Ravenswood

Chapter Twenty-One

It was 6:10 and Grey took his seat across from Selah at Any Given Sundae. The parlor was nice with floor to ceiling windows all around allowing patrons to see the full downtown square of Bane's Manor. "So, how are you liking it here?" Selah asked taking a lick from her ice cream cone. Grey knew what she was trying to do. The innocent yet sultry act seemed to be one that she had mastered a while ago, but he couldn't fall for it. All he could think about was his kiss with Isla. "It's okay. I miss my old pack, but there are some good guys here that I'm getting close to. Asher and Cody are cool."

Grey noticed her face fall for a quick second before recovering into a smile and made a note to ask the guys about her. Just then they heard the bell ring and in walked Paxton and Isla. "You going to get your favorite?" Grey overheard Paxton ask. Isla smiled and nodded. "Can I get one birthday cake and one chocolate." Paxton held onto Isla's hand and kissed the back of it before paying and handing her the birthday cake ice cream. They were heading to a booth when Selah called out to Isla. Grey wanted to slap her in the face in that instant.

"Isla! Come over here!" Selah smiled but there was nothing sweet about it. Grey noticed the mischief in her eyes and realized she must have known that there was something brewing between them. "Hi Selah," Isla said with a sad smile. "You're the new vamp in town with the twin, aren't you?" Paxton looked between Selah and Grey and nodded. "Wow I can't believe we have so many new people in town at the same time. Isla do you know Grey?" Selah asked looking at her knowingly. "He's new in town too," she smiled tucking a strand of his long hair behind his ear.

The intimate act was all Isla needed to send her over the edge. She felt like her arm was on fire and when she looked down her once solid ice cream was now a puddle of melted cream. "Excuse me." Isla said walking towards the door to throw away her ruined ice cream and exit the parlor. Paxton followed suite and chased after her. "Isla please wait!" Paxton reached for her and quickly released her extremely hot arm. She looked at him and Paxton could see actual fire in her eyes. "Baby, I need you to calm down. It's going to be okay." Paxton knew he couldn't help her control earth or fire, but Grey seemed indisposed.

"I can't do this." Isla cried. "Yes you can! Yes you can! You are the strongest and fiercest woman I know and you can tame the flames inside of you." Isla looked at Paxton's loving and pleading eyes and willed the fire to listen. She took deep breaths before leaning into Paxton. He could touch her again as her body temperature continued to decrease. "Let's get out of here." He offered grabbing her hand and heading out of Bane's Manor.

Grey watched the whole exchange and knew Isla was so close to losing control. Riel was ready to be there if she had, but they both knew that the adults did not want the town knowing that Isla was an orb. 'Guess the vamp is good for something, since you're good for nothing.' Riel spat. Grey ignored him and focused his attention back on Selah. She was pretty and a wolf. That should have been more than enough to garner his attention, but it wasn't. His mind drifted back to a dark-skinned beauty with eyes that always expressed what she was feeling and a voice that always conveyed her rawest of emotions.

"I think I'm going to go talk to Otha," Isla told Paxton as they stood in front of the Enchanted Forest. "You want me to come with you?" Isla shook her head. "I need to do this alone." Paxton hated how defeated she looked and sounded. He was doing his own research trying to figure out how he could save her life with her just mating him. He even spoke with Nicklaus, the werewolf Alpha, mated to Lottie Devereux, but nothing seemed to give him the answer he so desperately needed. He headed home determined to continue looking.

"Hi Otha," Isla smiled sadly at the large ent. "Isla Genevieve, how are you this fine evening." "I'm scared, Otha." The honesty and rawness in her voice grabbed the ent's attention. He sighed and leaned down for Isla to sit on one of his branches like she used to do when she was a child. He raised her up to his eye level and smiled. "You know what you have to do, Isla."