I sat there at the table for longer than I ever wanted, listening to conversations that I knew nothing about. In a weird way, I liked that I was included, but I didn't want to be here at the same time. Maggie and Adam were talking about some sort of ceremony in a month's time, my Aunt Adelaide had left the table to talk with Leah and Charlotte about dresses being altered or something. So I was left alone to wonder when I would be able to leave, I was dreadfully tired still, my body even sorer right now than it was a few hours ago. I had eaten enough to fill my stomach for now, and all I wanted to do was go back to my appointed room to be alone. But that didn't seem to be an option. "Isabella," James's voice spoke from beside me, "nice to see you alive." I turned to look at him, "If this is your version of conversation, please, go make it with someone else." I rolled my eyes. Something about James made my blood boil, he was just naturally annoying for some reason. I heard Adam snort,
I sat on the edge of Alexander's bed, puffing out my cheeks as I waited for him to finish his shower. His threat bounced around my mind like a ping-pong ball. Was he even as attracted to me as I was to him? Pulling my knees to my chest, I stared at the dark wall. I didn't know what to do, I definitely didn't want to look around his room, I didn't want him to get angry with me. I really didn't want to be on that end of the stick, I saw firsthand what it could turn into. And there was no way I would be able to survive that, no way. I thought Alexander was going to be peaceful and try to end things without an altercation, but instead, James took the violent path and was most likely hurting right about now. I jerked, the noise of the bathroom door opening suddenly made me drop my legs, so fast that I almost fell out of the bed. "I'm surprised you're still here." Alexander rumbled, crossing the room to his closet. I noticed he was only in a towel, his hand keeping a firm grip on his cloth
I was left alone in my bedroom, and Alexander dropped me off without a word. He was silent after our heart-to-heart earlier. I was baffled and hurt that he didn't bother to stay or even offer to help me find my way to the dining hall.Maggie ended up coming to gather me for breakfast, and even she was quieter than usual. "Mags?" I murmured, encouraging her as we headed to the breakfast hall. She peeked over at me for a moment but didn't reply. "Maggie, what's up? Why are you so quiet?" I questioned, tugging her arm and forcing her to look at me. She finally sighed, "They're having to mark James." She mumbled. I made a confused face, "What? What's a mark?" "It's something you do not want to get in this world, Bella. It's a sign of incredible disrespect." She described, picking at the hem of her shirt. "An Alpha Mark is when you are found guilty of directly going against your Alpha. And James already has one." "What does that mea
I assisted Maggie with taking her things back to her room after our lengthy shopping day. "God, I had so much fun!" She giggled, flopping on her bed as she kicked off her shoes. I bobbed my head at her but couldn't contain my smile. "Finally, something normal." She sighed, sitting up to look at me and then to her bags. "You wanna help me put this stuff away?" I snorted, "Yeah, we both know that's a terrible idea. You'd rearrange everything that I did, and it would take way longer than it would have if you did it yourself." She nodded her head, "Yeah, you're right... Well, I'll see you at dinner then." I left her alone in her room to put her things away to go to my own room. I was hanging my dress up, admiring the red color of the fabric. As much as I wanted to give my stuffy, stuck-up cousin the ultimate f-you, maybe red wasn't my color? The dress
We stood there for a moment, just staring at one another for a while before she spoke up. “I want to apologize for the things my sister has done to you or said.” She began, “I just want to let you know that we’re not all like that.” I shook my head and crossed my arms, “Mary, you shouldn’t have to apologize for what your sister has said to me- or anyone. She needs to be held accountable for her own actions.” She smiled sheepishly at me, “I know, but I don’t want you to feel like we’re all that way… I want to be friends with you- I’ve never had friends outside of Leah’s.” I frowned, “Just because they’re Leah’s friends doesn’t make them yours, Mary.”How controlling was Leah?She giggled, “Well, you’re quite limit
I took a deep breath, looking at Adam as he held the aged red book in his palm, “...ranking is crucial to understanding how Pack society and relationships are established. Because you may rank high doesn’t make you entitled. It means you have more responsibilities, duties, things like that.” I rested my cheek on my fist, trying my hardest to pay attention to my Uncle’s lecture. Alexander’s compromise was more that I had to do one thing: to be free. And that one thing was I had to spend my days, seven days a week, sitting in a school room, getting one-on-one schooling on basic principles of pack life and how basically to be a werewolf. Since I lacked the understanding and general knowledge, Adam was tasked with teaching me since he was my family and because he had already taught the older kids Pack’s version of Government during the summer. So, to be able to do what I wanted when I wasn’t in ‘class’, I had to endure 5 hours of a lecture. Not only did I have to do it every single day
I watched as Maggie peeled out of the parking lot, leaving Alexander and me alone. I puffed out my cheeks awkwardly, “So uh… what do we do?” He chuckled and shook his head, “We go home.” I eyed him as he swung his keys on his pointer finger. I nodded my head, “Right.” I followed behind him to his parked vehicle, opened the door, and let myself in. Just as I was about to close the door, it shut behind me, causing me to jump and stare at the window. Alexander stood there, a slight smirk on his face. I glared at him before he left to walk around the front of the car to climb in the driver's seat. I grumbled to myself as I buckled in, “You didn’t have to slam it.” Alexander drove back toward the pack house, driving the speed limit, much to my surprise. I thought he would be one of the types to speed everywhere. And just like the lack of speeding surprised me when he turned in the opposite direction of the house, I turned to look at him. “Where are we going? The Packhouse is that way.”
