Page 23 of The Wolf and his Witch

She chewed her bottom lip, a sure sign she was feeling vulnerable. “That I’m not strong enough to rule the coven.”

“Ah, Belle.Don’t take thatconnardDutton’s words to heart. He has his own agenda, and making you doubt yourself works in his favor.”

“But what if he’s right? All that time in Paris, not once did I suspect you were a shifter.” Her hand slipped to his leather cuff,and she ran her fingers over the silver wolf. “It’s right here. On your wrist. Like a flashing neon sign, and I never guessed. What sort of witch am I if I can’t tell the difference between a human and a shifter?”

“Hey.” He tilted her chin to look at him. “That was three years ago. And I didn’t think you were ready to know, so I hid what I was. I didn’t suspect you were a witch, either, and I’m head of pack security.”

“But—”

“No buts, Annabelle. You’re more than capable of running that coven.” With him by her side, no one would dare challenge her.

“You really think so?”

Merde.He hated the tremble in her voice, the self doubt that plagued her.

“I do.” Once they were mated, once she became… His gums ached with his need to claim her. He was getting ahead of himself. “And when you’re High Priestess, you can kick thatfils de puteand his whole damn family out of your coven.”

“Mm, that’s a nice thought.”

Her gaze dropped again to his wrist cuff. Gone was the soft expression. The in-charge, take no prisoners Annabelle was back. “Why do you all wear one of these? I’m assuming you all do. Stefanie has one, too.” Her eyes narrowed. “It seems, for a pack wanting to remain hidden, this is not the way to go about it. Does it have something to do with being… What did you say… The wolves of Langeais are werewolves, in the true sense of the word?”

He’d been hoping, in the throes of passion, she’d forget he’d said that.

“What did you mean by that?”

Thathe couldn’t tell her. Not yet. She’d need to know soon enough, but he wanted to make sure she wouldn’t run first.

“These wrist cuffs are a way to protect us against one of our weaknesses.” This he could tell her. “Wolfsbane has a powerful effect on us. Not a good one. So, we use silver to counteract its potency.”

She eyed the small wolf, protected from his skin by the leather of the cuff. “I take it silver is another weakness, or you’d all be wearing a silver bracelet, or watch.”

His Annabelle didn’t miss a thing. “You would be correct. If we encounter wolfsbane, we turn the cuff over. This small amount of silver burns a little, but it nullifies any impact of wolfsbane.”

“Clever.”

“One of our ancestors figured it out. Back in the tenth century.” Could Isobella have had a hand in that? It was possible. Maxime, his alpha, would know. He swore thatconnardkept secrets for the sake of keeping secrets.

“And these followers of this Bishop Faucher’s teachings, they know about the effect wolfsbane has on you?”

“Oui.”

She trailed a finger down his chest. “I wonder what else they know. What are you hiding from me, Gabriel?”

Nothing he could tell her right now. He captured her hand and sucked her finger into his mouth.

Her eyes darkened, and her lips parted. “Don’t try to distract me, Gabe.”

He swirled his tongue around her finger and her breath hitched.

“Nice try, big guy, but I still want my answer.”

If the slow softening of her body, and the hint of an arch in her back pressing her peaked nipples against his chest was anything to go by, he wasn’t trying. He was succeeding. He rolled his tongue around her finger again and this time he added a hint of fang.

She closed her eyes and dropped her head back. “Okay. Distract me.”

Her words were little more than a husky whisper. Gabriel grinned, released her finger and rolled her beneath him. With what he had planned, she wouldn’t be thinking about anything for a while.

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