Updates will hopefully not slow down as we are veering into the last ten or so chapters of Rightfully Hers, but school begins again next week and my job picks up quite a lot as well so I'll be incredibly busy until everything settles. Don't be afraid to leave comments, I love reading them. I'm also looking for a new book cover but as I lack both skill and the time, I'd appreciate anyone who'd be willing and interested in making one. You would get full credit, of course (: Thank you, and enjoy chapter 21.
ISABELLE SINCLAIR
"Where the fuck is she?" I roared. Every single person at the conference table shrunk their shoulders in some weak attempt to hide themselves from me. "Where. The. Fuck. Is. Jada. Warren? Anyone? Or are all of you incapable of doing your fucking jobs? I told you to find her three fucking hours ago! Why is she not here? Why does no one know where she is?"
"Iz, I think you need to calm down..." Cass mumbled from my right side. My Wolf howled in my head, begging to shift and assert my dominance over my Beta right there. Shaking, I shifted my glare over to her.
"You better think before opening your mouth again, unless you want the Beta position to be taken from you." I was seeing red, but I saw enough to see her slouch against the back of her seat, and I saw Dante lean forward to rub her right shoulder comfortingly. I had to rip my eyes away before I really lost it.
"We are going off of a shoulder pain here, Alpha," Caleb spoke up, looking irritated. "You cannot be sure that is Jada's pain. Even if it were, isn't there a possibility she just hit her shoulder on something?"
"Are you questioning my authority? I knew damn well what claws feel like against human skin, Caleb. She did not fucking bump her shoulder on something. That bastard took her. He fucking took her. I hope he enjoys the next few hours, because they are going to be his last."
Three knocks sounded against the conference room door, silencing all the talk that surrounded the room. Knowing the walls were sound proof, I could not call for them to enter, but the pack member opened the door and politely bowed in my direction. "Alpha Sinclair, this letter has been delivered exactly on the territory line. One of the wolves on duty sensed it passing border line and collected it. It is for you, Alpha."
I quickly sped across the room, shooed the member out, and slammed the door behind me. Waving the note in the air, I made eye contact with every member in the room. "Does anyone think this is a fucking mortgage? A water bill? A message from long lost relatives, perhaps? Or, do you fucktards think, maybe, possibly, this is a fucking ransom note?"
No one uttered a word, and they were smart not to. I sped over to my original spot at the end of the table and I ripped open the note. As I expected, the note was handwritten and smudged with blood. Blood I knew was not Jared's, not anyone on his team's. It was Jada's.
Alpha Sinclair,
You must think me stupid if you did not expect me to do research on the packs I visit. Jada is exceptionally beautiful, don't you agree? Of course you would, being her mate, after all. I simply cannot believe I get to kill two birds with one stone. You situation is incredibly convenient for me.
She sure has a mouth on her, wouldn't you say? Quite the snarky one. None of the other women I've killed had that much confidence, I will give it to her. The things that mouth could do, but I'm sure you would know that. I hope I get to find out.
Let's play a game, Isabelle. This has been far too easy for me, and frankly, I'm quite bored. I will give you my location, the location in which I hold your mate, but you must bring my niece with you. She is almost five, is she not? Does she have her father's hair? Or his eyes? You don't have to answer that, I know she does. I know those baby blues anywhere.
There is a phone number attached to this end of this letter. You'll have a chance to talk to Jada, but I would like a chance to speak with Arabelle, I am her uncle, after all. I will then give you the location. If you arrive without my niece, I will have Jada murdered in front of you, immediately upon your arrival. Bring as many men as you please, but know, you will not win this war.
I hope to hear from you soon.
Jared Manning.
My blood was burning in anger as I ordered for Arabelle to be brought to the conference room. Jared was playing with fire, and he had no intention of being burned. He wanted bait, but he wanted to choose, and he had the audacity to choose my daughter. He didn't want to play fair, and I wouldn't either. If I brought Arabelle to the location, I would be even more distracted than before, and I'd have no chance against Jared and his men. I needed a plan, and quickly, but I needed Jada to be safe, and if Jared wanted to play, I'd play.
As assumed, Arabelle was wide awake. She followed one of my men into the room, her plushie held against her chest. She was in her pink onesie, but she blinked curiously around the room, no signs of having been sleeping. She made her way over to me and sat down in the chair beside mine, the one I bought for her, upon her request.
"Mommy, what's going on?"
