The Alpha Prince And His Bride
Episode 18

AUSTIN’S POV:

Motherfucker.

Lucy’s brothers were fighting to kill and I couldn’t f*****g focus properly with her terrified screams. Both my wolf and I were desperate to get to her and calm her down , it made us restless seeing her so scared.

I swear if these assholes weren’t her brothers I would have ripped them into f*****g shreds already for causing Lucy pain , they didn’t even see what their actions were doing to her . I didn’t want to seriously injure any of Lucy’s brothers , I knew the last thing she would want is something to happen to them and if it meant harming her I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. So I forced myself to exercise restraint on my emotions and not fight back. Instead I tried to dodge most of their advances , however it was hard considering it was five of them , her cries didn’t make it any easier , it called out to me , every time I heard a sound escape her lips I felt a tug at my heart.

My heart howled in protest as both my wolf and I felt powerless for the first time since our f*****g existence , torn between wanting to get to Lucy and not being able to do so without harming the people she cared about .

It was f*****g torture.

Another one of her screams broke my concentration and once again it was like I had no control over my own body as I quickly glanced over in her direction ,my heart clenched at the look on her face , something was wrong and my wolf could sense it but before I could even fathom what was happening one of her f*****g brothers lunged for my throat.

f*****g bastard!

Her scream had caught me off guard as I didn’t have time to block the grey-black wolf’s attack , his teeth digging into my wolf. A surprised cry escaped me at the unexpected pain.

And that’s when it happened , another terrified scream echoed through the forest stronger than the ones before and travelled straight through my veins and made it’s way all the way to my heart …Lucy.

My wolf staggered back in shock as she shifted before our eyes into the most beautiful wolf I’d ever laid my eyes on.

A breath taking snow-white wolf with thick glossy fur , everything around me moved in slow motion as I continued to stare at the wolf’s beauty in awe ,taking in as much as my mind would let me.

I winced.

f**k.

The distraction had cost me another painful bite yet again from one of her brothers.

And then right before my eyes the white wolf leaped into the air and crashed into the fight , taking one of her brothers down with her. She growled aggressively , letting out a loud howl that shook the trees around us as she attacked another one of her brothers , grabbing onto his fur with her teeth and flinging him towards a tree. Without stopping she proceeded to fling another until all of her brothers stood sprawled out in all different directions , a blank confused look on each of their faces.

She growled once more at them , a warning , letting them know she wouldn’t stand down if they proceeded to attack. When none of her brothers made an attempt to move she slowly turned to me , watching me with careful , curious eyes .

Her stance confident and her breathing hard as her penetrating gaze drew me completely in , she stood like that for a while never taking her eyes off my wolf , and then right before our eyes her body dropped to the ground completely lifeless as it shifted back to her human form to reveal a very naked Lucy.

f**k.

My eyes shut to her brothers who were still in their wolf forms and a possessive death threatening growl escaped my wolf as he proceeded to cover Lucy with his body , shielding her from their eyes.

“What have you boys done!” A middle aged woman who shared a strikingly close resemblance to Lucy shouted as she took in the scene in front of her.

Lucy’s mother , I silently thought as I watched her reaction.

She was studying Lucy motionless on the ground with frightened eyes before she turned to glare at her sons . “You boys have really done it this time .”

The five wolves bowed their heads in shame at their mother’s angry glare.

I didn’t leave Lucy’s side until her mother returned with blankets to cover up her naked body , she came back with shorts as well since my clothes had been destroyed thanks to the unplanned shifting brought about by her brothers .

After shifting to my human form I quickly made my way back to Lucy’s side , I didn’t want to be away from her for even a second , especially not while she was unconscious . I dropped to my knees next to her and gently took her into my arms , holding her close.

“Why the f**k is he holding her ?” Thane asked angrily .

I growled , glaring at her brothers as my deadly gaze pierced straight through them , if they thought they could take her from me when she was in this state they could go f**k themselves . That was only happening over my dead body , my patience was already on borderline and I was ready to f*****g kill anything or anyone that separated me from Lucy.

“Don’t test me , I’m already tempted to kill every f*****g one of you .” I roared , Lucy in my arms was the only thing preventing me from shifting back into my wolf and letting them feel the full wrath of my wolf. I held back before only because of Lucy but seeing her like this in my arms was making me lose my grip on my sanity .

“Thane.” His mother warned , her voice stern. ” Austin is Lucy’s husband whether you like it or not , sooner or later you boys are going to have to get along , so I suggest you start to learn to accept it from now. “

Lucy’s brothers stiffened at her words but none of them said anything after that and I was grateful for the silence as my main concern was Lucy in my arms .

…………………

LUCY’S POV:

I g*****d , my body felt sore all over and I had a killer headache that made it almost impossible to think clearly.

I slowly opened my eyes , blinking a couple of times before studying my surroundings .

The first person that came into view was my mother , her eyes were swollen and it looked as though she were crying .

“M-mom.” I croaked .

“Lucy.”She whispered , taking my hands in hers.

“What happened ?”

Everything was foggy and I could hardly remember anything.

“You shifted for the first time sweetheart , without any guidance or help from an elderly , since it was your first shift and you immediately got into a fight right after , it strained your body and mind , you have been unconscious for an entire day.”

