Rightfully Hers

XVI

"Jada, I know Rowan was a complete asshole, but what if he really has changed? You can at least give him a chance to redeem himself. I know that if I ever catch him speaking so much as a bad word towards you, I'll kick his ass, but it's worth a shot. I'll take care of the pack for a weekend while you and Julian go and attend this wedding.."

She tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "Give your parents a chance, too. They've been calling you multiple times a week for three entire months without fail. That's got to mean something."

I sighed. "You're right. Maybe I am being childish. Thank you."

She smiled, "You can thank me with kisses after."

I un-muted my phone and lifted it to my ear, hearing my parents repetitively say my name. "Sorry," I spoke up. "When is the wedding?"

Isabelle sent me a thumbs up, and I couldn't help but smile at her. The woman was so optimistic and so vibrant all the time, and it made me wonder how she did it. She clearly hadn't had the best life at some points, and yet she never failed to greet everyone with that gentle smile.

Mom sounded like she was going to cry when she said, "June 23rd. Will you really come, Dear? Will you?"

"I suppose I could spend the weekend, but I need to ask Gabriel if it's alright for me to temporarily abandon my mission to attend the wedding," I responded.

"We already asked Gabe, and he told us it was no issue, as long as you wasted no time in getting back, and making sure the pack you are with is stable enough to support themselves while you're away!" Mom chirped up. Despite being around twelve years older, when Gabriel Caine was eighteen, he'd befriended my mother, and since then, they'd been close friends. My mom was the only person who was brave enough to refer to Gabriel as anything other than Mr. Caine or just simply Gabriel.

"You'll be bringing Julian as your plus one, right?" Dad asked. He loved Julian as if he were his second son, and Julian had always returned the love with just as much enthusiasm. "It's been awhile since I've seen that boy. He doing alright?"

"Julian is doing great actually, but he won't be my plus one this time. Will he get an invitation of his own?" Isabelle, who I knew was listening to the conversation on both sides, glanced at me curiously. I merely smiled at her.

"Of course he'll get an invitation of his own..." Mom trailed off. "But who's going as your plus one then? Have you met someone? Oh my, Jada, why haven't you told me? What's their name? Are they a Hunter? What-"

"Her name is Isabelle," I told them, biting the inside of my lip to keep from frowning. I was happy to be introducing Isabelle to my parents, but it dawned on me that that meant she was with me, for real this time. It meant that after this weekend, I would have to introduce her to my family. It scared me to think about, but I was even more terrified to realize I genuinely enjoyed the thought.

"She's my mate," I told them both. Mom let out an excited squeal, and Dad congratulated me, his voice dripping with honesty. "She'll be attending the wedding with me, if that's okay?"

"Of course!" Mom yelped, "Tell her I'm excited to meet her! Oh my, Jada, this is excellent! I can't believe-"

"Actually, is it okay if I bring two people? Isabelle has a daughter, and I'd rather not leave her alone for the weekend without her mom."

"Of course that's okay," Dad said smoothly. I could tell he was calming Mom down because she was breathing heavily and sniffling. "We will stay in touch, okay, sweetheart? Tell Julian to bring whoever he wants as his plus one. We love you."

"I love you too, Dad," I replied before ending the call.

I put my phone back in my butt pocket and packed up all the food we didn't eat so it wouldn't become bad in the sun. When I finished, I glanced towards Isabelle, only to find that her peculiar eyes were wet with unshed tears. She was watching me, and when she saw that I was staring at her, she motioned me toward her with the slight movement of her hands.