The ballroom was so crowded with awful gentlemen, Isabelle couldn’t even breathe without inhaling the scent of the men she didn’t want anything to do with. The only reason she had even put herself in the running for a partner was so that no one else in her family had to. Alec was already happy in his love affair with Prince Magnus and Jace wasn’t even remotely ready to settle down away from his… wayward ways. For the first time in her life, it was her turn to take responsibility for the family she loved so much.

She knew that this was her only hope but she really wished she wasn’t out of options.

“What’s got you thinking so hard, Shadowhunters Lightwood?” Isabelle turned abruptly to see Alpha Maia Roberts lurking behind her, a glass of champagne in her hand.

“Alpha Roberts,” Isabelle said with the appropriate amount of respect. Maia waved her off and leaned against one of the pillars out in the garden. “I apologize for not welcoming you sooner. I didn’t realize you were–”

“I meant for you not to know. I come out here to be alone,” she responded, not-so-politely as Isabelle was trying to be. “I didn’t realize that the Lightwood Prize would be avoiding all of those doting suitors inside,” she commented, taking a large sip of her champagne.

“I’m not avoiding,” Isabelle argued, “I’m simply getting some fresh air. Isn’t that why you are out here?”

Maia shrugged. “I was out here to make some unduly impure connections with one of the opera singers providing our entertainment tonight.”

“Alpha Roberts!” Isabelle said, mouth agape at the admission.

“Please, just call me Maia. I’m merely here to pretend I’m a lady in need of a suitor, not actually be one,” she responded with a smirk on her painted lips. “From the way you practically fled from Warlock Rey, I assumed I would find similar company as my opera singer became otherwise engaged with Shadowhunter Branwell.”

Isabelle shook her head violently as she stuttered, “I– Me? No, I’m– This feels like a trap.”

“It’s not a trap, Ms. Lightwood. I simply thought you might be a kindred spirit in these disagreeable circumstances.”

“Kindred? How?” Isabelle asked. She found herself intrigued by Alpha Roberts–Maia, she corrected herself. She was one of the most eligible suitors in the ballroom and only the best had their eyes set on the Alpha. She held power someone like Isabelle could only wish for and a name that everyone wanted as their own.

“You seem to want to be here less than I do, and believe me, that’s a task in itself.”

“You don’t want to be here?” Isabelle asked, taking a seat on one of the benches in the garden and smoothing out her much-too-poofy dress. Maia scoffed and sauntered over, sitting beside Isabelle and offering her the champagne glass. Isabelle averted her eyes as was polite and shook her head slowly.

“You’re telling me you do?”

“I didn’t say that,” Isabelle answered a bit too quickly. Maia smiled at the eagerness of her response, either way.

“Knew it,” Maia whispered proudly to herself. Isabelle rolled her eyes and before Maia could say more, reached for the champagne glass to bring to her lips. She took a slow sip, Maia’s eyes boring into her with every gulp. “I have been watching you, Isabelle Lightwood.”

“You have?” Isabelle asked suspiciously, coughing a bit when the bubbles trapped themselves in the back of her throat. “I didn’t think you were interested in a suitor…”

“Oh, don’t hear me wrong, I am more interested in eating a pound of chocolate than gaining a spouse,” Maia said with disgust. Isabelle giggled at the image that conjured in her mind, pressing her lips closed when she realized it probably wasn’t the best idea to laugh at the powerful werewolf. “Rumor around the gossip mill is that you’re the one tasked to replenish the Lightwood family name, is that true?”

“That’s not–” Before Isabelle could finish, Maia raised an eyebrow as if she was already sensing the lie about to leave Isabelle’s lips. “I have a lot of pressure placed on me–more than I assumed I would–and the acceptable suitors aren’t exactly lining up to take that on.”

“I have a proposition for you,” Maia began. Isabelle immediately shook her head and stood, smoothing out her dress.

“I will not accept your sympathy, Alpha Roberts, nor will I put my family at risk so that you–”

“Allow me to finish before you assume my intentions, Shadowhunter Lightwood,” Maia interrupted, following behind Isabelle to stand.

“I’m sorry, Alpha– Maia, please finish.”

“I want nothing more than to leave this forsaken city without a suitor following me like a lost puppy. From what I’m gathering, all you want is a suitor who doesn’t smell vaguely of fried eggs.” Isabelle giggled because she wasn’t far off before nodding. “There is nothing this city loves more than drama, am I correct in that?”

“They thrive on it,” Isabelle agreed.

“What’s more dramatic than the most formidable Alpha of our generation courting a tarnished Shadowhunter like yourself?” Maia asked. Isabelle thought the question was rhetorical but then the proposition was oh so clear in her mind.

“You want to court me? You don’t even want a spouse and I need one,” Isabelle pointed out.

“Which is why this makes absolute sense, don’t you see?!” Maia said excitedly, reaching to hold Isabelle’s hands in her own. She should have pulled away but something about the way Maia was looking at her kept her still. “I can spend my time with someone I enjoy the company of and look unattainable to those on the outside while you–”

“...Look more desirable for having someone of your status spend their time courting me.”

“Exactly,” Maia agreed, dropping Isabelle’s hands. Thank the Angel she did, because Isabelle wasn’t sure she’d be able to think with Maia touching her.

The proposal made sense, that much Isabelle couldn’t argue against. She would be seen as more than the tainted shadowhunter desperate for a suitor and would find someone to improve her family name for the sake of her mother. She could have a chance at happiness if she agreed.

All she had to do was pretend to be in love with Maia.

She gazed over at the Alpha with beautiful brown eyes and perfectly curled hair. She would have to be blind not to be half in love with Maia as was the rest of the city. She understood that by the end of the ruse, she wouldn’t have to pretend, but it was her only hope. It was the only other option she had wished for when she walked into the garden.