Chapter 4

ISABELLE'S POV

Present…

It was three hours to nightfall by now, and I gasped aloud as Millie tightened the corset around my waist. I'd forgotten how hard it was to breathe in it.

My mind wandered to Michael's plans for tonight. In a way, it was sort of comedic how he would propose to me a second time without knowing it. And I wondered if I'd be able to see the signs—any signs that he didn't really love me. Maybe a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes or a kiss that didn't last long enough. Anything.

Oh well, I couldn't think about that for now. All I had to do was expose him. If I could get his councillors on my side, they would offer me protection. Why wouldn't they? I'd been the healer from the moment I'd learned to heal a knife wound. But would they pick me over their Alpha?

"And there," Millie beamed from behind me, staring at my reflection in the mirror. I looked almost the same as the last time I wore this stunning dress. Except then, I had a smile glued to my face. Right now, all I could think of was stopping this engagement and the dread of possibly dying tomorrow.

"You look absolutely stunning, Your Grace," Millie gasped, taking in the sight of her work. A small smile tugged at my lips.

"You say that every time, Millie," I told her, glancing over my shoulder.

"And every time it's true," she chuckled. "The Alpha is so lucky to have you."

My smile faltered for half a second. "He is, isn't he?" I said softly, tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear. My mind travelled to this morning—how worried Millie must have been about me, how scared she seemed when I accused her.

I bit my lip tenderly, then turned to her. "Millie, about earlier today. I'm sorry about how insane I was acting," I apologised. "Things are just…hard for me." Though I knew she wouldn't understand. There was no way anyone in the world would.

"Water under the bridge. I could never take offense to you," she admitted, her smile growing wider than before. I watched as she picked up a tablecloth and wiped down the surface of nearly every piece of furniture in the room. If there was one thing she liked, it was keeping herself busy.

"Millie," I called, curiosity lacing my voice. "Have you ever heard of wolves being reborn?"

She stopped cleaning the coffee table and set the cloth down, staring into my eyes tentatively as if deciding what I meant by that question.

"Rebirth?" she repeated. "It's nothing but a myth. Or at the very least, a legend. Why do you ask?"

I shrugged my shoulders, forcing a smile. "I was just curious. I was spending a lot of time in the libraries and came across it in a journal." The lie came out so effortlessly I almost hated myself for it. Was Michael rubbing off on me?

"Have we received word from my sister?"

"Miss Lyra?" she asked, failing to hide the contempt in her voice as she spoke. It was no secret that most of the staff were not huge fans of my sister. I wasn't either. And it didn't help her case that she had watched me die—and helped in my murder.

"Surely she wouldn't miss today's celebration." How could she? It would be a chance for her to see Michael without it causing too much suspicion. It made me wonder if they had been with each other during the first proposal. Maybe they had been entangled with each other's bodies while I was busy playing the host in the Grand Hall. The thought of it made me sick.

"I don't think she sent a letter, Your Grace," Millie shared, not bothering to fake a hint of sadness. Then she paused once again, her eyes rising to meet mine. Her gaze seemed to penetrate deep into my soul—like a detective who was in the same room as her suspect.

"How did you know the Alpha was going to propose tonight?"

My lips parted, but not a word could come out. "Oh…just a feeling," I responded, no doubt after several seconds had passed. That answer seemed to satisfy her. She had a dreamy look in her eyes and held her hands close to her bosom.

"My mother used to say that mates' thoughts and intentions are intertwined. He must love you so for your minds to be as one," she swooned.

I nearly laughed. "Oh, I'm sure Michael loves me to the moon and back."

The sky was painted in rich orange and red hues by the time Millie escorted me to the Grand Hall where the party was to be held. Right now, it looked nearly bare. Decorations hadn't been hung up, glasses hadn't been laid on the tables, and only Michael and his Council members stood at the center.

His lips curled into a smile when he saw me, his eyes drinking up the sight. I felt my skin crawl when he stared at me like that.

"Darling," he gasped, making his way toward me and planting a kiss on my forehead before placing a firm hand on the small of my back. "The engagement isn't starting for two hours. What are you doing here?"

"There's something important I'd like to discuss with you," I replied, my expression cold and serious.

Millie immediately bowed her head. "Your Grace." She understood the dismissal and quietly left.

Michael's playful features were replaced by a small frown. He cocked a brow at me.

"I'm at a meeting with the council," he said. "Can it wait?"

I shook my head and stepped to the side. "No. It can't wait. They need to be here to hear this."

Something flickered in his eyes. Suspicion. Then it disappeared as quickly as it came. "Is something wrong?"

