Our drive didn’t last as long as I anticipated, though my anxiety worsened the closer we got to the large estate we would stay in for Council. Alexander took it as me just being nervous but he didn’t know what I did.
We pulled into a long drive; large sprawling lawns on either side of the road revealed a vast landscape with no one for miles. “There are places like this worldwide for meeting places for the packs. It’s much easier than involving humans in our business. Plus, we can run if we need to.” Alexander spoke, explaining why it was in the middle of nowhere. “It’s hard to rent out spaces for two or three weeks at a time without drawing attention of curse humans.” James added, rolling his window down and taking a deep breath. “Ah… Council is probably my favorite time of year… Get to see forgien hotties that you&rsqu
Gabe and I settled into our room and laid down to take a quick nap. I was asleep before I knew it, and much too soon, Gabe’s alarm was waking us up. I sat up, groaning, “Why? Why was that so fast?”“That makes two of us.” He grumbled, rubbing his face as he sat up in his bed. “I’m taking a shower first,” I hissed, wagging my finger at him and scrambling to the bathroom. “Hey-” He began to complain as I shut the door behind me. I cackled evilly and turned to the shower, turning it on before checking for towels. In the cabinet behind the door, there were several big, white fluffy towels.I quickly undressed and climbed beneath the hot water, and sighed happily. I rolled my head along my shoulders and shifted my feet, the warm water soothing my tense muscles. I felt
I tried my hardest to shake what Maggie said, but it seemed to always be at the back of my mind.We paired off in twos; Alexander thought it would be best if he didn’t pair with me, as he didn’t want people to be staring at me. Though, it didn’t matter. As soon as we appeared in the doorway leading outside, everyone’s eyes were on us. Not just because of the Hunter who left the Guard, but because of the ‘dead’ alpha heir.“Presenting Alpha Alexander, his Beta James, Gamma Adam, and Alpha Heir Isabella.” The man from earlier announced our arrival. Alexander’s usual suave demeanor was replaced with a cold one, and he made it clear that he was not someone to be messed with.I held onto Gabe for dear life as
Eventually, everyone gathered at the table and waited for our meals to arrive. I was surprised that Alexander had decided to sit on the other side of Gabe. From my understanding, he made it very clear that he didn’t want to be associated too close to me, trying to make me less of a target than I already was. I believed it was because of Lachlan’s actions earlier at the bar, but I wasn’t sure.“Tonight, Isabella will take her Alpha oath.” Adam began to explain, “as will Mary. There will be a second one on the last day where all the new wolves take their oaths in front of the King and Queen, making them loyal to them.” I shivered. I did not want to be anywhere near that woman, let alone have to pretend to want to be loyal to her or her husband. “When does that start?” Mary asked, making Adam check his watch. “Soon. It goes from c
The rest of the night went by rather quickly, my head spinning from the number of times I was greeted by people who were excited to meet me. Some were merely excited to meet the future Queen; others knew my family and wanted to extend their happiness to me; I lived. By the time I finally made it back to my room, I had been floating the entire time and had just managed to come back to earth. I plopped on my mattress, kicked my shoes off, and rubbed my face. I thought Alexander said he didn’t want me and him to be associated with one another. What changed? Had something I had done made him think differently? Had I done something to change his fate and not known? “So…” Gabe trailed off, sitting on the edge of his bed. I turned to him, watching as he puffed out his cheeks, “Congrats?” He raised his shoulders, making me scoff. “On what?” “Your engagement?” I sighed at his words, laying on my back and staring up at the ceiling. “I thought you said that Alexander didn’t want us to be known
I sit there, staring at my friend, who was choking on her blood, as the Queen scoffs, “Too weak. She’d never make it as Queen.”“I agree, Your Majesty.” one of her guards replied. The Queen sighs, “Now… We should leave. I’m certain her mate will be here any moment.” With that, they left the room, closing the door behind them. I sat there for a moment longer until I was sure it was clear, then scrambled out from underneath the bed, “Isabella.” I cried, hot tears running now my cheeks. “Ga-Gabe.” She whimpered, “What are you doing-” She began to protest but stopped when I put my hands over her wound to try and stop the bleeding. She was pale and already going into shock. I knew this didn’t look good; what if her vision of Alexander was actually about
Alexander was talking behind me in a hushed voice with one of the doctors, not that I was listening anyway. I stood by the window, arms crossed, staring out the window at the rolling landscape of Scotland. I chewed my lip, feeling very overwhelmed by everything. My body ached, and I knew why; I had been nearly killed again. The most frustrating thing was that no one knew what happened or who was behind it. The only two that knew were Gabe and me. But Gabe was currently in a self-induced coma from some sort of trauma that he had sustained that night. I couldn’t remember anything leading up to being attacked; the blood loss I had sustained, paired with my heart stopping, was the most likely cause of my memory loss. “Thank you.” Alexander murmured, making me turn to see the man shaking my fiance’s hand before leaving us
I felt a hand on my shoulder, “Hey, quit stealing my thunder.” I sit up, blinking. Gabe is sitting in bed, an oxygen tube attached to his nose. “Gabe-” I began to say before he held his hand up. “Before you start, I don’t want to hear it.” He grumbles. His light-colored eyes were glazed over slightly, a sign that he was on pain medication. Gabe scooted over in his bed, patting it, “Get up here.” He sighed as I shifted to squeeze beside him.He wrapped his arm around me, “So,” he trails off, squeezing me, “we almost died.”“Again.” I grumbled. “The first time wasn’t real, we were just overdramatic.” We laughed softly together. “We shouldn’t have drank that much,” I reply quietly. He scoffs, “R
I sat there, staring at Lachan blankly. “Uh, yes?” I made a face at him, “Why?” Lachlan shrugged, “Mates don’t typically just toss their mates against walls like that… That’s all.” He shrugged again, leaning back in his chair. I shook my head, “Don’t change the damn subject, Lachlan. You can’t just gloss over telling me that you and Alexander are half siblings-” “I can and I will.” He tutted, shaking a finger at me. “Besides, like I said, it’s not a fairytale story. Besides, Alexander is the only one who even partially accepts me as his sibling.” He revealed. My face fell, “His other siblings don’t like you?” “They're threatened by me. Alexander and I were only a few months apart, I was nearly heir to their pack. Though, it took years for our father to learn of my existence. It’s one of the reasons he and Amelia hate each other now. More so on Amelia’s end.” He laughed, shaking his head, “Regardless, Alexander is still older than I am. Amelia just hates me because I’m a bastard chi
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