Sold To The Alpha
A Lost Princess Chapter 35

Isabella prowled around the bedroom agitated, everyday she had been training against Rowan who had not mentioned their conversation since it happened, returning to his normal self and training her hard. 'Ugh! What do I do?' she groaned to herself exasperated, she couldn't deny that she was drawn to the muscular warrior, being around him was playing havoc with her emotions.

'Bella' came Rowan's voice suddenly from outside of her bedroom door, her breath catching slightly, Isabella threw herself on to the bed trying to look nonchalant.

'Come in' she called out, watching as the door slowly opened to reveal Rowan who looked at her with a blank expression.

'Hey Bella, are you ready for our training session?' he asked

Holding out her leg she waved her ankle causing the chains to make their musical sound, 'Ready and waiting, unlock me and lets go, I can't wait to kick your a*s' she replied with fake joviality

Walking over Rowan knelt down beside her, carefully taking her ankle in his hand, hesitating slightly as his fingers touched her skin before fitting the key into the lock. Releasing her leg, he straightened up as she stood beside him, her body reacting involuntarily as he brushed against her slightly when stepping toward the door.

Following behind him, Isabella kept her eyes down trying not to breath in Rowan's scent that was floating back to her. Making their way down the stairs they entered the dark dusty basement, flicking the light switch as they passed, illuminating the room in a soft glow. Walking over to the two tread mills that were positioned next to each other, they started to slowly run side by side. Speeding up they were soon running flat out, sweat falling from their bodies as the rubber flew backwards under their feet. After thirty minutes, Rowan finally hit the stop button, the pair slowing down gradually until they came to a stop. Stepping off the belt they made their way to the weights, Rowan placing weights onto the bar as Isabella lay on the bench, placing her hands underneath the bar, she lifted the weights away from her body as Rowan held his hands underneath.

'Come on Bella' he ordered, 'You can lift this in your sleep, push'

Grunting, Isabella pushed the bar away from her chest over and over again only stopping to have more weight added until Rowan took the bar from her grip, lifting it back onto the holder.

Sitting up, she wiped her face with the towel she had brought with her from her room and followed Rowan over to the ring, stepping between the ropes, she turned toward him, waiting as he followed her through the ropes and took his stance across from her. 'OK Bella, we need to try and tap into your wolf's power, you have been doing really well but I need you to concentrate' he said.

Nodding silently, Isabella held up her hands in front of her, concentrating as heat started to build within her, feeling a sensation of power growing inside her chest. Closing her eyes, Isabella tried to harness the warmth and force it from her body. Screwing up her face she pushed with everything she had before sighing in exasperation, dropping her hands to her side defeated.

Opening her eyes, she met Rowan's gaze sadly, 'I can't do this Rowan' she muttered angrily, 'We keep practising and it's not working'

Walking over to her, he placed his hands on her arms comfortingly, 'Bella, you can do this and we will keep trying, don't give yourself such a hard time'.

Shivering under his touch, Isabella pulled herself away, avoiding his gaze, 'Yeah OK, lets try again' she said quickly stepping back, ignoring the pained look on Rowan's face.

***********

Pushing through the over hung branches, the four travellers skulked through the trees, following the path Vaya could see. Periodically the Dryad would stop, dropping to her knees to check a leaf or twig before straightening up and continuing forward. Creeping along behind her, the three men stayed silent, watching her track the mysterious person or animal who had travelled through the area previously.

'This way' Vaya muttered, walking to the left side of a bush, her eyes stuck to the ground.

'We have been walking for hours' Daniel mumbled nervously, 'maybe we should take a break?'

Growling lightly, Vaya turned back to the three men annoyed, before shrugging her shoulders and flopping down on a fallen log.

Sitting around her, the warriors pulled out bottles of water, taking huge gulps as they rested against the surrounding tree trunks.

'Are we getting closer?' Daniel asked, studying his mates face.

Nodding Vaya took his water bottle, cleaning the neck with her sleeve before lifting it to her lips, taking a swig herself and handing it back. 'The tracks are less desperate' she said keeping her gaze on the ground, as if still scouting their trail. 'I think whoever it was must have started off nearby, being careful as they walked until they were sure they were a safe distance away to start running. I don't know if that was to stop people replaceing where they came from or to stop those that they left behind from following but the trail is becoming harder to track, they were careful'.

'Can you still track them?' Riley asked desperately.

Giving him a withering look, Vaya tossed her hair over her shoulder, 'of course, I am a creature of the forest, no human or animal can walk through my back yard and stay hidden from me' she scoffed.

Heaving himself to his feet, Riley offered his hand out to the Dryad who took it as she lifted herself to her feet. A low growl drew their eyes to the angry Beta who's coal black eyes were glaring at his Alpha, his fists by his sides, tightly balled. Releasing the young girls hand, Riley spluttered with laughter, 'Mate, you got to get over yourself, Vaya isn't my mate, I'm just helping her up.

Daniel's eyes returned to their natural blue as he looked embarrassed between the pair.

'What the heck was that about?' Vaya asked confused.

'You know how we told you that mates are possessive of each other?' Riley asked, 'yeah well that extends to full on jealousy of any unmated wolf touching our mate.'

