6 : French kiss

Her brother shook his head no: « Worry not, I made a deal with him yesterday. You’ll all be alright as long as you don’t get too close to that one. » He answered while showing Bianca with his thumb.

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The six men frowned then turned towards Bianca.

The oldest one had his nose up in the air and seemed to smell her. They all had shocked looks on their face.

Bianca had, herself, a surprised look. What is going on right now? Why are they looking at me like that? She thought.

One of the guests said to no one « A human … ? Here? In Crossroads Café? »

« Well, it is Crossroads Café! The place where every species meet! » Mat said with a huge grin on his face. Ayana gave him the notes where she took the order.

« But… if you are telling us not to get close to that one… does that mean that she is… her mate ? » the oldest one said.

Bianca was kind of tired to have people talking as if she was not here. She went in front of the old guest and put her right hand in front of her.

« Well helloooo, it seems like I’m the mate you are talking about… and it’s not my name. I am Bianca. Nice to meet you. Feel free to ask me for any orders, I will be happy to help you, sir. » Bianca said with a cheery voice.

Mat was busy preparing the orders and putting the drinks on a tray. A grin on his face and eyes shining with mischief.

The six giants almost fell from their chairs. They had horrified expressions on their face. The oldest one even raised his hands in the air, at face level « Please, Bianca, do not touch me, I beg of you! »

Bianca blinked a few times. She was looking at her empty hand half embarrassed. What is going on here? She thought.

« Oh! Maybe you know I am not from here? And you want to follow my country’s greetings ! » she said to them.

They gave each other questioning looks.

One of the guests said « From where are you from Bianca? »

« I am from France ! » answered Bianca with a gentle smile. And she took one step towards them.

Mat had both of his elbows on the bar and started to laugh. He was struggling hard to not explode from laughers. Aiyana was holding maternally her tummy while giggling a little.

« I think we should help them. I doubt these big wolves know how they say hello in France. »Aiyana said to her brother.

« Please, do not. I am having way too much fun right now. » He answered.

« And… and… and… How do you say hello in your country, Bianca? » the oldest one said. He started to panic as soon as he saw that she put her hand down and started to come closer to him.

« Is… Is that… the famous… French kiss ? » said another.

She took another step toward him and put her hands to her hips.

« Well, I do kiss… and I am French indeed… so yes, you could definitely call that a French kiss… But, to say hello, we do kiss…» she said with amusement.

The six wolves hold their breath and shook their heads no.

« … On both cheeks. » she completed.

They all jumped in surprise and had a horrified look on their faces.

« Bianca… please, seriously, do not touch us! Hey bartender! You know what you are doing right? You have a walking ticking bomb in the Crossroads Café right now! » one of the men said.

« Bianca, come here. I need help with that tray. » Aiyana called her. She mouthed a « you are welcome » to the six guests as Bianca came to her.

Bianca came to a very shaking Mat from stifled laughs. He was enjoying this situation a lot and was looking forward to the other guests' reactions.

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Bianca came back to the customers with the drinks and gave each one of them what they ordered.

The oldest one had a pleased grunt and told her « Thanks, Bianca. »

She answered by giving him a warm smile and a nod. « De rien. » (you are welcome*) she said to him in French. « What is your name, by the way? I’d like to remember my very first customers in Crossroads Café. » she told them.

They all had a proud smile and gave her their names. One of them told her « Maybe it’s a once in a lifetime meeting that we are having today, you know ? We, the young ones, are just here to be at the Luna’s ceremony. We might get the chance to find our mate there. » he said with a hopeful smile. « You will see Connor more often as he is our beta. He has to go to other packs from time to time and he likes to take a break at Crossroads Café. » he told her while smelling his coffee with a disgusted frown.

« Of course, she will see me more often… but listen, Bianca, I’ll never order coffee here. I just stop by to get a good old beer when I have to get to another pack… and when I feel fancy, I get a whisky on the rocks… but it’s usually when the meeting went well,» said Connor, who happened to be the oldest one.

Bianca nodded yes. She put her right hand in front of him, hoping to finally get a handshake: « Nice to meet you, Connor. »

Connor and the five other men had a moment of hesitation. Connor’s eyes seemed to glaze for a second and Bianca saw the other men nod. Connor took a huge inspiration and took Bianca’s hand in his, giving her the handshake she waited for.