The Alpha Prince And His Bride
Book 3 The Alpha’s Substitute Bride – Episode 35

~HUNTER~

She loved me? I knew that Isabella cared for me but hearing how much she loved me, hearing how much she’s wanted me to love her back. It was too much for my heart and mind to handle. How hard must it have been for her all of these days just standing and watching me treat her the way that I did? How hard must it have been to hear me say how much Maggie meant to me, to hear me talk about the pain I felt from losing her? She sat there and took it all like a strong woman whereas I acted like a complete and wasteful weak man.

Then she had to watch Maggie come back into my life and she still stayed at first, she continued to stick by my side even after knowing all of the things I’d told her about my past. She stayed with me even after knowing that Maggie was my mate and that I’d loved her dearly. I closed my eyes as I thought about the way she’d looked at me before she left my home . . . Our home. I couldn’t remember ever seeing someone look that hurt and broken. To know that I was the one to blame only made this harder for me to stomach. I didn’t want to think about it. The more I did, the more I hated myself. But that was a good thing, wasn’t it? I should hate myself after what I’d done to her. Men like me didn’t deserve happiness, we deserved to suffer. Maybe that’s why I had such a shitty past; it was all to pay for the pain I would eventually put Isabella through in the future.

I didn’t understand Isabella; she was unlike any woman I’d ever met in my entire life. I’d never known a woman to stand up and stay with someone through so much pain before. Yet she cared and loved me through it all. What did I do to deserve her love? Absolutely nothing. All I did was put her life in danger and put her through the world of pain; in fact, it was possible that her life here could have possibly been worse than her life back at the council.

I held my head and leaned against the wall of my room. I found it hard to stand here and look anywhere Isabella used to be.

The house felt empty without her. I kept looking at the door expecting her to walk in any minute now. My heart felt heavy and I couldn’t feel my legs ever since she’d left me.

I wanted to stop her. I wanted to beg her to stay. I wanted to tell her so many things. But I didn’t know how to do it when I didn’t have the answers that she was seeking. She wanted something that I wasn’t sure that I would be able to give to her as yet. The fact remained that I had a lot of things to sort out with Maggie. There was also the fact that I’d been bruised so badly in the past that I was scared to hurt like that again. Isabella had the ability to bring even more pain to me than Maggie’s death ever gave to me. I was aware of that, my wolf was aware of that, even my heart was aware of it. That reason alone kept me from giving myself fully to her. I didn’t understand how Isabella had the ability to affect me the way that she did. I was still trying to understand that fact.

It took all of my self-control not to stop her from leaving but the tears and pain in her eyes was what had kept me from doing just that. Those tears were because of me, because I couldn’t be a man and treat her the way that she deserved to be treated. I’d failed as a male. I didn’t want to stop her and make her hurt any more than I’d already done to her. I wanted to bring her back to me only when I’d sorted everything out in my life.

I needed to fix myself. I needed to fix what was broken in me before I could give myself fully to her. I also needed to find out the truth about Maggie.

I kept feeling guilty whenever I replayed her words in my head. I owed her explanations; I owed her revenge on those men that had taken her life away these past five years. I needed to do all of these things before I could answer those questions that Isabella needed to hear.

Now that Isabella wasn’t around; I couldn’t even look at Maggie anymore. I kept seeing Isabella everywhere I turned. These random images kept popping up and torturing my soul. Her scent was slowly disappearing from the pillows and sheets and it was killing me just as slowly inside.

I wouldn’t let the maids touch anything in our room. I wouldn’t even let them wash the sheets or clean the bathroom. I wanted anything and everything to remind me of Isabella.

I picked up the sheets that once covered her body and took a long deep inhale. It wasn’t enough; it wasn’t as lively and vibrant as she was. She was the light in my life and now that she was gone all that was left was darkness. I wanted to break something, anything. But I knew if I did anything to this room it would have to be cleaned and I couldn’t let that happen. I wanted everything to stay the same as it was when Isabella stayed here with me.

I slowly dropped the sheets when I heard footsteps a little distance away. Who could it be?

The footsteps were growing closer and I straightened myself. It could be my sister coming to check in on me. She’d done so multiple times since Isabella had left. I knew I was wrong when a familiar scent hit my nose however.

I frowned when Maggie pushed the door open with a pillow and bed sheet in her hand. Why would she have those two things with her? Now that Isabella was no longer here in the same house with me I waited to see if my body would somehow want to be near Maggie again. I was not surprised when there was no change at all. In fact, being in the same room with her made me uncomfortable.

“What are you doing?” I asked suspiciously as she moved towards the bed. I didn’t want her scent getting mixed up with Isabella’s. I inwardly g*****d at my own thoughts. How could I want her this badly even after getting back the one woman I craved for years? I needed to accept the fact that things weren’t like it was five years ago. Nothing was the same. There was someone else in my heart now.

Maggie turned to face me. Her eyes gave me a once over and I could have sworn there was a hint of hatred buried there. Did I mistake it for something else?

“Now that Isabella isn’t here anymore it’s only normal that I should move back into your room. I’m your wife after all; people will start to talk if they realize that we don’t sleep in the same bed.”