When we finally returned home, Alexander remained silent. It was like he had a word cap. Did he regret what he said to me? He couldn’t have, right? “There you are!” Maggie cheered, bouncing down the stairs of the Packhouse. I shut the jeep door behind me and watched as she bound up to me. “Here I am.” I snorted, letting her grab me by the wrist, “Come on, I wanna show you something.” She pulled me away from the car, not allowing me to tell Alexander bye before leading me into the house. I tossed a look over my shoulder at Alexander as he climbed out of his vehicle, watching us as we left him alone. “Maggie, where are you taking me?” I demanded as she tugged me toward my room, “I want to show you something! So just keep your mouth shut and witness your surprise!” “What?” She rolled her eyes and ignored me now. I heaved an annoyed sigh and allowed her to lead me to my room. “You’re going to love it!” She squealed as she stood me in front of my room, “I already know what I got, thou
Thank you so much for reading my book! I hope you've enjoyed it and are looking forward to book! I hope everyone will come back to read the next book! I am happy to have finished writing this book heh. It's been a long year, with lots of trials and tribulations. All the while, I have managed to update at least, twice weekly. Anyway, I wanted to extend my gradtitude toward everyone who has read my book. It means a lot, really.Until next time!What will Isabella get up to in the next book... :) I can't wait to share When the Night Calls Your Name with you all very, very soon! Keep an eye out for it!
I watched as Maggie began to fall, but I caught her before hitting the ground. “Maggie,” I whispered, looking down to see a vertical slash in her abdomen. “Hey there.” She chuckled, grimacing. I felt blood warming my thighs as I cradled her. “What were you thinking-” I began to say but she stopped me. “I couldn’t let you come in here empty-handed,” she patted the pocket of my slacks. I followed her hand to feel something inside. I frowned and dug inside the pocket to feel cool metal against my fingertips, “Maggie, you didn’t.” “Alexander’s always prepared. So this time, I came prepared. Call it a mother’s intuition.” I pulled out the metal bracelet that I had given her as a kid. “Nothing in the rules about regifting, bitch.” Maggie raised her hand to the Queen, flipping her the bird. She laughed to herself before grunting, coughing up blood. “The barrier will be up in a few minutes, j
I watched as a blonder version of Alexander appeared, “Alex! You gots a boo boo!” a cute toddler announced, small hands appearing as they clasped the air, “Up!” Alexander grinned, reaching down and sweeping me into his arms. Alexander looked to be about 23; he was built and rugged, wearing all black then as he did now. The only thing that changed was his physical appearance.“I guess we can play for a little bit before we have to go back. “What happened?” I poked his face, “Oh, I was practicing and fell.” He smiled at me softly. The memory faded and was replaced by other children, “Bella! Come play with me!” A young girl begged, I recognized her face, it was the girl from my vision. “Only if I get to play with my barbie, Margo.” I chastised, “Oh, ok.” The curly-headed girl rolled her eyes, handing
The Council members had left a while ago, leaving us alone to chatter among ourselves. Gabe had come to stand next to us, “Did I say something wrong?” He asked after a while. Adam shook his head, “No. Gabe, you didn’t. Beta Cass just knows when to call his objections.” Adam rolled his eyes, “Cocky prick.”“This could work out in our favor,” Lachlan shrugged, scooting back on the table to grab one of the folders in front of Adam. “if the Queen tries anything inside the circle, then she admits to her guilt.” He murmurs, “if she doesn’t, then she looks guilty as well.”“Wait, wait, circle?” I asked, glancing between Alexander and Lachlan, who looked up at Alexander from under his lashes. “Oh, c’mon. You didn’t te
