Sold To The Alpha
Chapter 20

True to their word, Charity moved some of her clothes up to Aaron's room and made herself comfortable, and the pack leaders took turns babysitting her, though she finally had to lay some ground rules when Aaron tried to follow her into the bathroom when she went for a shower. Rolling her eyes at him she growled, 'no-one is going to get me in the bathroom attached to your bedroom that has the worlds smallest window that even Kimmy couldn't climb through, and that's not even taking into consideration that we are on the fourth floor!' she snapped exasperatedly before closing the door in his face and sighing.

The Red Moon Warriors returned to the Silver Cross pack house exactly 48 hrs after they left. Standing on the front doorstep, Aaron's parents and Jared had made sure that Charity and Chloe did not attend the meeting leaving them in the Alphas office under the watchful eye of Justin.

Lucian stepped forward with a respectful bow 'Alpha Alistair, I take it you have had sufficient time to consider Alpha Marcus' proposal' he said loudly. Feeling Aaron stiffen next to him, Alistair placed a warning hand on his sons arm. Turning to Lucian he replied, 'Please send our respects to Alpha Marcus, but at this time we are unable to grant his request.' he said politely but firmly. Though his words were tactful, they left little doubt that Charity was not up for negotiation.

The Red Moon's Beta seemed unsurprised by their Answer, 'I shall convey your response to Alpha Marcus' he said curtly, 'We will no doubt meet again soon Alpha Alistair' and with a small bow, signalled his men to retreat.

The Silver Cross leaders retreated into their packhouse, Aaron growling angrily at the open threat that had been left hanging in the air between the two packs. Making their way up to the office, Alistair stopped a passing pack member and ordered them to replace his Gamma, Henry and send him to the office to meet them.

As they entered the office, they were met with the sight of Chloe curled up on the floor, Justin holding her down as Charity whispered to her comfortingly. Looking up Justin explained 'she could smell him Alpha, we literally had to tackle her to the floor to stop her ripping the door off its hinges' Alistair strode into the room and lifted up the now limp and whimpering she-wolf, carrying her over to the sofa and laying her carefully onto the cushions. 'It will be ok little one' he murmured, 'trust me'

Gulping back tears that threatened to spill from her eyes, she looked at her Alpha with so much pain he struggled to hold her gaze before slowly nodding. Mary stepped forward and laying her hand on her husbands shoulder, 'I'll take her from here Alistair, you don't need me for this meeting' she said quietly before taking Chloe's hand and leading her from the room.

A smart tap on the door came a few moments later before it opened to reveal the heavy set, muscular frame of Henry, the pack Gamma. 'You requested me Alpha' he intoned with a bow, Alistair gestured toward a seat in front of the desk before seating himself behind it. Jared took the other chair whilst the younger members huddled over by the fireplace to listen to what would be said.

Looking at Henry with a steady gaze, Alistair sighed, 'Henry I called you to this meeting as we are in imminent danger of attack' he said bluntly, 'as our strongest fighter I need you on board to discuss strategy for when the enemy come.' Henry looked mildly surprised but didn't speak, 'Red Moon gave us an ultimatum to hand over a member of the pack when we refused they pretty much told us they would be back to take by force. This cannot happen under any circumstances' he continued sternly. Henry shifted slightly in his seat, before leaning forward slightly, 'may I ask whom they are after Alpha?' he asked quietly, 'it would help work out a defence strategy if we knew which member we were protecting'. Alistair looked at him for a moment as if weighing up whether to include him in the knowledge, finally he nodded his head, 'it is our future Luna Charity' he said as Henry's eyes widened in obvious shock. 'They would attack the future Luna?' he asked shocked, 'That's not just an attack, that's an act of war! Are they completely mad?' Alistair shrugged, 'it seems their Alpha has a strong desire to meet with Charity but is disinclined to tell us why he requires her presence. With no information to guarantee her safety whilst there or confirmation of her return to us, our pack will not even entertain the idea of letting her go and will do everything in their power to keep her from the Red Moon packs grasp and indeed any harm to her person' he replied gravely.

