18After Seth's daring escape and Emily's great freeze, the women of the pack quickly flocked the two newcomers.
"Bella! Fleur! Hi, I'm Kim. Jared's wife. He's the one over there with the red shorts," a small native woman with medium-length black hair said while pointing to one of the behemoths standing in the corner.
Bella and Fleur smiled at Kim then replied, "Hey, nice to meet ya." "Bonjour, Madame Kim. Ze pleazure iz mine."
Kim was jumping with excitement. Nothing new ever happened in La Push. Bella coming back with a hot fiance, a woman to boot, was going to be the most thrilling thing to happen in ages!
"Let me formally introduce you to Emily! She's Sam's wife, obviously. She's an amazing cook. Most of the food here was made by her." Kim said eagerly. She was like a ball of energy.
Bella chuckled, "Sorry about that Emily. I hope that wasn't too forward of us. French greetings take some time to get used to."
Emily spluttered. Her cheeks were still burning. "Ah. No biggie. I totally get it. The French are really touchy aren't they," she said in a lightly joking manner.
Bella giggled. She knew exactly how overwhelming the French mannerisms could be to Americans. Fleur was looking at her fiance with an adoring look.
"Oui, ve French zo not shy avay from zhowing affection."
Flicking her beautiful blonde tresses over her shoulder, Fleur turned to her fiance and reached out to gently tucked some hair behind Bella's ear. Fleur's eyes were sparkling with admiration and just a hint of lust.
"Mon bien-aimé (my beloved), zis brings back za memoriez of when I first approached you. You vere so sweet. Zo shy. Beautivul. I remember having za need to sveak to you. I felt like I'd surely perish if I did not. Si pure. Alors le mien. (So pure. So mine).
Bella blushed at her fiance's recollection. Fleur always had a way with words. Bella tenderly plucked Fleur's hand, flipped it forward, and gently laid a kiss on her knuckles. "Surely, it was I who would've perished. You saved me that night, my flower."
Two loud squeals tinkled through the air. Bella had momentarily forgotten where they were. Fleur was always aware of the crowd, but she did not care.
"Eeeeeep! You guys are so romantic! Ugh, I wish Jared would talk to me like that." Kim swooned. Jared could be seen in the back cringing at the thought of saying things like "my flower".
Emily chuckled but looked equally as adoring. "You guys are sweet. The lines sound like they were plucked out of a romance novel! So how did you two meet?"
"Do you want to tell her or shall I?" Bella said with a raised eyebrow.
"I vould like the honor." Fleur replied.
Turning to the two native women, Fleur began, "I vaz looking out the vindow of the Château de Villandry. My vamily owns ze property but ve open it to ze public. Ve have many homes and vanted this one to be vor public enjoyment only. It iz a landmark now. Excusez-moi (Please excuse me), I am getting ahead of my zelf.
Ah yes, I vaz looking out into the front gardens vhen I spotted Isabella. Zhe was so… beautiful. Zhere was zomething inside of me that vaz calling out to her. I had to speak to this beautivul creature. My life zurely depended on it.
Zhe was buzy admiring the flowers zo zhe did not notice my arrival. I vaz zo nervous."
Fleur gave Bella a sly look and then turned back to continue, "Vhen I vinally got her to look at me, time froze. Vhen our eyes met. I knew zhe was the one. Ze love of my life. My ozer half. My soulmate."
Bella was beaming at Fleur. The only thing brighter than the love in Bella's eye was the desert sun.
The sound of Leah scoffing could be heard in the background. Fleur's eyes hardened and her head whipped towards the sour girl. "You do not have to be zo bitter, Mademoiselle Leah. You are much too beautivul to wear such an ugly expression. You will never vind love if you keep holding on to zuch resentment."
Leah was aghast. No one talked to her like that. Especially not other women. She huffed and stomped her way back to the house, but not before spitting out, "Fuck you! You French harpy"
Fleur retorted with a flick of her hair. "Ve must not let other people'z toxicity keep uz from happinez. I find it best to let zem wallow."
Kim was used to Leah's attitude so she was completely unfazed. "So! Tell us! How did you know she was the one?" Kim said with a longing sigh.
"Ah, zat was eazy. My heart, how you say, sang to me. It vaz fate zat we met in front of ze flowers."
"Fate!? How was it fate?! Gosh I feel like I'm reading a 19th-century French romance novel."
Fleur giggled. "My little belle vaz standing in the courtyard of my Château and my name, Fleur Isabelle Delacour, means flower of ze court. Even bevore I knew her name, I knew Isabella was mine. Our zouls were singing. But ven she told me her name, there was not a single doubt in my head zat zhe was not deztined for me. You zee, in my language, Isabella Swan means "beautivul swan." My family's crest is a swan. Fate had deveined uz.
