The Alpha Prince And His Bride
Book 2 The Alpha’s Forbidden Bride – Episode 20

~EDEN~

I paused, my earlier intention was to follow James and demand an answer from him. However, I hadn’t expected to see him talking to another woman. Her blue eyes fell on me and there was this look in them that I didn’t like one bit.

Who was this woman?

They were too far away for me to hear their conversation. Whatever James had said to her, both surprised and thrilled her. She didn’t hide her happiness as she linked her arms with his.

I watched in horror as they both walked away from me. I wasn’t sure what to do from here, my body was in a state of shock and everything felt weird and painful all over my body.

For the next few seconds that went by, I had to teach myself how to breathe again. I told myself that I should look away but couldn’t bring myself to do so. This was the last thing that I was expecting to see. At first, I’d thought that it was bad that James was clearly avoiding me but this was so much worse.

Lucas walked in the same time along with Austin. They both looked confused as they watched their brother leave. Judging by their expressions, this clearly wasn’t something anyone was used to seeing around here.

Was he not always seen with this woman?

“Who is that woman he’s with?” I asked before I could stop myself. For some reason, whenever it concerned James, my mouth had no filter whatsoever.

Lucas looked as though he was choking at my question. He glanced at me and his gaze softened, did he somehow know how much it hurt me to see James with another woman?

I didn’t think that was possible.

“She’s really no one that important when compared to you. . .”

“Lucas.” Austin growled in a warning tone.

“What?” He asked Austin before turning back to me.

“You’ll hear my name a lot around here.” He informed me. “I’m their favorite, you see.”

I smiled at his words despite the pain in my heart. Still, I noticed something different about Lucas tonight, just like earlier. Something had him uneasy and I think it also affected everyone else in the family.

“Eden, why don’t you go back to your room? Your sisters are waiting there for you.” Austin informed me. “We’ll go have a talk with James.”

I followed his gaze to see that James and that woman had already disappeared. I had no idea where they were going and it shouldn’t concern me but yet I couldn’t stop the horrible feeling in my chest.

After reminding myself that I wasn’t alone and that both brothers were still waiting on me to leave, I gave a quick nod to Austin and made my way back up the stairs. Just like he’d said, both Isabella and Lucy were waiting in my room for me.

“We have exciting news for you!” Lucy announced as soon as her eyes fell on me. “Isabella and I have agreed that things have been pretty rough recently and none of us are having any fun. So we thought that it might be nice if all of us go out to a club and have a good time.”

I tried to be excited, I really did. But I couldn’t bring myself to be happy about this when I remembered nothing about this life I was living in. There was also the fact that the one man I felt a connection with, felt it important to stay away from me.

I also couldn’t stop thinking about the way he’d held onto that woman. That would explain why he wanted nothing to do with me however. But that would mean that everything that I’ve felt for him so far was simply misleading.

Was my heart lying to me?

I couldn’t bring myself to believe that. The connection was too strong to be a mistake.

“Lucy and I were talking and we’ve chosen this dress for you to wear.” Isabella added as she waved the dress in front of me.

The short, silky black dress in her hands caught my attention. Was that really what they wanted me to wear? I had no idea what my fashion sense was usually like but for some reason, I wasn’t comfortable wearing something that short. But, I didn’t want to disappoint my sisters and so, I said nothing.

“While you girls get ready, I need to find something that I can fit into.” Lucy told us as she pointed at her tummy. “Something that Austin would approve of.” She mumbled as she walked out the room.

Isabella held my hand in hers and something about it made me feel a lot stronger than before. “You know I’m always here for you no matter what. I’m hoping that this can at least help you feel better and bring some happiness into your life.”

I looked into her warm eyes and found myself nodding. “Thank you.”

She smiled and threw the dress at me. “Come on! The boys will be waiting on us and according to Lucy, they already complain whenever Maya takes long to get ready.”

After about an hour, we were all dressed and ready to go. My hands pulled at the bottom of the dress as we made our way down the stairs, it was much shorter than I expected it to be.

Isabella informed me that everyone was already waiting in the limousine outside and we were rushing to get out in time.

“Will James be there as well?” I asked.

She glanced at me in that weird way again. It seemed like whenever I brought James up, everyone around me grew uncomfortable.

