Sold To The Alpha
Chapter 25

Through the tiny 6-inch wide window, Charity and Chloe had their faces pressed to the glass trying to make out the wolves below, to see if their pack was ok. As the bodies of the dead and wounded mounted on the battlefield, Charity whimpered as she pulled at her hair. No longer able to make out Aaron's jet black wolf as no wolf seemed to be untouched by blood.

Next to her, Chloe was breathing rapidly, searching the enemy wolves with her eyes, in desperation. Knowing she was searching for James, Charity put her arm around her, 'We will replace him Chloe' she whispered, 'he'll be ok, they both will, they have to be, or we would feel it wouldn't we?' she added more to herself than he friend.

Chloe nodded silently, her eyes never leaving the turmoil unfolding below them. Wringing her hands tightly in fear, her lips moved noiselessly in a silent prayer to the Goddess to keep her newfound mate safe.

Suddenly Charity doubled over, with a cry of pain, dragging her eyes from the scene below, Chloe ran to her, kneeling by her side as Charity fell to her knees clutching her side.

'What's wrong? what is it?' demanded Chloe in panic as she tried to lift Charity from the floor and into one of the seats.

'It hurts' gasped Charity, tears springing to her eyes as she tried to breathe through the pain, 'my side! it's like someones split it open with a knife. Gingerly lifting her shirt, Chloe looked at her side in trepidation, fearing what she would see, but Charity's side was completely unmarked, no bruising or cut could be seen.

Charity stared up at Chloe in shock and confusion as Chloe's face went from surprise to horror in a split second. 'What is it?' Charity begged, 'tell me'

Chloe shook her head slowly before forcing herself to utter, 'its not your pain, its Aaron's'

Anguish filled Charity's face as she realised her mate was hurt, and from the pain, she could feel, he was hurt badly. 'I need to get to him!' she said desperately, 'I need to get out of here, he needs my help'

Hurriedly she ran to the entrance to the hidden room and started to feel with her hands for a handle or knob to open the door from the inside. Chloe tried to calm her down, 'he'll be fine, we heal quickly' she said, trying to smooth her friends panic.

'But while he's injured he's a target' whimpered Charity, manically searching every crevice of the doorway for some kind of lever, 'if they get him while he's like that, he'll..' unable to finish her sentence, Charity begged her friend to help her silently with her eyes. Struggling internally with herself for a few moments, Chloe finally sighed in defeat and made her way over to the walls to help search. Running their hands over every square inch of the door and surrounding walls, neither could replace anything that would release the lock on the exit.

Exasperated, Charity smashed her fists into the moulded wooden structure as Chloe looked helplessly around the room for anything that might let them out. As her eyes wandered slowly across each item in the room, they alighted upon a small wolf ornament on the table to the right of the doorway. Nothing else was placed on the table with it and it felt out of place. Walking swiftly over she tried to pick the statue up only to replace it bolted to the table which in turn was bolted to the floor.

Getting down on her hands and knees, Chloe ran her hands under the table feeling for anything unusual, though she found nothing out of place, she did notice that the statue was placed directly over the table leg running from the centre of the varnished top. Turning her attention to the statue she traced her hands over the gilded carvings until her questing fingers found a thin groove underneath the wolfs head, around its neck. Grasping the base of the statue with one hand, Chloe placed her hand over the wolfs head and twisted it to the right.

Gradually the head of the statue started to turn, applying more pressure, Chloe felt the mechanism within start to move. Suddenly a loud click came from the door as the lock released and the bookcase swung forward gently with an almost inaudible squeak of its wheels.

Charity pushed the door wide before bolting from the room with Chloe at her heels, they made their way along the fourth-floor landing toward the stairs before quietly tiptoeing down the steps until they reached the first-floor balcony.

Peering over the edge of the bannister they could see Mary and her pack of she-wolves standing on edge listening to the deafening noise from outside, prepared to defend the pack house if the door was breached. All doors to other areas of the house were shut and barricaded with makeshift alarm systems just in case an attacker managed to gain entry through one of the room windows and tried to take them by surprise.

Chloe grabbed Charity by the arm and pulled her back from the landing into a recess out of view in case anyone looked upwards and saw them.

'We need to create a diversion' whispered Chloe desperately, 'The Luna and the She wolves will never let you leave if they catch us out of the safe room'. Charity nodded her head as she scanned around her looking for something they could use to distract the warriors below them so they could get to the front door and unbolt it before they could be stopped.

Stepping forward slightly so she could see over the smooth wooden bannister, she saw that in front of the dining-room door was a thin wire with small metal objects tied to it, she assumed it was to distract a would-be attacker who would no doubt get caught up in the wire as the metal items crashed together. Looking along the corridor she noticed a small vase containing fake flowers on the table next to one of the closed doors leading to the first-floor games room.