Bella looked up to her fiancé. All she saw was the light of her life. "And I thank the gods every day that they blessed me with you. I was drowning in the darkness and you showed me the light. When I first saw you in that garden, surrounded by hundreds of flowers with your beautiful white blonde hair flowing in the wind, I thought I had died and gone to heaven because surely I was in the presence of an Angel."
Kim's squeals were now loud enough to pierce ear drums. "Eeeeeep. That's so romantic!"
Emily chuckled at her best friend's antics. Directing her question to the ethereal blonde, "So Fleur, are you a princess or something?" Emily asked jokingly.
It was Bella who responded. "Uh actually, yes. Fleur's family comes from a long line of royalty. She technically has a title, but she doesn't use it."
"Holy Shit! You're a freaking princess Fleur?" Kim squeaked wide-eyed.
"Ah, no, I am not a princezz. Ven my mother pazzez, I zhall inherit za title of Duchess. My vamily holdz zi title, but it iz in name only. Ve do not have a political standing. Ve only focuz on maintaining our country'z history, by prezervin historical buildings like ze one I met my little belle at."
Seth had finally returned from relieving himself of the… pressure. "That's super cool" he interjected. "I'm going to be related to a Duchess! So is that car out there yours? It's totally badass."
Fleur and Bella were clearly amused by Seth's enthusiasm. He was like an overeager puppy; easily stimulated. "Non, ze car iz Isabella's. I do not own any cars in America," said Fleur with a hint of mirth in her voice.
"Dude! Bella, how in the hell can you afford that? It's wicked!"
"That's a secret Seth. I can't tell you my secrets. They wouldn't be secrets if I did," Bella sang.
Seth dropped the subject, but he and the rest of the pack were clearly curious about Bella's source of income and her mysterious fiance.
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After a few more hours, the party guests quickly gave their goodbyes and vacated the Uley home. The only ones left were Charlie, Sue, Bella, Fleur, and the pack.
Charlie walked over to his daughter and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "So Bells, where are you staying again? I know you're not staying at the motel in Forks."
"We're renting a lodge in Lake Crescent, dad. You should stop by soon. You can fish in the lake. Just so you know, our phone signal can be a bit touch and go out there so we need to plan our visits ahead of time in case you can't reach us." Bella replied.
"Okay, baby girl. We're having a bonfire at first beach tomorrow around 6. Do you and Fleur want to join us?"
"Yeah, dad. Sounds like fun."
Fleur and Bella gave the remaining attendees a hug and a kiss on the cheek before departing.
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"Dude was it just me or was Fleur flirting with me," Quil said to his pack mates.
"Nah, you're just blinded by your blue balls. The French are just overtly affectionate." Jared replied. He had his arms wrapped around Kim.
Jokingly, Kim said, "Hey you never know, maybe she was. The French are known for being kinky."
Embry laughed at that and slapped his hand on his buddy's back, "Yea. What Kim said. Maybe they're secretly into threesomes and sleep with everyone. Fleur's probably tying up Bella as we speak."
Jacob was annoyed with his packmates. He didn't like them talking about Bella like that no matter how hot her fiance was. Biting back a growl, Jacob spat "You'd like that huh, Embry? You always did have a crush on my, Bells."
Embry rolled his eyes. "News flash Jake. She isn't your Bells. Don't hate me for saying the things everyone else is clearly thinking. We're only joking around. And dude, Bella's hot. Just because you think you have some sort of claim on her doesn't mean we can't admire the scenery. And before you even start, you have to admit, the thought of Bella and Fleur together would make any man want to run and jerk off in the bathroom like poor little Seth."
The entire pack burst into laughter. Jared was falling over. Quil was on the ground clutching his ribs. Seth had gone from a tomato to a whole ass bowl of pasta sauce. Hot and ready to be poured over the remnants of his dignity.
"Hey! You have no idea what it was like. The things she said were absolutely obscene! I couldn't help it!" Seth defended. There was absolutely nothing he could say to excuse the hand-to-hand combat session he had in the shower.
Quil had finally risen off of the floor. He was still trying to catch his breath as he asked, "Yeah? What did she say."
"Oh. I'm not telling you guys! Fuck that!" Seth said in complete seriousness. He would never be able to get those words out of his mouth without passing out from embarrassment.
Quill groaned and pleaded, "Come on man! We're brothers! You have to share the spank bank material. We have a freaking mind link! You can't hide it from us forever!"
"I'll fucking try! Those words will never leave my mouth. You're going to have to force it out of my head. I'll be singing show tune in my mind during all of my patrols so you guys can't know. Go learn French if you're that desperate." Seth said with a huff. There was no way in hell he was embarrassing himself by revealing the things Fleur said to Bella.
A few of the pack who were still single began pleading with Seth, but Seth was firm in his resolve. No matter what his pack mates did or said, he wouldn't say a damn word about Fleur's conversation with Bella. Sam would have to alpha command him or they'd have to rip it from his mind if they wanted to know. Seth was going to stick to his guns and the pack would never know what made him run to the bathroom in the middle of a party to do the five-knuckle shuffle.
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