Their actions were beginning to bother me. Whatever it was that they were hiding, it was definitely something big.

Was it possible that James and I had something together and then he fell in love with that woman and left me for her? That was the story I was getting from everyone’s actions, including James.

“I’m not sure,” she answered. “I guess we will know when we get there.”

We both stopped talking as we neared the limousine.

“Well the wait was definitely worth it.” Lucas said with a low whistle as he gazed at our outfits.

“Lucas.” Austin growled.

I wanted to laugh at their reactions. Lucas always said something to annoy Austin and he always called him out for it.

“Isn’t that dress a little too revealing?” Austin asked Lucy.

She looked at him in disbelief. “I have a huge baby bump. Who’s going to be looking at my legs Austin?” She complained.

“Everyone . . . when you have legs like that.” He growled.

I bit my l*p to keep from laughing at his words. I liked that he was so protective of Lucy, it showed that he cared.

When I got into the limo, I was unhappy to see that James was nowhere around.

It looked like he wasn’t going to be there after all. At least this could give me a chance to focus on something other than him. Though, I didn’t think that was possible considering how I’ve been acting recently.

. . . . .

The music was blasting and I could barely hear anything that my sisters were saying to me. Since Lucy was basically married to a prince, they carried us to the VIP section. Thankfully, the music wasn’t as loud there.

“Look at all of these men staring at both of you.” Lucy teased us as Austin wrapped his arm around her possessively, glaring at a few men that stared too long.

I followed my sister’s gaze and men were definitely staring our way. However, absolutely none of them held my interest for none compared to James. The man was a masterpiece; everything about him was practically perfect.

Everything but his attitude. . .

I sighed. I was hoping to relax out here but already I was comparing all of the men in the room to him.

We took a seat around a round table that was big enough to possibly fit three more persons. There were already drinks waiting for us there, a variety of them in fact.

“Remember, I want all smiles today.” Lucy said suddenly, her attention focused on me. “Do it for the baby!”

I forced a smile on my face and tried to relax, it only lasted for a few seconds however as a familiar figure came into our view.

My entire body froze as I saw James enter with that woman from earlier. Even under the colored lights, he was a sight to see. He had on a black shirt that was unbuttoned to the top and just like earlier the girl was clinging to his arms like she couldn’t walk on her own.

I felt anger and jealousy instantly stir inside of me. I wanted to rip both of their heads off.

God, what was wrong with me?

Lucy almost spit out her drink at the sight of the new couple approaching us. “I’m sorry, what the hell is going on?” She demanded from the men.

“I’ll inform you about it later.” Austin told her as he patted her shoulder, as if to calm her down.

From her reaction, I’m guessing that this was the first time that she was also seeing James with this woman. This seemed extremely weird to me. Did no one know that he had something with her?

“Do you guys mind if Clara and I join you?”

I bit my l*p to stop myself from screaming a big fat yes.

It was hard for me to watch as they both joined us. The Clara girl looked a bit too happy for my liking. It also looked as though she’d just smirked at me.

The entire table was dead quiet as no one seemed to know what to say. Even Lucas who usually was never quiet chose this moment to say nothing.

Austin opened his mouth to speak but closed it again when he saw someone heading our way. I wasn’t sure what he wanted but his eyes were definitely on our table.

When he stepped more into my view, I was absolutely positive that his light brown eyes were directly on me. He wasn’t as good looking as James was but he did manage to turn a few heads as he walked pass a group of girls to get to us.

“I’m sorry but I couldn’t help but wonder if you’d like to have a dance with me?”

I was startled at his request. I definitely wasn’t expecting him to say that.

I looked around the table and everyone seemed extra tense at his question.

“Um,”

“That will be a no.” James growled, glaring at the man.

I frowned at him.

So he was allowed to bring a woman around us but I wasn’t around to dance with a guy that was interested in me?

Crossing my arms over my chest, I struck an angry pose. Now that I knew he didn’t want me to dance with this guy, I was more determined than ever to do just that.

“I’m sorry about him.” I apologized to the stranger. “I would love to dance with you.”

Lucas started to cough at my response while James squeezed the glass in his hand. I was surprised the object didn’t break as yet.

“I’ll be right back!” I told my sisters as he took my hand in his and lead me away.