Eternally Hers

Part Nineteen

​Saoirse Kane

I was not fond of the Hunter.

​In the week she'd been here, her and Arabelle had become close friends. And it did not take a genius to recognize that Theresa was quite fond of my mate in ways that overstepped platonic.

​I caught the glimpses she'd send her, heard her heart rate increase when Arabelle would look at her, or laugh, or send her a friendly smile.

​In my nearly three hundred years of life, I had not truly experienced jealousy. Until now.

​I could not decipher whether or not Arabelle was aware, or if she was just purposely ignoring the obvious signs. And it wasn't as though I didn't trust her, because I did.

All the glimpses Theresa gave Arabelle were the same ones Arabelle gave to me frequently. I knew she had the same feelings for me as I did for her, but that didn't ease the jealousy and the anger that rose when I saw how enthralled the Hunter was.

​It didn't make it any easier that they ate breakfast together every morning. I knew Arabelle was just trying to be a good host to our visitor, but it made me jealous. She woke up every morning at seven thirty and made breakfast while I slept until eight, or hunted, or did some writing in the study. She always asked if I wanted food as well, but I wasn't really a breakfast person, and human food upset my stomach if I hadn't hunted in a couple days. It made things much more difficult for me.

​Even Dot had mentioned Theresa's obvious infatuation, and she had not said it so nicely. It took an overwhelming amount of willpower not to yell at her over it. It wasn't Dot's fault that the Hunter felt as she did, but she certainly didn't make it any easier.

​At noon today, Theresa and Arabelle were planning on calling Jada. Well, Arabelle wanted to call her mother, and Theresa had asked if she could be there as well, to which my mate happily agreed. They were eating breakfast now, relatively late, but it was a weekend and neither of them planned on going anywhere today that I knew of.

​I entered through the back door then, less than satisfied with my hunt. I hated to be away from Arabelle, especially when she was alone in the house with Theresa. Not for a lack of trust, but I found my thirst diminished when the jealousy set in, and it made it hard to even want to hunt.

​Arabelle, my gorgeous girl, looked back at me when I entered the house, that familiar smile slipping across her face. Theresa, who was seated on the stool beside her, looked up and smiled politely as well.

​"Hi, baby," she beamed, "how was your hunt?"

​"Good," I lied easily, forcing my lips to quirk into a smile. "How is breakfast?"

​"Delicious!" Arabelle motioned towards her plate. "Tess made breakfast this morning. You want to try some?"

​"I'm good, thank you, I'm quite full from my hunt," I lied again.

​Jealousy rose in my throat before I could even attempt to contain it. Not because of Theresa's oh-so-marvellous cooking skills, but because Arabelle clearly loved sharing meals with someone. She deserved to have someone to cook with and have breakfast with every morning. Someone who also ate human food. I tried to eat dinner with her every night, but it didn't really do anything for me, not in the way it did for the Hunter I'd grown to dislike.

​"Okay," my mate shrugged, placing a fork full of pancake into her mouth. I kicked off my shoes and placed them on the rack by the back door while she chewed, and then she asked, "What are your plans for today?"

​"Nothing in particular." I hid my frown. "I could use a nap."

​I nearly crossed my fingers hoping she'd join me but was sorely disappointed when she frowned at me. "You haven't been sleeping very well this week."