Sold To The Alpha
A Lost Princess Chapter 38

Forcing his eyes open, Riley winced as they bright sunlight burnt through his irises like a red hot poker. Raised voices nearby caught his attention as he tried to focus on their words. 'I can't believe you went off again Vaya!' Daniel raged furiously.

'Stop being such a tree sap' Vaya replied crossly, 'the place is abandoned, I told you that!'

'That doesn't matter! What if they come back? Find you there alone? They could take you too and I wouldn't know where you were!' Daniel shouted back desperately.

'Ugh, I do not need you to protect me stalker! When are you going to get that through your thick skull' Vaya spat back venomously.

'I told you mate, she's not like the she wolves that you know' Riley croaked weakly, squinting against the sun light.

Scrambling noises echoed around him before Daniel's face swam into view, blocking out the sun as he hovered over Riley's face, relief sketched into his features.

'Thank the Goddess' he muttered, 'you alright mate? How do you feel?'

Trying to move, Riley winced and lay still, 'like I got thrown off a balcony' he replied ruefully.

His face was suddenly replaced by Vaya's as she pushed her mate out of the way and checked the Alpha over quickly before nodding satisfied and reaching out to help him sit up.

'What happened mate?' Daniel asked quizzically, 'one minute you were on the balcony, the next you were flying through the air like a bomb had exploded in front of you. Who was in that room? Did you replace Bella?' Pain crossed Riley's face as he grabbed at his chest, 'Bella' he wheezed, gasping for breath.

Moving forward, Vaya grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to look at her as she muttered, 'breath Riley, just breath, it's OK' over and over.

Forcing himself to calm down, Riley raised his gaze to his Beta, desperately fighting his emotions as he whispered, 'Bella was there, she's my mate'.

Shock hit the Beta as he stared open mouthed at his friend, 'say what?' he asked, 'but... how... why... why isn't she with you? What happened? Did her kidnapper catch you and throw you off the balcony?' he asked. Shaking his head, Riley dropped his gaze to his hands, 'she rejected me Daniel' he muttered, 'she was really angry and something came from her, like a force and it blew me backwards over the balcony!

'She rejected you?' Daniel gasped horrified, his eyes darting to Vaya who was staring between the two of them shocked.

'I thought you were best friends' Vaya finally blurted out, 'this doesn't make sense.

Looking up, Riley smiled ruefully, the darkness in his eyes remaining, 'so did I, seems that we were not as close as I thought.'

'No, nope!' Daniel suddenly burst out, 'I don't believe it, Isabella isn't like that, there has to be another explanation' he demanded desperately.

'She said that she would never accept someone like me, someone who hadn't waited for her.' Riley replied sadly, his eyes filling with tears as he raised his gaze to his Beta, 'but I did Daniel, I did wait for her' he finished. Confusion surrounded the warrior as he looked at the distraught Alpha, 'what do you mean, you waited for her?' he asked carefully, you always had girls hanging off you since we were like twelve years old'.

Giving a pained look, Riley nodded, 'but I never did anything with them Daniel, I took them to the movies or out for a milkshake but I never mated with them' he said his heart breaking, 'I was waiting for her, waiting for my mate, waiting for Isabella' he gulped. Placing her hand comfortingly onto the young warriors arm, Vaya smiled sadly, 'you loved her' she whispered.

Nodding glumly, Riley gazed off into the trees, 'Since we were kids, she was so amazing and fun, she made me laugh and I felt complete when I was with her. I hoped she would feel the same at some point but she always saw me as her best friend. When her birthday was coming up I was terrified, what if her mate was someone else, what if he took her away from me' he murmured, 'I wanted her mate to be me but I was scared to replace out that I wasn't. When we had to go home before her party, I was secretly relieved, I didn't have to watch her run into someone else's arms. When she rang me that night and said she hadn't found her mate among her pack, I was thrilled, maybe it was me after all but before I could come back to replace out she was taken.

'Oh Riley, I'm so sorry' Vaya said sorrowfully, hugging the broken man, ignoring Daniel's growl as she comforted her new friend. Pulling away, she glared sternly at the Alpha, 'don't give up hope yet, from what you have all told me about this girl, she is not cruel so why would she be cruel to you when you came to rescue her? The Goddess has a path for all of us, we just have to hold faith in her will.

Daniel shook his head, 'she's right Riley, Isabella isn't cruel, she has never been mean or nasty to anyone, this is the girl who cried when she accidentally stood on a snail and made us all hold a funeral for it.

Riley laughed at the memory, unable to help himself, wiping the tears from his face as he grasped onto his friend's words hopefully.

