3. Mate

"You allowed Summer into the training grounds when she shouldn't even be close to that place and you tried to murder a human."

I shake my head at these accusations. "No, I suffocated him. There's a difference."

I consciously avoid Summer's part in this and I am sure that she is silently thanking me. I can almost feel it.

Uncle Sebastian's eyes doesn't leave me. He continues to keep his glare and I continue to look everywhere but him. The chances of me getting my head cut off are bigger now.

"Yes, apparently, to you, there's a difference." He nods with sarcasm all over his words.

"Don't I just remind you of my mother, your sister?" His mood takes a sudden change when I say this and I take a step back, planning my escape.

Bringing out this topic hurts him badly but I don't mind... of course I do mind. I just tell myself that I don't mind everyday.

"Your tricks aren't going to work on me that easily, Isabella." His expression changes to something much more darker and the room slowly turns cold.

Even with all these happening, I know that he won't hurt me. I know that deep down. He takes me as a daughter and when I was little he never wanted me to step into the sight of males but then I got older, he knew that I was bound to find my mate.

"I can assure you that Summer wasn't in da-"

His growl cuts me off immediately and I keep my mouth shut as he rambles.

"Summer wasn't in any harm, in danger?" His voice is filled with rage. "She was in the middle of extra hormonal males who can't keep their emotions in check."

"Females were also there, and why would you send me there if you knew that they are hormonal males. Am I not also important to you?"

"Do not change the subject." He warns. "You are very much important. I trained you myself and I trust that you can take care of yourself."

"But what you don't trust is that I can take care of Summer."

"She is my daughter!" His enraged voice fills the air and I stand there calmly.

"And she is my cousin." I say.

Summer has been quiet since we came here, her hair tucked behind her pointed ears and her blue eyes watching every single thing in the room. She probably decides that it's time to stop playing with her leg and she speaks out.

"It was my fault."

Her father hears her timid whisper in the midst of his rage and I notice how his once darken eyes are gone. Summer has so much effect on him. She is his daughter after all.

I just wish I had that kind of effect on him too. The kind that will make him start a war for me. The kind that a father would have for his daughter and I guess that I am going over the top. He is not my father, he is hers.

"I should be blamed for this and not my cousin. It was me who went to the training grounds." She begins to play with her fingers, her face downwards and her father's eyes watches her all through.

"You know that you aren't allowed to step into where the wolves are training. Why did you even go there."

"Because... I need to learn how to fight." Her blue eyes stares up at him and I watch his eyes soften in return.

He walks over to his daughter and squats before her, holding her arms as he goes down. Both Summer's and my eyes follow him all the way.

"But you already know how to fight. You've had training everyday since you turned ten."

Just like her father, her eyes narrows pensively. "That's for magic, dad. I need to learn how to defend myself without magic. What if I get stuck in a situation that I can't use my powers."

"You won't get to see that because you will never see a battle."

With the way her little hands tightens I know that she feels the same way I feel sometimes, like to punch her father. Like to punch the king of all wolves.

"What if I do, daddy and no one is there to protect me, no one is there to help me. Not even you or my magic." She stomps on her feet angrily. "The world has an infinite line of possibilities. That's why I asked for a gun."

She whispers the last statement under her breath but the both of us hear it loud and clear. The next thing she does is to stand on her feet and she walks out of the room with zero want of turning back, not even to stare at me.

"You have to accept that your daughter needs proper training."

He slowly stands on his feet and faces me. "She does need physical combat training, I accept that but she won't be seen in the eyes of newly turned males."

His words are beginning to annoy me. "I still repeat myself that they were also females there."

"I will train her myself." He says, ignoring my last statement.

"It's better than no training at all." I nod at my own words and when he doesn't say a word, I begin to walk to the door.

My hand pauses on the door knob when he speaks. "Where are you going, Isabella. We are not done talking."

"Yes we are, uncle." I roll my eyes and he continues to speak. I wonder why I still stand there listening to his words. Oh, because he is the king and he can kill me in less that a second but he is also my uncle.

"No, you will continue your training with the newly turned for a month as punishment and you are not allowed to leave the castle without my permission."

His words fuels the anger in me and the only way it can go out is for me to glare at the door in front of me, my fingers squeezing tightly on the knob that it threatens to break.

"Watch me, dear uncle."

I yank the door open and I step out immediately, ignoring him, ignoring his growls at my disrespect and also ignoring the chills that I feel when I go against the orders of my king. I don't wait for his wolf to take over and punish me for my disrespect.

I always do this, I always put myself into trouble and try to run away from it, I mostly get into trouble with my aunt but it feels like it is now my uncle's turn.

Not waiting to see what's going to happen, I bolt away, calling out to my werewolf speed as I run. I blocked my wolf out but that doesn't mean that her abilities are blocked with her. I have everything that comes with having a wolf, except for her presence.

