All Chapters of The Beta's Forsaken Daughter : Chapter 71 - Chapter 77

Isabella POVThe noise coming from the courtyard was so loud it shook the glass in the dressing room windows. Thousands of people had gathered outside the palace gates, shouting, waving flags, and waiting for the King to make his speech.Vespa was quickly pulling the laces on my gown tight, while Clover pinned tiny diamond stars into my dark hair. I was wearing a deep crimson velvet dress with a soft gold trim, looking every bit like the royal favorite everyone expected to see."You look breathtaking, Isabella," Vespa whispered, adjusting my sleeves with trembling hands. "The whole city is out there. They are chanting your name alongside His Majesty's.""Let them chant," I said softly, looking at my reflection in the long mirror. "It just makes the show bigger."A knock sounded at the door before it swung open, and Killian stepped into the room. He had changed into his dark velvet coat, embroidered with the royal crest across his chest. He looked impossibly tall and broad, his golden

Isabella POV"Too sweet," I declared, setting the silver dessert fork down with a sharp, metallic clatter against the porcelain plate.The royal head chef, a rotund man currently sweating through his crisp white collar, flinched as if I had personally insulted his lineage. "Lady Isabella, that is the candied violet buttercream, imported directly from—""It coats the tongue like lard and hides the actual flavor of the sponge," I said smoothly, dabbing the corners of my mouth with a embroidered linen napkin. "We are hosting over two hundred high nobility and pack leaders for four days. If the dessert course leaves them feeling heavy, they will be too sluggish to dance during the evening ball. Try the dark blackberry glaze with the roasted almond flour instead." Eldridge, standing two paces behind my left shoulder, immediately made a quick note on a long roll of parchment with a gold fountain pen. "A brilliant adjustment, My Lady. I shall inform the bakeries at once."The grand banquet

Isabella POVThe royal carriage carrying the Eclipse Pack leadership pulled into the inner courtyard just as the sun began to dip below the horizon.I stood at the top of the grand marble steps, wearing a heavy dark emerald gown with the heavy gold sigil ring shining on my hand. Killian stood right beside me, his arm wrapped loosely around my waist, his broad shoulders blocking out the evening light.The carriage doors opened, and Alpha Kaelen stepped out first, followed by my mother, my father, Lyra, and Blaine.Lyra wore a bright silk dress, trying her best to look like high nobility, while Blaine walked beside her looking pale, miserable, and visibly worn down. Because of his exposed affairs, the elders had stripped him of his right to ascend to Alpha, leaving him trapped in a bitter, worthless marriage to Lyra. I have to crush his hole of dreaming that he could ever be the Alpha of the Eclipse pack again and this very wedding is my chance. As they walked up the steps, Alpha Kaele

Isabella POVThe morning of the Royal Welcome Banquet, the palace hall was buzzing with movement as the final departing carriages pulled out of the courtyard gates.The remaining candidates from the Iridescent Wolf Ball were officially making their exits, their lavish trunks packed and loaded onto royal wagons. After Killian's announcement of full monetary compensation and land deeds, most of the females were leaving with bright smiles, eager to claim their new wealth.I stood on the upper balcony overlooking the grand foyer, watching the line move out.Light footsteps sounded on the polished floor behind me. I turned to see Princess Valerie walking toward me, her usual sharp posture slightly softer than before. Walking two paces behind her was Nora, her arms crossed tight over her chest, her face pale and her jaw locked tight."Isabella," Princess Valerie began, stopping a polite distance away. She bowed her head slightly, a rare gesture of genuine respect from the King's sister. "B