The Alpha Prince And His Bride
Book 3 The Alpha’s Substitute Bride – Episode 45

~ISABELLA~

I couldn’t stop it.

The knife kept moving and I couldn’t believe for one second that I was the one holding it. My mind was racing with ways to stop all of this but my body was not listening to it whatsoever.

I wanted to scream for Hunter to leave, I wanted to scream for him to fight back, for him to at least stop the attacks but he did none of that. He kept standing there and watching me hurt him. It only made me even more frantic than before when he wouldn’t do anything.

Why was he just standing there? Didn’t he feel the pain? Did he not realize that I was hurting him? Why didn’t he do something about it! He should have done anything to stop me. Even if he didn’t want to hurt me, he still could have held down my hands. It looked as though he felt like he deserved it and I couldn’t understand why. What could he have possibly done to deserve his own mate stabbing him like I was doing now? He should have been angry with me instead and he should have fought back with everything in him. He was stronger than me and I knew that he could stop me if he truly wanted to. So why on earth was he not doing any of those things?

I was fighting it back, I truly was trying to stop the knife from moving but my body would not obey me and it was driving me insane. I should be able to control my own body! A damn spell should not have a hold on me. My love for Hunter should be stronger than a spell. I never hated myself more than I did at this moment. I never considered myself to be a weak person, especially not when it concerned people that I loved. But now this spell was showing to me how weak I actually was. What made this even more painful was being conscious during the entire thing. I was being forced to watch every single detail and every time the knife came down and Hunter and b***d gushed out from his body it was like a stab straight through my heart.

I could see the lost and confused look in Hunter’s eyes and it completely shattered the last bit of sanity I had left in me. His eyes were beyond sad and I’d never seen them look like this before. I knew that I was destroying him by my actions and my chest burned with pain at that knowledge. I never thought that I would one day hurt the man that I loved so much and it truly was the worst thing anyone could ever experience in this life.

I felt the first tear drop from my eyes and flow down my cheek. I knew that Hunter did not miss it since his eyes followed the small droplet until it disappeared under my chin. I could not imagine what was going through his mind right now. I was sure that he could see that part of me didn’t want to do this. He could read me and he should feel the bond between us, it should tell him that this was all a set-up, my heart and love for him should have been showing in my eyes. He should know that I would never hurt him like this without good reason. But this wasn’t even a good reason; I was just too weak to break free from a dumb spell.

“Isabella.” He whispered. “Talk to me.”

I want to talk to you . . . I said those words in my head but yet nothing came out. I would never do something like this . . . I was in denial. I couldn’t believe any of this still, it all felt like a nightmare and I wanted to wake up.

“Please.” Hunter begged. “I need to know what I did.”

“You will pay for all the wrong you’ve done to me and this is just the beginning Hunter. I will gladly watch you suffer and I will smile every bit of the way.”

My eyes widened at my own words. I didn’t say that. Those had to be Maggie’s words, she was telling the witch what to make me say. I wanted to scream with frustration.

How could I have no control of my own words? Why would I ever say something so unforgiving and not true? I would never wish him pain. Why couldn’t Hunter see this?

He looked more confused than ever now. I could see the thoughts and worry swirling in his eyes as he tried to make sense of my words. If I couldn’t, then how could he?

Why did he not see that this wasn’t me? I would never of my own will hurt him. I loved him too much for that. Our bond was still strong despite everything and I could feel all of the emotions jamming against my heart.

“I’m sorry Isabella.” Hunter cried as he dropped to his knees in front of me. “I should have never put you through so much. You are my mate and I should have realized that sooner. I should have known when the bond with Maggie was dead and I should have told you that you meant the world to me and no one else. You mean everything to me and I swear that I would die for you. If this is what you want in return for all of the pain I’ve caused you, believe me I would gladly do it for you.”

I wanted to scream at him to fight back. My mouth opened as I tried to control it again but nothing happened.

Instead the force controlling my hands became stronger and I stumbled forward as the knife came down harder on Hunter than it did before. The force was so strong that I fell straight back on the ground along with Hunter right below me. My hair was all over his face and I could feel his b***d seeping through my dress. We were both breathing hard and I was crying more than before now. It was the only thing that the witch couldn’t control; she couldn’t stop the tears that were flowing like crazy. In fact, his face was wet with the very same tears. My lips parted and I wanted to tell him so much, I wanted to confess everything to him and I wanted him to know that this wasn’t me. My eyes widened when he coughed and b***d came out of his mouth.

He cupped my left cheek with his bloody hand and stared straight into my eyes. My lips trembled at the feelings that shook my body at just the power of his small touch. I felt the immediate panic that entered my body when I realized that the witch was about to use me to attack him one more time.

“NOOOO—”

I cried out as my hands pulled the knife out from his body and prepared for another attack. How was I able to scream this time? Did I have some control over my body still? That gave me some hope but it was then that I noticed the witch standing a little distance away from us. I tried to warn Hunter with my eyes but he was still focused on me with his hand on my cheek.

