She made Isaac stay behind, when she went to talk to them. She hadn’t expected to be seized in an enthusiastic, heartfelt hug by the foreign Princess, or for her father — her father — to also have their same eyes.
She didn’t know what to say to them, after that. The Kentish Prince — her father — talked, instead. About how they’d never expected to find her, how she’d been mourned as dead, how she’d been kidnapped at the age of three and never seen again. How miracles happened, and how glad her mother would be to see her, how much they had to catch up on. How grateful he was to Derek Hale for protecting her, but of course she would be coming home with them.
There was a whole kingdom waiting for her to come home.
Isaac clenched his jaw and curled his fingers into loose fists as he hovered by Summer, feeling more like an outsider now than he had ever done with the Hales. But he couldn’t begrudge his beloved her true family, and no matter what she chose, he would stand by her all the way.
But then the latter words of the Prince registered, and he cast said male an unflinching glare of betrayal, eyes wide with anger as he bit down on his bottom lip to try and stifle any protest that might escape him in that moment. Of course she wouldn’t be going with them, not without a fight on his part. But then, if she truly wanted to go back home, who was he to stand in the way of that?
“Summer…?”
Isaac’s voice guided her out of the unseeing shock of her father’s words. She reached behind, grabbing his hand and curling her fingers into his. “I — I need to think about it,” she stumbled, eyes wide and brows creased. It was hard enough here at Hale Castle, where everyone knew her history and was kind to her, helping her become the kind of lady Isaac needed.
Going away to a land where the expectations would be much higher — Summer wasn’t sure she could do it. But the way her … her sister’s face fell, her twin — the thought of not being with her twin was as painful as the thought of not being with Isaac.
“Of course, this is a shock to you,” Winter said compassionately, the pained expression gone from her face as if it had never been. She didn’t even glance at Isaac. “Perhaps we can speak more after the evening meal.”