Page 11 of Henri's Little One
Henri’s Suite
After the Doctor’s Examination
“You bought me all those clothes? I don’t have any money to pay you back,” Vitas said in dismay.
“Little one, according to loup garou custom, when one of us marries, half of everything he owns belongs to his Mate. You are now worth more than a billion American dollars. I’m pretty good at making money.” Henri smiled at Vitas. “We, uh, own a gold mine.”
“A gold mine…I’m worth what? I don’t think I can count that high.” Vitas eyes opened wide in amazement. “This is really true?” He raked his gaze over his Alpha’s face. “You’re not lying to me. I’d know! What will I do with a billion dollars, never mind a gold mine?”
“I’ll teach you how to grow your money. The money has its uses. You may want to go to school. If you’ve already graduated from a university, you can go for an advanced degree. You could work or use your gift to help The Alpha. There are worthy charities. You need new clothes, electronics. The Mates will guide you. We’ll be married in New York, and you’ll need to buy groomsmen gifts for the others. Mostly, we’ll pass half of what we own to our daughters and the other half to the next Alpha in our territory when we die.”
Vitas’ eyes filled with tears.
“Is something wrong, little one?”
“No, it’s just that things are so different here. I’m not used to such generosity and kindness from strangers, only from my family.” Vitas sniffled.
“You’ll make friends with the other Mates. You’ll like them. They all love one another and stick together.” His Mate leaned in and gave Vitas a kiss. “Isabel, Alpha Bellaire and Alpha Mate Richard’s housekeeper will be up soon for your first breakfast. You need to eat, a lot. The mating pheromones are burning up calories. Isabel is a very good cook, but tomorrow you’ll meet Aline. She’s my housekeeper and is like a second mother to me.” Henri lowered his voice to a whisper. “Don’t tell Isabel, but Aline is a better cook than she is. The boys lunch once a week, and the housekeepers have a competition to see who can produce the finest and most elaborate lunch. Now that all eight of the council are mated, the competition is going to be red-hot.”
Vitas giggled. Someone knocked on the door of the suite. “It’s Julio, Richard, and Colin. We have your clothes. Isabel is with us.” Vitas put on his new robe and slippers and opened the door.
“Come in. I’m Vitas Kosloff. I’m sorry I’ve been so much trouble.”
The three men entered in their suits, and Isabel followed with her tray piled high with pancakes, bacon, eggs, and potatoes.
Isabel set down her tray and left the room.
“You, you’ve been no trouble at all,” Colin said. “Now Julio here, he was trouble.” Colin pointed to his friend. “He was attacked, almost died, and had all of us sitting at Mt. Sinai-Beth Israel Medical Center for weeks while they stitched his intestines back up and Sean and Kane tried to heal him. Etienne hadn’t even had a chance to tell him they belonged together. He spent the first three weeks after finding his Mate thinking Julio might die on him.”
“That’s right, you can’t make the change. I’m so sorry you had so much pain,” Vitas said with great compassion.
“Yeah, now Etienne has two Betas follow me around constantly, just in case.” Julio made air quotes. “A few of us have somewhat shady pasts. I hope you won’t hold that against us.”
“I spent three months in a cellar, naked, with shit and mushrooms, who am I to hold anything against anyone.” Vitas giggled.
“I like him,” Julio pronounced. “Now eat. You must be starved. Richard, you should get ready for the ceremony. Colin, go with Richard, you need to give The Alpha his report. I’ll help Vitas.”
Colin left the room. Vitas watched Henri. He seemed amused at Julio’s taking charge.
“Henri, you should get dressed and meet the other Alphas in the library. The other Mates are coming up with the rest of Vitas’ clothes and a suitcase that Bertrand can pack for Alaska. When we get to New York, we’ll get you whatever else you need. Go, Henri, Richard… I’ve got this handled.”
“Eat, you need the calories,” Henri instructed. He held up his hands. “I’m going to put on my clothes in the dressing room then I’ll go to the library.” Henri gave Vitas a quick kiss and went through a door next to the bathroom. Julio made Vitas’ head spin.
Richard turned to Vitas. “Julio is our fashion and style maven.” Vitas thought Julio appeared peeved at Richard’s comment as he headed for the door but seemed to let it go gracefully.
“Richard and I have known each other since we were kids. We’ve just recently reconnected, and Etienne and I introduced him to Julien, just as Donal and Alexei introduced me to Etienne. We’re all family, but like all brothers, we have our moments. What Richard meant was I’m about to go to school to be a hair stylist. Etienne is opening a salon for me when I finish.”
“That’s wonderful to know what you want to do with your life. My parents wouldn’t let me go to university. They were afraid some pack Alpha would try to steal me because of my gift. Their idea of protection didn’t do them or me any good.”
Julio gave Vitas a hug. “It seemed as if you needed that.”
“Thank you. I think I did. All of you are so talented. I feel really dumb in comparison.” Vitas frowned.
“Don’t worry, with your gift, Armand and the council will keep you very busy, but you should try to find something that you like to do and get some kind of training in it. You don’t have to make money at it. You have money. Find something that makes you happy.”
“What do all of you do?” Vitas asked, puzzled.
“Let’s see, Sean, Armand’s husband, is a skilled potter. Ian, Rémy’s husband, is a house painter who is going to school for interior design. Donal wants to go to Juilliard, the world-renowned music academy. He’s married to Alexei. Kane, teaches. As I said, I’m going to become a hair stylist and start school in the fall. Richard, the groom today, interns with his husband-to-be, Julien, at Garou Industries. Colin, Marc’s husband, writes werewolf novels and teaches at New York University.”
