Sold To The Alpha
Blood L**t Chapter 15

Prowling around his room, Vallance muttered to himself under his breath, 'arrogant! She called me arrogant! And then tells me I lack decency, who does she think she is?' Her look of distaste toward him had left him ruffled, everyone treated him with reverence and 'I am not arrogant' he roared at the room, picking up a book from his desk and throwing it at the wall with all the force he could muster.

fear but this dirty werewolf didn't seem to be at all impressed with his status.

A tentative knock on the door jerked his attention from the fallen book who's cover had detached from the spine.

Yanking the door open his eyes widened to see Halle outside holding a plate, 'what do you want?' he muttered.

'I came to offer you a cookie' Halle replied with a smile, proffering the plate toward him.

'I don't need to eat remember?' he growled, eyeing her warily.

'But you do like the taste of food, and this is the best double chocolate chip cookie you will ever taste' Halle wheedled, using her hand to waft the delicious scent toward him.

'Fine' Vallance mumbled as he grabbed one off the plate and took a small bite, 'happy... oh my blood sucker! That is the best thing I have ever tasted' he said his eyes widening as he crammed the rest into his mouth and grabbed another.

'I know right!' Halle replied grinning, pushing the plate into his hands before rocking uncertainly on her heels, 'um, I suppose I should go, let you get back to whatever you were shouting at' she said blushing.

Slowly turning, she walked away as Vallance watched her, 'wait' he suddenly called out, causing her to stop and turn back, 'do you want to come in?' he asked scratching the back of his neck nervously.

Raising her eyebrows Halle said, 'come in? To your room?' she checked.

Flushing slightly Vallance nodded, 'well we are supposed to get married, maybe we should get to know each other' he replied gruffly.

Giving him a smile, Halle nodded and walked back to the door, Vallance stepping back so she could get past him before shutting the door behind her. Placing the plate on his desk, Vallance hurriedly gathered up all the clothes that were strewn all over the room and bed, chucking them in the laundry basket before motioning for Halle to sit on the bed.

Smirking, Halle sank into the soft mattress, 'I see you are not very house proud' she said amused.

'I've never had to be' Vallance admitted with an embarrassed smile as he sank into the chair by his desk. Clearing his throat he said, 'so, tell me about you!

Looking mildly surprised, Halle smiled, 'Well my name is Halle, my parents are Justin and Hazel and they are the Alpha and Luna of Oak Ridge pack. I have an older brother Justin who was about to set off to replace his mate before all this happened' she said, waving her hand around her. 'I am hoping he still went ahead with his plan to travel, he's a good man and he deserves to replace his mate!' she added wistfully.

Vallance nodded, 'Your mates? They are like our Match yes?' he asked.

Halle nodded back at him, 'kind of, our mate is always our mate, even if we take another and mark them, our mate can always replace us, the bond doesn't break unless we reject each other.' she explained.

Giving a sigh Vallance gave her a conflicted look, 'our Match is only our match until we mark another and then the bond is lost. I think I prefer your way to ours' he added sadly.

Studying the young Vampire's expression, Halle leaned forward, 'you want to replace your match?' she asked quietly.

Shrugging Vallance didn't answer, 'Vallance?' Halle questioned persistently.

'I just wonder what it feels like, when you replace that one other being that was truly meant to be yours' Vallance admitted in a strained voice. 'You are nice, annoying and opinionated, with a complete disregard to sugar coating your thoughts, but nice' he said as Halle laughed.

'Hey, you deserved it,' she replied pointedly as she put on an imitation of his voice, 'these servants are below me.'

Vallance chuckled, pulling a wry face, 'I do not sound like that!' he argued trying to make his face look annoyed.

'You really do' Halle giggled as Vallance smiled despite himself.

'I'm sorry Halle' he said as he sobered slightly, 'I didn't mean to be an a*s to you, it's not your fault that my father decided that at 200 years old I am still to young to make my own damn decisions' he muttered angrily. Reaching out, Halle took Vallance's hand in hers, 'hey, it's OK' she said softly, 'remember I am also losing out on my mate through this, but if it is what protects my family and pack then so be it.

Meeting the young werewolf's gaze, Vallance swallowed hard, he had been so wrapped up in his own anger and resentment that he had forgotten that this young sixteen year old had been snatched from her family, her life and her chance at true love. At least he was still in the home he knew with his father, who despite being in his bad graces was still his dad.'

