The Beauty and the Beast (1st book of Fantasy Series)

Chapter 7- Belle

Louis was silent as we made our way to the kitchen. He seemed to be having some difficult thoughts, and I couldn't help but wonder what.

"Are you ok?" I asked, and he looked at me. I cocked my head and stared at the Werewolf in concern.

Louis blinked and forced a small smile on his face. "Yes," he said. "Why wouldn't I be?"

I frowned, showing him that I didn't believe him. "I thought that you would be more joking and try to lighten up the mood," I replied. "But... you have been silent this whole time."

Louis didn't reply and shrugged his shoulder. "I... wouldn't snoop if I were you," he said. "It could lead you to get hurt or killed."

I gave him a blank look. "I deal with horses almost every day," I said. "I have broken almost every bone in my body multiple times." I shrugged my shoulder. "I have almost died more times than I count." I looked forward.

"What do you mean you have almost died?" Louis asked. He stopped and pulled me to a stop. Concern filled his brown eyes as he looked down at me.

"I mean that I have almost died," I said. "Plenty of times." I gently took my arm from his grasp and started to walk forward with Pippa at my side.

"How?" Louis asked, catching up to me. "How did you almost die."

"'I... wouldn't snoop if I were you,'" I said, looking up at him. I bit back a smirk when he scowled down at me. "'It could lead you to get hurt or killed.'"

Louis narrowed his eyes at me. Humor filled them, and I could tell that he was happy that I was "joking" with him. "Are you mocking me?" he asked.

"Now, why would I do something like that?" I asked. "I mean, it doesn't seem like a good idea to do that."

"Oh? And why not?" Louis asked.

"You have sharp teeth that could pull flesh from bones. It wouldn't be wise for someone to push your buttons."

"No, it wouldn't," Louis said. He stuck his tongue out of his mouth and gave me a weird look, and I snorted and rolled my eyes. His eyes sparkled with good humor, and I could tell that whatever had been bugging him had been pushed to the back of his mind. "So, don't."

I smirked but didn't reply. I was going to push his buttons. It seemed to make him relax, and I had a feeling that I could trust him.

And for some reason, I had a feeling that I could trust the king too. However, I didn't understand why...

***

"How am I supposed to cook?" a male voice asked, growling out in annoyance. There was the sound of stuff falling and breaking, and the male cussed out loud. "What guest is so important that we have to do stuff differently?"

"One that doesn't have sharp teeth, Dalen," Louis said. Anger came off of him in waves, and I looked up at him. "Who else?"

The other Werewolf, Dalen, jumped up in fear and turned towards us. He quickly bowed his head. "Gamma. I... uh... I didn't mean it."

Louis folded his arms across his chest and stared down at the cook. "Yes, you did," he said. "Why did would you say something like that?"

"Uh... because cooking takes something that he doesn't have," I said, and they looked at me.

Louis narrowed his eyes at me. "And what does it take?" he asked. He tapped a claw to his side as if he was impatient with waiting for me to answer.

I held out my hands and closed them into fists, leaving my thumbs out. "Thumbs," I replied, wiggling them around. "And the flexibility of fingers that allow a person to cook."

"You're human," the cook said. "And you are a girl." He looked at Louis, the fear turning into excitement. "Is she the one?"

I furrowed my brows in confusion and placed my hands at my side. "The one what?" I asked, watching as they had some silent communication.

"It's... not something that you should worry about," Louis said, looking at Dalen in a warning tone. "Belle, this is Dalen. He was the cook before the spell took place. Dalen, this is Belle. His Majesty said that she is allowed to cook whatever she wants."

"If that is alright with you," I said, tucking a strand of brown hair behind my ear. "I know how annoying it is to have someone else cook in their kitchen and mess it up."

Dalen shook his head. He walked to my side and took my hand into his paw. "No, no," he said, shaking my hand. "If you want to cook, then please, do so. It would be nice to eat something other than raw meat."

I smiled and let my hand fall to my side as he let go of them. "Well, I guess that means I have to make a lot of food. I hope you all can eat it all."

Louis and Dalen looked at each other and smirked. "Trust us," Louis said. "We will be able to."