Sold To The Alpha
A Love spoken Chapter 17

The Vampire hybrid and Werewolf had spent days scouring the area for some sign of the Crescent marked wolf but so far they had found nothing, they continued to march side by side, ignoring each other, their animosity growing. Bunking down in a small secluded area surrounded by trees and thick bushes, a fire crackling between them, the carcass of a rabbit that Rowan had caught, slowly cooking over the flames, the smell of the roasting meat making their mouth water. 'What did you mean?' Rowan suddenly asked, startling the brooding Prince who had been absent mindedly digging into the ground with a small stick he had found laying on the ground nearby. 'About what?' the Vampire asked sullenly.

'About it not being that great being the son of a King' Rowan elaborated in a bored tone.

'What does it matter?' Vaughn snapped back testily.

The werewolf shrugged, 'just curious, seems like a pretty decent life, being waited on by your servants, everyone bowing to you like you are something special.

Vaughn snorted derisively, 'yeah its great, you get scrutinised every second of every day, you can't even go to the bathroom without someone checking on you, let alone step outside and actually live a life' he muttered angrily. Rowan nodded thoughtfully, 'yeah I guess that could get a bit claustrophobic' he mused.

'Just a bit' the Vampire agreed gloomily, 'what about you, why are you a loner? The Ghost?' he asked.

Rowan shrugged, 'Lets just say that I pissed off the wrong people and now I'm paying for it' he replied cryptically before the pair fell into an uneasy silence again.

Once the meat was cooked through, the pair ripped generous sections off of the carcass, blowing quickly upon the morsels as they burnt their fingers before eating them hungrily.

Looking over the embers at the young Prince, Rowan asked, 'so tell me, how did you end up on this mission, you don't look like the kind of man that people would have some sort of a hold over.'

Vaughn sighed heavily, 'the High Priestess holds the rights to a promise made by my late grandfather and she has decided to call it in, as my grandfather is no longer with us, I have to fulfil it in his place' he replied moodily.

Rowan looked surprised, 'why didn't you just tell her to go jump? it's not your promise' he asked curiously.

'Because it's a blood pact, it's unbreakable, if I refuse, her part of the deal undoes so I'm bound to complete it' the Vampire replied, his tone becoming tetchy with all the questions.

Rowan say silently for a few minutes before again probing the young man, 'what was the pact?'

Vaughn flared in anger, 'what is it too you, you told me that we are not friends and suddenly you want my entire life history, why the sudden interest in the spoilt rich kid?' he demanded bitterly.

The werewolf studied the Vampire for a while before answering, 'because I am at a loss as to how the Witches Coven managed to procure a favour from the Vampire King that was so powerful it would be honoured by his surviving relatives' he replied simply. 'Your grandfather must have literally had no other option at the time and it's always important to understand ones enemies, plus I like to know who I am travelling with' he added softly.

'I am not your enemy' Vaughn growled in annoyance.

'I never said you were, but the High Priestess? Well that is a different matter and I always make it my business to understand those that I am forced to work with' Rowan replied evenly.

Glaring at the werewolf, Vaughn finally dropped his gaze to the dying fire, using his stick to poke at the wood, causing the flames to flare again before he spoke. 'My father was dying, something was attacking the venom that keeps our kind alive, if he had died, all of the Vampire species would have been wiped from the earth. The High priestess gave my grandfather a serum that protects his remaining Venom, in essence hiding it from the antidote, if we refuse to fulfil my grandfather's oath, the serum will stop working, my father will die along with me and every other Vampire in existence.

Rowan stared open mouthed at the youngster sat opposite him, 'wow, OK, I can see why you are here now' he stuttered.

Vaughn grimaced, 'yeah, didn't really have any choice in the matter' he agreed before meeting the Werewolf's eyes sternly, 'now your turn' he added.

'What?' Rowan asked, suddenly looking away.

'I told you my story, now you tell me yours' the Prince demanded, 'why are you looking for this Crescent birth marked person that no-one seems to know existed?' Vaughn demanded. 'Honestly mate, you don't want to know my story, I get judged enough in life' Rowan replied grimly, pulling the piece of rabbit meat in his fingers apart and stuffing it into his mouth.

