Sold To The Alpha
Blood L**t Chapter 21

Leaning against the island, nursing the hot cup of tea in his hands, Carter watched the slowly curling vapour for a moment before starting his story.

'Twenty Two years ago I was out searching for my mate, I had left my pack months before to try and replace her I had left it later than others, being over thirty before I made the leap to try and discover my other half.

My parents had struggled to conceive after me and I was Twelve years old when they finally managed to gift me with a sister and we named her Destiny as she was destined to be ours.

As the weeks passed we noticed that she was not developing like other pups, my parents took her to the pack doctor who told them that she had been born with a life limiting illness, the doctors said she would only make it to her teenage years. Our Alpha was a strong and fearless leader but he had a belief that you cull the weak and he wanted my parents to sacrifice her for the good of the pack, so she wouldn't be a burden.

They pretended to do so but in reality they hid her from the pack members, within our walls until she was older, and then in a small abandoned cabin outside of the territory. My mother stayed with her and my father told the pack that she had been killed by Rogues when they had been attacked whilst outside the boundary. He dug a grave behind our house and buried bricks in it to make it look like a body lay there.

a pack warrior, my father was often sent on missions and it was my job to make sure that food and supplies were taken to my mother and sister, never allowed to tell anyone that they were still alive.

When Destiny was ten years old, word came back from a mission that my father had been killed in battle, I rushed to my mothers hideaway to replace her curled up on the floor, her heart shattered, she already knew.

From that day, they became my responsibility, I had chosen to work in the kitchens so that I could steal food easily for them, but my mother stopped eating, it was like once my father died that she could no longer bring herself to live.

Months later, I arrived at the cabin to replace my sister crying in her bed, unable to get up by herself, my mother on the floor in the kitchen, her face grey and her eyes lifeless, she had died of a broken heart.

I buried her behind the cabin before gathering my sister to me and snuck her back to our house under the cover of darkness, placed her in one of the bedrooms and bade her never to make any noise in case she was discovered.

I pushed away company, turning my back on my friends to keep my sister safe. I would wash her, dress her, brush her teeth, keep her company, tell her jokes to make her smile, but I couldn't give her he freedom. She slowly started to struggle, her breathing got shallower, her arms to heavy for her to lift but her body lighter for me to carry from the wasting of her muscles.

We celebrated Destiny's sixteenth birthday, I made her a cake, snuck some films from the pack house for us to watch with popcorn, she told me it was the happiest day of her entire life.

The next day, my beautiful sister was gone, her little body no longer able to fight against the disease that ravished her. I took her back to the cabin and buried her next to our mother, returning alone to the pack house to try and replace a new purpose for my now empty life.

I struggled through the next five years, working as a chef but still pushing away those around me, unable to lift myself from my grief.

Finally one day I was sat on the steps of the pack house and one of the pups came running up to me, she couldn't have been more than six years old. She was chasing after a ball that her brother had thrown to her but she had failed to catch.

Seeing me there she gave me a smile as I picked up her ball from by my feet and handed it to her, she asked me where my mate was and I said I didn't have one. She looked so confused and asked, 'but why have you not gone to replace her?' and at that moment I couldn't answer her. I muttered something about not being ready and she shrugged and ran back to her sibling leaving me by myself.

I walked back to the house that was all I had left of my family, sat at the kitchen table alone and wondered what exactly was holding me back from searching for my other half.

In that moment I decided it was time to go, to stop being held back by the ghosts of my long dead family. My sister would not want me living the lonely life I had carved out for myself so I went to the Alpha and asked permission to leave the pack to search. Permission was given and I returned home to pack, setting out the next day in search of someone to make me feel whole again.

Carter stopped speaking, taking a sip of the now luke warm liquid in his cup as the room waited silently for him to continue.

'I set out from my home, stepping over the boundary and into the real world, a world full of danger and fear but also of hope and promise of a better future. I trekked for months, visiting pack after pack, asking for admittance to search for my mate, but each pack harboured nothing but disappointment for me.