“I love you.” He confessed. “I love you so much Isabella. I should have told you s-sooner.” He coughed. All I could do was stare in horror as more b***d flowed from his mouth.

Oh God. What was I going to do? Would they actually leave me to kill him? This wasn’t part of the plan! Did Maggie change her mind? Did she want Hunter to die thinking that I’d killed him?

“I love you. You’re the only woman that I’ve ever loved this much . . . I would die for you Isabella.”

My heart jumped at his words but I didn’t even have the chance to enjoy the fact that he’d just confessed to loving me. Instead I was drawn to what the witch was doing. It looked like she was doing another spell and this time on Hunter. I watched in horror as his eyes slowly closed before his head dipped backwards and hit the ground with a soft thump.

A chill travelled down my spine and my b***d crawled as I tried to figure out what she’d just done to him. My hands started to tremble and I knew what was happening.

“STOP ITTT!” I screamed at the witch. She seemed shocked that I could speak despite being under her spell and her eyes narrowed as she tried to use more force on me.

Hunter was knocked out on the ground and the witch was forcing me to bring the knife down on him again. I closed my eyes and thought about the love I had for him. I remembered the first day I ever saw him, it was the day he’d first been introduced to Eden. His eyes had lingered on me for more seconds than it needed to and at that time I wasn’t sure that I’d seen longing in them but now I knew better. He’d wanted me just as much as I’d wanted him even back then. A small part of both of us already knew that we belonged to each other. I thought about the day we’d gotten married and how much I’d wanted him to choose me. My heart rate sped up as I remembered our first k**s and the first time he’d been inside of me. I remembered how good he always made me feel. Hunter always protected me even if it was protection from myself. Every single time I’d been in danger he was there to save me. Now it was my turn to save him, my turn to prove that my love for him was stronger than anything in this entire universe.

No one should have any control of my body. I was stronger than this. I needed to be strong for Hunter, I needed to protect him. I had to do this for the both of us, so that we could finally have the life that we deserved to have together. I would not accept defeat, at least not like this. I would go down fighting.

The knife in my hand was shaking along with my hands as I fought the force of the witch with all of the love I felt for Hunter inside of me.

“NOOOO!” I screamed as I felt something powerful flow throughout my body. It raced through my b***d and cleansed the spell straight out of my body. My head lifted towards the sun and I let out another loud cry as I felt the last bit of it exit my body like a poison that had been stuck in my b***d. I dropped to the ground with heavy breathing as I tried to recover from the hold the spell once had on me.

I felt relief flow through me as I regained control of my body once more. I moved my hands and let go of the strong hold on the knife. I watched as it dropped to the ground as though it had just burnt my hand.

“Impressive.” Salem said as she eyed me with interest. “No one has ever been able to break free from a spell that powerful before. You must really love this man.”

I ignored her as I rushed over to Hunter’s side and tried to protect him from her by shielding his body with mine. He wasn’t moving and there was b***d everywhere. My hands trembled as I tried to stop the b***d from flowing. I started to cry some more when I realized that it wasn’t stopping.

Now that I was in control of my body again everything I’d just done rushed into me and created a dent in my heart.

What had I done? How could I have hurt him like this?

What happened next was a distant blur in my eyes.

All I knew was that I was screaming and crying while holding onto Hunter’s bleeding unconscious body on the ground. I didn’t want to believe that I’d done this to him. I didn’t want to believe that I was so weak, that a damn witch had made me do this. I should have been stronger. I should have been able to end the spell even before the knife had come down on him the first time.

“Whyyyyyy—,” I screamed as I buried my face against his neck. “Why did you let me do this to you? Why?” I cried as the tears flowed from my cheeks like a river. My entire hand and body was soaked with his b***d now and even my face was smeared with it.

“Wake up please.” I begged. “I’m so sorry . . . so so sorry.”

I felt more pain when he didn’t move despite my cries. Please please wake up! Wake up so that I could confess the truth. He needed to know everything. He needed to know how much of a betrayer Maggie was.

“I’m so sorry.” I cried. “I’m so sorry Hunter.” I repeated over and over again.

“Wake up!” I screamed as I gripped his shirt and roughly pulled at it. “You need to know the truth. I have to tell you the truth. It’s Maggie–“

I stiffened when I heard a round of applause behind of me.

“Very good job Isabella.” Maggie praised me.

“You b***h!” I screamed as I lunged for her throat and we both went tumbling to the ground. “You did this! You did this to him! I hate you! I hate youuuu!”

I strangled her neck with one of my hand while I slapped her over and over again with my other hand. “You will pay! I swear that you will pay for this. I will never let you destroy Hunter’s life. I will never let you hurt him again. I promise!”

My hands on her neck tightened and I didn’t move an inch as she tried to push me off her. I needed to kill her; I needed to see her suffer for what she’d done.

I felt something being injected into my neck and I looked up to see the witch above me. My eyelids felt heavy and I felt myself slowly drifting away.

No . . . Hunter.

I’m sorry.

I’m so sorry.