I didn’t sleep much, but Alexander slept well as he always did. My nerves were shot, and I was nervous. Would the Council reject our case? What would happen if they did? I took a deep breath before moving to the edge of the bed, watching as the sun began to settle below the trees.There was a knock at the door, the sound made me whip my head toward the door. “Come in.” Alexander’s voice spoke behind me. I twisted to see him looking up at me, his arms behind his head. “Hurry and get dressed.” Lachlan’s voice chirped from the entryway. “Court’s starting early. Apparently they have a lot to talk about tonight.” I sighed, climbing out of the bed and going to my outfit that had been laid out for the night. “Night two.” I muttered to myself as I gathered my clothes and headed to the bathroom to get ready.
I followed Lachlan back to the house, unsure of how to feel about anything at the moment. There was a lot that Alexander still was hiding from me, and everyone had told me that there was a reason he did. Including Lachlan. There was truth to what they had said, everything that I had learned, the things that Alexander didn’t want me to know, did end up upsetting me. Like the possibility of my dad still being alive. It hurt that he knew that my dad could still be alive somewhere out there, and hid it from me. What was the reason? What could he want to protect me from that was so important than telling me that I wasn’t alone? That I still had a family?We entered the house, the once lively halls now silent because of the trial happening. Lachlan wordlessly led me to Alexander’s room, keeping whatever smart comments he was thinking to himself. At least he knew there was a time a
The rest of the hearing went by in a blur; I couldn’t think clearly. There was so much information that I had never even known about swirling around my mind that it was difficult to comprehend. The one that hurt the most was that Alexander knew that there was a possibility of my dad being alive and never told me.He knew that it bothered me, and so he tried to speak to me as the hearing adjourned for the night, but I didn’t want to hear it. I shot up from my chair and briskly walked back down the path we had walked up, our pack members who had joined us at Council watching in silence. I was angry. I was hurt. I felt betrayed by someone who shouldn’t have done things to me. I wanted to punch him; I wanted to hit him, I wanted him to feel the way I felt at the moment.I wiped the angry tears that spilled d
I stand in the mirror of Alexander’s room, dressed in a simple outfit. Most of the outfits I had prepared were too formal to wear to a court hearing. So, instead, I opted for a simple blouse and slack combo. Simple and effective. My hair was loose around my shoulders, and I wore basic makeup. Adam insisted I look as plain and unassuming as possible; it’ll look better to the Council. I heard someone shift beside me, making my eyes bounce to the door to see Alexander leaning against the doorframe. He wore a dark blue dress shirt and black slacks, his usual. Something in my heart began to ache, but I wasn’t sure what it was. “You ready?” He asked, his voice soft. I nodded my head, “Yeah….” I twisted to look at him, watching as he held his hand out to me, “Follow me.” I trailed behind him, holding his hand tightly as he guided me down the hallways and outside. A path was lit up by small lanterns guiding us into the forest. It was ominous. Adam was in tow, suitcase in hand, as he followe
As promised, Adam returned a few hours later to break down what would happen later tonight. “I need you to pay close attention, Isabella,” Adam spoke, scooting my bowl of food closer to me. “This trial is very, very, very serious. So we must prepare you as best as we can beforehand.” I shifted in my chair, looking over to Alexander, who was leaning against the window. He nodded his head at me once, confirming that Adam was not wrong.Alexander had petitioned for me to return back to my room. The nurses didn’t like that, but after finding out that not only I was a nurse and that Gabe was as well, they finally let me go. I was still fragile, but I could feel my strength returning gradually. My hearing and sense of smell were also coming back.“Because the Crown is involved with the matter