Vaughn sat back and crossed his arms, glaring at the man across from him, 'try me Rowan, you wanted to know my story, I told it, now I want to know yours. I have just as much right to know who I am travelling with as you do, more even considering who I am meant to be' he added pointedly.

The werewolf let out an exasperated sigh before sagging his shoulders slightly and beginning, 'I was not always the Ghost, I used to be just a normal werewolf, with a job working for the Council. Unfortunately I was an arrogant a*s hole who thought he knew best and that rules didn't apply to him and I started to do some extra curricular work. A particular job turned out to not be what I thought it was and a young girl got killed and I was sentenced to death, so I ran, went freelance, threw the rulebook away and did whatever was necessary to earn some money!

Vaughn watched the older man, who's face suddenly looked aged with the weight of his memories, the flickering flames, accentuating the scarred look in his eyes as he mentally followed the path of his past.

'One day I did something unforgivable, something that I will carry to my grave and I hurt someone that meant everything to me, I tried to do what was right in the end, but it wasn't enough to wipe out my previous life and I was taken back to the Council for execution.

But it seems, the Council had no desire to kill me any more, they had a much harsher punishment in mind, they found a way to freeze me in time, I cannot age and I cannot refuse any task that I am given by the Council elder no matter how heinous that task may be! he said bitterly.

Vaughn shuffled closer to the fire, his eyes fixated on the werewolf, 'how long have you been working for them?' he murmured softly.

Rowan met the young man's gaze, with a painful smile, 'twenty five years' he replied.

Vaughn leaned back in shock, his head spinning, what could this man have possibly done that was so unforgivable that he deserved an eternity of servitude doing work so awful that it physically hurt to talk about it.

Leaning forward again, so that his elbows rested on to his knees, Vaughn pushed gently some more, 'how did you get caught up with the High Priestess and the Coven?' he asked.

Rowan gave a hollow laugh, 'I am the reason we are both here, I failed in a mission, I was sent to get the Crescent marked werewolf before, twenty two years ago, I had no idea who they were, didn't even know that there was a marking, just that they were a part of a relatively unknown pack.

I snuck up on them in the night, crept past the guards, which is easy when you don't leave a trace of scent and it's a pack that have very little to do with the outside world.

I ripped through the boundary guards, ripping their throats out before creeping into the grounds, I managed to take out another dozen fighters before they finally managed to sound the alarm for my attack. At first they sent just the men, who thought they would have the upper hand as I was alone, little did they know that my curse is that I cannot die. I can feel every cut, every bullet, knife but it just heals over and I carry on. It took a while but finally the realised that I wasn't being selective over who I murdered, Man, woman or child, it made no difference, I had to kill them all.

The female warriors, they tried to protect the innocent, standing in my way as children ran screaming but I just cut them down, and the children behind them. I left their bodies littered throughout the area, the grass was dyed red with the amount of blood I spilt, but I didn't stop.

Entering the pack house, I took down everyone I came across, not even a young baby laying in her crib was given leniency, I killed her anyway. I checked that pack three times, top to bottom, found their secret sanctuary for their infirm and cleared through there too, I thought I had completed the target but one survived. I don't know how but one person was saved from my attack and it was the one damn person I was sent to eliminate' he finished furiously.

Vaughn released a breath that he was unaware that he had been holding, his voice shaky he muttered, 'why would you do that? Why would you kill all those people who had done nothing too you?' he asked horrified.

Rowan lifted his pain filled eyes, 'because I couldn't stop myself, I can't say no to a direct order from the Council. I had to watch myself m*ssacre an entire innocent pack, I can hear them in my head, screaming, begging me to stop. I see the pups cowering from me, the older children trying to show bravery and protect the younger ones as I sliced their heads from their bodies with a blade. When I was cursed, I wasn't just cursed to live in eternal sl*very, I was cursed to relive every single evil deed that I am forced to commit, over and over again until the end of time.

Rowan broke down sobbing as he finished, the pain of his life crashing down around him as Vaughn just sat across from him, stuck dumb from the tragic man's story.