My feet moves automatically, maneuvering a way out of the castle and into the forest, to the west of the castle. The thorns of the forest leaves pierces me as I step in but I ignore them, my movements never stopping till I arrive at the spot...

My safe spot.

The place I let go of every burden that the day brings and like always, the sight amazes me no matter how many times I see it. In front of me is a clearing and after that clearing is a glorious waterfall, the way the water shines and falls is more magical than anything I have ever seen.

I spend most of my time here and every single time I come, I can't keep my eyes off the way the water flows into a clear lake beneath the waterfall. Walking towards it, I kneel down as take a sip out of the clean, fresh water.

Bliss fills me immediately and I find my way to my usual sitting place, beside a tree. From here I can see everything the waterfall has to offer. The butterflies hovering around it, the sunlight reflecting on it. Call me sappy but I am simply at peace here.

I don't know how much time I sit there, time flies when your mind is not on it. Before I know it, the sun is coming down and the moon takes its place, also reflecting on the water. The butterflies are replaced by the fireflies and they ignite the forest with their lights and hums.

I watch pensively as one wanders far off from the others, heading in my direction and I don't know how but it finds a way to wrap itself around my hair and tugs it into another direction.

I laugh, not feeling the tug and wondering how it can be doing this, then my eyes wanders to the direction it tugs me to.

I watch the spot pensively, my instincts on high alert all of a sudden. A shadow looms at a distance in a clear corner of the waterfall. I didn't notice it before but now I do and as I watch closely, it moves.

I can barely hold my gasp in when I see this and I begin to look for a weapon a thankfully, my hand feels a branch and I end up pushing it in front of my face as a defense.

"Show yourself. Who are you?" My voice echoes in the night and the shadow stills, before it begins to move again, getting smaller and smaller by the second and then a man comes out. A man with dark and pensive eyes.

They glimmer in the dark, blinking at me and I hold on to my branch firmly.

"Step out of the shadows." Though I don't see him clearly, his structure is enough to tell me that he is a male. "Do it slowly."

I stare at his dark eyes, unblinkingly and somehow I feel like there's something hidden under them, like they aren't the real thing.

I am shocked when he obeys my commands and steps out at the same time I stand up, still holding the branch before me and I blank when I finally get a clear glimpse of his features.

I feel something in my mind twitch as I scan through his odd attire, both top and bottom holding his firm structure.

He is not all muscles but he can be categorized as a strong male, not bulky but just alright. I believe fit is the right word.

His face holds a structured jaw line and is covered by a skin so smooth that I feel like rubbing my face on it- wait, what. I am shocked by my feelings but it doesn't stop me from accessing him.

He has two thin bow-like pink lips and a pointed nose leading up to his eyes. His eyes that remains dark, watching me.

The twitch in my mind grows stronger and my eyes widen as I gasp, finally knowing what it means. For once in a very long time, my wolf is present in my head as she breaks the barrier blocking her out and the words she forces out of my lips shocks me into a rush of panic.

"Mate."

My wolf... she is back in my head. That's impossible. She is not supposed to break through the barrier.

Immediately the words comes out of my mouth, he moves back a bit as if he has been shocked. The movement is so quick and tiny that if I wasn't watching carefully I wouldn't have seen it. He collects himself together so fast that I begin to doubt what I saw.

A small smile pulls on his lips as he fully steps out of the rays of the darkness.

"Yes, I am your mate, Isabella."

I am not going to let my guard down because of his clean British accent, alluring scent or handsome face.

'I am so glad that you agreed that he is handsome. I can't believe we found our mate after centuries of waiting. This is a dream come through, it wants to make me forgive you for blocking me out all these years, Izzy.'

I ignore my wolf's loud voice in my head, not bothering to correct her that we have only been alive for twenty years.

'Yes, but it seems like more than that to me and who are you talking to.'

I take a deep breath trying not to move my eyes from the stranger in front of me who happens to be my mate. "You were watching me this whole time, weren't you."

"Please don't make it sound like it's a bad thing. I wanted to see how long it would take you to figure out that I was here and it took a pretty long while." Amusement cloaks his words as he tsks.

'You are pretty.'

I shake my head, trying to block out my wolf in the process but what I get back in return is her anger and a sharp pain at the side of my head.

I ignore it, my eyes still focused on the male in front of me who is suddenly staring at me with concern. He takes a step forward and I take several back, till my back is on the tree behind me and my hands still outstretched.

"Who are you?"

"Your mate."

His cryptic responds slightly annoys me and I ask. "What's your name?"

"Anything you would like to call me would be alright, darling. " He walks closer and my grip on the branch tightens.

"Do not call me that and how did you know my name." I say, remembering when he called me Isabella. I observe his smell, by passing the scent of fresh lilies and wood coming from him.

