Eternally Hers

Part Two

Arabelle Warren

"Where the fuck have you been?" I growled, swinging my fist towards his shoulder only for it to land in the palm of my favourite uncle, John. His grasp was cold and hard as stone, but his smile was warm and loving.

​"If it isn't my favourite niece," he spoke, his tone as smooth and even as always. His amber eyes were bright and content, and he wasted no time in pulling me into a hug. Hugging John was very similar to hugging a lanky stone wall, but I didn't particularly mind. As far as stone walls come, he was my favourite.

​My little sister Charlotte stood behind me, speaking softly to John's wife, my aunt, Elena. She didn't seem to care in the slightest – she knew John and I had been close since I was a child and had a relationship much deeper than her relationship with him was.

​"You said you'd be back in June!" I nearly yelled at him accusingly, crossing my arms over my chest childishly. "It's October, you stupid fucking Vampire!"

​"Language!" My mother, Isabelle, cut in, sending me her mom-look. She motioned towards my thirteen-year-old twin brothers, and they both shot me smirks. When Mom turned back around to continue her discussion with Elena, I flipped them both off. They gaped at me.
​
​I looked back at John with an expecting expression, pursing my lips at him.

​Maybe it was wildly immature of me to be so angry at him. Him and Elena, a hybrid, had no reason to stay in Kauai. They were both immortal – they had all the time in the world to travel it together, sightseeing, living life as a happy Vampire couple. It wasn't as though I was their kid, and even if I were, I was twenty-one, an adult. But I was close to my aunt and uncle, and I missed them.

​Besides, I wasn't going to be around forever. Visiting me for the next seventy years shouldn't even be a big deal to them!

​John was the only other person in the family to understand what it was like to be an outsider in a werewolf pack. He was a Vampire, for fuck sakes! Talk about an outcast. And I was the Alpha's daughter who didn't even get wolf instincts, or a mate. No mate...

​I shook my head to clear my thoughts, perking an eyebrow at John again.

​He smiled and ruffled my hair affectionately. "I truly am sorry, Ari. Especially for missing your birthday. Time slips by when you have so much of it... No excuse will amend it, but I am very sorry."

​I dropped my irritated expression after a moment, shrugging at him. "It's okay, John. You know I miss you guys like crazy when you're not around."

​"We miss you too," he promised me, "next time we leave, you should come with us. You would love Rio."

​Not taking it to heart, I nodded affirmatively, and turned to welcome back Elena. She glanced at me with baby blue eyes and then smiled widely, showing off her pearly whites. Physically, she was two years younger than me, and she'd always kept her optimism and enthusiasm for everything, even as a Vampire. It was almost refreshing.

​"Holding up the fort here in Kauai?" She joked, grinning widely still. If I looked back at John, who was now talking to the twins, I knew he'd been staring at her with that annoying adoration on his face.

Werewolves loved their mates fully, but I had never seen someone as dedicated to their other half as John was to his beloved. It was almost as though Vampires held their mates to an entirely higher standard. I didn't know how else to explain it.