I stared directly at him. Into the eyes of a killer. "Yes." This time, there was no point in lying.

Michael kept his arm slinked around me, leading me toward the council.

The ancient wolves stood beneath towering pillars, dressed in dark robes. They had served beneath Alphas for generations. Their faces were lined with age after multiple years of frowning. And each one of them looked as though they'd been doing this since Michael's father was a pup.

One of them, who I recognized as Nathaniel, was the first to acknowledge us.

"Alpha."

The council bowed. Nathaniel's gaze shifted to me.

"What could possibly be so important that it disrupts our gathering?" he asked. He eyed me tentatively, as though I were a stain on his garments. Regardless, I steeled myself for the worst. This one moment determined my fate in this pack. And perhaps, my future. If I still had one.

"I don't want to go on with the engagement."

Silence.

Michael turned to me.

"What?" he asked incredulously. The confusion on his face was so convincing that I almost doubted myself. Almost. Then I remembered the feeling of his fingers around my throat. Lyra's sneering face. The balcony. The ocean…

The blood.

A murmur swept through the council, and some shot glances at me that sent shivers down my spine.

Nathaniel held up his hand, silencing them at once.

"This is unheard of. And more importantly, it is not how things are done." He peered at me through the small slits in his face. "Is there a reason you've decided to postpone the engagement?"

"No. I'm not postponing it. I'm cancelling it. For good." I turned my head to Michael, whose face remained unreadable. "I can't marry you," I said softly.

He scoffed loudly, and for a second, I saw the disguise of love leave his eyes. Then it was gone.

"What are you saying? Ever since you woke up, you haven't been thinking clearly."

"I beg your pardon, but this is the clearest I've ever been thinking," I retorted, suppressing the urge to scowl at him.

Nathaniel raised a brow, silently demanding an explanation.

"This man wants me dead," I yelled, unable to look at him.

The hall went silent.

Michael's face didn't change. But his eyes did. For the shortest moment, there was an expression in them that I'd only seen before he killed an enemy. Then it disappeared.

"I apologize, Councillors," he said calmly. "My fiancée has clearly suffered some confusion after her illness."

Fiancée? The word made my stomach flip.

"I'm not confused!" I snapped. "He's been plotting against me with my sister. They—"

Michael's hand closed around my arm hard. I winced in pain, but he pulled me closer to him.

"Be very careful about what you say next. I won't be able to protect you if you go against the councillors," he murmured. Only I heard him say those words. And perhaps it wasn't what he said but the way he said it that made my blood run cold.

Nathaniel's expression remained unreadable.

"Those are serious accusations. And against an Alpha at that."

"They're true!" I defended, ripping my arm out of Michael's hold. It was unnerving how calm he was.

"Do you have any proof?" the second councillor, Sven, questioned me.

All eyes turned to me. Including Michael's.

"Proof? I should wait until they've killed me before you believe me?" I asked in absurdity, searching their faces for at least a drop of humanity.

"Perhaps we should look into her words, Nathaniel," Sven considered, stroking his beard as he looked to his associate. "They might hold some truth. I'm not suggesting that the Alpha is guilty. But her sister, on the other hand…"

Nathaniel turned to him and scoffed, and his eyes met mine with a hard, cold glare. There were rumors of some of the council members working hand in hand with the Alphas of the past, covering things up. But I hadn't imagined that it would occur right in front of me.

Was Nathaniel one of them? Had I played my cards to the wrong people? One thing was certain though: I'd failed.

"No proof? You come accusing an Alpha without proof and expect us to condemn him based on your word alone?" His gaze swept over me. "Words from just a mere woman at that," Nathaniel said dismissively. He gave a silent command to the guards behind us.

"Take her away."

My heart stopped. "What?"

I stumbled backward, but one of them caught my wrist. His fingers clamped around it tightly.

"Let go of me!" I screamed, using my strength to pull out of their grips to no avail. The second guard seized my other arm, and suddenly I was trapped between them.

"This isn't fair!" I struggled against their grip, looking to the council for mercy just the way I looked at Michael before he dropped me to my death. "I've done nothing wrong!"

They forced my wrists behind my back and bound them together with ropes.

"I've given everything to this pack," I pleaded, hot tears running down my cheeks. "Why would I destroy all of that by lying?"

Nathaniel barely looked at me. "An Alpha cannot trust anyone. Not even his own mate, it seems."

A quiet chuckle came from one of the other councillors. "You have to admire her confidence."

Confidence?

I was terrified. Was this the end for me again? What were they going to do to me this time? In my quest to avoid death, had I somehow pushed my dying date to today?

"Please." My voice broke. "You have to believe me."

