The Alpha Prince And His Bride
Book 2 The Alpha’s Forbidden Bride – Episode 12

Did he possibly know something already?

There was this smirk on his face as he looked at James. As they stood in front of each other, it was easy to see just how powerful both men were. I hated the sight of both of them near each other; I feared that my mate would do something that could result in war between the council and our families.

Hunter took a few steps forward; he was now close enough to reach James if he really wanted to. “My future wife is here, what other possible reason do I need to be here as well?” he asked. “Unless, you have some unknown reasons that you would like to bring forward.”

I saw my mate’s body tense at his words. In fact, everyone saw it. If we all did, Hunter no doubt hadn’t missed it, he always paid attention to small details, he was surely testing James. We had to stop this before he snapped and gave Hunter a reason to believe that we were mates.

I made an effort to get up but stopped when I saw James take a step closer.

“You’re not welcome in my home.” He growled.

“James,” the Queen said as she walked up to him. “It’s okay, Hunter can stay if he wants.”

He didn’t look happy with his mother’s interruption. In fact, his mouth was now set in a straight line and his fingers were pressed tightly against the palm of his hand.

I understood why the queen did that however, she was only protecting her son. By James not welcoming him into the palace, it would look suspicious to Hunter. That is, if he hadn’t already seen something. James and I were together multiple times yesterday alone, there were many occasions for Hunter to replace something out. It could definitely be the reason why he decided to show up here unannounced today.

But if that was the case, there was a high chance he wouldn’t be here just to ‘talk’. Hunter hated to be double crossed, he also took whatever it is he wanted whenever he wanted it, he wouldn’t sit back and watch James and I destroy his reputation.That was the only thing that had me a little calm during this confrontation.

Hunter nodded at the queen and stepped around James, even though he’d just admitted that he came to see me, the first person his eyes fell on was Isabella. Her back was turned to him but still he continued to gaze at her before he walked around the table to where I was sitting.

“How has your trip been going so far?” he asked as he took a seat next to me.

My hands shook as I tried to pick up the glass and drink some water. My actions didn’t go unnoticed by Hunter. Nor did it go unnoticed by James. I glanced at him and immediately regretted it; the look on his face was painful to look at. I could see the pain and anger in his eyes as he glared at my shaking hands. I knew he wanted to be next to me, I knew he wanted to comfort me. However, there was nothing either one of us could do.

I sucked in a breath and tried to remember the question Hunter had just asked me.

“It’s been good so far, I only arrived yesterday.” I forced myself to answer. It was hard not to stumble on my own words with the way my hand was still shaking.

Hunter didn’t respond and out of fear, I gazed up at him to see why he’d stopped talking.

To my horror, his eyes were on James, the worst of my fears. There was this look of interest in his eyes that bothered me. I needed to replace a distraction quickly, anything to stop him from suspecting my mate.

“Why did you decide to come all the way over here?”

He leaned back, his eyes now on Isabella and Lucas. They were both deep in some conversation and by her awkward smile; I could tell that Lucas was talking some nonsense again. Lucy was right, once you were around Lucas enough, you would get used to his playful ways.

“The council asked me to come pay you a visit,” he answered. I watched as his eyes narrowed when Lucas leaned a little into Isabella.

His actions surprised me. I didn’t think I was just overthinking things now; Hunter had some sort of interest in my sister. He was also not afraid to show it. Or, was it that he was unable to hide it?

I just couldn’t figure out what it was. I considered that maybe he was interested in her in a romantic way. . . However, that wouldn’t make any sense at all. For I still didn’t understand why he would marry me if he felt some sort of attraction towards my sister.

“They asked you to come here?” Austin asked suspiciously. He didn’t believe a word, neither did I. The council knew that James was my mate; they wouldn’t want Hunter anywhere near us knowing that. They would fear that he would eventually replace out that they knew that James was my mate all along and kept it from him. Hunter would see it as a betrayal, in that case, he could cut all ties with them. If that happened, my entire would surely be punished.

Hunter tore his gaze away from Isabella and focused on Austin. “You can ask them if you don’t believe me.” He challenged. “I’m not staying long, you don’t have to worry.” He added when Austin didn’t respond.

As soon as he said those words he threw his chair backwards. The furniture made a loud screech as it fell to the ground. I gulped and had to stop a hiccup, I hadn’t expected him to get up so soon. To my surprise, he kept walking until he was standing behind Isabella.

What was he doing? Isabella slightly turned and blinked up at him, neither one of us was sure of what was happening. As soon as she met his gaze, he held it and didn’t once let go. In those few seconds, I saw multiple emotions cross his face, each of them hard to read.

We all watched in shock as Hunter reached down and lifted Isabella into his arms. He picked her up like she weighed nothing and walked with her to the fallen chair. He leaned down with her still in his arms and picked the thing of the ground before placing her onto it.

The entire room went completely silent. All eyes on Hunter and Isabella.