Sold To The Alpha
Chapter 22

Over the next week, everyone was on edge, Alistair was constantly in meetings with his Beta and Gamma, strategizing their defence.

Toward the end of the week, Henry came with news that his scouts had spotted the Red Moon pack leaving their pack house, marching toward the Silver Cross territory. Keeping to the woods they had then split into two groups each heading toward a different side of the Cross-boundary. 's**t' growled Aaron, 'They are trying to flank us, dad, this feels like a diversion attack mixed with a kidnapping' he continued, his eyes growing dark in anger.

'Son, we will keep Charity safe' his father replied with conviction, 'She will hide in the secret chamber in this room, no-one but the people standing here now know of its existence' he continued. 'We will also place Chloe in there with her. The rest of the pack that cannot fight, the elders, children and mothers with younglings, will be locked with 2 guards in the basement to protect them!

Aaron nodded but didn't relax, 'we need to prepare' he growled, 'get everyone ready for their attack.' Alistair nodded, 'but we also need to be smart' he said, 'letting them think they have the element of surprise is not a bad thing, maybe a skeleton crew of 'lambs' near the woods where the first pack will most likely breakthrough and we keep our best warriors hidden within the wood to then flank them from behind, cutting them off from their second wave' he growled. Looking toward Henry he asked 'how long do the brothers think it will take them to reach us?', Henry looked up to meet his Alpha's eyes, 'two days Alpha, and they think they will make camp on the second day and attack at dusk to use the darkness to their advantage.' Nodding calmly Alistair looked at everyone, 'we have two days, get all the warriors briefed on what we are doing, Henry select who you think will need to be in our group of 'lambs' and discuss decent hiding places among the grounds for the rest of us. Henry nodded his head, 'I think that one of the leaders would be a good idea in the lamb group' he said, 'The red moon will target them as the strongest opponent shifting focus from any surprise attack coming from behind.

'I'll be a lamb' said Aaron gruffly, 'and me' added Justin, 'they'll know something is up if Aaron is fighting without his Beta at his side' he explained as Aaron started to argue. Henry nodded again, 'he is correct Alpha, a beta's place is beside his leader!' 'So its settled' Alistair said, 'Aaron and Justin will lead the Lambs, Henry, Jared and I will each have a group hidden in the woods to flank the Red Moons when they make their first strike. Jared if you hold off from the initial charge you may be able to head off the second wave giving us a split second advantage.

Everyone growled their assent and the meeting was dismissed. Leading Charity back to his room, she pulled him to one side just outside the Alphas door. 'You will be careful won't you?' she begged, her eyes awash with worry. Aaron smiled down at her, 'don't worry baby' he said softly, 'this Alpha doesn't intend to let any Red Moon filth take a chunk out of him, let alone his girl,' he encircled her waist with his arms, pulling her toward him, brushing her lips with his as she reached around his neck, pressing herself to him, feeling the warmth of his body against her own.

'I love you' he sent to her, smiling she lay her head on his chest, 'I love you too' she replied shyly. 'You can hear me?' he asked pulling away from her to took into her face, 'of course' she laughed, 'you are stood right in front of me. 'No' he said grasping her hands in his, 'I mean you can link with me, I didn't say anything out loud, I thought it' he smiled widely, 'you have our gift of communication, you can talk to me through our link now' gathering her back in his arms he mind linked her, 'we are truly mated now, I am yours and you are mine forever'.

A loud cough behind them pulled them instantly apart, Charity turned to be greeted by the disdainful look of Gemma, eyeing her with concealed loathing. 'What is it Gemma?' asked Aaron, oblivious to the silent exchange going on between the two young women. 'Alpha, you are needed downstairs, they are starting to sort the cellar out to accommodate all the non-fighters' she said with a sneer in her voice as she flicked her eyes to Charity at the words non-fighters, 'We need to know what should be placed down there with them as we have no idea how long the battle will last.'

Aaron grabbed Charity's hand, 'c'mon' he said as he started to pull her toward the stairs. 'No need for Charity to go Alpha,' interjected Gemma, 'I can look after her whilst you are busy' she added in a sickly sweet voice. Aaron looked at her surprised, 'no it's ok but thanks' he finally replied, before hurrying off down the corridor with Charity in tow leaving Gemma glaring at their backs.

Striding down the hallway, Aaron opened the door at the end that belonged to the library where his mother sat quietly cradling a sleeping Chloe's head in her lap. Looking up she smiled broadly, 'so I have the pleasure of two young ladies now' she whispered, 'I hope you have more conversational skills than this one' she teased pointing at her lap.

Aaron planted a quick kiss on Charity's cheek before swiftly leaving the room to help prepare for the arrival of the Red Moon warriors.

Walking over to the chair next to Mary, Charity sat down and curled her feet underneath her. Catching sight of the book in Mary's hands she raised her eyebrows, 'White wolf ancestry?' she asked tentatively. Mary smiled slowly, 'White wolves are rare' she said gently, 'and I mean really rare, I'm trying to learn as much as I can about them to see if it will help unlock the mystery of your heritage!

Charity nodded silently as she glanced toward the clock which read 2:15 pm, returning her gaze to the Luna she shuffled in her chair a bit before finally asking, 'did you replace anything out?' Seeing the hopeful yet fearful look in her eyes, Mary smiled reassuringly, 'well I'm not far in, to be honest, but so far it says, according to werewolf folklore, white wolves are rare because they are only descended from one of the original Alpha's, the Alpha Promethius, he was known as the Warrior Alpha, the reason all Werewolves can protect and fight. His brothers were Almertius the Healing Alpha, which is where our fast healing rates supposedly come from, Artemis, the Hunting Alpha who was the creator of our keen tracking abilities and scent, and finally their sister Floretina the Alpha of love and beauty, which eventually gave us our mates.

Almertius, Artemis and Floretina spread their seeds wide, taking many mates, in the hope to make werewolves strong and encouraged their offspring to do the same, but Promethius decided to be selective and chose just one she-wolf to create his offspring with. When he produced the very first white wolf, she was told to choose one wolf that would be her mate forever. He got his sister Floretina to tie them together with her gift of love meaning they would never look at another once mated, included in the spell was the ability to replicate meaning that all future generations would be born with a mate picked by the goddess herself.

Seeing the connection between Promethius' daughter and her mate, and the deep joy and completeness that came from it, Florentina decided to extend the spell further to encompass all werewolves that were created' she concluded.

Charity sat open-mouthed, gaping at the story, 'is it all true?' she finally managed to force out, Mary replied, 'It's a story that has been handed down through the generations of our kind, we generally replace that all lore comes from a grain of truth, but regardless it is the starting point we can use to begin to unravel your bloodline. Carefully she placed a bookmark between the pages and shut the book, placing it on the small coffee table between them.

Changing the subject as she could see Charity was losing herself in the story, Mary turned the conversation to Aaron and how that boy needed to 'get on and stop pussyfooting about'. Declaring him a stubborn little chub a cub who wouldn't know the best thing for him if it hit him across the face. They spent the remainder of their time with Mary regaling her with stories about the many times that Aaron's stubbornness had got him into strife with the pack, leaving Charity in fits of laughter.