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“I don’t know if I can do this… what if they don’t listen to me?” Maia says, pacing back and forth, her shoes sticking slightly to the floor of the Jade Wolf where she came to meet with Isabelle prior to her first official day as Head of the Institute.
“They will,” Izzy reassures her. “They have to, if nothing else,” the werewolf adds with an easy laugh. Maia wishes she felt any of that easiness or shared any of Isabelle’s unwavering belief in her abilities.
“As if either of us would listen to someone just because they’re in charge,” Maia points out with a bit of a smirk. “If Luke didn’t move to Idris and pass the title to me, I wouldn’t even be in the running for years - decades, even - to head an entre Institute, and everyone knows it.”
Isabelle moves to stand in front of Maia and effectively stop her pacing, reaching out to take Maia’s hands in her own and give them a squeeze as she looks into Maia’s eyes.
“Everyone also knows that he put you up as his replacement for a reason, Maia. You’re the best one for the job, and everyone knows it. You got this, babe,” Isabelle says, punctuating her last words with a kiss to the top of each of Maia’s hands.
“I guess I don’t have much of a choice,” Maia admits, glancing at the clock on the wall behind her girlfriend. “Time to go.”
“Want me to walk you there? Jace can handle things here for the day and I can stay close by in case you need any emergency support,” Izzy offers.
“Right, because nothing says ‘I can handle this’ than having a werewolf on standby to fight my battles for me,” Maia laughs.
“Not for you,” Izzy corrects. “With you. And I was thinking more for emotional support than physical intervention. Are you anticipating a lot of fistfights on your first day? Maybe I should be more worried…”
“Shut up,” Maia says with a roll of her eyes, but there’s no heat behind her words. There never is when she’s talking with Isabelle, the only person who’s ever managed to tame the instinctive rage she used to feel so often and replace it so easily with something calm and measured.
“Make me,” Isabelle replies almost immediately, a familiar back-and-forth between them which ends in a kiss. It always ends in a kiss. Maia knows she’s smearing Isabelle’s bright red lipstick but she doesn’t particularly care, making a mental note to double-check her teeth later as she pulls away with one last bite to Izzy’s lower lip, tugging the skin between her teeth.
“Alright, alright, go before you’re late on your first day and you blame me for it,” Izzy says, practically shoving Maia out the door of the Jade Wolf. “I’m just a phone call away if you need any backup,” Izzy adds with a wink.
Maia hopes she doesn’t, but she supposes only time will tell as she carefully wipes the traces of red from her own lips and makes her way to the Institute.