Simon: Le Beau Brothers: New Orleans Billionaire Shifters with BBW mates Series (Le Beau Series) (10 page)

“I do, New Orleans may have a reputation
, but people don’t get mugged in the Quarter in broad daylight the way you did.”

“Now you have me worried, what would anyone want with me?”

“That’s what we need to figure out.”

“Etienne told the mugger he was in his territory, what did that mean?”

“He pretty much owns the French Quarter as far as supes go. Unless you’re his friend or associate, if you’re a supe you need to announce yourself to him before you wonder around in the Quarter.”

“Hold on, what’s a supe?”

“Supernatural.”

“So, you’re telling me
those men are vampires too!”

“Um….no….”

Rose’s eyes grew huge before she scowled. “What are you not telling me?”

“There are other things around that aren’t vampire.”

“Like what! And how the hell do you know these things!” She was on the verge of a freak out.

“We’re almost home. Can we talk about it there?”

She crossed her arms and huffed like a child. “Fine.”

Moments later they collect
ed their packages from the back seat. “I feel much better now that we’re back. I’ll happily avoid the French Quarter for a while.”

“Well, I hope not. You’ll be missing out on a wonderful time if you don’t go for dinner and a night on Bourbon Street.”

“Only with armed escort,” she retorted.

As they passed through the great room
, Cade asked, “How’d it go in town, did you find everything?”

“I found what I need
ed but Rose found more than she bargained for.”

He
shot up from his chair and snarled, “What happened.”

“Rose, that’s your cue.”

She spent the next thirty minutes reliving the entire nightmare for Cade as he scowled and became angrier by the minute. He seemed to breathe a sigh of relief when she told of her rescue by the vampire.
New Orleans is as freaky as people say it is,
she thought.

He looked at Anna
. “He said he would call?”

“Yes, he wanted to discuss the situation and that i
t wasn’t a coincidence.”

He nodded
. “If you need to leave the plantation for any reason, one of my brothers or I will join you. I don’t want you ladies leaving without us again.”

Rose raised her eyebrows at his command but remained silent. Before she could corner Anna and have her explain about the supes
, Simon joined them.

Chapter 7

Anna’s Magic

“Give me a minute to gather the last few things I need
, Simon, and then I’ll be right over.” Saved from having to explain to Rose, she sped from the room.

Simon
felt her tension the moment he neared her. Something was wrong. “Hello, Rose, how was your day?”

“Eventful
,” she quipped and walked from the room.

He
felt her anger and hurt, what had he done to upset her? He was about to ask Cade when he noticed a disapproving look on his face. “What?”

“You. Are. An. Idiot.”

“Hey now! I just walked through the door, I’ve hardly been here long enough to do anything stupid.”

“Why did you abandon her last night at the party?”

So that’s what this was about. “I barely got out of her sight before I lost control and shifted. I couldn’t go furry in front of her, now could I?”

Cade rubbed his temples, “Sorry
, mon frère, I had no idea. She was hurt and confused when you suddenly disappeared. Anna has told me things about her past and men. Tread lightly on her heart brother, she’s fragile when it comes to relationships.”

Simon took the chair next to his brother
. “Shit, should I go talk to her? I never meant for her to be hurt by my issues. That is why they went to town today. Anna has new magic to try on me, I need to get my shifting under control before I can pursue Rose. I’m not safe around her the way I am. I can’t fail her, Cade, if she were ever really hurt because of me, it would kill me.”

“
No. Let her be for now. She isn’t going to be hurt because of you. Where do you get these ideas? What can I do to help?” He purposely didn’t tell Simon about the muggers, he wanted his brother focused on healing. He and Etienne could handle whoever was stalking the women.

He shook his head
. “No, just pray whatever she does to me today works. I better head home.”

Cade clapped him on the back
. “I have every faith in my mate. I’ll keep Rose company while you’re busy. Perhaps, mention what a catch you’ll be.” He winked.

“Yeah, try to soften her up for me. I don’t like her upset.” He glanced toward the hall she had gone down, and then walked out the door.

Simon paced his living room for an hour waiting for Anna when he heard voices. He opened the door to find her, his mother, and two other healers loaded with supplies. 

He helped with their bags. “I wasn’t expecting the entire healing team. Thank you all for coming.”

Emma took charge. “Simon, you know Joan and Berti, right?”

“Yes, I’ve met them once or twice.
It’s nice to see you again, ladies.”

“It
’s so nice to see you home, Simon,” Berti replied.

“It
’s nice to see you too. How are you feeling?” Joan asked.

“Except for my shifting issue I’m perfect.”

“Well, let’s get on that,” Emma said, ending the pleasantries. “It looks like you need more color around the house, this is a good start but more would be better. Anna, would you set him up with his bath while we decorate the house?”

“Absolutely,
come on, Simon.” She hustled out and left him to follow.

“Um…Anna…you’re not going to watch me take a bath are you, because I like my head where it is.”

“Of course I am, I have to be there to perform the ritual.”

“Oh, hell no.” He halted in the hallway short of the bathroom.

She laughed at his expression. “No, I’m kidding. I’ll prepare the bath and then leave.”

He smile
d and blushed. “Good, because Cade is scary when you get him riled.”

She chuckled and went to work on his bath
. “This is a bath for illness, as the water fills the tub, I’ll add white rose petals, white carnations, gardenias, and rosemary for healing. Then to cheer the soul, I add sliced orange, a half lemon, and neroli oil. Finally, to purify the soul, fresh coconut milk is added. All of these have already been blessed and prepared, once you get in, you need to imagine the heaviness in your heart and soul dissipating. Feel it rise from your body and float away leaving only lightness, happiness and love. Remain in the bath until it begins to cool, then dress and rejoin us.”

