The Alpha Prince And His Bride
Book 3 The Alpha’s Substitute Bride – Episode 39

~HUNTER~

I was stunned that Isabella actually went ahead with the wedding arrangements. It was two days since I’d last seen her and the wedding was still on. After knowing that she still loved me and wanted to be with me, I thought that she would have fought to end the wedding. But I was crazy to think that.

Why would she when she didn’t even know that I loved her back? Why would she when she didn’t know that I would die without her? Why would she when she didn’t know that I would completely lose my mind if she married someone else?

I was dumb and stupid. I never told her the things that mattered the most. I never confessed what I truly felt for her. I deserved everything that was happening to me now.

I knew one thing however; I rather died than stand back and watch Isabella get married to another man. So if I had to fight until my death today I would do so. I had already gathered my men and they were waiting for me at Bruce’s home. Bruce was also joining the fight with all of his men. I made it clear to them that I would fight to my death today and they didn’t have to come if they didn’t want to. But like always, they were completely loyal to me. They were willing to stand by my side and it’s because of faithful men like them that people feared us so much. They knew that when we came to finish a job, we did just that. We didn’t fear death.

But I feared one thing and that was losing Isabella. I grabbed some weapons and shoved them into the Jeep.

I stiffened when I felt Maggie step outside the house and walk towards me.

“I’m coming with you. I also want to see Isabella married off to Jerome.”

I stopped moving at her words. I still didn’t get the opportunity to find out more about Maggie’s whereabouts all of these years and so was still not sure what to do about her. I was going to cause havoc at the wedding but with Maggie there, I wasn’t sure how to do it. I still didn’t want to hurt her; there was still this big guilt inside of me. I wouldn’t be able to stop that feeling until I found out the truth about her. At this point I didn’t think that our bond was there anymore and there had to be a reason for that. A mate bond doesn’t just break like that, there usually has to be some sort of rejection for that to happen.

I didn’t reject her . . . So when did she reject me?

I turned to her and tried to hide any emotion from my voice. I tried to hide how much it hurt me to know that Isabella could get married today and I hid how much hatred I felt for the council right now. After today I would be cutting all ties with them. They would no longer enjoy services from me; instead they would join my black list.

“I won’t be going today.” I lied.

Maggie looked stunned by my words. “You’re not going to see Isabella remarry?” She asked suspiciously.

I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t want to see that, so I will not be going. Bruce and my men have some business to get done today. Don’t wait up for me.”

. . . .

~MAGGIE~

I was surprised when Hunter decided to not go to the wedding. I desperately wanted us to go together. I wanted to see the way his heart shattered when the council gave Isabella away to someone else. He would have to live with that till the day he died, which wouldn’t be so far from now. My plan was still to end his life after revealing the truth about my brother.

I’d succeeded in making his life miserable these past couple of years and I was still doing just that. My brother would be proud of me. I was slowly destroying the life of the man who’d taken his life. I felt pride in knowing that, nothing made me happier than seeing him suffer.

If Hunter didn’t want to attend the wedding then I surely would. I wanted to see it for my own eyes that Isabella was marrying someone else. It would be a pleasure to see her face when it all happens. Anyone could see that her heart already belonged to Hunter, serves her right for developing feelings for someone that could never be hers. Even though he seemed to have strayed from me it was normal since we hadn’t seen each other in years. All of that would change once Isabella was out of the picture for good.

I felt a smile lift the corners of my face, it was a while since I’d felt happiness after returning to Hunter. Finally things were working in my favor again.

I quickly dressed into a silver dress, something I knew Hunter often liked seeing me in. It wouldn’t matter now since he wasn’t home but when I returned I was sure that he would appreciate it. I needed to get him crazy over me again before I ended his life. It would break him in half to know that I had betrayed him and that he’d let go of the woman that actually had strong feelings for him.

After readying, I hurried to make it to the wedding in time. Thankfully I reached there when the ceremony was just about to start.

