"I feel sick" Isabella whispers, her brain is clouded with a million thoughts a minute as she tries to think of the life her poor mother and father left, the fear they must've felt along with the many others who were wiped out simply for being who they are despite it being nothing they could ever control
"I did too," Catherine says sympathetically
"Oh stop it, you stood by him, you support him and what he did to that poor baby!" Isabella says her voice hoarse like she had been screaming for hours when it was simply unshed emotion
"I am guilty like Dominic in a number of things but I have no idea what you are talking about when you mention that baby" Catherine shrugs as if it means absolutely nothing
"You allowed him to kill the baby" Isabella retches thinking about the dream again
"I WOULD NEVER and I will not have you accusing me of that Isabella, I don't care who you are and what you mean to my son, I do not harm children" Catherine booms and for some reason, Isabella instantly believes her but something happened to that baby because he is nowhere to be found... then again, Isabella hadn't been looking.
"What happened then?" Isabella demands answers
"He was adopted out, I don't know much more than that. It was to a couple, an Alpha and Luna of a pack actually, they couldn't have children and there would be no heir to the pack and when your King asks you to take in a child you can't say no - he will have had a good life" Catherine explains, even though this does make Isabella feel slightly better it still doesn't stop the questions spilling off of her tongue
"What are their names, the name of the pack, his name?"
"Oh don't be silly Isabella, how on earth am I to know the silly name they chose?" Catherine pauses as she watches Isabella frown "I'm sorry, look I might know where to find the answers
"The attic," Isabella says instinctively, she barely even registers that she said it but the look of shock on Catherine's face confirms it
"How?"
"A guess"
Things are now incredibly awkward but Isabella thinks of another important question
"The necklace, tell me about that" Isabella asks
"I don't know much about it, it was created by a witch, not the one who... you know but her sister"
"A) what is with all these witches and B) are you about to tell me a story about a good and bad witch who are sisters?" Isabella rolls her eyes at the ridiculousness of it
"Well... yes," Catherine says smiling softly as she realises how crazy it all sounds "she heard what her sister was involved in and wanted to help, she also knew the power people like you held but respected it and was horrified. She nearly killed herself creating that necklace the only downside was that whenever people like you touch it, it lights up with the power from within"
"But what is the point?" Isabella was confused, she used up so much magic and she respected wolves like me then surely she didn't do it to make us more obvious
"I heard a rumour that she created it for a man she loved who had a daughter who had this... affliction, she could see that the girl was harmless, just a normal child and wanted to protect her," Catherine says pointedly and it clicks into place
"My mother? she gave it to protect my mother but how?"
"Yes, there is nothing else like it in the world as far as I am concerned, it holds an unprecedented amount of power but from what I know your mother only saw it as a pretty necklace and never unlocked it, that it why Dominic wanted it so badly, all he ever wanted was power" Catherine looks sad, almost enough to make Isabella feel sorry for her, how would she feel is Hunter did all this?
NO. He wouldn't.
"How did Dominic know the power... nevermind, the witch told him, the bad sister" Isabella answered her own question but soon enough had another
"What was the witches name?" Isabella asked, she needed to find these witches, they had answers that nobody else had
"Of course there was Daphne and the other was called Dasiy but that's as much as I know, I am sure you can't blame me for not wanting anything to do with them. Anytime, I was near her all I could imagine was killing her for taking my mate and the information I did learn was overheard" Catherine shrugs, Isabella could see some sort of relaxation spread over her features as she told more information as if a weight was being lifted off of her shoulders.
"Where do we go from here?" Isabella asked, she had all this information but didn't know where to even to start
"You're Queen Isabella, you need to make that decision" Catherine explains, there is something in her eyes, admiration maybe?
"Out there I am Queen" Isabella places her hand against her chest "In here, I am just a girl who loves and man and her children wanting to know her past and what it all means, how to keep those I love safe"
"Sometimes you have to push those fears back, become a robot and deal with the present matter in hand as a Queen should," Catherine says, it is clear she had to do this many times during her Reign as Queen
"No!" Isabella yells before settling down "You might have had to do that Catherine, I am sorry that you were in a loveless marriage with your mate but things are different with myself and Hunter"
"Is that why you went to meet Alexander without telling Hunter? How is he by the way? You're more like me than you want to admit Isabella, we know what needs to be done and sometimes that involves not telling the men in our lives just like I snook off tonight"
Hearing this made Isabella's head swim, could she really by like Catherine? NO surely not, she didn't want to be anything like that women and yet as she tried to make sense of the information and the tasks she might have to do she was already thinking of how she could get around Hunter without telling him because he was still brazen, act first, think later man that he had always been.
"Don't bring Alexander into this, he is safe from you now" Isabella spits
"He was never in danger from me, in fact, I was the one who kept him safe, ensured he had somewhere to live, food to eat, breath in his lungs because if Dominic ha his way there would be no father for you to speak to" Catherine waited for a moment to let her words sink in "I am a lot closer to Alexander than you would think, I helped him and his mate to escape the castle... you're the first person I ever told that"
"His mate? Who? We found nobody else?" Isabella suddenly alert again, Alexander had had his chance at happiness but what happened?
"My best friend" Catherine tears glisten with tears
"Is everyone involved in this, I'm starting to forget who is who?" Isabella says at a lame attempt at humour
"Remember when I said you were a cruel twist of fate, so was Alice. To this day I do not know how she discovered that Alexander was in the dungeons, she had no reason to go down there. Maybe the pull of her heart to her mate was just that strong but she found him, she would go down every day. Of course, she thought it was a total secret but nothing here is truly a secret and Dominic soon demanded that I talk to my best friend and warn her off, or something would happen - I didn't even want to think about what he would do to her for appearing to sympathise a prisoner. It didn't take her long to break down and tell me everything, she stolen smiles, brief touches of the hand between the bars, it was a heartbreaking tale"
Tears slip out both women eyes at the think about the happiness that was felt in the darkest of times but even Isabella who did not know the full story knew there was heartbreak coming.
"I managed to create a plan for them to see each other in private without it getting back to Dominic, I didn't realise the silly mare would go and get herself pregnant though" Catherine smiles at the memory despite the harsh words, she clearly cared deeply for this woman.
"I can't imagine Dominic let them simply walk out of the castle," Isabella says dryly
"No of course not, I helped them to escape, bought them a house far away to set themselves up in, moved them around a couple of times but Dominic was always on their tails, never far behind, he suspected I was involved but never found evidence to prove it... the night the baby was born they were so happy, well that's what Alexander told me but it was to be short-lived, I didn't even know the baby had been born when I had to call and tell them that Dominic had h, had a tip-off and knew where they were and he was already on his way... poor Alice was just too weak, she forced Alexander to run with the baby, a girl, and she stayed behind and waited for Dominic and his men to turn up"
"How could he leave her?" Isabella didn't judge him but she simply couldn't imagine walking away from Hunter knowing he was in certain danger
"She made him, Alice was amazing, she could convince anyone the sky was purple if she really wanted to. The last thing she told him was the name that the baby was to be called"
Isabella knew she knew deep down the name that would be falling from Catherine's lips...