The Alpha’s Substitute Mate

Malcolm

I took the envelope and carried it down to Mum’s chamber.

” Mum, this was addressed to you,” I said and handed her the envelope.

Her eyes immediately welled up with tears. ” She left us, she’s gone, Son. Why did she leave?”

I crouched my shoulders and pushed my hands into the pockets of my jeans and my heart fell in defeat. She didn’t just leave Arden, she left the family, she left the pack. She left me. I shut my eyes, leaning against the door and inhaling deeply. She left me. I have been fucking helpless, to do anything about the bond between us. I wanted to make her mine, I wanted to claim and mark her. I wanted her to be my everything but she already belonged to my brother, the Alpha.

I knew the second I met her sitting at the Alpha family table that she was the one, my mate, the one destined for me by the moon goddess, the one meant to be mine.

She was so beautiful, with long curly blonde hair, and her rare silver eyes which were rumored to be the mark of the moon and the blessings of the goddess. She had a captivating smile that melted hearts and she was a woman who smiled frequently.

I remembered asking Arden “Why do you hate her so much?” Is there anything wrong in accepting her?”

” I didn’t choose her, she’s cursed and her father tricked me and sent her. I’m not going to accept her.”© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

” Forget about her father Arden, she’s your mate. That’s even enough reason you should accept her.”

” Mate? That means having a weakness and I would never allow everything that I had worked hard for to go to waste because of a flimsy mate bond. I don’t even give a damn even if it’s the moon goddess herself, I am not going to be tied down to one woman for the rest of my life all because of some superstitious fairytale. Having a mate is pure bad luck and weakness and I’m not going to put my dick on the chopping board for that. Never!!”

” Having a mate is never a weakness. It’s a gift, Arden. You should be grateful about it.”

” Fuck that, I don’t want it. Being an Alpha meant having no emotions, holding no feelings, showing no weakness, and having no mate.” He had declared

“What’s the matter with you, Malcolm? Are you in any way having a hard-on for Isabella? You want to have her under you screaming and moaning. Trust me you would be disappointed, it’s not worth it.” He smirked and added, ” It’s like a sour taste in the mouth.”

I wondered what he would have done if I had told him the truth ” As a matter of fact, I do.” Every time I looked at those pair of silver orbs filled with innocence and purity, perceived her sweet scent of caramel and mint and listened to her melodic voice. All I could think about was making sweet sensual love to her and marking her as mine.

I could still recall the delicious taste and enticing flavor of her mouth on my tongue on the night I shared a kiss with her. That night my entire body felt like it had been struck by lightning and my senses were on overdrive. Her scent and touch consumed my body, making me weak and needy inside. It ignited electrifying sparks that caused my body to respond to hers in a way I had never felt before.

It had taken all of my self-control every day to be around her without grabbing her up in my arms and placing my mark on the crook of her neck. I wanted to feel everything she was feeling, and I wanted to share everything with her. Her love, her happiness, and her pain.

Arden never marked her, I knew because I checked every day, I didn’t want her bearing his mark. I knew that as long as he hadn’t marked her then the mating ritual had not been completed, and there was still hope for me. Hope for us. For all the time he had hurt her, all I wanted to do was to harm him and make him suffer but I knew Bella would not be happy about two brothers in enmity because of her.

By noon, the whole pack was in turmoil. Half the pack, especially the women, were crying and mourning her as though she had died. They whispered about how cruel, brutal, and ruthless Arden had been to her and also as an Alpha. The other half of the pack was furious that she abandoned and rejected the pack.

Arden mobilized a unit of warriors to search for her and bring her back to him untouched, that he would specifically deal with her. When I heard it, my hand fisted and I wanted to inflict the same pain on him. How can he be so cruel and devilish? The next moment he was acting all pained and in a wink he was already drafting out punishment for her.

After some time one of the warriors came to inform us that one of the pack cars was missing. They tried tracking it but it was disconnected and they also informed us that Lance and Bella’s maid Violet were not in the pack that means they had flee with her.

Arden couldn’t contain his anger knowing that our brother had helped her escape. Somehow I felt kind of relieved knowing that Lance was with her, he would protect her and wouldn’t let any harm come to her till I figure out how to find her.

Arden cast a murderous gaze on the warriors, one full of hatred and insult. And the warriors all trembled in fear. His mouth pulled open and he called for the warrior who had delivered the message and his next action crippled me to my bones.

He swung his dagger and pierced it right into the abdomen of the warrior. The blood of the warrior squirted over his face and robe and he let out an angry growl, and pointed toward the convulsing body of the warrior and said

” You brought this upon yourself, for conveying such a message, you’re not competent to be a warrior.”