Page 28 of The Betas: Rene
Frankie grasped René’s hand. “I’m the new kid on the block. I don’t know what is involved in a traditional Beta ceremony, but as long as I don’t have to go running naked down the aisle in front of Dante, my mother, and Junior, I’ll go with whatever René wants for both the mating and the wedding.”
“Thank you, Ma Vie. Agreeing to the mating ceremony without knowing what it entails is an act of love. You are so good to me.”Forgetting The Alpha for a moment, René drew Frankie to him and nuzzled his neck.
“I signed up for the ride, baby, and whatever that entails.”
“I love you, Ma Vie.”
“And I love you, too.”
The Alpha cleared his throat and raised his hand. “Pierre, we leave for our appointment with Mr. Blanc.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
René and Frankie both blushed. The two of them were so caught up in each other, they had started to make out in front of The Alpha. Thank the gods The Alpha already knew how the mating imperative worked.
§ § §
Blanc Jewelers
Nine in the Morning
It was a quick ride up to Blanc’s on Sixteenth and Fifth in Chelsea, Frankie’s neighborhood. The party arrived at Blanc Jewelers fifteen minutes later.
“You know I’ve passed this place dozens of times and never even noticed it was there.” Frankie scratched his head.
“Mr. Blanc deals almost exclusively with the loup garou. The store was designed to blend into the façade of the building. The only time Mr. Blanc had any publicity was when The Alpha was shot at and The Alpha Mate almost kidnapped.”
“I remember seeing that on the news. I suppose that publicity precipitated the television interview.”
“Your fiancé is astute. I’m glad he’s now on our side,” The Alpha said dryly. “I hope Don Ferone doesn’t know what he lost or we’ll pay dearly for the chance to keep him.”
René nodded. Mr. Blanc greeted them with tea and cakes then walked over and locked his front door behind them.
Frankie had to exercise brutal self-control not to shove all the petit fours in his mouth at once. Mr. Blanc brought out a tray of wedding bands. He didn’t even glance at the rings. His gaze lifted from the dainty cakes. Mr. Blanc had caught him drooling. The tips of his ears reddened. Despite his coal black hair, Frankie had fair Irish skin, and he blushed easily.
Mr. Blanc smiled. “Beta Mate, don’t be embarrassed by your appetite. Every human Mate that walks in my door is horribly hungry until the mating takes place. That’s why I put out tea cakes. I may try to make them elegant, but I always have dozens of them. Eat as many as you wish, I have plenty more in the back.”
René directed Frankie’s attention to a gold band with a two-carat emerald cut, pigeon’s blood ruby set in a raised bezel. Scrollwork adorned the sides of the bezel and, when examined closely, a stylized outline of a wolf on each side, holding up the red stone could be seen. The matching ring was also yellow-gold with the same bezel and cut, only this one held a two-carat emerald, and the scrollwork depicted a stylized man.
Frankie studied them. “These are far from the plain gold bands I envisioned, but the scrollwork is beautiful, and the ruby reminds me of your eyes when you change.”
“The deep green of the emerald catches the exact color of your eyes and will make me think of their sparkle every time I see my hand,” René said. “On this one there is a human in the scrollwork that you have to work to see. It’s magnificent. Neither the man nor the wolf is readily visible to the casual observer. Let’s get both of them.”
“How much are they, Mr. Blanc?” Frankie wasn’t sure he could afford both the ring and the forty-thousand-dollar Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar watch with the eighteen-carat gold case and a black leather band he saw in Mr. Blanc’s watch display.Maybe I can dicker with him.
“The rings are heavy and are fourteen karat gold with approximately two and a half karat stones. I made them in fourteen rather than eighteen karat gold so that they wouldn’t bend easily. Both the ruby and the emerald are rated triple-A. I only carry triple-A gemstones in my shop. Both rings are expensive. I can—”
“Never mind how much, put them on my account,” The Alpha interrupted.
Frankie spun around and opened his mouth, about to protest. René stood behind The Alpha, frantically shaking his head no. Frankie had forgotten,The Alpha’s gift.
The Alpha continued, “Now you need to buy each other wedding presents and your groomsmen gifts. I asked Julien and Henri. They will stand up for you along with you brother. Martin, Sean, and I will stand up for René. If your brother decides to renege, Edward will take his place.”
Well, I guess I can afford the watch. René needs one because he wears a Citizen Quartz with a leather band. I know watches. If I had the money, I’d collect them. I’d sure like that Breguet Perpetual Calendar with the manual wind sitting next to the Patek, eh…another time. With my new salary, maybe I can afford to splurge. Now, groomsmen gifts…gold pens.
Frankie took René aside. “How about Aurora 88 pens with the red casing as groomsmen gifts? We can buy six of them and give out the same gift to everyone.”
“That’s a good idea. I’ll talk to Mr. Blanc and have him wrap them up while you eat some more tea cakes. I can tell you’re starving. I think The Alpha has sandwiches and ice tea in a cooler in the trunk. You can eat at Mr. Abbott’s while The Alpha picks out the materials for your suit. He isn’t even going to make a pretense of letting you have a say in the matter. He’s is too worried and in too much of a hurry to get home to The Alpha Mate.” René smiled wryly. “Although The Alpha knows that Prokhor and Mikhailov are still in Russia, he still remembers that Dimitri kidnapped The Alpha Mate two and a half years ago.”
