Rightfully Hers

XIX

JADA WARREN

"There's no way he would come to Hawaii, is there?" Cassandra was looking wildly between Julian and I to Isabelle and back again. She was scowling slightly, her lips pursed. "I'd like to remind you that I'm having a baby. How am I supposed to fight off crazy ass rogues while pregnant, huh?"

"None of us want Jared to come to Hawaii, Cass," Julian told her softly. Through the dark sunglasses covering my eyes, I could see the sincerity in his gaze. "You would not fight even if he came here, you know that. I know you have duties as Beta, but I think it's safe to say the best option for you is to remain underground."

Dante seemed to agree with Julian, but he remained quiet. The plane seemed suffocatingly small, but that may have been because of my hungover request to close all of the coverings on the windows. I had drank too much last night, more than I'd like to admit, and the sun had been taunting me all morning over it. Ever since we woke up to Gabriel Caine's news that Jared had made his way across the entirety of the United States and was last sighted early in the morning in California, we all packed our things to go back to Kauai. Despite the unsaid fear everyone harboured, they did their best to speak quietly for me.

"When we get back to the pack house, I'll track his path, but I've been checking in the entire trip and he hasn't made a slip up yet. Every single person we've ever dealt with has made a mistake, and it seems Jared is a little too perfect for my liking," I muttered. "He can get to Hawaii quickly if he wanted to, it's hard to know where he's going. Will he turn and go across Canada, or will he fly here? It doesn't make any sense..."

Isabelle tightened her grip around my waist and subconsciously pulled me closer to her. I didn't complain, I knew it helped calm her down. We had all been aware from the moment Julian and I arrived at the pack house, but we didn't think Jared would come to Hawaii, of all places. Now, I wasn't so sure.

"The fact that no one knows Isabelle has a mate comes to our advantage," Julian brought up. Isaac was awake and huddled against him, looking much more calm than I'd anticipated. Julian continued, "But them knowing of Jada's existence can also come to our advantage. We can use her as bait and-"

"No." The blonde woman beside me let out a throaty growl and her eyes became a threatening green. "We're not using Jada as bait. No fucking way. If Jared gets his hands on her, I swear to god I'll-"

I reached for her hand, the one not holding tightly onto my waist, and squeezed. "You're underestimating me. It's my job to protect your pack. I know it's some protective mate awareness thing, but I'm capable of doing my job, Isabelle. We haven't even come up with a plan yet."

She maneuvered her head so her lips brushed against my ear and she whispered, her voice shaking, "I cannot lose you."

I moved my head to look at her and I squeezed her hand harder. "You won't."

"Do you promise?" Her eyes, the peculiar eyes that had locked me in from the moment I saw them, were searching mine for any source of sincerity.

I nodded. "I promise." I didn't know if it was a promise I could keep. I was confident in my ability to Hunt, but what I didn't want to admit to anyone, not even Julian, was that I was terrified of Jared. He was the most flawless criminal I'd ever come across, and if I were to die on any of my missions, I had a feeling it would be this one.

When we arrived to the pack house, Caleb was standing on the porch, his jaw clenched. "I just got a call from the LA institute, I think you may want to come inside and sit down."

We all rushed into the large meeting room and we sat around the table. Caleb suggested we call Gabriel Caine to tell us, as he knew more than Caleb did. No one disagreed, so I dialled the number on the phone that rested in the centre of the table, and we waited impatiently for him to answer.