Making my way through unclaimed territory I stumbled upon three Rogues, they were circling a pup, taunting her, she was only a child, she was huddled on the floor, trying to protect herself from them, crying, pleading with them to let her go, calling for her mum. I couldn't just walk away, I shifted and lunged for the largest one, grabbing his throat and tearing it out before he could realise what was happening. The other two attacked me at the same time, I tore at the first with my claws whilst the second landed on my back, ripping at my skin mercilessly. We fought, two on one for what felt like hours but I doubt it was more than ten minutes until finally one was dead and the other had limped away severely injured. I shifted back and realising the pup was still there told her to run home to her pack immediately and not look back.

As she scampered away, I fell against the cold earth, my body bloody and broken from the attack, I managed to drag myself over to my rucksack and pull out some clothes, covering myself before struggling to my feet and trying to leave the area. As I made my way, I heard the howl of Rogues, the one that got away had gone back to his friends and they were coming for me. I used what strength I had left and I ran rummaging in my back pack for scent spray so they couldn't track me. I ran for miles, through brooks and fields until I could run no further, entering a forest I struggled along looking for somewhere to hide. I came across a small cabin with a large tree outside, trying to make it to the door, I blacked out in front of the tree trunk and knew no more.

I woke up hours later to the feeling of softness under me and a cool cloth on my forehead, trying to move I grimaced in pain, laying back down and taking in my surroundings instead. I was in a small room, the walls were made of wood, a quaint wood burner in the corner of the room, heating my surroundings, in the next room I could hear someone moving around quietly as if trying not to disturb me, the tantalising scent of Cedar wood played around my nostrils.

I waited silently until the stranger came back to check on me, as she walked in through the doorway, my breath caught and I looked upon the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, lifting my eyes from her perfect lips, I travelled up her face until I met her concerned gaze.

My wolf went crazy, screaming over and over in my head, 'MATE' he yelled as I stared at her disbelievingly, after all this time I had found her.

She smiled at me as she came over to me, taking the rag from my head and dipping it into a bucket of cold water that was beside the bed, placing carefully back on my forehead as she brushed a stray hair from my face.

I knew that I loved her, more than anything in this world, in that single moment she became my everything, I wanted to tell her how I felt but I knew she wasn't a wolf, I didn't want to scare her by revealing my true self. So I lay there and allowed her to care for me, enjoying every touch of her fingers and every word from her lips, imprinting her face into my mind.

As I began to heal we grew closer, I would help her around the cabin and she would feed me and tend my wounds. One night I could bear it no more and I dropped in front of her, professing my love, apologising if I was scaring her but I was unable to pretend any more. She smiled down at at me, cupping my face in her sweet hands, caressing my cheek with her thumb as she murmured that she felt the same, had felt our connection the moment she touched me.

I was so relieved but I still had to tell her who I was, explain to her that I was a Werewolf. I promised that I was harmless, that I would never hurt her only protect her with everything I had, she nodded, accepting me in my entirety, showing no ounce of fear. For the next few months we lived together and it was the happiest time of my life, I knew she couldn't leave her cabin so I stayed with her. One day whilst outside I heard the distant Howls, the Rogues had finally tracked me down. I ran back to the cabin and told my beloved that I had to leave her, I needed to lead them away, she refused, insisted that she would stand and fight beside me. We stood on the steps of our home, waiting for the Rogues to arrive. When they came, there was more than I expected, thirty wolves stood in front of us all baying for my blood.

Their leader stepped forward, he gave me an ultimatum, hand myself over or they would rip me, my beloved and her home apart.

I looked at my angel, standing so proudly beside me, her stance ready to attack and I couldn't do it, I knew she would fight to the death and the thought killed me. I grabbed her wrist and whispered to her that she had to let me leave, that I couldn't watch her die. I made the Rogue leader swear a blood oath with me, an unbreakable promise that if I went willingly he would never send anyone to harm her or return to her forest himself.

He made the oath and I kissed my beloved one last time before I left with the Rogues and returned with them to their home within the unclaimed lands.'