Rightfully Hers

IV

Picture of Arabelle on the side.

JADA WARREN

This could not be happening.

This mission was supposed to be simple. I'd show up to beautiful Hawaii, live amongst werewolves for a few months at most, stop Jared if necessary, and then get on a plane and go back to the apartment Julian and I shared.

It appears the mission would not be as simple as I anticipated. In fact, this entire situation had me shaking with dread.

One look into the peculiar eyes of Isabelle Sinclair and my entire body melted into a heap of lust, desire, and complete admiration. She seemed unaware of the effect she had on me, which was exactly as it should be.

She could not know that she already had me wrapped around her finger. She could not know that my entire being ached to answer her beck and call.

I felt numb. I knew I should be worried for Julian and his reaction to the entire situation, but my eyes refused to leave those of Isabelle, and my mind refused to be diverted to anything but her slit pupils, similar to that of a cat, or the blonde locks that hung high in her ponytail, the dip of her collarbone, the curve of her bottom lip...

Her lips curled into a graceful smile and she nodded for me to take a seat as I had just minutes before. I did, not being able to look away from her velvet features as I took a seat.

"Your eyes..." I couldn't help but whisper softly. I did not find them strange as much as peculiar, in fact I saw them as extremely intriguing.

I noticed the little girl, Arabelle, tense beside her. She scowled at me and stood up on her chair, arms raised. "My mommy is beautiful! Don't be a bully! Her eyes are pretty!"

I opened my mouth to defend myself, to tell her that pretty was not a strong enough word to describe how beautiful her mother was, but Isabelle beat me to it. She frowned at Arabelle and softly told her to go find Aunt Cass, who I assumed was Cassandra Winters, the Beta.

Once Arabelle had sent me one final glare and slipped from the room, Isabelle let out a sigh and turned back towards me. "I'm sorry for her behaviour, I know my eyes are odd. She's strangely defensive about it." She let out a soft laugh and my chest felt like it was vibrating in my chest.

I opened my mouth to tell her how utterly beautiful I thought she was, how I could stare at the liquid green of her gaze for hours and never be tired of it, but all I managed to mutter out was, "They're not odd."

Her cheeks deepened in colour and she dropped her eyes from mine, flustered. "I'm glad you think so. Anyways," she cleared her throat awkwardly, "I don't want to keep you here for long..."

I'll stay as long as you want me to.

"... but I couldn't help but notice how tense Julian was." Her eyes searched my features, desperately looking for any sign of reaction. "I hope it's alright if I call him by his first name."

"I don't mind," I told her honestly. I wasn't sure if Julian would mind, but I was really hoping he wouldn't either.

She sent me a gentle smile. "I assume he's skeptic around werewolves, there's nothing wrong with that, I assume there's a reason for it. I didn't want to ask for him to stay behind because he's clearly not comfortable with me, and since you're my..." She let the word die on her tongue and briskly changed the subject.

"I will talk to him," I told her, knowing right there that I would do anything she wanted. I grimaced mentally and turned my eyes away from her, desperately hoping that the desire to be with her would disappear if I wasn't looking at her. It didn't.