The Alpha’s Unwanted Bride

BELLE'S POV

Belle clapped for Xaden, excited to see that the members of his pack were celebrating his victory.

They sang songs in his praise, and she swelled with pride.

I was proud that this man, who was so loved by a lot of people, would be bees to keep me day.

She had not doubted it once that he would emerge without the horns.

Xaden was a fighter.

Then, from the corner of her eyes, she saw someone in the distance looking over a balcony.

It was that stupid serving girl.

She felt the fury grow within.

She glared at her, and then the girl saw her and hurried away from the balcony.

She was angry.

First, she had seen her last night on the balcony with Xaden when he had returned from the forests with the horns.

What had he been doing with her in the first place?!

What had she been doing in the forest?

Belle had seen her in her miserly dress and rumpled form.

Why was such a nobody hanging around his own lover?

The man she was to marry.

She was beyond words angry and just wanted to slash and destroy.

Upset, she turned around and marched up to her bedroom, where her mother and her grandmother were discussing.

"Mother! Aunt!" She shrieked. "I saw that girl! With Xaden!"

"What girl, Belle? You're going to have to be more precise." Her mother said she was sounding weka and tired.

Belle frowned.

Throughout the entire event yesterday, it was like when they had come back from their ride in town, they had encountered a problem.

Her mother and aunt had been gloomy.

"What's wrong with you two?" She asked them.

She didn't care; she was extremely selfish and only wanted her own matters discussed, but she also wanted gossip.

"It's nothing." Aunt Cherry said. "Say what you wanted to say or leave."

Belle jolted up.

Aunt Cherry was strict and gave her chills. More than her own mother.

"The serving girl," Belle said. "The one who has made Grandma think she was seeing my Skype aunt. The ugly one with the scar.

Both women turned sharply to look at her.

"What did you say?" Her mom asked her.

"That girl. The red-headed girl." Belle repeated, disgusted. "I saw her last night coming out of the forest with Xaden. She was standing not so far from him when he presented the elk horns. And then again, I saw her this morning happy and all smiles when the women were singing Xaden's praises."

Aunt Cherry and her mother exchanged stares.

"I'm worried that it might affect our plans for tomorrow's last and final ritual." She said. "There are rumours that he protects her. What does she have that I don't have? She is ugly, and I am a royal princess. Everything about her is miserable. Why doesn't he look at me?"

And she started crying.

"My Goddess, do you have to cry about everything?!" Aunt Cherry said. "No wonder he wouldn't even look at you. No man wants a weeping woman. How did you even raise her?"

Corral sighed and put her hands in her face.

"Mother, you said we're going to execute our plans tomorrow, didn't you?" Belle asked.

She didn't want to make the mistake of losing Xaden.

This was her opportunity.

Aunt Cherry turned to look at her. "What plans."

"Tomorrow is the night of the ritual, and he is going to look for the maiden. We will make some spells and make sure she is the maiden. When the power of the moon enters him, then he will see Belle and go to her." Corral said. "Hmmm. I'm impressed." Cherry said.

Then her grandma mused for a while.

"Forget about that girl." Aunt Cherry said. "She is irreverent to our cause. We can't touch her because she is currently owned by this pack."

Belle suspected something was amiss.

They knew something and didn't want to tell her.

She sighed. "Alright. I'll go get prepared for the feast tonight."

"That's much better." Her mom prodded. "Look your best. Go and check out the dresses. I heard Aurora is gone, which means you would have Xaden all to yourself. That slave is insignificant."

Belle smiled even though her mind told her that they were singing these praises to get her out of their hair.

She sighed, turned on her heel, and walked out of the room.

She walked out of the room and down the hall to her ladies in waiting.

"Get me my dresses!" She snapped. "I'm going to look my best today!"

The ladies bowed down and scurried off.

She followed them to a dressing room and tried on the different hairdos.

The feast was the middle ritual of the Halo Moon Festival.

They were all expected to dine and feast.

To dance and rejoice for their victory in the first ritual.

Belle made sure she was going to be seated by his side, and she wanted to look her best so he would not miss her.

She tried on her dress, and they stitched it, fixing the ropes behind the corset.

"Push the cleavage higher!" She swore.

She looked at herself in the mirror.

All her life, she had wanted Xaden.

He was the only man who made her feel the way she did.

He was everything she wasn't supposed to have.

He was wild, dangerous, and had a strong will.

Even her grandfather's father had limits to what Xaden could do.

She wanted to look her very best.

She tried to breathe as the dress was tightened over and over.

But she reminded herself that beauty was pain.

She saw a young girl coming in, and she remembered that she had been one of the girls who had been in the room cleaning with that slave girl.

"You." She called out.

The girl bowed. "Your majesty."

"What's your name?" She asked her.

"Lisa." She responded.

"Well, Lisa, how long have you been in this pack?" Belle asked her.

"Over five years, your majesty." She replied.

Belle realised that she needed someone who would know about that slave girl.

She felt something was amiss about her, and she would get to the root of it.

"Do you know the slave girl whom you worked with?" She asked.

"Yes, your majesty." Lisa bowed.

"Tell me everything you know about her." Belle said.

What Belle didn't know was that Lisa was loyal to her arch enemy.

Aurora.