Aimee tightened her grip on the doorknob behind her. "And if I can't live without him?"
"You will do as we all do. Your duty. Feelings have nothing to do with our mating and this you know. Look at your brother Alain. Does he pine for his love? Non, he has his mate and he has taught himself to be happy."
"I want to be happy, Maman."
Nicolette pinned her with a cold stare. "Your duty will make you happy. Trust me, ma cherie. In time you will do as you should and Fang shall be forgotten."
Aimee didn't believe that for a minute, but she knew better than to argue. Her mother wasn't about to budge on this.
"Very well, Maman." She opened the door and left.
What am I going to do?
She wanted to thumb her nose at her family and be with him. But would it be worth it?
Flashing herself upstairs, she materialized in the nursery where Alain's youngest cubs were napping in bear form. It was a sparse room that had a fake tree for them to climb on and the walls were painted with a cozy forest theme. The two of them curled together like giant balls of fluff on the thick green carpet, instead of on the bed in the corner. One cub was brown and one black. Beautiful and sweet, she adored her nephews.
Aimee lay down beside them so that she could lift Bryce's paw and play with his claws while he slept. She remembered lying on her brothers in much the same fashion when she'd been a cub.
Pain ached in her breast as she remembered Bastien's face. She missed her brothers more than anything. Time had done nothing to ease the pain or the sadness.
Which made her wonder if she'd ever be able to get over Fang. Or would he haunt her the same way?
Yet as she looked at Alain's cubs, she had to think it was worth it. Had he not done his duty, he wouldn't have such beautiful children.
If she went with Fang, she'd be sterile. A wolf and a bear would never be able to have children.
You could adopt.
That was certainly true. She loved Wren like family and Fang even more so. But an adopted child would never inherit her seat.
Maman would never forgive her for that.
"Why do I have to choose?" she breathed, choking on unspent tears. Why couldn't she have found one single bear to mate with?
I'm so broken.
Sighing, she left her nephews and headed for her own room. But with every step she took, she felt sicker inside.
Eli Blakemore paused beside Cosette as she communed with her spirits. On her knees in the middle of the room, resting in the center of a black cloth with a pentagram and strange writing painted on it in blood, she held her hands up and spoke in gibberish while her eyes were rolled back in her head.
Honestly he hated this bullshit and the stench of her incense offended every olfactory sense he possessed. Most of all, he wanted to swipe his hand across the voodoo altar she had in front of her and send it all flying across the room.
But that would offend her. So he waited as she danced and sang and carried on.
It seemed like forever had passed before she finally settled down and opened her eyes.
"Well?" he asked.
"There is disharmony in their home. The daughter is promised to a wolf."
He curled his lip in repugnance. In that one moment, his resolve against the Peltiers was set. How dare they be so unnatural. "That's disgusting."
"Not to them."
"Trust me, it is. But . . ." He let his voice trail off as ideas rushed through his head.
"But what?"