An entire day? I kept feeling like I was forgetting something important but for some reason my memories refused to cooperate with me , my mind completely blank.

A small noise at the back of the room caught my attention , I followed the sound as my gaze fell on two faces I hadn’t seen before now , both women were extremely beautiful and were looking at me as if they were deeply concerned about my well being .

Mother followed my gaze and smiled .” They are your sisters .”She informed me. “Come introduce yourselves girls , you’ve been dying to meet Lucy for the longest while.”

They both approached me hesitantly , the one with the blond hair and green eyes was the first to introduce herself . “I’m Eden.” She whispered with a warm smile.

“And I’m Isabella .” My next sister introduced herself , unlike Eden , Isabella had shiny black hair similar to my own but her green eyes matched that of Eden’s . She also gave me a warm gentle smile that reached her eyes.

I struggled to focus on anything else as something on both of their necks caught my attention , a gasp escaped my mouth in shock as realization of what it was dawned on me . It was the same dragon that was tattooed on my brothers’ shoulders , the only difference was that it was located right beneath their ear .

“Why are the tattoos of the signature dragon on your neck and not on your shoulders like our brothers ?” I asked before I could stop myself .

Eden and Isabella gave each other knowing looks before turning back to me .” I’ll let Eden explain this one.” Isabella announced taking a seat on one of the chairs to the side of me.

“Do you know what a mate is ?” Eden asked .

A mate?

“Judging by your blank expression I’ll say it’s safe to say you don’t know.” She concluded before continuing . ” Every werewolf is given at least one mate , their other half . It’s usually very easy for a wolf to know his/her mate as he/she can sense it immediately , you crave being around the person all the time . In some cases your wolf even screams mate when you’ve found them , nothing seems to matter as much anymore but keeping your mate safely by your side , you simply live and breathe for that person after you replace them , the feeling is quite intense and very hard to miss .”

“What does this have to do with the dragon being on your neck ?” I inquired , the explanation making me more confused than before .

Eden sighed running her fingers lightly over the tattoo . “This is usually where your mate marks you to signify that he has accepted you as his , completing the mating ritual . Since Isabella and I belong to the council , we are not allowed to have mates as we are already promised to someone else . The women who belong to the council are married off solely for the purpose of forming alliances that could benefit the council . “

My entire body shivered at her words . “What if you end up replaceing your mate , what happens then ?”

Eden stiffened at my question. “If he is out there , I pray that I never replace him for it would only bring pain to us both , as we could never be together . “

“That’s horrible !” I cried .” Surely there is some way to get out of this , what if you refuse to give up your mate to marry another?”

Eden’s pretty eyes were sad before she answered . “It means death for both of us if I ever refused .”

Death?

My eyes swept over to Isabella now , she wore a similar expression on her face . My sisters were both living a horrible life in this hell hole . My gaze continued to travel to my mother , she looked helpless and devastated , it broke my heart to see them this way .

An uncomfortable silence fell amongst us as they waited for me to come to terms with everything they just told me , Isabella the first to break the silence . ” Enough about our sad lives , this should be a happy reunion , I’m so happy to have you within arm’s reach Lucy , our family feels like it is complete once again.”

“We’ve felt like a piece of us have been missing our entire lives without you .”Eden confessed .” I’m also so very happy that you’re finally here .”

I felt my heart warm at their sweet words , they weren’t even aware of how much their beautiful words affected me . It felt like the ice I’d had around my heart for the family that had abandoned me shattered upon meeting them .

I returned both of their smiles . “I didn’t even know I had sisters , in fact if our brothers hadn’t come to replace me at –“

My words trailed off at the reminder of my brothers coming to replace me at King Jeremy’s castle.

Memories flashed before my eyes as everything flowed back to me all at once .

I instantly paled as my body begun to shake uncontrollably .

Austin!

The fight between Austin and my brothers !

My God.

I rose up instantly and winced as the headache and soreness of my body forced me to lie back down.

“What’s the matter ?” My mother asked in a worried tone as she tried to get me to sit still.

“Where is Austin ? ” I demanded , trying my best not to freak out . ” Is he okay?”

Everyone in the room stiffened at my question making me more anxious than I already was . Did something happen to him ? Why wasn’t anyone saying anything ?

” His wounds from the fight are already halfway healed .” Mother started.

I sighed and leaned back as relief flooded through me , instantly calming my racing heart.

“But-“

Why was there a but ?

My eyes snapped back up to my mother’s waiting impatiently for her to continue .

“The council requested his presence . “

I froze .

“What?” I asked completely shaken at her words.

My worst nightmare was coming true .

” The fight in the woods between Austin and your brothers alerted the council of his presence and so they wanted to have a few words with him while he was here .”

“About what ?”

Mother gave me a sympathetic look . “I have no idea Lucy but your father and brothers went along with him to make sure the meeting went smoothly and to ensure that no one gets hurt. “

How would that make me feel any better considering my brothers had literally just tried to kill Austin in the woods right in front of me despite all of my protests and screams … and my father , the man seemed like he didn’t give a care in the world about me , why would he care about Austin?

I needed to get to that meeting immediately , my sanity depended on it.