Silently padding her way over to the spindly table, she carefully lifted the vase, removed the flowers, placing them silently onto the tabletop before padding her way back to Chloe on the balls of her feet. Using the thick carpet to muffle her footsteps Charity crept back toward the edge of the balcony, she lifted the vase over her head and back past her shoulder in a pitchers stance before launching it at the hanging metal objects. The vase crashed into the saucepan lid that was central to the door letting out an almighty clang as the vase shattered upon contact. The She wolves leapt in shock and spun around on guard ready to attack.

Chloe and Charity sprinted down the stairs, no longer bothering to keep their movements silent, throwing herself toward the door, Charity pulled the chairs that had been placed against the door aside before turning the key with all her strength and throwing the deadbolt back before pushing the handle down.

Behind her she could hear the horrified calls of Mary calling her back, begging her not to leave, but she ignored them as the pushed her way outside, blinking as the sunlight hit her eyes, momentarily blinding her.

As her eyes adjusted, the c*****e before her came into focus and she gasped at the fallen wolves, pools of blood and continuing fighting that was before her. Running toward the opposing packs she raised her arms and screamed 'STOP', which left her lips as a command rather than the pleading request she had intended.

Every wolf immediately froze in place, unable to move as she stood speechless staring at them. Turning her head, she could see Mary and her team frozen outside the door whilst Chloe was motionless just behind her in mid step. Turning back to the fighting wolves she raised her voice and called, 'Where is Alpha Marcus?' her eyes searching the crowd for movement. A large black and grey wolf stepped forward and reverted into a well-built man in his late sixties. Charity beckoned him toward her as her eye caught a large black wolf shifting into Aaron who visibly shook himself before also walking toward her a hand pressed to his side as he positioning himself between her and the approaching Alpha.

Reaching up and touching his shoulder gently, Charity whispered, 'it's ok' to him as she stepped around his extended arm, thrown out protectively before her. As she watched Marcus approach she raised her voice again, 'Alpha Alistair, please could you join us over here?' as a Large chocolate brown wolf shifted into the authoritative presence of the Silver Cross Alpha.

When Marcus was within a few feet of Charity, she raised her hand to indicate he was close enough bringing him to a halt. Alistair joined them a few moments later and the 3 men looked toward Charity, waiting for her to speak.

Clearing her throat, she looked into Marcus' aquamarine eyes, studying them before speaking, 'Alpha Marcus, I would like to know why you wish an audience with me, and why it is so important that you would attack my pack so savagely' she said with authority. Marcus' eyes never left her own, there was something almost hungry in them as he stared at her. Finally, he replied, 'It's a long story, Lady Charity, one I didn't wish to force upon you in front of both our packs, as its a somewhat delicate matter.' Charity nodded her head slowly looking out over the trees as she pondered his answer, finally she returned her gaze to him, 'Alpha Marcus, I hereby call a truce between our packs and invite you to a meeting with myself, there will be stipulations to this meeting though. First and foremost it will take place here, at our pack house, if Alpha Alistair is amenable I would ask that it takes place within his study' she said as she looked toward Alistair who nodded his agreement. 'Secondly, My Alpha, Luna, Beta and Mate will be present at the meeting, this is purely so I do not have to relay whatever you say to me back to them and avoids any discrepancies in the passing of your story. I do not have secrets from my pack leaders' she added as she saw Marcus about to argue. Reluctantly he nodded though you could see he was unhappy about it. 'Finally, you are welcome to bring your Beta to the meeting as well, though you will have assurances of your safety during our truce, you may feel more comfortable having your second present. 'Thank you Lady Charity' he said gruffly with a small bow, 'I accept your terms for our meeting'

Charity turned to Alistair and Aaron with a raised eyebrow, both nodded formally and repeated, 'I accept your terms for the meeting'.

Turning back to Marcus she extended her hand toward him, hesitating slightly, he slowly grasped her soft skin within his rough and weathered hand and shook it gently.

'I suggest that we convene tomorrow afternoon here at the pack house, this will give each pack time to deal with their dead and tend to their injured and also. ' she coloured slightly, 'maybe put some clothes on?' then raising her voice she continued, 'No-one is to attack a rival pack member whilst the truce is in situ' she looked at Marcus again, 'Alpha Marcus, when you return, you are welcome to bring half a dozen men as a guard to remain within the grounds whilst we talk. All other members of your pack must remain at your camp outside of our boundary until the truce is ended.

Marcus bowed again toward Charity, before turning on his heel and signalling his troops to fall back. As they disappeared into the trees, Aaron looked at Charity with confusion mixed with a little bit of pride as he placed his hand on her elbow and guided her back inside shouting over his shoulder, 'Released! tend to the wounded and fallen' and the pack scrambled into action behind them.