The Alpha Prince And His Bride
Book 3 The Alpha’s Substitute Bride – Episode 51

~HUNTER~

My b***d roared in my ears and the beast inside of me was hungry for revenge.

My knuckles tightened as I prepared for what was to come. Something that should have happened a long time ago.

Isabella’s words kept replaying in my head over and over again. It was difficult for me to accept that Maggie had actually planned all of this even from the start. Did that mean she’d hated me all throughout our marriage? Was all of it really just a show she’d put on for me?

I still couldn’t figure out why she’d done it. Isabella hadn’t gotten the chance to explain it to me but I was still wrecking my brain while trying to find the answer. I couldn’t see any reason why anyone at that time would ever find a reason to hate me.

Maggie was definitely good at hiding her hatred for me. She was a professional at it in fact. She’d fooled me every single step of the way and I’d fallen for it like an i***t.

I knew something was wrong with her story when she’d returned to me but never once did I think for a second that she hated me so much that she would try to destroy my life like this.

The crazy part was that she had been doing a very good job at it. While I was mourning her death she was celebrating being alive and seeing me suffer. She must have been watching me all along. She must have laughed every time I made poor choices thinking that she was dead. She’d wanted me to destroy my life and I was granting her that wish.

But all that had changed when Isabella had entered my life. Isabella had shown me what it felt like to be happy again. She was a bright light that I’d stuck to like glue. Since the first moment my eyes had fallen on her I’d known that she would be someone important in my life. I’d pushed her away like a fool and I’d almost lost her because of it. And the whole reason I had pushed her away in the first place was because of Maggie. I was so scared after what I’d gone through with Maggie that I didn’t want to fall for Isabella.

What a fool I’d been.

Maggie must have realized that I was falling for Isabella. She must have realized that I was beginning to feel happy again and that was when she’d decided to strike again.

I was so stupid all of this time. I should have known. I should have sensed something was wrong when she’d shown up as soon as Isabella and I were ready to start something between us. She’d timed everything perfectly.

No wonder she was so happy when Isabella had left me because of her. She’d gotten her plan to work and she was happy about it. She’d wanted me to give up Isabella; it’s why she’d kept insisting on me choosing her. It’s why she’d gotten upset whenever Isabella and I were close. It wasn’t because it was hard for her to see me with another woman; it was because it was hard for her to see me happy.

Everything was beginning to make sense now and it only made me feel angrier. How could I have let this woman play me so dirty? I’ve always been good at sniffing out liars and betrayers but yet I’d totally missed the biggest crook in my life.

I should have known that Isabella would never hurt me. She had always been loving in the past despite everything I’d done to her. She was always concerned about my well-being.

It was shocking for me to witness her stabbing me over and over again but I never once hated her for it. I just thought that she’d had enough of me. I thought that she was finally getting her payback for what I’d put her through in the past.

When I’d seen that first tear fall from her cheeks I knew that she was breaking her own heart every time she hurt me. I understood that it was because of our bond. Hurting me would hurt her, but I felt like she had to do it to get what I’d done to her out of her system.

Not once did I think that she was under a spell and I should have known this. I should have known that Isabella was not the kind of person to do anything like that to someone that she loved. And she did confess to loving me.

I should have figured it out after she’d gone missing and then showed up like that. I was just in so much shock that it completely slipped my mind.

Then Maggie played that death trick on me for the second time. First it was using her and then it was using Isabella. Only this time she upped her game. She made me think that I was the one that had killed Isabella.

f**k.

I didn’t think that it was possible for me to ever hate someone as much as I did right now.

Maggie must pay. She must pay for everything she’s done, not just to me, but to Isabella as well. The biggest mistake she could have ever made was to hurt Isabella.

I would find her and when I did . . . It was f*****g over.

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

~ISABELLA~

I sighed. It was time for some acting. It shouldn’t be hard for me to pretend as though I’d just lost Hunter. All I had to do was to keep remembering how it had felt when I’d stabbed him over and over again with no control over my body.

My sisters hugged me as we all pretended to mourn Hunter’s death.

We kept the coffin completely closed at all times. All we had was a picture of Hunter on top of it. Maggie wouldn’t have an idea of how Hunter had died. Thane would have had to rip his head off his body and she could think this was the reason that the casket was left closed. If she wanted to see his dead body for herself she would have to come here eventually and I just needed to wait for that to happen.

“Why?” I cried. “Why did you leave me Hunter?” I screamed.

