Page 117 of The Alpha's Protective Mate

Robert must sense that something is off because he looks at the painting in my hands. “What is it?”

“Her teeth,” I say softly, convinced I’m imagining things. “Look at the girl’s teeth.”

As Robert leans closer, I stare down at the obvious fangs in the girl’s mouth.

“Young vampires, under the age of seven, have large fangs. They grow into them as the years pass. Tell me I’m seeing things because—”

“It’s not a mistake.” Robert sounds shocked. “They’re painted very clearly. The younger kid has his mouth closed, but the girl…There’s no denying it.”

I’m not an idiot. It’s not hard to put two and two together.

“This is Jean Sanguinite,” I whisper, picking up one of her portraits. “But how? There’s no mention in my clan of her mating a wolf shifter.”

Robert looks just as stunned.

“Maybe that’s why they were erased from our histories,” Robert murmurs. “It makes sense. Neither side would want it to be revealed that shifters and vampires can mate with each other and have children. It would create a special kind of chaos.”

“But it was done,” I point out, “and most likely in the midst of war. I don’t know the full details of how a peace treaty was reached or what it entailed. There’s information on other peace treaties over the years, but nothing about the one from this time period. Perhaps Jean and Lucian chose to bind the shifters and the wolves together to stop the war. After all, they were both powerful people.”

“I don’t see that happening.”

“Then maybe they fell in love,” I whisper, feeling my heart drumming against its cage. “And when they refused to give each other up, it turned the tides of the war.”

Robert is silent, and I see the way his hands clench around the portrait.

I clear my throat. “Either way, they lived together, had children together. The war ended. There was peace. So, maybe it all worked out.”

“But it wasn’t agreeable to both sides in the future generations,” Robert muses, “so they chose to erase this part of our history.”

My hand grazes his; his skin is icy cold to the touch.

“Robert!” I give him a horrified look. “You’re going to freeze to death. Let’s go back!”

“There’s so much to see—”

“We’ll come back later,” I insist. “Let’s go.”

He’s reluctant, and before we leave, I see him cast one more look at the lifelike portrait hanging from the cave wall. He locks the door and then hands the key to me. Outside, walking through the woods now, he remarks, “This is a lot to take in. Let’s not talk to anybody about this. What do you think?”

I nod. “Yeah. But it’s going to come out sooner or later. You know that, don’t you?”

He shrugs, then glances at me. “By the way, what had you so worked up today? Ricky told me you were upset.”

I go still as the events from this afternoon come rushing back to me.

“Charlotte?”

I stare at him, feeling numb.

When Robert tries to touch me, I step back, avoiding him.

My voice is strangled as I say, “When were you going to tell me you’re engaged?”

The way the blood drains from Robert’s face makes my heart sink.

Chapter 24

Robert Montgomery

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