STOLEN BY THE ALPHA KING

ZEIAH'S POV My wedding was in two hours and Cole was not here, and his phone wasn’t going through. "Where is Cole?" Priya whispered. "He’ll be here soon, I’m sure. Maybe he’s still getting ready," I replied nervously, squeezing the bouquet in my hand. "But his phone has been going to voicemail all morning," Rachael added. "I’ve always told you to stay away from that jerk. He’s not good for you. He doesn’t deserve you, Zeiah," Priya snapped at me. "He’s an—" "Can you two just shut up?" I cut in before Priya could finish. "He will be here soon," I muttered through my teeth. I was already dressed in the bridal suite. A white gown glittering with sequins. Fully dressed, bouquet in hand, seated in the church, looking expensive because that was what my husband-to-be’s mother had always wanted. "Wait a minute." I snapped back to my senses. "Where’s Mira?" I whispered, looking around to see if she was there. She wasn’t. "Oh, I forgot to tell you. She told me to tell you that she was going to pick something up at the mall," one of the maids said from behind me. "That’s weird. And she didn’t even tell me herself?" I wondered. "Well, it’s nothing. She’ll be here soon." I didn’t think much of it because it was normal. She does it all the time, so it wasn’t anything new to me. It was almost time for the wedding. The people we invited were already gathered, waiting for the ceremony to begin. My legs were bouncing up and down. My hands were pinching the bouquet. I didn’t even realize I was doing it. Then a phone screen lit up. A notification. Everyone’s phones started buzzing because the sound was coming from everywhere. Priya had left her phone on the chair next to me, so hers was the one that got it first. _News alert_ _Headline: The well-known millionaire, Cole Handler, has just married Mira Moreau in a private ceremony. My grip on the bouquet loosened. The petals dropped to the floor one by one and I didn’t even bother to pick them up. Cole. Mira. Married. "No, no, no. It’s a lie, right?" My smile came out wrong. I swallowed hard, trying to force out a sob that never came. My fingers went cold. I couldn’t feel them anymore. Priya held my hands and tried to calm me down, but I was lost in shock. I didn’t want to believe what I saw. "Hey, look at me." Priya cupped my face in her hands. "Breathe. I need you to calm down. Don’t panic." "I’m not panicking." I held back the tears because I refused to let them go to waste. My mom came running from the back to the front, where I was. "Sweetheart," she called. "These are just rumors. I need you to calm down." "Rumors?" I laughed bitterly. The guests were murmuring to each other. Everyone was looking at me and talking. The betrayal was worse because it came from the two people I trusted the most. I had always found a way to make excuses for Cole no matter what he did. Even now, with my whole world collapsing, some part of me still wanted to make an excuse for him, because he was supposed to be my husband. And it pissed me off when people talked about him like he was trash. Well, they were actually telling the truth. He had never been punctual to anything that had to do with me. I never had a say when it came to his family, and Cole would never speak up whenever his mom imposed things on me. Instead, he’d say, "She’s just an old woman. Just give her what she wants." And now I understood. Mira helped me get dressed. She fastened my buttons and told me I deserved to be happy. But it had all been a lie. I couldn’t say anything. Silence became my only source of comfort. I allowed the pain to eat me up inside. I was calm on the outside, but inside I was burning. My stomach twisted, and my fists were clenched so tight my nails dug into my palms. "So all the laughs this morning were fake?" I asked, my face blank like I wasn’t hurt. "Baby, you don’t have to go through this alone. I’m here with you." My mom squeezed my hands in hers. I didn’t say anything. My throat had closed up. I couldn’t talk. I crossed my arms over myself, too tired to be vulnerable in front of all these eyes. Birds chirped outside. The wind blew harder and the murmuring grew louder. I pulled my hands from my mother’s and carefully set the bouquet down on the table in front of me. I took a slow, deep breath and let it out. I stood up and looked at my mom and my bridesmaids. "I’m leaving. And nobody should follow me, please. I want to be alone." "But Zeiah…" "Nobody should follow me," I interrupted Priya. "Mom, please. Don’t come after me." I picked up my coat from beside me and my phone and started walking out of the church. It was a long walk. It felt like I’d never reach the door. "Poor girl. I can’t imagine what she must be going through right now," one of the guests whispered as I walked toward the door. Two hundred guests were here for a ceremony that would never happen. Some of them watched me leave through the side corridor. I heard whispers behind me, but I kept walking. I didn’t cry. I’ve always been better at leaving than breaking down in public. It started raining the moment I stepped out of the cathedral. I got cold fast, because my coat was getting drenched. I pulled off the heels at the top of the cathedral steps. They were Cole’s mother’s choice, not mine. And I was done with everything that was someone else’s choice. I walked barefoot into the rain. I had no idea where I was going. The only thing I knew was that I wasn’t going back there. I ended up on an empty street. Just me, walking in the rain, barefoot, in my wedding dress, with no idea where I was headed. The street was so quiet and empty I could hear my heartbeat, loud and fast. "Whatever’s going to happen can happen. I don’t care anymore," I muttered through gritted teeth, my hands in my pockets, and I kept walking. A bright light shone from behind me. It was moving slowly. I could hear it but I didn’t bother to look back. But it felt like the car was coming toward me. I turned to see where it was going, and it stopped. A black Range Rover. Idling at the end of the street, engine running, lights off. I turned and started walking again. The car started moving too. My heart hammered against my ribs. I thought about running, but I knew I couldn’t outrun a Range Rover. So I stood there, freezing on the inside but acting strong on the outside. My heart slammed against my ribs as the door slowly opened.