As I entered the council I was rewarded with the look of surprise on everyone’s faces who knew me. Apparently the word hadn’t spread fast enough around here. Now that everyone were seeing me then everyone would surely know by the end of the day that I was back . . . For good this time.

I could only imagine what they were thinking. I was the woman Hunter had lost his mind over. They would think that I could easily control him now that I was back. That must be embarrassing for Isabella to hear everyone talk about how much Hunter loved me. They would surely say that he let her go after I returned. There was now a look of understanding on many of their eyes. They would realize why Isabella was getting married to someone else after being married to Hunter.

“Are you Hunter’s bride?” Someone asked me. I noticed him as the prosecutor.

“Yes.”

“Well we can’t have you all the way to the back here. Let me get you a seat closer to the front. Hunter is a good friend of ours, I’m sure he would want us to treat you well.”

I smiled. This was exactly what I wanted. I wanted Isabella to see me here. I wanted her to think that Hunter had come with me to watch her marry someone else. I was so excited that I could scream with joy.

I settled to the front and just like I’d hoped, the moment Isabella walked forward her eyes searched the crowd. I already knew that she was looking for Hunter. She stopped walking when her eyes fell on me and I gave her a knowing smile. Her jaw clenched and I could see that she wanted to cry.

She eventually realized that she had to keep walking and she started to again. I studied the new man she was going to marry. He actually wasn’t all that bad looking. Isabella should count herself lucky that they were actually trying to marry her off to someone good looking.

I knew that I was about to enjoy this wedding but things were going a lot better than I’d originally thought it would have been. I couldn’t wait to see what happened next.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

~HUNTER~

I waited for my men to ambush the guards that were blocking the gates. The longer we took, the more difficult it became for me to control my rage. I was growing impatient and I felt like I couldn’t make it to Isabella in time.

“Go.” Bruce shouted at me. “We will take care of everything here.”

I nodded and rushed into the kingdom. I didn’t stop running until I reached the palace. Two guards looked at me but they didn’t try to stop me. I assumed that they thought I’d just come to attend the wedding.

How very wrong of them.

I followed the sounds and shoved the door open to the hall. The same place they’d gotten us married.

All eyes turned to me at the intrusion. But I wasn’t paying attention to any of that. My focus was solely on Isabella and the man that was holding her hands.

And then something exploded inside of me almost like a bomb or a volcano erupting or maybe even both combined. All I knew was that there was this constant singing in my head now— mine, mine, mine!

Oh f**k!

It was her. It was Isabella. She was the reason why I felt nothing towards Maggie again. Isabella was my mate. Not Maggie . . . At least not anymore. Isabella.

A loud possessive growl tore from inside me and shook the entire room. People cowered in fear and some looked like they were ready to bolt. It didn’t take me long to reach Isabella and as soon as I did, I ripped the man away from her and he went flying into the crowd. There were many gasps and screams around us but I was only focused on my woman.

She was looking at me in shock, like she couldn’t believe that I’d actually done that. I dropped to my knees before her, not caring that I was in front of a crowd, not caring that I could be sentenced for ruining a wedding hosted by the council, not caring that I could possibly start a war.

“You asked me something and I have the answer for you. I should have given it to you a lot sooner and for that I’m terribly sorry.” I whispered. I held her h**s gently in my hands and stared into her beautiful eyes. “It’s you. You’re the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. From today onwards it will always be you. I make this promise to you today.”

I lifted myself from the ground and pulled her into my arms. Her teary eyes pulled at my heartstrings and I dipped my head, suddenly overcome by my need to claim her as my own. I needed everyone here to know that this woman was mine.

Isabella gasped as I my teeth elongated and pierced her skin right where I wanted to since the first day my eyes fell on her. I felt myself grow hard and I had to fight to remember that we were in front of a large crowd.

This was it. I was laying claim to her. I was marking her. My sweet Isabella would finally be officially mine.