I stiffened and had to fight the urge to grab her and throw her out of the room. This was where I stayed, it was the only thing that kept me sane, the fact that Isabella’s scent and small traces of her still remained in here. With Maggie in here all of that would change.

“I’m not ready for that Maggie.” I finally said after making up my mind that I didn’t want anyone but Isabella in here with me.

Her eyes widened. “Why are you still trying to put distance between us?” She demanded. “I thought that with Isabella gone you would be more accepting of us but yet you haven’t changed anything around here.”

My jaw clenched. “I’m not going to discuss this anymore. I want us to stay in separate rooms.”

Before she could say anything more I stormed out of the room and out of the house, ignoring her angry calls. I didn’t waste any time as I headed for the Jeep near the gates. I needed to get away from here. After a few seconds I was already pulling away from my home. It no longer felt like home, In fact, it would do me better to stay away for a little while.

I parked to the side of the road, a little distance from the house. I jumped out of the Jeep and rushed through the woods. The wind against my face did not calm me like it usually did. I kept on running and running. It probably wasn’t the safest thing in the world to be racing through the woods without actually seeing anything; I was blinded with images of Isabella. Images of the first day I saw her to flashbacks of our wedding day. I saw images of her naked body beneath mine, God how much I loved that feeling. I’d never known that a woman’s body could be that powerful, never even knew that type of heavenly bliss with Maggie.

And then I saw the way she looked at me just before she left. I knew that it was a look that would haunt me for the rest of my life.

I paused midway in my jump and crumbled to the ground. I rolled over as a tree trunk crashed into the side of my face. I felt the b***d leaking down my face as I laid back and felt my body overflow with emotion.

“Isabella.” I whispered as she appeared before me. She looked so beautiful and broken, like an exquisite vase.

“I’m sorry . . . I’m so sorry.” I felt a tear roll down my cheek as the image of her disappeared. She wasn’t in front of me, it was just another imagination.

“Isabella.” I said louder this time, more hysterically. I let out a mighty roar as I picked myself off the ground and ripped a tree out from the ground and threw it miles away from me.

“ISABELLAAA!”

I shouted her name until I became hoarse from all of the shouting. When I was finally finished with my outburst, my entire body was full of cuts and bruises. It was not enough; I should have a broken arm after what I’d done to her. Hell, I shouldn’t even be alive.

It was hours later when I’d finally exited the forest. My body was slowly healing and I hated myself for it. I shouldn’t have the power to heal this quickly. My physical pain was nothing compared to those tears on her beautiful face.

I opened the Jeep and fell back against the seat. I was in the midst of thinking about the many mistakes I’d made in my life when a sudden thought flashed across my mind. For a minute I couldn’t even move. I was frozen like a damn statue.

How could I have not thought about this before? How blind was I to not see this a lot sooner than before?

I started the Jeep and mashed down on the accelerator.

I pulled up to Bruce’s home a few minutes later and found him outside his house. He immediately straightened and walked over to the Jeep after spotting me.

“I heard what happened back home.” He said as he searched my eyes. There was a pause before he opened his mouth to speak again. “Why did you let her go?”

I looked away from his gaze as my hands tightened on the steering wheel.

Why did I let her go?

It was a question even I didn’t know how to answer. I know I said it was for her own good but what about mine? What about the pain I felt without her by my side? What about how lost I felt right now? Did I not care about my own feelings?

“My life is in a mess right now Bruce. Weird things are happening, things that make no sense. Isabella was only getting tied up in it all. She was hurting and I was too stupid to see it. I’d broken her by the time I realized just how much she meant to me. I want to make things right before I bring her back to me.”

Yes, bring her back to me. Knowing that I was eventually going to bring her home was what had me going right now.

“I want you to do something for me.” I told him. “I trust you and I can’t think of anyone better than you to do this for me.”

His brows furrowed as he leaned against the Jeep. “Tell me, you know I’ll do anything as long as I’m able to do it.”

I sighed and faced the front, staring at nothing. “There is something that has been bothering me. Maggie’s story is too perfectly planned out for me to believe everything that she’s saying to me. She doesn’t act like someone who was held against her will. If what she says is true then why haven’t anyone shown up as yet to take her back from me? If she escaped from her captors, how could she be so calm?” I asked him. “Why isn’t she asking me to find those people and make up for all of the time we’ve lost? She doesn’t seem scared or bothered about any of that and that’s not normal to me.”

Bruce nodded. “I also don’t think her story is completely true. There may be some truth to it but she’s definitely lying to us about something.”

“I want you to find out anything you can about her. Still search around and find anyone who’s seen her around any of these years. Someone must know something. Any information would be helpful to us. Let me know if you need any help, I’ll be happy to leave my home and come aid in this.”

I didn’t want to stay in there, it felt empty. But I also couldn’t go missing for too long either. Maggie would grow suspicious and want to know what I was up to. I didn’t want her to suspect anything.

I had to do my investigation without her knowing.

I needed to get to the bottom of this and I needed to do it fast because I couldn’t last too long without Isabella. The faster I cleared this entire thing up; the faster I could bring her back to me.