“Shhhh.” Eden whispered as she held onto me tightly. “It’s going to be okay.”

“No!” I screamed. “He can’t leave me! Hunter can’t leave me!”

I was surprised by my own acting, everything sounded so real and the raw emotion in my voice was definitely there as well.

Esma dropped to the ground near the coffin and started to cry and scream just like I was doing. This was good. We were going great and I was living for it. I had to fight back the smile at just thinking about Maggie falling into our trap.

Eden leaned forward and gave me a soft k**s on my head. “You’ll be okay. We’re all here for you sister.”

After the small ceremony, everyone started to leave one by one. Eventually it was just Esma and I left and we continued to act as though we would die without Hunter.

I hugged her and she hugged me as the tears flowed down our cheeks. A half an hour later and I was beginning to worry that Maggie was not going to show up.

“Is he really dead?”

I stiffened and so did Esma. We both turned to see Maggie in front of us. Her hair was in a mess and it looked as though she’d been in a very bad place.

I understood why. Maggie was so sick and lost in her own little world of wanting to get revenge that she didn’t want Hunter to be dead. She wanted to be the one to kill him and now that she believed someone else had done it, it was completely freaking her out.

“Tell me!” She screamed. “Is that bastard really dead?”

“Why don’t you come and see for yourself?” Esma questioned. “You have some nerve showing up here after everything you’ve done to my family.”

Maggie ignored her and took a few steps forward. “Is he dead?”

Esma walked forward and slapped Maggie so hard across her face that she fell to the ground holding her cheek.

“YOU-“

“That’s for my brother.” Esma hissed.

Before Maggie could say anything else my brothers as well as my sisters and their mates surrounded us. Maggie looked around her, realizing that she was now trapped.

She picked herself off the ground as she looked for a way to escape from all of us.

I smiled then. “Of course he isn’t.” I finally answered. “Did you really think that Hunter would ever die so easily? Did you really think that your little plan would actually separate us?”

Maggie’s eyes widened and she lifted her hand to slap me when Hunter reached us with incredible speed and grabbed her hand, stopping her from hurting me.

She turned to face him and they both glared at each other. There was so much hatred between them that it was almost crazy to believe that they were once mates.

“Let go of me Hunter.” She hissed.

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

~HUNTER~

I no longer loved Maggie but at a point in my life I did greatly. To know that someone that I loved would do all of these things to kill me was painful to accept.

What did I do to deserve this from her? I’d given her nothing but love and support.

What could I have possibly done for her to hate me this much?

I could see the hate in her eyes now, the hate she’d managed to keep from me all of the times we’ve been together.

So this was the real Maggie. This was the Maggie that I should have known from the start.

“Why did you?” I asked as I let go of her arm but only after shoving her away from Isabella.

I didn’t want her close to her. Not after the little stunt she’d just played.

“YOU KILLED MY BROTHERRR!” She screamed at me.

I frowned, her words puzzling me. Killed . . . Her brother?

“You don’t have a brother.” I responded naturally. She’d told me that she didn’t have any siblings or any parents.

That was also a lie?

Her eyes narrowed. “Does the name Axel ring a bell?” She demanded. “You tore my brother’s body into pieces like he was nothing! You took the closest person in my life away from me!”

Axel?

Recognition finally touched me like a strike of lightening. Of course I remembered who Axel was. He was that sick a*****e that had tried to rape my sister. He attempted to rape her but there were multiple women that he did actually rape and kill.

“Your brother was a f*****g piece of shit.” I growled. “He raped multiple women and even killed some of them when he found out that they were pregnant. I killed him because he tried to rape my sister, if I didn’t arrive there on time she may not have been here today. He was a sick bastard that didn’t deserve to live.”

Maggie looked unbothered by my words. She had no feelings for those women that had lost their lives, no feelings for my sister. I understood that now. She was selfish and only cared about herself and what she felt.

“You had no right to take him from me!” She screamed again.

I took a step in her direction and stared straight into her eyes with a lethal gaze. “If I could kill him again . . . I would.”

My words sparked the fire in her and within seconds she lunged for my throat. But she didn’t get a chance to reach me.

I grabbed her by her throat before she got a chance to do the same to me. I squeezed tightly with all of the rage and pain of betrayal I felt flowing between us.

“Meeting you was the worst thing that ever happened to me.” I snarled as I lifted her into the air with my hands still strangling her.

“You will die today Maggie.” I roared. “And not for what you did to me but for what you did to Isabella. I will see to it that you suffer!”