The Alpha Prince And His Bride
Book 3 The Alpha’s Substitute Bride – Episode 13

~ISABELLA~

I didn’t even have time to blink before Hunter ripped Derick from on top of me. Everything happened in slow motion after that. Hunter shifted right before our eyes and lunged for Derick’s throat. I felt all the air leave my lungs at the beautiful sight of his wolf. He was a mixture of black and grey, the perfect shades in my opinion. His entire built was massive and powerful, like a mighty king.

Everything about the wolf radiated power as he circled Derick. He didn’t give the man a chance to shift into his own wolf as he pounced on him again. Derick cried out in pain as the wolf sunk its teeth deep into his flesh before stopping and making another attack for his neck.

A loud scream left my mouth as Hunter’s wolf barreled into Derick’s body and they both went flying out of the window. I rushed to the broken glass and searched the ground for their bodies. To my relief they’d both landed in the pool downstairs.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Alice said as I tried to go around her.

“I don’t have time for your nonsense.” I hissed.

I shoved her out of the doorway and had the pleasure of seeing her fall to the ground right before I ran down the stairs, my mind constantly on Hunter’s safety. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d ever been this worried. All I wanted to do was to get Hunter out of this mess and away from any danger. The thought of him in a fight because of me was all too much for me to handle.

When I reached outside I had to take a minute to take in everything in front of me. I stood back in shock. Derick’s body was laid out on the side of the pool with b***d all around him. His body was torn all over and b***d was flowing out of his mouth.

I couldn’t open my mouth to speak, the sight in front of me was hard to look at. Now I believed every word Bruce had said to me, if Hunter could destroy more than twenty men all at once then who was Derick to challenge him?

It clearly wasn’t any challenge at all considering that Derick was already dead and it all happened in minutes.

Hunter’s wolf stood back on the other side of the pool watching me with curious eyes. He looked almost as confused as Hunter did whenever he looked at me but there was also a hint of fear there that I always saw in Hunter as well.

I held completely still as he took slow steps in my direction. I should be scared, Hunter’s wolf was like no other I’d seen and he was clearly extremely dangerous. My body alarmed me with how calm and collected it remained despite the wolf closing in.

He sniffed my hand before dropping himself onto the ground right before me. I couldn’t stop myself as I dropped before him and gently cradled the beast’s head.

He looked tired as he looked back at me and something in me wanted to make the wolf happy again. The warmth from his fur travelled to my hands and I happily rubbed on it some more.

I felt him stiffen and removed my hands just in time before he swiftly got up from the ground and focused on someone behind of me. A low predatory growl left his mouth and I turned to see what he was staring at. Alice stood a few feet away staring at the scene in front of her.

I was satisfied that he didn’t seem to like her one bit. I fell back as the wolf stormed into the house and a few minutes later Hunter came out in just a shorts alone. I tried not to get distracted by his bare chest like I always did. It wasn’t hard this time considering how extremely pissed he looked right now.

“Explain to me what happened here.” He demanded from me. I couldn’t move under his intense gaze. All I could do was stop and stare.

“I’ll tell you what happened.” Alice answered before I could respond.

I narrowed my eyes at the woman that was the mastermind behind this entire thing. There was no doubt in my mind that she was about to say anything but the truth.

“I’m listening.” Hunter growled.

“I saw Derick entering the house earlier and I knew that I’ve never seen him around here before, therefore I asked him what he was doing in your house. He explained that your wife asked him to come over and that he’s just following her orders.” She rambled on. “I wanted to make sure that she did in fact invite him over but when I walked over to the room I heard weird sounds. When I entered they were both on top of each other. . .”

I gaped at the woman, I knew that she could stoop really low to get whatever she wanted but this was on another level.

Hunter’s emotions were like multiple storms all over his face. I opened my mouth to say something but nothing could come out. I could see a war raging inside of my husband and knew that with the wrong words he could lose control.

He finally faced me with his full gaze and I staggered back a bit from its intensity.

“What do you have to say about this Isabella?” He asked with his voice void of any emotion. I could see him trying to keep his cool but failing miserably. Once again, it was me to bring out this kind of reaction from him.

I didn’t move as he approached me, instead I let him come to me until he was inches apart from my body and we were both gazing into each other’s eyes.

“Do you believe her?” I whispered, I didn’t know what to think if he actually believed a single word from her mouth. It would change everything if he took her side over mine. I gave him no reason not to trust me and even though we weren’t on best terms I still did not deserve a bad reputation over this nonsense.

I raised my chin and looked him square in the eye, challenging him to say something that could destroy our relationship before it even started.

His jaw clenched and he turned to Alice with blazing eyes. “Get out of my house.”

Her eyes widened and she looked genuinely frightened by his tone.

Even I was surprised by his actions. Just a few seconds ago he was asking me to tell him whether or not what she’d said was true and now he was telling her to leave without even waiting for me to confess my truth to her words.

“What?” She shrieked. “I don’t understand. She’s the one that should be leaving your home, why are you kicking me out?”

“Do you really want to do this?” He shouted at her. “If I wait to hear what my wife has to say about this, I may not be able to control my rage. Do you still want to go ahead with it?”

Alice looked dumbstruck by his words but still nodded for him to continue. His nostrils flared and he refocused his attention on me. “Isabella . . . explain to me exactly what happened here today.” He said with a glint in his grey eyes.

I knew that this was my time to speak and so decided to not hold back anything. I’d gotten my answer already; he was willing to take my side without even waiting to hear what I had to say. That was enough for me.

“Alice brought Derick over. I heard a knock on my door and I went to open it, hoping that you’d returned from your trip but I saw Alice instead and she tried to tell me that you sent Derick and planned on sharing me with him. I told them both to get out but Derick chose to do the opposite. I’m sure you heard me scream when he threw me on the bed with his body. I believe you saw everything after that.”

I wasn’t prepared for the loud growl that escaped Hunter’s mouth. He was angry–very angry. So angry that I actually feared for Alice’s life.

“Alice.” Hunter said with shaking fists. “Leave now before it’s too late.”

“Are you actually going to believe her over me?” She demanded from him. “You barely know her Hunter. I’ve been here for you since the death of Maggie. And yet you’re choosing her side over mine?”

“GET OUT OF HERE ALICE.” Hunter roared. “And never let me see your face again or I swear I’ll give you such a death that you’ll be wishing that you never met me in this life.”

Alice gaped at the both of us. She definitely was not expecting Hunter to take her side. If I wasn’t so confused by his actions, I would be thriving in this victory. She pressed her lips together and hung her head as she turned and left us both alone.

I stared at Hunter. He wasn’t looking at me and I could tell that he was fighting his own body to not kill Alice like he’d done to Derick.

“Why did you believe me over her?” I asked him. “You didn’t ask for any proof. Nothing at all and you do know her longer than you’ve known me.”

He turned to me with blazing eyes and I suddenly regretted saying anything at all. He was clearly not ready to have a decent conversation with anyone.

“What kind of person do you see me as Isabella?” He demanded. I gasped as he picked me up from the ground and pushed me up against the wall of the house. His hands were on my waist now and they were gripping tighter with each passing second. Did he not realize how tight he was holding onto me? But why did I not care? In fact, I wanted him to hold me much tighter than this. “Do you really think that I’ll believe something so stupid from Alice’s mouth? Do you think that even though I only recently met you that I don’t already know of your character and the type of person you actually are? Do you think I walked in there and saw that bastard’s hands on your body and immediately thought that you wanted it there? No, my immediate reaction was to protect you. My immediate reaction was to let him know that you were MINE!”

My lips parted from his confession and I didn’t know how to respond to it.