The Beast's Bride is a Substitute: The Alpha's Captive mate

Prologue

“The decision is yours, Eudora.

Would you save the earth from its downfall? Or would you selfishly choose him, dooming the world to his hands?

Your death and your sufferings will be your burden alone. Your blood will stain his hands.

And no matter what the future holds, you will not stop the calamity.

She is coming… and when she does, love itself will be your undoing.”

I had been given a choice. And yet I chose him.

Even after knowing the cost.

I was supposed to be the savior of millions.

Instead, I became the selfish woman who saved a monster… because I loved him, and believed I saw the part of him none of them had seen.

—-------

ELEANOR'S POV

I was never supposed to become the bride of the Vampire King.

Even now, saying those words feels absurd.

If someone had told me a few months ago that I would one day stand beside Argus–the feared ruler of the Vampire Realm–as his queen, I would have laughed in their face.

Or perhaps fainted.

Because for heaven's sake, I was human.

Humans and vampires were never meant to belong together. It was unnatural. Wrong. The sort of thing that existed only in fantasy novels and old folktales told around fireplaces.

Unfortunately, fate seemed determined to prove otherwise.

And somehow, I became its favorite victim.

My name is Eleanor Anderson.

And this is the story of how I became the vampire kings bride.

---

The Kingdom of Namalia was the only human kingdom in the entire East Mountains.

It sounds impressive until you realize it was surrounded on all sides by monsters.

Real monsters.

Not the kind parents invented to scare children into behaving. I mean creatures capable of tearing a grown man apart with their bare hands.

Uruhkais.

Werewolves.

Vampires.

Cursed witches.

As a child, I struggled to believe they were real.

Until I grew older.

Until I saw villages reduced to ash. Until I saw widows dressed in black. Until I heard mothers crying for daughters who never returned home.

The stories stopped feeling like stories after that.

Among all the creatures beyond our borders, the Uruhkais were the most feared.

Savages.

They raided human settlements for sport, slaughtering men and carrying women away into the darkness.

Every family in Namalia had lost someone.

Every family except mine. At least, not yet.

Humans were weak. Everyone knew it. And weak people rarely had the luxury of choosing their own fate.

So centuries ago, when the Vampire Realm offered protection, our ancestors accepted immediately.

"We will defend the human kingdom from all other realms."

The vampires' proposal had sounded generous. Until they revealed the cost.

"In return, every twenty years, a human bride will be offered to the Vampire King."

A fair exchange, they called it.

I called it insanity.

Because seriously...

What was wrong with female vampires?

Why were the males so obsessed with human women?

The entire arrangement felt disturbing.

Still, it worked.

The Uruhkais stopped attacking. The werewolves stayed away. For the first time in generations, humans slept without fearing they would wake up to screams and fire.

But peace always came with a price. And this year, that price was due.

Unfortunately...This year was also my eighteenth birthday.

The age every girl in Namalia secretly dreaded.

There was no escaping the Selection.

Every birth was recorded by the priests. Every age carefully tracked.

From the moment a girl entered the world, it felt as though an invisible clock began counting down toward her eighteenth birthday. Toward her fate. As if she was a livestock waiting to be claimed.

And ever since my birthday arrived…The nightmares had started. Every single night.

At first they came as fragments.

Strange flashes–A kingdom I had never seen before. Dark towers stretching into crimson skies. Ancient stone streets soaked in blood.

Then the dreams grew worse.

I began seeing a young pregnant woman.

A woman who looked exactly like me. Not similar. Not familiar. Identical.

I would watch helplessly as she screamed while flames consumed her body. The smell of burning flesh would fill the air. Her cries would echo endlessly in my ears.

And somehow...I always felt her pain. As though I wasn't watching. As though I was remembering.

Other nights were even worse.

I would find myself standing among a circle of witches draped in black robes. Their faces hidden. Their hands stained with blood. Dark magic swirled around us while strange symbols burned beneath our feet.

And there I stood among them. Not as a prisoner. Not as a victim. But as one of them.

Then came the voice–Every single dream ended the same way. A scream. Desperate. Broken and haunting, always calling the name.

"EUDORA!"

The name would echo through the darkness over and over again until I jolted awake drenched in sweat.

Eudora.

I had no idea who she was or why hearing her name filled me with a terror I couldn't explain.