"Everyone out," I growled, pointing to the door. "I want all my soldiers equipped and ready in ten minutes. I want one hundred and twenty five with me, and the rest I want doing border control. Every single fighter is to be awake and alert. He will not win, do you hear me? Now out!"
Everyone scurried out as quickly as possible, and with a fleeting glance, Cassandra, Dante, Julian, and Isaac followed the rest of them quickly. When the door was closed and only Arabelle and I were left in the room, I picked her up and sat her on the conference table, and then sat in front of her.
"Jared Manning has Jada," I informed her seriously. I watched her small hands clench onto her toy, but she kept her face blank of emotion. It was an Alpha response. "Jared Manning is your father's brother, do you know what that means?"
"The bad man who kidnapped my second mommy is my uncle?" She questioned, grimacing.
I nodded. "I will tell you the story when you're older, but Jared would like to speak to you. If you talk to him, he will tell me where Jada is, and we can go save her. Are you okay with that?"
"Of course," she nodded, "anything to save Jada."
I scanned her face and then grabbed the phone on the table and dialled the number at the bottom of the page. It was on speaker, and we listened to it ring twice before a deep, throaty voice answered. "Isabelle, that was exceptionally quick. Is Arabelle with you?"
"I'd like to talk to Jada first," I ignored his question, desperate to hear her voice again. My wolf was whining loudly in my head, becoming more anxious than she has been the past three hours.
"Ah, ah, ah, I want to talk to my niece first. Is she there?"
"Hello, Jared," my daughter answered for me. "It's me, Arabelle."
"Well don't you sound big! Do you know who I am?" Jared's voice was dark and threatening, and I could tell it scared Arabelle slightly, as her bottom lip trembled before she opened her mouth to respond.
"You're my dad's brother."
"That's correct! I have Jada with me, do you know who else is here with me?"
My stomach dropped instantly. I prayed and prayed that he would not say what I knew he was going to, but despite all my prayers, he laughed a cruel snicker and answered his own question.
"Arabelle, your daddy is here with me. Would you like to say hi?"
"No, thank you," she responded curtly, looking angry now. "I want to speak to Jada, please."
Jared seemed surprised by the answer, but he didn't comment on it, if he were. Instead, he cleared his throat. "Very well, but your dad and I are very excited to see you tonight. Unless you want Jada to die."
"Jared!" I hissed, "don't you dare say that to her, you're already doing enough."
His deep, taunting laugh answered me. "You see, Isabelle, that's exactly what I want. Jada is here, let me put you on speaker." There was some shuffling and then his voice again. "Jada, it's your mate and her daughter, they're calling to ask how you're settling in."
"Quite well, thank you." I felt a weight lift off my shoulders when I finally heard her voice, as sarcastic as it was. She sounded okay, not at all out of breath or in pain, but I also knew she was incredibly talented at hiding her emotions. "Though I think you should finish the floor. The cement is not at all comfortable. May I suggest oak flooring? It's dark in colour and unlike carpet, very easy to clean up blood. Even easier than cement, though, by the way it looks in here, and your breath, I can tell you're not a good hygiene kind of guy."
"Jada," I whispered under my breath, "please stop fucking talking."
"What do you mean my breath?" Jared scoffed. "I have gum."
"Oh please," my mate retorted, "you've been chewing the same piece of gum for three and a half hours. Talk about stale, buddy."
"You and that damn mouth..." The lust in his tone was enough to boil my blood once again.
"Jada, stop talking," I ordered angrily, wishing she would stop infuriating him. If Jared was anything like his brother, I could only imagine what he would do to her, and that made my skin crawl.
"Listen to Isabelle, she knows what she's talking about," Jared chuckled, "who knows where that pretty little mouth will get you?"
"Dude, you've got to stop saying that," Jada replied, ignoring my warning completely. I swore under my breath. Of course, my mate had to get the last word in. I was all too familiar with that. "Do you have a mouth fetish or something? I'm just saying, it's just really weird. Why can't you just stare at my boobs like a normal guy? Why do you have to make weird threats about my mouth?"
I scowled at the wall, not wanting to listen to the interaction any longer. I could tell Jared was getting irritated as well, because he let out a strangled growl and I heard a choking sound, one that was too feminine for him. I stood up in my chair, my blood running cold.
"Do you like that?" I heard him snarl. "Because you'll be doing a lot of it if you don't shut your mouth, and it won't be my hands that cause you to choke."
I heard her cough but she remained quiet. Jared, seeming to remember he was still on the phone, cleared his throat and laughed loosely. In a cheerful tone, he gave me the address to his location before wishing us a farewell, and ending the call.
