Chapter 7

• ~ISABELLA'S POV~
• The ride back home was ridden in silence. My parents sat across from me in the carriage, lost in their conversations while I was lost in the wilderness of my imagination.
• Adrian's scent still swirled in my senses and the warmth from his body still surrounded me. My wolf sat at the corner of my mind, still saddened by how AdrIan dismissed our claim.
• If we're being honest, then I'm sad as well but we both know that his dismissal was nothing compared to how I had rejected him.
• My wolf whimpered in pain and the shame held me in a chokehold as the guilt of my actions glared at me. My wolf never wanted to reject Adrian. She never wanted to leave our fated mate. She never wanted Jack but she chose to surrender to the reality of spending the rest of her life with someone she didn't yearn for, because of me.
• “I'm sorry, girl.” I spoke to my wolf, hoping that our telepathic communication could convey how big of a mistake I've made.
• “I will get him back, I promise.” I heard her pur in the back of my mind and tears pricked my eyes.
• Just as the dam behind my eyes was about to break under the weight of my agony, I felt a subtle touch on my hand. I raised my head till I stared into my mother's ocean blue eyes. She had a smile on her face but a pitiful look in her eyes.
• I did need to have my gifts to know who's at the receiving end of her pity.
• “We're home now, princess,” my mother spoke in a calm voice and I looked around to discover that my father was nowhere in the carriage, meaning he had already gone to the Manor. I nodded my head and got out of the carriage just before she did. The maids greeted me as I went up the stairs, ready to retire in my chambers but just as my fingers brushed against the cool surface of the doorknob, my mother spoke behind me.
• “Your father wants to see us in his study.”
• I groaned inwardly at her words and turned to face her with a grim look on my face.
• “Can't it wait till later.”
• She shook her head and a sigh left my lips as we both made our way to my father's study. The clunk sounds our heels made against the floor filled the air till we stopped in front of my father's study.
• I took a deep breath as my mother raised her hand to knock but before her knuckles would connect with the door, it swung open and my father's face came into view. He ushered us into his study and my father sat on his chair while my mother sat on his lap and a pang of jealousy sat in my gut.
• What I would give to have a quarter of what they had.
• You could have had that but you lost it due to your own foolishness.
• The jealousy I felt towards my parents dissolved and my heart ached within me as my subconscious reminded me of what I've lost.
• “Isabella.”
• My father's voice brought me out of my self-pity and I stared into his green eyes. The portraits of every head of the Nite family cast their judgmental eyes on their youngest descendant and I could almost hear the disappointed words leaving their ghostly lips.
• Isabella Nite, only child to dearest Martin and Gina, who has yet to have her gift at the age of 21 and threw her mate to the curb.
• They must all be rolling in their graves.
• “I asked your mother to bring you here because I want to speak with you,” my father spoke in a voice as calm as a pond but as firm as steel and I sank in the chair in front of me, giving him my full attention.
• My father sat in silence while my mother rubbed circles into the skin of his neck. Just when I thought he was about to say something, my father lifted his finger and a spark flew from his finger and hit me in the chest.
• Blinding pain ran through my form and just as I was about to cuss at my dad, He shot another bolt of lightning at me. But this one was far more powerful than the last because the moment it touched my skin, my blood bubbled within my veins and a howl of pain left my lips as I jumped out of the chair and landed ass first on the floor.
• I glared at my father and slowly rose to my feet as anger burned within me.
• “Father, what the hell was that for?!”
• “The first one was for doing the right thing but the second one was for taking so damn long before your senses came back to you.”
• Confused by what my father was talking about, I turned to my mother with a look that asked if she was just going to sit there and do nothing about the actions of her mate but all she did was roll her eyes at me and continued rubbing circles into my father's neck.
• I kissed my teeth and turned to my father and just before words of protest left my lips, he spoke.
• “Adrian.”
• I froze in place and the anger I felt moments ago faded at the sound of his name. I folded my hands against my bosom and turned away from my father.
• “What does he have to do with you striking me?”
• “He has a lot to do with this, because I punished you for what you did to him. Adrian isn't the most beloved Prince in the kingdom and he may be the God of war. His ways on the battlefield may have been demented. But he's a good man and he loved you with every unhinged bone in his body. And you left him for that arrogant wimp.”
• My eyes stung from unshed tears and my heart shattered under the weight of my father's words.
• “I know that I've made a grave mistake. I know that I haven't been rational in my decisions. But you must know that I plan to change, I will do everything right.”
• My parents exchanged glances and it almost seemed as though they were having a conversation only they could hear. But before I could read much into it, my father nodded his head and turned to me with an unreadable expression on his face.
• “Isabella, I'm not going to be here for long. You are my heir and it is only right that you know what is about to happen.”
• But what they don't know is that I already know what is about to happen. I know what he is about to say before he even says it.
• “The Alpha is conflicted on the topic on which of his sons would ascend the throne and since you are not only my heir but also have a connection with the Whitefang family, this matter concerns you.”
• I nodded my head and stared into my father's eyes before picking myself off the floor and headed for the door.
• “Where are you going, Isabella? We were having a…”
• Before either of them could utter another word of protest, I walked out the door and made my descent down the stairs. I stepped out the front door and the rays of sunset shone against my face as I made my way to our carriage.
• “Where to, madam?” My driver asked just as he pulled the door open for me and I sat on the polished leather of the passenger's seat.
• “Whitefang palace.”