Sold To The Alpha
A Lost Princess Chapter 46

Emerging from the trees, the group, already back in their human forms, made their way over to the diner, walking through the door to stand in front of the surprised server. 'Table for... sixteen' Justin said after a quick head count.

'Umm, yes sir, right this way' the young waiter said, leading the way to the centre of the diner where two waitresses were already busily pushing tables together for them. Taking a seat, everyone grabbed a menu, chattering happily as they decided what to order.

'Hope you are not ordering without me kids' came Sebastian's voice a few minutes later as he walked toward their table having just entered the restaurant. Jumping up, Riley, Daniel and Vaya rushed over to greet their friend, pulling him over to the table to introduce him to Justin and Isabella.

'So this is the infamous Isabella' Sebastian said with a smile as he held out his hand to the young girl.

Shaking back her hair, Isabella took the collectors hand and shook it with a shy smile, 'what ever Riley and Daniel have told you about me is an outright lie' she replied.

Laughing Sebastian took his seat across from the teens, 'trust me princess, everything these boys have had to say about you was positive.

Grinning at Riley, Isabella snuggled up to his arm happily.

'Oh so do I take it that the whole rejection thing is sorted?' Sebastian asked, raising his eyebrows at the pair.

Nodding happily, Riley replied, 'She took back her rejection Seb and we accepted each other as mates!

Smiling, Sebastian nodded as his eyes went around the table, widening slightly when they fell on Rowan who had remained silent during the exchange, a pained expression on his face. 'Rowan' Sebastian called out to him, drawing the man's attention, 'after all these years of hunting you down, I replace you sat with my friends?'

Rowan shrugged nonchalantly, 'I got fed up with running mate' he replied.

As the waiter came over, Sebastian grabbed a menu as the group started to order their drinks and meals, the waiters eyes getting wider and wider, as each wolf ordered a mountain of food. Once everyone had ordered, the waiter ran off to the kitchen, emerging a few minutes later followed by a waitress, each holding two trays that were laden with the groups drinks order. Chatting away, everyone got to know the collector, some of the men giving him respectful nods as they knew of the council and the work that they did.

As their food arrived, Justin waited for the server to leave before turning to Rowan who was just taking a bite out of his burger.

'OK Rowan, whilst we all eat, how about you give me a good reason as to why I allowed you to live' he said sternly.

Rowan swallowed his mouthful before speaking, keeping his eyes on his food.

'Once we returned to the cabin, I tried to get Graham to go back for Bella, I hadn't wanted to leave her with you but she ordered me to go and for some reason I couldn't disobey her' he started. 'Anyway, once I realised that I had no way to get back through the barrier with Bella gone and Graham refusing to allow me to use Felicity I agreed with him that we would part ways and he would go to his hide out and I would replace somewhere to lay low until it was safe to return to my job.

Graham didn't realise that I never had any intention of running, as soon as I saw that Isabella was expendable to him I decided I wasn't going to help him any more!

'Why would you care what happened to my niece' Justin asked, his eyes flashing angrily, 'you kidnapped her, her safety was hardly your priority!

'True' Rowan replied, 'but when I took her, I never expected to fall in love with her, when I kissed her and I knew I had feelings for her I should have backed out of the deal, returned her to her family, but I didn't! he said guiltily.

Riley growled loudly, leaping to his feet as he placed his hands on Isabella's shoulders protectively.

Holding up his hands and bowing his head in submission, Rowan quickly said, 'It is OK future Alpha, I am aware that you are Bella's true mate and that she has accepted you as such, I have no intention of challenging you. Isabella's happiness is paramount to me and I can see that you make her happy, please take your seat.'

Riley sat down again slowly as Isabella linked her arm through his, rubbing her fingers over his forearm as he calmed down under her touch.

Smiling sadly, Rowan turned back to Justin, 'so yes, I was suddenly dealt a conflict of interest, I had a job which I had been paid handsomely for but I also didn't want to hurt her or bring her unhappiness. I struggled along, fighting how I felt, trying to keep my business side focused, then Graham wiped her memory, I had no idea that he was planning to do that, I thought we were just going to coerce her into believing that we had to get felicity somehow. Once Isabella could no longer remember anything I am ashamed to say I took advantage, I told her that we were in a relationship.