"You are definitely not a wolf, neither are you a human, so what are you?"

He casually pushes his hands into the pocket of his trousers. "First, you asked who I am and now, you're asking what I am."

He cocks his head to the side, making his hair fall over his eyes. "Make a decision on what you want me to answer."

'Gosh, that was so hot.' I shake my head, pushing my wolf back into the barrier once more.

"Shut up."

"So I shouldn't answer anything at all, then?"

I look up at him in confusion before I realize that I said that out loud. "No, that's not what I meant."

My arms becomes tired and so I decide to drop down the branch. "What's your name?"

"You can call me... Nathan." He says

'Nathan, that's a fine ass name.'

I push my wolf back again and the sharp pain I feel at the side of my head increases, making me wince. I feel like my head is been struck by lightening. I don't know if this is how it feels or it might be worst.

My head vibrates as I fall to the ground, feeling much more pain as she talks.

'It's your fault for locking me out.'

My small groan turns into a scream as I hold my head in place. I feel like it's pulling apart, like I can't hold it together no matter how hard I try.

"Hey, hey. Calm down, let me help you."

I don't realize that he is by my side until I hear his voice closer to me, and a numb touch on my head. It stops, the pulling apart, the slight hum of my wolf and the pain, they all stop and when I look up, I see those dark eyes peering at me as close as they can get.

"Are you alright?" His voice is laced with concern and I jump to my feet as quickly as I can, getting as far away from him with limited time.

My breath comes out in pants as I bolt, continuing to run from the stranger who doesn't seem to be chasing me back. I don't use my time to reason why he isn't behind me. I use my time to run.

My wolf forces my body back, making me stumble a few times but that doesn't stop me from arriving at the palace gates.

I look back at the woods, not seeing any chance for him to follow me and with a deep breath I collect myself back together and walk into the castle.

Immediately I walk past the main gate, I sight him, standing in front of the big doors of the castle with his arms crossed on his chest and his blue eyes trained on me.

It is not the stranger, Nathan. No, he is my uncle and the all powerful wolf king, Sebastian.

I continue walking, ignoring the tugging in my head to the opposite direction, the direction that I came out from, where my mate is. For once in my life, I rather face my enraged uncle than run back to the stranger in the woods.

The thought occurs to me that he can get hurt there, lost even, but I shake it off. My wolf is trying to influence me in going back and I know very clearly that he went there on his own, he can go back safely too, right?

'You're not sure.'

A vivid image of my wolf narrowing her big eyes pops into my head and I shake my head again, tucking the long sleeves of my shirt.

"Shut up."

'Shut up, shut up, shut up. That's the only sentence you know how to say to me, you haven't changed one bit.'

I grit my teeth at her statement. "That's because they are the only words you can understand. I don't want to confuse you and let your head explode out of lack of knowledge." I smile to myself. "Or would you rather that I kill you with my words?"

"What are you talking about, Isabella?"

Again, I don't know why I keep talking to my wolf aloud. She snickers at me when I hear his voice.

'I hope that he chews you up and spits you out, Izzy.'

I ignore her and the images of my funeral is been played in my head by her.

I look down at my feet. "You're going to die with me, you-"

"What's that?" My eyes widen when I hear my uncle's growl, I stepped in front of him when I was talking with my wolf. There is no doubt that he heard what I have been saying.

'No doubt at all.' My wolf snickers. 'Now kill her!"

I want to roll my eyes at her but they are on my uncle and with the much disrespect I have caused I wouldn't be able to go free if I make another one.

"H-Hey, Uncle. What are you doing?" I plaster a smile on my face, not understanding why my voice cracks at the beginning of the statement.

"Where are you coming from? You didn't inform me before you left." My uncle's eyes remains on me. "So tell me, where did you go, Isabella."

"Not to where you are thinking of, uncle." I find myself unable to tell him that I have found my mate. "I went for a run. My wolf needed the feeling of fresh air on her fur."

'Liar.'

I remain still, hoping for no disagreement on his side and unluckiness just keeps biting on my butt.

"You're lying. If you don't tell me the truth I'll let Minerva feed you more butterflies than you had when you were a child."

My aunt had this weird obsession with butterflies when she was pregnant with Ronald, and I paid the cost for it. It was her that made me have a great love for those winged insects but no one knows about this except Summer.

"She will do no such thing."

"Oh yes, she will or I will find something much more-" He stops talking and his eyes moves to my side, at the same time, the alluring scent of the woods and fresh lilies goes into my nostrils.

A heavy arm damps over my shoulder and the fresh scent intensifies. My mind blanks when I hear the stranger's voice

"You don't have to worry about Izzy, she was only paying a visit to her mate... to me."

My wolf doesn't stop her snide remarks.

'I believe the saying goes like this...'

Shit!

'Oh yeah, I am always right."