I never told anyone about the nightmares.

Not Mother. Not Father. Not even Maria. Some things were easier kept hidden.

Funny enough, I wasn't meant to face this kingdom trauma alone.

I had a twin sister. An identical twin.

Maria.

But most people in Namalia had forgotten that.

Ten years ago, Mother left the kingdom with her to seek treatment for a serious heart condition outside the states.

And yesterday...They finally came home.

The moment I saw Maria step out of the carriage, I burst into tears.

Actual tears. Like a complete idiot.

Ten years wasn't ten days. It was birthdays missed. Memories lost. A decade of absence.

She looked beautiful. Older. Brighter.

Her golden hair spilled over her shoulders while her warm brown eyes sparkled with the same mischief I remembered from childhood.

"You look so different," I whispered emotionally, gripping her shoulders.

Maria laughed.

"And you still look exactly the same, Spare."

I groaned instantly.

There it was. That ridiculous nickname.

Spare.

According to Maria, I was her spare part. Personally, I thought spare tyre suited me better.

Mother laughed softly while I pulled both of them into another hug.

For the first time in years, my family was complete. And for a few precious hours...Everything felt normal.

Just then, the High Priest's messenger arrived. And everything changed.

Father spent nearly half an hour speaking privately with the messenger.

The moment the man left, I knew something was wrong.

Father's face had gone pale.

Mother noticed it too.

"What happened?" she asked quietly.

Father looked at each of us. Then sighed.

"The Bridal Selection begins tomorrow."

The room went silent.

"It is time," he continued heavily. "King Argus is ready to claim a bride."

A chill swept through me.

Not because of the Selection. But because of the name.

Argus.

Stories about him were whispered across every kingdom. Children were warned about him. Entire armies feared him.

They said no woman survived a night in his bed. That every bride he took eventually disappeared.

No one knew whether they died or simply vanished. Only that they were never seen again.

They said he once wiped out the Kingdom of Astral after its ruler refused to surrender a servant girl he had taken interest in.

An entire kingdom gone In a single night.

Others claimed he had personally sentenced his own queen to death after growing bored of her.

Nobody knew which stories were true. And somehow...That made them even more terrifying.

My breath caught.

"What?"

Maria frowned.

"What selection?"

Of course she didn't know. She had spent ten years away from Namalia. To her, vampires were still myths.

At first, she laughed. Then she noticed nobody else was laughing. Slowly, the color drained from her face.

"You can't be serious."

No one answered.

Because we were.

—-----------

The next morning felt strange.

Too quiet.

It was the kind of silence that made your chest feel heavy.

Breakfast sat untouched in front of us while tension filled the dining room like thick smoke.

Maria looked terrified..She kept stirring her tea without drinking it. While Mother stood near the window, twisting her fingers anxiously.

Father tried to appear calm, but I could see the stress written all over his face.

Even Tyra–my best friend who normally never took anything seriously, was unusually quiet.

Nobody wanted to say it out loud. But we were all thinking the same thing.

What if one of us got chosen?

The selection ceremony was held privately inside the temple every twenty years. Every girl who had come of age was required to attend. And nobody truly knew what happened inside. The ritual was kept secret. Girls returned pale and shaken afterward, refusing to speak about it.

“We should leave now,” Father finally said.

Maria looked at him immediately.

“Do you think it’ll be us?” she asked softly.

Her voice broke at the end.

Father hesitated. And somehow, that scared me more than any answer could have.

“We’ll face whatever happens,” he said eventually.

But he didn’t sound confident. Not even close.

Guilt twisted painfully inside me as I looked at Maria.

She had just returned yesterday.

Not even up to 24 hours!!!

After ten years away from home, this was the first thing she walked into. Fear. Monsters. A possible death sentence disguised as marriage.

She didn’t deserve this. Nobody did.

—------

The ride to the temple was suffocatingly silent. Nobody spoke. Not even the horses seemed loud enough to break the tension hanging inside the carriage.

Then finally, the temple came into view. Tall. Dark. And Terrifying.

The massive stone structure towered over everything around it like some ancient curse looming above the kingdom.

I swallowed hard.

Nathan, the High Priest was already waiting at the entrance. His expression remained calm as always, which somehow made everything even worse.

“Only the princesses may enter the inner sanctum,” he announced.