'What did she actually say Riles, tell us word for word' Daniel ordered, looking up as Sebastian stepped out of the trees, noted the tense atmosphere and took a seat silently beside the friends.

Clearing his throat, Riley forced himself to think back to the balcony, stepping into the doorway and seeing Bella. Her turning slowly at his voice, the world fading away as his eyes connected with hers and he heard his wolf growl 'mate' into his head happily. The shock and surprise on her face followed by anger and... fear! There was fear in her eyes!

'She said did I really think she would accept a play boy like me as her mate? And that she wanted someone who would protect her, wait for her to be his first everything, not someone who had been with half the pack' he repeated, 'but before she said it, she was scared. I didn't see it at the time but for a split second there was fear in her eyes, fear for me!' he gasped.

Looking round at the silent group his heart aching with emotions Riley fought within himself between hope that there was something he didn't understand and the knowledge that his mate had willingly rejected him.

Interrupting the silence, Sebastian pointedly cleared his throat, 'right well i've scouted all over this forest and there is no sign of anyone so I think we can confidently say that the kidnapper has taken Isabella to another location' he said.

Vaya nodded agreement, 'looking around the house, it looks like there were two kidnappers and Isabella, only three of the bedrooms look like they have been used. Weirdly, in the basement is a large gym, there is blood on some of the apparatus, but not enough to be from t*****e, it's more like they were training her for something' she said confused.

His eyes snapping up, Riley glared at the Dryad, 'training her? For what? I think we need to get back to the Silver Cross pack fast! We need to tell Aunt Charity and Uncle Aaron what we have found out!'

Looking around at the other warriors, Vaya's brow creased slightly as she focused back on the injured Alpha, 'Umm no offence but I don't think you are going to be walking far' she said evenly. Forcing himself up, Riley scowled, 'my bones feel healed.. mostly! I can get there.'

Standing up, Vaya crossed her arms across her chest, 'OK we will get moving BUT, we will do it my way. We are going to the nearest town, we will buy some pain killers for Riley and we will procure a mode of transport!' she growled threateningly, glaring at the warriors who nodded warily.

'Good, Daniel, help Riley, Sebastian, you carry Riley's stuff, you will remain behind me and if there is any trouble you will trust me to deal with it, understand?' she demanded, giving Daniel a glowering look.

'Yes Vaya' they chorused, falling in behind her as she set off toward the edge of the forest.

'Mate, I am sooo glad she is your mate and not mine' Riley muttered to Daniel, 'she is scary as f**k'.

Staring at the back of his mate's head, Daniel replied wistfully, 'yeah she's amazing, I can't believe I got so lucky that the Moon Goddess picked her for me!

Grinning, Riley leaned against his Beta, 'got it bad for her I see' he whispered.

'You have no idea' Daniel agreed, 'she can order me about for the rest of my life and I will happily do everything she says!

'I can hear you whispering about me' Vaya shouted over her shoulder annoyed.

'Sorry Vaya' the two men replied chagrined as Sebastian laughed.

'Boys, that She wolf has got you both whipped' he noted.

'Hey, only him, not me! I'm an Alpha, no-one cows an Alpha!' Riley complained.

'Except his Luna' Daniel replied with a smirk, 'and my mate it seems'.

'Shut it Daniel' Riley grumbled, not wanting to be reminded of the girl who was supposed to be his Luna right at that moment.

Limping along, they trailed along behind the Dryad as she marched toward the distant spire of a church that marked the location of civilization. Riley's injuries caused their progress to be slow but as night fell they stepped into the almost deserted streets of the small settlement, replaceing a 24 hr shop that they bought painkillers from along with some water and food.

Walking back out into the chill of the nights air, Vaya made her way through the streets until they found a small badly lit lane. Walking up to one of the cars that was parked along the road, she fiddled around by the drivers side door until a loud click broke the stillness. Pulling open the door, she slipped behind the drivers wheel, grabbing the wires from under the steering wheel she caused a spark and the engine roared to life.

Stepping out, she gestured to the car, 'come on then' she hissed, 'lets go' before running around to the passenger seat and waiting impatiently for Daniel to get in and unlock the doors.

Looking over at his Mate as he got behind the wheel, Daniel warily muttered, 'you do know that we are stealing someone's car right? That this is illegal?'

Rolling her eyes, Vaya growled, 'yes of course I am aware and for your information, we are not stealing it, we are commandeering it as we have an emergency! I will make sure I return it to it's owner after we get Riley back to that pack you were talking about and Isabella is safely home!

Quickly checking on Riley who was slumped against Sebastian on the back seat wincing in pain, Daniel put the car into drive and pulled off as quietly as he could, following the roads, looking for signs that would lead him to a highway so he could replace his way to Silver Cross.