The Alpha Prince and His Bride

Book 2 Chapter 4

~EDEN~

I couldn't take my eyes off James, how could someone so magnificent be my mate? I never once expected to have a mate that oozed of such power and masculinity all the while being so God damn breathtakingly gorgeous.

The way he moved, the way his eyes held mine, everything about him just sparked a heat deep within me that travelled all the way throughout my body.

"Eden." The prosecutor called causing my entire body to jump.

"Yes Prosecutor." I responded while forcing my eyes to move from my mate to him.

"Do not forget your place, do not ever forget who owns you." He warned. "Do not embarrass the council by giving in to your desires. James could never claim you, what use is there fantasizing over a man that could never be yours?" He asked, his eyes drilling into me.

I bowed my head in sadness at the truth of his words. "I understand Prosecutor."

"No." He said shaking his head at me. " It doesn't seem like you do understand Eden, for you wouldn't be staring at another man while your to be husband is standing a few feet away... Let me make something clear to you, if you do anything to jeopardize this alliance, James will be no more... I will make sure of it." He threatened.

I gasped at his words, how many times would they threaten my mate's life.

Fear sparked within me as I wondered why had James decided to come here knowing what had happened in the past?

He shouldn't be here! Why didn't Lucy stop him from coming, I'm sure they all understood the dangers of bringing him here on such an occasion, why hadn't anyone stopped him?

"Now that we've cleared that up, it's time for the ceremony to begin. Get up on the stage so that we can get on with it." He added roughly.

I nodded and followed him straight to the gigantic stage that was set up just for this occasion. Hunter soon joined me, his eyes dark and cold as ever.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen." The prosecutor announced. " We would ask that everyone gives us their undivided attention as the engagement ceremony is about to begin."

The entire crowd went completely silent at the announcement and it only seemed to add to my anxiety.

What would James be thinking in his head?

How much must it be hurting him to see me here standing next to Hunter?

Why hadn't anyone stopped him from coming here? My brothers were in charge of letting the guests in, so why had they let James in? They should have known better than that!

I felt my entire body stiffen as Hunter was placed directly in front of me so that we were now facing each other.

I didn't want to do this, it broke my heart into tiny pieces to know that I was being engaged to someone I didn't know while my mate stood in the crowds looking on at the entire thing.

But what choice did I have?

If I refused, things would only get worse, my entire family and my mate would all be in danger because of my actions.

There was no way out of this, I had to get on with it even thought it killed me inside.

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

~JAMES~

It pained like a motherfucker seeing Eden in front of the crowd, standing next to a man that wasn't me. It made me feel like a weak man, like someone who wasn't worthy of a mate.

How could I just stand by and watch this all happen?

But I knew the circumstances of me trying to stop this engagement from happening, it wouldn't end well for anyone. Yet, it was very hard to control my emotions at a time like this. No man in their right mind could just stand by and watch their woman get engaged to another man!

When I'd seen her tonight, everything around me had gotten dark, everything except her. She shone brightly, brighter than anyone I've ever seen. Eden was simply a Goddess, a Princess, a f*****g angel that was too good for this world.

She was my angel, she was made just for me and the council as well as the monster Hunter was trying to deprive me of what was mine!

It pained me as I continued to look on at the scene unfolding before me, when Hunter reached forward and grabbed Eden's hand to slip the ring onto her finger, everything within me crashed.

Before I could stop myself a loud deafening growl escaped my mouth expressing the pain and anger I felt inside at witnessing such a disturbing sight . Lucy's brothers grabbed onto me and shoved me out the door before anyone had a chance to see who had made the noise.

"We told you not to make a scene!" Ermanno growled. "We understand this would be extremely difficult for you to watch but if you knew you couldn't handle it you should have stayed outside. Hunter isn't someone to mess with, the council already is against you, the last thing you want is Hunter on your back as well. You need to understand that nothing is going to pain Eden more than seeing you get hurt, remember that."

My jaw clenched at his words but I still remained quiet, knowing that her brothers were right.

"How about you take a run through the woods and cool off a little." Marcus suggested. "It might do you some good, we can't take you back inside there now, we're already in enough trouble as it is for letting you in the first time."

My fists tightened at my sides as I forced myself to nod. Without waiting for either one of Eden's brothers to make another comment I raced off into the woods.

When I was deep inside the forest I dropped onto my knees and glared at the bright moonlight.

"WHY?" I demanded. "WHY DID THIS HAPPEN TO ME?" I asked.

"WHY TAKE EDEN FROM ME!" I roared as I let out all my anger and frustration. "WHAT DID I EVER DO TO DESERVE THIS?"

I couldn't see anymore of this, if I allowed this to happen I would eventually lose my sanity.

I needed some way to make Eden mine, I just had to do it! For the sake of both my mate and I .... I would have to stop this wedding!