Looking up at Riley, Rowan added, 'we never did anything untoward, I would never have done that too her, I just wanted her to want me, but even under a spell, she still knew that I was not meant to be hers.

'When we took Felicity and ran back here, Graham refusing to help me rescue Isabella, only interested in Felicity being with him, I set off in the opposite direction to him and doubled back to wait for you here, knowing that either Isabella would come back alone still under the spell or she would return with back up having been brought back!

Silence followed Rowan's words before Justin cleared his throat asking, 'so how do you know where Graham has gone?'

Rowan smiled suddenly, 'he told me' he replied simply, 'I was supposed to return to him once the heat dies down, help him get Felicity away from anyone who might recognise her, I have a lot of connections to help someone disappear!'

'Why does Graham want Felicity anyway?' Isabella suddenly asked, drawing all eyes to her, 'it just doesn't make sense, why go to all that trouble for someone you are not mated too!

Rowan shook his head, his eyes finally meeting Isabella's, 'I don't know, all he kept saying was that your mother had stolen her. Felicity was his and she was taken from him, that was the other reason he wanted you and not just a member of Oak ridge pack, who also would have got us through the barrier, he wanted your mother to suffer for his pain!

'I thought he wanted Bella for her powers' Daniel mused, his face confused.

Rowan shook his head, 'there has always been rumours of the white wolf and these supposed powers they possess, but no-one has ever seen them, the Luna of Silver Cross never manifested them so really we were just stabbing in the dark and if we managed to get them to manifest, well that was a bonus.

'But I did manifest them' Isabella said sadly, sending a guilty look to her uncle who reached over and squeezed her hand, giving her a smile.

'You did, and we were shocked, we realised that at least with you, they manifest for the first time when you are struggling to save a person you love deeply, as in you could see no way to help them so your powers literally took over!' Everyone ate their food as they thought about what Rowan had said, each member lost in their own thoughts.

Once finished, they scraped back their chairs and filed out of the Diner, Justin paying the bill and leaving the waiter a healthy tip, leaving the young lad stuttering his thanks as he left.

'Ok Rowan, so where are we headed?' Justin asked as they made their way over to the cars they kept parked round the back, Sebastian slipping behind the wheel of the car he had borrowed from Silver Cross, Daniel and Vaya jumping in with him.

'We need to head toward the lakes' Rowan replied, running his finger over the map that one of the warriors has spread out on the bonnet for him. 'He has a house near there, it is heavily protected, Graham is not taking any chances about being ambushed, if we go there, he will see us coming' he added.

Nodding curtly, Justin relayed the information to his warriors who peeled off into sets of three or four, each climbing into a car, Rowan being led off by his handlers to a small SUV.

'Looks like you two are with me' Justin said to Isabella and Riley with a smile.

Grinning at her uncle, Isabella arched her eyebrow, 'and you and my father in no way orchestrated it to be this way' she asked wryly.

'Of course not!' Justin replied laughing, 'it was Aunt Hazel and your mother actually, and we just didn't argue!

Rolling her eyes, Isabella hopped into the back of the truck, pulling Riley in beside her as Justin jumped into the passenger seat and one of the warriors slid in behind the wheel. 'You do all know that Riley and I are more than capable of looking after ourselves and each other?' Isabella grumped.

'Hey don't blame me, I can't go against my mate! What she says goes' Justin protested as the driver chuckled. 'See even Ashley knows its true!' he added.

'It's true miss, the Luna doesn't take any crap from anyone, not even the Alpha' Ashley said in his low gravelly voice.

Isabella giggled, unable to stop herself, 'Aunt Hazel is bad a*s' she agreed, 'hope you are listening mate' she added, nudging Riley who pulled her into his arms.

'You can boss me around as much as you like my love, I am yours to command' Riley replied easily as the men laughed up front.

'He's got it' Justin said with a grin, 'we are just here to do as our mates tell us.'