Henry nodded, 'do we know when this attack is likely to take place?' he asked. Alistair shook his head, 'I doubt it will be in the next few days as Marcus will need time to group his warriors and make his way here. Despite the warning, he will still wish to try and catch us off guard so it's very unlikely they will march down the main road to our gates. We do need to get our warriors prepared, we need a plan on where to hide Charity to keep her from any kind of abduction attempt that could happen while our fighters are engaged. We also need 24-hour surveillance on our boundary and if possible a small group of scouts sent toward Red Moon who can give us a heads up to their movements' he ordered.

Henry stood up 'I will see it is done Alpha, I have a trio of men who would be perfect for the scout group. They are not our pack members but I trust them explicitly. He said with a nod, as he made to leave and seeing Alistair's questioning look he stopped and turned back to the desk. 'They are Rogues' he explained, 'but not as you or I know them, they are three brothers who live outside the boundary. They keep to themselves and are not interested in trouble. They helped me once when I got into a fracas as a young wolf and asked in return that I never tell anyone of their whereabouts as they did not want grief from the surrounding packs. I have remained friends with them since that day and I know if I ask, they will help' he explained.

Alistair nodded, 'If you trust them, Henry, then I am happy with your choice' he replied. Henry bowed again before exiting the room to gather his warriors for a debrief and strategy meeting.

Aaron also stood, grabbing Charity's hand, 'If you don't need us, I'll take Charity for some lunch' he said to his father as Justin stood to follow them. Alistair nodded to them, giving them permission to leave, and was deep in conversation with Jared before they had even closed the door.

Walking down the sweeping stairs to the foyer Aaron and Justin flanked Charity like a queen's guard. Sighing wearily, she had to half-run to keep up with their extensive strides. Reaching the ground floor, they made their way into the dining hall where Aaron grabbed a plate to her and steered her toward the buffet. Loading both their plates up with mashed potatoes, lamb chops, vegetables and gravy he carried them over to the end table where no-one else was sat, checking constantly behind him to make sure Charity was staying close. Justin brought up the rear and they sat themselves down with Charity between the two men.

'I feel like a prisoner' she grumbled as she poked her fork into her mash, Aaron huffed, 'We need to protect you' he growled uneasily. Sighing she replied, 'I know, doesn't mean I have to be happy about it' she grumped, shoveling an overloaded fork full into her mouth. They ate in silence before clearing their plates and parting ways, Justin going to spar, Aaron and Charity returning to his room to watch a movie and stay away from the pack.

Once they entered Aaron's room, Charity grabbed a towel out of the small cupboard by the bathroom door, 'I'm going to have a shower' she announced, 'I do NOT need an audience' she added with a steely gaze before marching through the door and shutting it behind her slightly harder than she had intended too.

Turning on the shower, she stripped her clothes off and stood under the water, allowing the warmth to run over her body as she lay her head against the cool tiles and groaned to herself about her captivity. After a while the water began to feel warmer, turning the dials she cooled the stream down but she still felt like she was burning up. Twisting the taps as cold as they would go, she whimpered as she slid to the floor, her skin was on fire, her blood felt like lava in her veins. Gasping in pain she curled up into a ball, 'Aaron' she whimpered, barely audible above the raging water, the pain was growing with each passing moment, biting down on her lip, she drew blood trying not to cry out.

The door suddenly burst open and she found herself being lifted from the shower floor by two strong arms, 'Charity?' came Aaron's worried voice from above her as she moaned in pain and buried her head into his chest. Carefully wrapping a towel around her he carried her to the bed and lay her down, brushing her hair from her face.

She looked up into his eyes and saw the colour drain from his face as a primal desire overtook her and she launched herself at him growling possessively, wrapping her arms around his neck and hauling him in for a rough l**t infused kiss.

Aaron stood dumbfounded as her legs wrapped around his waist and she hungrily attacked his mouth with her own. 'Oh god' he thought horrified, 'she's gone into heat, her scent was filled with desire, it enveloped him, drawing out his wolf, as his mind clouded with lust brought on from her pheromones, as he lay her down on the bed, he knew that he was powerless to fight her.