'Oh Halle, I'm sorry' Vallance said suddenly, 'you have it way worse than I do, I lost a chance at t he perfect partner through this, but that doesn't mean I cannot build a strong bond with another. You have lost your one chance at true love' he ended bitterly. Trying to laugh off the sad feeling that grew in her heart at his words, Halle hitched a smile on her face, 'well yeah, but I get to live in this kick a*s castle for the rest of my life, that's a pretty big bonus right?'

Grinning Vallance straightened his back, 'OK well as we are both here how about we start again and actually try and get to know each other?' he offered holding out his hand again. Grasping it in her own, Halle shook it, 'deal'

'Well it's a pleasure to meet you, my name Is Vallance, you can call me Val if you like, I've never really had a nickname and I'd quite like someone to use one' he said colouring slightly.

'The pleasure is mine Val, my name is Halle, not really sure if you can shorten that, but I'd quite like to not have the 'Your Highness' or 'Miss' in front of my name all the time, Halle is just fine' Halle replied. Chuckling Vallance nodded, 'OK Halle it is' he agreed as they let their hands fall. Standing up, Halle straightened out the creases in her dress,

'Oh how I miss a pair of jeans' she muttered, trying to flatten the material with her hands.

'Ah, yes, the downside of being four hundred and fifty years old, my father doesn't really understand that girls of today wear trousers' Vallance said with a grin.

'I'm just thankful for what I have' Halle replied smiling, 'but I do miss not having to hold a hem down every time the wind blows.' she added with an exaggerated smile.

Walking over to the door, she gave Vallance a small wave before disappearing through the opening and back down the hallway to her own room.

Staring after the young girl, Vallance shook his head slightly, agreeing silently with his father, she sure was a fire cracker, things were going to get interesting.

**********

Justin and the Oak Ridge warriors had been travelling for three days now, stopping at motels each night to rest and eat before heading out again. Ahead of them loomed the dark and depressing corpse of trees that were the start of the vast forest that hid the castle of the Vampire King.

Pulling to the side of the road, Leo hopped out as the convoy came to a halt behind them, 'are we walking from here Alpha?' asked a red headed man in his thirties named Gavin.

Stepping out himself, Justin nodded, 'yeah I think so, we don't know if there will be anywhere to leave the cars securely closer to the woods so we'll leave them here and to the trek on foot' he replied. Raising his voice over the babble that had started as everyone alighted from the SUV's, Justin called, 'OK, we know this isn't going to be easy, Viktor won't have any signs that say 'castle this way' so keep your eyes peeled for anything that might be evidence to people or Vampires. Vaya is going to be our tracker once we get within the trees, do not get in her way, do not try and barge ahead of her unless it is to protect her or us from an attack' Justin ordered. Turning to a sandy haired man he added, 'Taylor, you are to remain here with the cars, don't let anyone near them, we will return as soon as we can. Any problems, you shift and follow our scent'

Taylor nodded silently as he made his way over to the middle truck and leaned against the bonnet.

Grabbing their gear from the trunks of the SUV's, the warriors arranged themselves in a protective stance around Justin, Leo, Jason, Daniel and Vaya before setting off toward the greenery ahead of them.

Carolyn the warrior leaders right hand trainer, motioned two of the other to her and they set off ahead to scope out the terrain, mind linking back periodically to the rest as they crept through the fields that separated the group from the foreboding region of the overgrown woodlands

An hour later, they had finally made it too the opening in the trees, Carolyn and her warriors waiting for them having checked within the entrance for danger. Standing back, everyone looked toward Vaya who took a deep breath as she stepped into the gloom, shivering as the sunlight was cut from her body like an axe, leaving her tingling from the cool breeze that blew through the leaves around her.

Walking slowly, she examined the ground and nearby foliage carefully, muttering under her breath as she made her way into the woods, the pack following behind her silently, watching the young woman work.

'Anything?' Daniel whispered apprehensively after they had been making their way painfully through the undergrowth for thirty minutes.

'No' snapped Vaya angrily, 'and you are breaking my concentration with your inane jabber, i'm not tracking a bloody rabbit you know, it's Vampires and they have the ability to shift and fly! Now shut up an let me do my job'.

Shutting his mouth immediately, Daniel caught Jason's eye who was silently laughing at him, 'Shut it you, your time will come' Daniel growled embarrassed, earning himself another furious glare from his mate as they continued in silence further into the wood.