jealous sister if I tell her. I may not know how to do that, but I do get another idea, and I grab Tori’s arm. “Let’s go talk to Isabelle.”

“Uh-oh. This can’t be good.”

“C’mon.” I tug at her. “I’d do it for you.”

Tori groans, but I ignore it. Lunch is set on a big picnic table outside, and I grab a handful of chips as we head toward the kitchen door, which is propped open. Salty potato crunches in my mouth as I lead Tori inside. Annie is washing dishes at the sink, and water rushes as she rinses a plate. I say, “Tori and I are here to see if you guys need any help.”

Isabelle is busy organizing cookies on a platter and probably forming her next insult. Annie turns off the water and says, “Thanks. If you two want to cut and plate those pies on the table, that would be great.”

Tori and I place ourselves across from each other, and the handle of a knife is smooth in my fingers when I grab it. I wink at Tori and ask the other two women, “You two must be getting excited for your weddings. How are the preparations going?”

Annie goes on about a few details, and pecan pie makes my fingers sticky as I slide it off my spatula onto a plate while I wait for my opportunity. I find my opening when Annie says, “I really want to write our own vows, but Tristan is such a traditionalist.”

I say, “Well, neither one of you is going to care. Isn’t it amazing how the true mate bond is so blissful? I swear it’s better than a forced bond, don’t you think?” I watch Isabelle for her reaction.

Annie says, “Oh, it definitely is. There’s a level of comfort knowing nobody could ever come along and break things up. Ever.”

I want to squeal when I see Isabelle’s face fall for a second. She recovers quickly to force a sigh and say, “I know.” She glances at me. “I’m about to become a Robichaux for life.”

Her comment would make my stomach queasy if I didn’t know the truth. And because she still thinks I’m in the dark, I think my words will make her queasy instead. I offer her a saccharine smile. “And I’m going to become a De Rozier some day. Funny how we’re going to be connected like that.”

Tori snorts and quickly covers it with a cough. I can’t look her in the eye, because I’m sure I’ll start laughing. Annie saves us. “That’s right. I heard you and Sven are true mates, Lucy. Good for you.”

“Thanks.” I gaze out the window and find Sven. Sunlight makes his perfect sweat-slicked torso glisten as if he’s been greased up for a photo shoot. At this moment, even Isabelle can’t cut through my love-induced haze as my heart nearly bursts with love for my true mate. I almost feel sorry for Isabelle, because I can’t imagine not having this with the man I plan to marry. And a part of me does feel sorry for my brother, because Luke deserves this kind of happiness too.

When Annie reaches for the plate I’m holding in midair, she chuckles, and I blink back to the conversation happening around me. Annie says, “Now I know what I must look like half the time. It’s a wonder we get anything done.”

She turns to Tori. “I’ve been meaning to tell you, thanks for making Keith so happy. He’s a special person in my life, and I’m glad he’s found love.”

Tori’s eyes light up as she blushes, and Annie reaches out and pulls her into an embrace. “You don’t need to say a word. I can see it on your face. Welcome to the family.”

I catch the fear that flickers across Tori’s face before she says, “Thanks. But we’re just getting started.”

“Maybe so, but the power of love is pretty strong. Mark my words, we’ll be in this kitchen talking about your wedding some day.”

Tori cuts into a pie to avoid the subject. While I know she could be Keith’s true mate, I also think the realization of being in the werebear world is starting to hit. She’s going to have to make a big decision soon, and whatever it is, it’s going to change her life forever.