Giving Daniel a stern look, she suddenly threw her arms around Riley, catching everyone off guard. Feeling her body ripped from the Alpha, she found herself immediately wrapped in Daniel's strong arms as he growled defensively to the shell shocked Alpha. 'OK, you weren't joking' Vaya said as she disentangled herself from the Beta's tight grip, covering her enjoyment of the close contact with a scowl at the young warrior who reluctantly let her go. Poking the Beta in the chest, she growled, 'I am not your possession understand? If I want to hug a friend then I will do so'

Nodding his head though he obviously didn't like the idea, Daniel stepped away sadly. Walking up to him, Vaya then put her arms around him and hugged him tightly, feeling him melt into her arms as he breathed deeply into her hair. Pulling back she added, 'and if I choose to hug you, I will do that too', as she released him and returned to looking at the floor unconcerned.

Giving his Alpha a sheepish look, his lips quirked upwards slightly as Riley silently nodded that it was fine as they fell into line behind the Dryad who had already tuned them out.

Picking her way through the undergrowth, Vaya led the group onwards, making them stop occasionally as she scouted ahead alone before beckoning to them to join her. After walking for hours in silence they finally saw a small curl of smoke making its way upwards toward the sky through a gap in the thick leafy canopy. Creeping forwards they crouched together in the bushes that surrounded a large house and garden. Weeds were growing through the broken paving slabs that led to an old splintered front door, the sash windows were bare of paint and looked forgotten, spiders webs and dirt decorating the edges of the panes.

Making their way through the trees, they circled the property, taking in the dilapidated state, the only sign of occupancy being the smoke from the chimney above them.

As they walked around the back of the property, above to their right they spotted a small balcony, the French doors thrown open letting out a slim light from the room within. Looking at the group, Riley muttered in a low voice, 'stay here, I'm going to have a look in that room.'

Looking worried, Daniel grabbed his arm, 'Is that a good idea mate? Going into the unknown alone?' he asked, preparing himself to follow.

Shaking off his Beta's grasp, Riley smiled, 'look, I'm either going to replace Bella up there and bring her with me or I'm going to replace her captor and he's going to die and then I'll replace Bella' he shrugged nonplused.

'Yeah, but you don't know who else is in there' Daniel reasoned, knowing his Alpha was not thinking with his head.

Giving Daniel a stubborn look, Riley shook his head, 'look at the place, that window up there is the only one that has been opened in years, do you really think a house full of people would never open the windows?' he reasoned.

Nodding reluctantly, Daniel backed down, 'OK, but you mind link me after ten minutes, if I don't hear from you I am following you in, got it?' he growled.

Clapping the Beta on the shoulder, Riley grinned, 'wouldn't expect anything less, now just keep out of sight and out of trouble until I return or call out to you.' he ordered before inching around the shrubs away from them, ducking down and running toward the house, using the shadows of the building to camouflage himself.

Reaching the stone structure, he looked up at the balcony, his eyes tracing down an old broken trellis that was anchored to the wall beside it, the climbing plant it had once held, long since dead.

Jumping he grabbed hold of the end of the trellis, swinging for a few moments to test that it would hold his weight. Once satisfied, he slowly climbed his way up to the balcony, pulling on each section before allowing it to take his weight.

Reaching the concrete platform, Riley silently swung his leg over the railing and dropped down next to the door, inching around it to peek inside.

Staring in front of him, he saw the silhouette of Isabella, tidying something on the bedside table, a metal chain attached to her ankle, that c*****d lightly as she moved.

'Bella?' he whispered, watching as she froze in place, slowly turning around to face him.

'Riley?' she whispered back, stepping forward, throwing her face into sharp relief. As their eyes connected, Riley gasped, subconsciously reaching for her.

'Mate' he breathed, his eyes wide as he took in her beauty.

Shock then horror crossed Isabella's face as she took in his face, his scent encapsulating her, holding her prisoner.

'No' she whined, dragging her eyes from his, 'no, it can't be you!' she muttered to herself.

'Bella?' Riley called out, confused and worried, watching as she stepped back away from him.

Her face contorting into anger, she held her hands out in front of her protectively, 'No!' she yelled, 'No it can't be you, you can't be my mate! I Isabella Mary Annalise Cross, future Alpha of the Silver Cross pack, reject you, Riley Lennon Davies, future Alpha of the Red Moon pack as my Mate'.

Riley stood stock still for a moment before his legs gave way beneath him, clutching his chest he gasped as the pain of his heart ripping consumed him.

Looking up at her, he whispered 'why?' as the tears rolled down his cheeks.

Dropping to her knees she glared at him, 'do you really think I would accept a childish little play boy like you as my mate?' she hissed, 'I want someone who will protect me as I would them, who would wait for me to be his first everything, like I waited for him! Not some other she wolfs cast off who has been with half the pack. The venom in her voice cut through Riley like a knife, staggering to his feet he reached for her as she thrust her hands forward, a sharp power emanating from her body that forced him backwards.

Suddenly Riley could feel himself falling, the air around him electric as he fell for an eternity before landing with a sickening thud on the ground below.

'Daniel, help' he called through the mind link, before the blackness consumed him.