“That sounds easy enough.” As soon as she closed the door
, he stripped and lowered into the perfumed water. It felt so good, he had to suppress the moan rising from his chest. Closing his eyes he imagined the darkness and depression rising from him and drifting away. He imagined having complete control of his shifting and feeling in harmony with his wolf soul again. He thought about the events leading up to his squad leader’s injury and pictured himself having not only control over his empathy but a sharper honed, improved ability to discern what he detects.

If pain had color or physical form, he was sure he would have seen it floating out of his body. His depression lifted and his guilt lessened.
He would swear, if he got on a scale he would weigh fifty pounds less. The water was cooling and goose bumps started to rise.
Time for the next step.

He returned to a room filled with candlelight and chanting. So as not to disturb them, he quietly sat in a chair. He noticed a low table had been set in the room with a satin cloth draped over it.

The room quieted and Anna opened her eyes, the power radiating from her was awe-inspiring. “Simon, please join me at the alter.” She hung a small leather pouch around his neck. “This is a putsi, it has been filled with a piece of hematite, herbs, and an amulet. Wear it for three days and three nights. On the fourth day, hold it in your hand and visualize your goal of regaining complete control over your wolf and shifting.”

She turned toward the alter and struck a match. “As I light the yellow candles and sprinkle the eucalyptus leaves, visualize yourself healthy and whole again. Then light the orange candle, then red candles on each side of the orange one. Watch the flames burn the illness away,
and sense your strength returning to you.  As you do that, repeat three times “I will no longer thirst on weakness and depression. My strength will help to heal me, and I will regain my health. Finally end with ‘so shall it be’ and snuff the candles out.”

He scooted as close as he could on his knees and followed her instructions with only minor prompting. He was saying the spell for the third time when a surge of power rushed into his body. “So shall it be.” And he blew out the candle. Startled he stared at Anna then his mother. “It feels like I was filled up and then someone stuck a stopper in me. And, the pain is gone too.” He laughed, feeling truly joyful for the first time in years.

The ladies smiled and laughed with him. “That means it worked,” Emma said as she patted his arm.

Next Anna brought forth a poppet made of muslin and filled with hyssop, Angelica, agrimony, sage, frankincense, and myrrh. He noticed his dog tags were wrapped around it and the chunk of hair Anna pulled out of his head was now the doll
’s hair.

Anna laid it in the middle of the table and poured
four quadrants of white cornmeal creating a circle. She placed a white candle at the head, another at the feet.

“As I complete the ritual
, Simon, focus all your thoughts on healing yourself and regaining your control.”

She then placed a crucifix on the doll and splashed it with holy water. She lit the candles and while they burned the women chanted a healing prayer. Once the candles burned down she indicated for Simon to follow her and they disposed of the wax in the running river water.

Anna and Simon returned happy and laughing.

“I have heard you’ll be very tired and a nap will help to settle the magic
,” Berti said as she gathered items into her bag.

Yawning,
he said, “Excuse me. Sorry about that. You’re right, I am really tired.”

“Take a nap, then come visit on the fourth day of the putsi and let me know how you feel
,” Anna said as she hugged him and collected her bags to leave.

Those ladies are fast
he thought when minutes later, he was alone.

He stretched out on the couch and for the first time since returning
, slept as a human.

Four Days Later

He had taken an all day run, wanting the exercise and needing to work off his raging hormones. After dinner and a quick shower he’d fallen to sleep on the couch.

Simon came awake to the most astonishing feeling of his life. He knew instinctively who was caressing him. Her scent was heavy in his nose and he loved it. Rose was stroking him...no woman had ever woken him in such a gentle manner. Her hand on his hair was warm, soothing. She stroked and smoothed it with tenderness, running her fingers through it over and over. And that meant more to him than anything.
She must not be mad at me anymore.

He opened his eyes to the most beautiful sight. She was looking down at him with a smile on her full lips and a sparkle in her blue eyes. Her parted lips looked so inviting. So delicious…

Realizing he was awake she lifted his head from her lap and scooted off the couch.
Damn, I should have left ten minutes ago.
She hadn’t wanted him to catch her petting his hair. He stood and she couldn’t help but run her eyes over him. He was tall with lean defined muscles in his upper body, chest and arms, and wide shoulders. His hair was thick and dirty blond, some might call it shaggy sheik.

“That was nice, I could wake up to your pretty blue eyes every morning.” He tucked in the edges of his shirt that escaped his jeans while he slept.

“I came by to see how you were feeling. Anna said you were sick and she had done something to make you feel better and it would help if I made sure you didn’t have a fever. After I sat on the couch you rolled over and wriggled into my lap, I didn’t want to wake you.” She spoke rapidly and lowered her gaze.

He grinned to himself,
if I can make her this flustered I just might have a chance.
“Thank you for making sure I was okay, that means a lot to me. She told me to check in with her today, would you like company walking back?”

Her eyes shot back to his
. “Um…Okay. Are you going right now?”

“Let me find my shoes and we’ll be on our way.” He held her gaze and watched her grow a pretty pink under his scrutiny. He liked her flustered. He took her hands and searched her eyes.
“I've missed you, Rose,” he said in a hushed tone. “You're all I've been thinking about for days. I lie in bed and all I think about is seeing you, talking with you, touching you.”