The Grumpy Hockey Alpha Loves His Replacement Bride

Isla POV “The bride is missing.” Those four words kept pounding in my head like a drum as I stood in the center of the bridal suite, my chest tightening more and more with each passing second. My palms were sweating. My heart was racing. My legs felt like they were going to buckle underneath me. I had spent the last fifteen minutes searching every inch of the building for Cassandra, my older sister, the bride to be, the pride of our family, the beauty of the werewolf community. The one who was supposed to walk down the aisle today and become the Luna of one of the most powerful Alpha bloodlines left. And she was gone. Completely gone. This day was supposed to be perfect. Today was the wedding of the century. The entire werewolf world had been buzzing about it for months. Alpha Chase Valtor, captain of the national hockey team, the Silverfang prodigy, the grumpy legend every pack whispered about, was marrying Cassandra Hayes, the glamorous sweetheart of our community. The media had called them the moon goddess’ chosen pair, the perfect couple, the destined match everyone envied. For weeks, my social feeds had been filled with speculation about the dress, the ceremony, the guest list, the details that would make history. There was no possible way the bride would have run away. None. Right? Right? My breath hitched as I scanned the empty room again, trying to convince myself she was hiding somewhere, maybe playing a cruel joke, maybe needing a moment alone. But deep inside me, panic began to rise, slippery and uncontrollable. Cassandra was not the type to get cold feet. She was confident, adored, spoiled, and stubborn. She got everything she wanted. And she wanted Chase. At least she had always claimed she did. A soft murmur drifted up from the floors below. I could faintly hear the chattering of the crowd, restless, curious, growing worried. The music had already started. The guests had been seated. The officiant was in position. The media teams were all set up, cameras pointed at the aisle. This was not a small wedding. It was a global event with every eye on us. And I, Isla Hayes, chief bridesmaid, was supposed to bring the bride downstairs five minutes ago. I swallowed hard. My heart beat painfully against my ribs. If I showed up alone, if the doors opened and the cameras saw only me, everything would explode into chaos. “Cassandra?” I called out one last time, even though I already knew I would get no response. I opened the bathroom door. Empty. The vanity still had the jewelry. The dress was gone. Her bouquet had been dropped on the chair. Her perfume lingered faintly in the air, a soft floral scent that suddenly made my stomach twist. “She wouldn’t.” My voice shook. “She can’t.” But she did. I checked under the table, behind the curtains, inside the walk-in closet. My heart kept sinking deeper and deeper. There was no sign of struggle. No forced entry. No scent of another person. No blood. No torn fabric. No indication that she had been kidn*pped. But what if she had been? The thought hit me hard. What if a rival pack had taken her? What if someone wanted to ruin the wedding? What if someone wanted to humiliate Chase or destroy the Silverfang legacy? What if she had been dragged away by force? A wave of dizziness washed over me. My head spun. My throat tightened until I could barely breathe. I clutched the wall to steady myself. That was when something on the floor caught my eye. A tiny piece of paper. Folded once. Light. Almost easy to miss. A warning chill rushed through me. I crouched down and picked it up with trembling fingers. My vision blurred as I unfolded it. The handwriting was familiar. Elegant. Cassandra’s. “I am sorry. I can’t do this. Cassandra.” For a moment, I forgot how to breathe. Everything came crashing down at once. My knees weakened. My stomach dropped. The room suddenly felt too small, too bright, too suffocating. Cassandra had run away. My sister, the bride everyone adored, the one chosen by the moon goddess, had abandoned her wedding. She had abandoned Chase. She had abandoned our family. She had abandoned the entire world that had put her on a pedestal. O my goddess. This was bad. This was beyond bad. This was catastrophic. My mind exploded with panic. What would our parents say? What would the media say? What would the elders say? And Chase… Chase Valtor… his entire reputation, his position as the last Alpha of the Silverfang bloodline, depended on this union. A broken bond, a runaway bride, would ruin him. The werewolf world would tear him apart with their rumors and accusations. “What were you thinking?” I whispered, gripping the note tightly in my hand. “Cassandra, what have you done?” A sharp knock startled me. I spun around as the wedding planner, pale and frantic, pushed the door open. “Isla, the bride needs to come out now,” she whispered urgently. “Chase is already at the altar. The cameras are rolling. Everyone is seated. The Luna Council is waiting.” My throat tightened so hard I could barely speak. “She… she is not here.” The woman blinked. “What?” “I can’t find her.” My voice cracked. “She left a note.” The wedding planner stared at me like the ground had vanished beneath her feet. Then her face drained of all color. “You… you are her sister,” she whispered. “Same height. Same hair. Same dress size.” “What?” I stepped back. “No. No. Absolutely not. I cannot walk into a wedding crowd pretending to be Cassandra.” “You have to,” she said, grabbing my arms with urgent desperation. “If you step out alone, this wedding will collapse. Chase’s family will be disgraced. Your parents will be humiliated. The media will explode. And Chase… Chase will be destroyed. Do you understand what is at stake?” My body trembled violently. I could not do this. I was not Cassandra. I was not the pretty sister. I was not the glamorous one the community adored. I lived in her shadow. Always had. Always would. “I am a nobody,” I choked. “They will know I am not her.” “They will not,” she said. “You look enough alike. And once the veil is on, no one will question it. We need the ceremony to start. Afterward… we will figure things out.” My pulse hammered against my neck. Everything inside me screamed no. But the sound of the restless crowd below grew louder and louder, drowning out my thoughts. Time was running out. The world was waiting for a bride who had already run away. In the chaos of the moment, my mother appeared, breathless and pale. One look at my face told her everything. “She left?” my mother whispered. I nodded. Her face crumpled. “We cannot let this destroy us. Isla… you need to go out there.” My legs shook. My fingers trembled. My lips parted without air. I was being pushed. Forced. Cornered by fate. I was a replacement. A last-minute sacrifice. A girl about to walk into a storm she could not escape. The wedding planner lowered the veil over my face. It brushed my cheeks softly, hiding me behind its shimmer. My mother squeezed my hands with trembling fingers. “Please,” she whispered. “For the family. Walk down that aisle.” I swallowed the lump in my throat and stepped toward the door. Each step felt heavier than the last. My heart pounded painfully in my chest as the music swelled from below. The crowd rose to their feet. The doors flew open. Light blinded me. Cameras flashed. Gasps rippled through the hall. And there he was. Chase Valtor. Tall. Broad shouldered. Dressed in black formal wear that sharpened every line of his grumpy, intense expression. His dark eyes locked on mine through the veil, cold, unreadable, powerful enough to make my breath hitch. He knew. He knew something was wrong. He stared at me as if he could see straight through every layer I was hiding behind. As I reached the altar, his jaw clenched. His fists tightened. His entire presence seemed to vibrate with danger. Then, slowly, deliberately, Chase stepped forward, stopped right in front of me, looked me dead in the eyes, and said the words that made the entire world stop. “I’ll marry her.”