Arabelle and I rushed to the front of the house where the soldiers were waiting, equipped and ready for my call. I began to shrug my sweater off as I yelled out the address. "Be aware of your surroundings, he knows we are coming. I want five men surrounding my daughter at all times. Jared expects me to be around her, but it's safest if we are separated. If he lays one hand on my daughter, you will have me to deal with, and I promise you I can be a lot scarier than Jared Manning. Let's go, now!"
I shoved all of my clothes into a bag and Arabelle slipped the bag on her back without being asked. I shifted silently and crouched down to allow her to climb onto my back. She left her plush toy in the conference room, so her hands gripped my fur instead of her doll. She leaned forward, and upon hearing her tell me she's ready, I sprinted off in the direction of the location where Jada was being kept.
Normally, I loved the feeling of the wind through my fur as I ran through the surrounding woods, but my mind was spinning to the point where I could barely focus on anything but my mate and my daughter's wellbeing.
I let Arabelle down half a mile away from the location so she could climb on the back of my head warrior. I took the bag from off her shoulders and held it in my jaws to change swiftly if given the opportunity. After I received a nod from the warrior, we took off again.
It was a clearing. The location he gave me was a clearing in the woods, with a white letter folded and placed perfectly in the center. I snarled loudly, knowing full and well that the dickhead sent me to the wrong location. I should have known better, I should have been more prepared, but with Jada gone I could barely focus, and Jared knew that all too well.
Shifting back, I didn't bother getting dressed as I angrily stepped into the clearing to grab the letter. With it in my hands, the name 'Isabelle' scrawled in an elegant print on the front, I ripped it open and took the letter out from the envelope.
Isabelle,
Supposing you get this letter, it is both a fault and an advantage. An Alpha would never go to a given location without knowing the real location, but knowing your mate, my sweet Jada, is with me must really set you off. I want proof that Arabelle is with you still, and from there I will give you the location. No more cat and mouse, I'm getting bored. You know what number to call.
With all our love,
Jared and his Jada.
He was marking his claim, he was claiming Jada as his. She wasn't his! She was mine! She loved me, and after all this time, I was not letting the love of my life be taken away from me by a deranged criminal who'd ruthlessly killed dozens of women before her. What if he chose her? Of all the women in America he could have chosen, what if he chose my mate?
What if he turns her? Jada wouldn't survive that. Maybe she would literally, but emotionally she would die. She took so much pride in her job, in her status as a Hunter, to be turned into their biggest enemy would obliterate her. It wasn't her opinion of us, I knew that would change, but she depended so largely on the opinions of fellow Hunters that if the turn didn't kill her, the shame would.
I ripped my phone out of my bag and dialled the number, pulling it to my ear so fast and so angrily that it knocked against the side of my head and I sent out a growl in irritation. The phone rang three times before it picked up, and this time, it wasn't Jared's voice that answered, it was Jada's.
"Jared left the phone here, probably knowing you were going to call. You really shouldn't come here, Isabelle. I know it's a big protective Alpha thing, but Jared's brother is here." I held my breath immediately, hoping to whatever higher power that Jada didn't know. She did.
"Isabelle," she breathed, "why didn't you tell me? Rape is a huge deal, did you think I would feel differently because of it? And at fifteen..." She let out a sigh.
"There's a bigger story, one I'll tell you when I come get you. I need Jared on the phone, please." My jaw ticked. I cannot believe that conniving bastard would tell her my biggest secret, the one I worried most would drive her away as it'd driven many women away before. I should have known Jada would react differently, she was my mate after all, but I couldn't help but be afraid, especially when she'd been so distant already.
"Okay." I heard shuffling, and then I heard her call Jared into whatever room she was in.
"Hello, Isabelle, lovely to hear from you. Tell Arabelle to say hi!"
Arabelle, who now stood only a few feet away, sent me an unimpressed look. "Hi."
Without anything more, I was the given the address. "It's the real deal," he teased, "I'm getting real bored here. Jada isn't even scared, she just keeps commenting on the flooring. I've never met anyone quite like her. She's gotten quite a few hits, too, not one tear! Talk about impressive."
I hung up before I could cuss him out. How dare he touch what was mine? How dare he think he could get away with hurting her? I was going to rip him piece by piece.
"Take Arabelle back to the pack house and return to the location given to us. He's not getting anything he wants. We're ending this, and we're ending it tonight."