The guards started dragging me toward the doors like a common criminal.

"No!" I screamed, digging my heels into the floor.

"You don't understand! They're going to kill me!" I laughed maniacally, holding on to the last few strings of sanity I had left. I was going to die again, wasn't I?

Nobody moved. Nobody tried to help me. After everything I'd dedicated toward this pack, they'd just let me perish like this. No…no. They couldn't do this to me.

"Please!" I cried again. "You can't take me away. They'll find me. They'll—"

My voice cracked. "They'll kill me. I don't want to die. I can't die."

The doors were getting closer, and I twisted desperately in the guards' grip.

"Let me go!"

Then my eyes found his. Michael. My mate.

He hadn't moved an inch. He didn't try to protect me. He stood exactly where I'd left him, watching as his guards dragged me away. His expression was unreadable.

There wasn't a hint of anger. A drop of fear, or a whiff of concern. He was as responsive as a brick wall.

"Michael."

His eyes met mine. Something inside me snapped like a string that had been pulled on for too long.

"I hate you. I hate you so much."

His jaw tightened, and a vein bulged at the side of his neck.

"I won't let you get what you want! You won't taste a drop of my blood."

The guards yanked me forward again, and I cried as the ropes bit into my flesh.

"Lyra can't help you!" I screamed. "She can't save you. I'm the only one who can!"

His eyes darkened as he watched me lose myself.

"She's going to let you die alone!"

The entire hall went silent.

And then, I saw it. A tiny light in his eyes. The crack in his armour and composure. I'd found something that could hurt him. His pride wasn't strong enough to shield him from the fear of death.

I smiled through my tears.

"That's right." I raised my voice. "You heard me! You're going to die a worse death than me."

I pulled myself forward, managing a meager three steps before the guards took control again.

"And if you take me away, I swear I'll come back!" I twisted around one last time, taking note of each of their faces. "I'll destroy every single one of you!"

"Enough." His voice was dangerously quiet.

The guards stopped.

For one brief second, hope flickered inside me. Maybe he was going to stop them. Maybe he'd finally admit the truth.

Instead, Michael looked directly at the guards.

"Silence her."

My breath hitched in my throat.

"Michael—"

Something struck the back of my head. The room lurched sideways. The council blurred. As did Michael. The last thing I saw was his face staring back at me.

And then—darkness.

And who knows? Perhaps I would've died again if one of the guards hadn't taken pity on me and brought me to the woods instead.

Who knows where I would've been if he hadn't?

I have a gift for avoiding death. I suppose I should count myself lucky for managing it two times. Not a lot of people get that far. Michael thinks I'm dead. So does Lyra and the councillors. Actually, the entire pack believes I died of an illness. That I fell asleep one night and never woke up again.

According to the guard who rescued me, my funeral is supposed to be tomorrow. They'll lower a coffin with a dead body in it that looked eerily similar to mine and have a memorial service for how faithfully I served my pack as a healer. People will mourn my passing. Michael and Lyra will as well. They'll both say heartfelt things about me before sealing the lid.

Nemphus, the guard, lied to the councillors and the Alpha that he'd killed me and presented them with a fake body. And when I asked him why he went through all that trouble for me, he simply said: "You healed my mother and brother once. And I never forgot the favour."

Now I'm a fugitive. If Michael finds me, he'll have both me and Nemphus beheaded. If any of the councillors find me, we'll be burned at the stake.

"Where can I go that I'll be safe?" I asked him, taking a drink of water he'd offered me.

"Stay in the woods for a day or so," he began, drawing out his plan with a stick in the dirt. "Then escape to the human realm. You'll be entirely safe there."

I thanked him, tears of gratitude springing from my eyes as I looked to him. I was short of people to trust. Everyone I'd ever known was either trying to kill me or loyal to the people trying to keep me dead. But Nemphus? I could tell that he was trustworthy. Something about his demeanour stood out to me. And if I wanted revenge the right way, I needed as many allies as I could gather.

"Take this with you," he said, offering me a small sharp knife. I took it in my hands and stared at it, wondering what I would need it for. "There's wild animals in these woods. You got to be careful, Your Grace."

"There's no need to call me that," I sniffed, turning away from him and toying with the torn hem of my dress. It was ripped almost to shreds, covered in leaves, mud, and dirt. Everything I'd ever known had somehow rejected me. I was no Luna. I didn't have that title anymore.

"It is my duty to serve and protect the royal family, regardless of how they lost their title," he said to me with a smile on his face.

I never saw Nemphus again after that. But each day, I prayed to the Moon Goddess that she protect him until I return. Until I come back to this dreadful place and take back what is rightfully mine.