Sold To The Alpha
Hated Ties That Bind Chapter 21

'So are you getting your lazy backside out of that bed today?' Alessia asked as she strode into Nate's room. The group had been at Archer's pack for three days after Galena had informed them that the future Alpha needed to rest to allow his wolf to recover from the trauma and following effort of healing from such a dangerous wound. Nathaniel looked over at the door, his lips lifting into a smile as he saw the she wolf leaning against the door frame watching him in amusement.

'Hey, I was near death, I think I've earned a few days in bed' he pouted causing the Green Vine member to laugh as she pushed off the frame and walked toward him, perching on the edge of his bed.

'You are such a child' she teased, reaching out to the plate of biscuits that were on the table beside him.

Smacking her hand, Nathaniel growled in mock warning, 'my biscuits' he rumbled as Alessia rubbed her smarting fingers.

Sticking her tongue out, the she wolf huffed, 'you are so mean, I only wanted one!

'Get your own biscuits, you weren't nearly killed, these are my get well soon cookies' the future Alpha replied gruffly.

Alessia rolled her eyes, 'please, you did not nearly die you hypochondriac' she scoffed as she continued to try and steal a biscuit from his plate, dodging his attempts to slap her away. 'You got lightly tapped with a spell and now you are just milking it' she teased with a cheeky grin as she held up a chocolate cookie in triumph.

'I'm feeling attacked here Lessi' Nathaniel said, making his eyes big and round as his lip trembled cutely, grasping his chest as if injured before his features broke and he laughed.

'Ugh, dramatic much?' the she wolf groaned, 'your poor mate having to deal with this much high maintenance in one package!

Nathaniel's face fell at her words, drawing her attention, 's**t, sorry Nate, I didn't think! I really need to learn to shut my mouth' Alessia mumbled as she grabbed his hand in hers comfortingly.

'She ran away from me Lessi, do you think she doesn't want me? Am I that bad?' he mumbled as he pulled at the threads of the blanket that covered him.

'Hey, of course not' Alessia replied immediately, 'anyone would be thrilled to be your mate, she was just thrown by Rowan being there and probably about hurting you by accident! We'll replace her again and you'll see, she'll be thrilled to meet you.. you know especially as she'll know she didn't kill you' she joked cheekily, 'nothing to dampen a budding romance like an attempted murder'

The future Alpha chuckled softly, 'yeah I guess so, it wasn't the dream meeting that I had been expecting over the years' he mumbled.

'On the up side, it's a cool story to tell your grandkids about how you met their grandma' the she wolf offered with a smile.

A knock on the door drew the attention of the pair to see Rowan standing in the doorway uncomfortably.

'Am I interrupting?' he asked apprehensively, as he looked between the pair.

'Of course not, I was just leaving anyway, it doesn't look like this lazy a*s is getting up today. So this looks like it will be another day that I shall have to suffer through Alpha Archer's talented chef cooking as he insists on feeding me copious amounts of his mouth wateringly delicious cakes' Alessia sighed dramatically as she stood up and walked past the warrior, giving Nathaniel a wave as she left.

Walking inside, the warrior sank down in the space that Alessia had just vacated, his eyes roaming over the Future Alpha, scrutinising him until Nathaniel covered his face with his hands, 'I'm fine! Stop studying me like I'm some sort of science experiment' he complained.

Rowan chuckled, 'sorry, it's just, I've been on the receiving end of Ariana's spells before and as it was aimed at me, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have been anything gentle' he mumbled.

Uncovering his face, Nathaniel grinned up at his sister's mate, shaking his head as Rowan continued, 'I'm sorry man, I never thought that my past would cause you these kinds of problems, I shouldn't have come with you!

The Alpha growled low as she poked the warrior in the chest, 'no Rowan, if you hadn't had been here, Ariana would have met you for the first time at the pack house and that could have been catastrophic. Studying Rowan for a moment, he added, 'can you tell me why she is so angry with you? Why did you kill her fiancée?' he asked softly.

Rowan shook his head, 'I'm not ready to talk about it Nate, I'm sorry' he said sadly, 'I hurt your mate and in turn I hurt you and I feel terrible. You are my mate's brother, Gabby loves you, even if she does have a weird way of showing it. My past has now caused you problems, this is one of the reasons why I hate talking about before I joined Silver Cross, everything about my life just seems to bring pain to the people that I care about.'

Nathaniel nodded understandingly, 'I get it, but just remember, if you ever want to talk about it, I won't judge you. You make my pain in the a*s sister happy and you are the reason I have such a kick a*s nephew so anything that happened in your past, good or bad, has no reflection on the man you are now' he said quietly.

Giving a weak smile, Rowan nodded before squaring his shoulders, 'enough of all this emotional stuff, there are more pressing matters to discuss' he said with authority, making the future Alpha laugh.

'OK warrior, what is this super pressing matter that we need to discuss whilst I lay here on my near death bed?' he asked with mock severity.

Ignoring the Alpha's amusement, Rowan replied, 'your mate!'

His words immediately sobered the younger werewolf who dropped his gaze as he mumbled, 'what about her?'

Shifting slightly, the ex Rogue said, 'I assume you want to replace her again Nate?' The warrior looked at the Alpha enquiringly, waiting for him to respond.

Nodding hesitantly, Nathaniel replied, 'yeah I do, but... what if she doesn't want me too?'

Rowan shook his head, 'listen, take it from someone who has dealt with Ariana before AND had to deal with a mate bond that was messed up. You can't fight the connection even if you want too. Ariana isn't a bad person, even with what she did to me, she had her reasons that made sense to her. Even if she doesn't understand what is happening, now she's seen you, the mate bond will keep pulling her back toward you, deep inside the affect has already started!

'OK' Nathaniel replied gingerly, 'what is your plan?'

The warrior grinned as he met his friend's nervous gaze, 'Ariana's fiancée was a Vampire..' he started cagily.

'Yeah, and?' the Alpha asked warily.

'So maybe she has gone to hide herself with some of his old friends, they all knew her and she would be safe there. Even with Valencino gone, they would never touch his property, though she can handle herself if she needs too' he added as an afterthought. 'How does that help us?' Nathanial grumbled, 'there are thousands of Vampire packs all over the country, not to mention the lone Vamps!

Rowan nodded, his grin widening, 'well isn't it lucky that we happen to know the one person on this planet that is connected to every Vampire in existence' he replied with a wink.

Straightening up, Rowan started to laugh as light dawned on the Alpha's face, 'so how about it brother in law?' he asked, 'do you fancy a trip to see some old friends?' Nathaniel nodded immediately, 'definitely' he replied, a hopeful smile gracing his features.

Leaning forward so that he could clap a hand onto the future Alpha's shoulder, 'Good, we will replace her Nate and I'll do everything I can to help you, even if that involves me stepping back while you talk to her. I will not allow you to walk into a Vampire pack alone though, so don't even think about asking' he growled warningly.

Nathaniel laughed, 'you only say that because you are terrified of having to go back home and tell Gabby that I got injured on your watch' he teased mercilessly.

Rowan nodded vigorously, 'you know it dude, your sister will cut my balls off if anything happens to any of you, I'm already cringing about what she's going to do when she hears about this' he muttered as he waved his hand over the future Alpha's body. 'Ahh maybe I'll forget to tell her' Nathaniel offered with a shrug.

The warrior scowled, 'it won't matter if you do, you know your dad will be skipping his way up the path to the pack house to let Isabella and Gabriella know that you got injured while in my care' he grumbled.

Riley shook his head, 'no he won't' he confided with a wink, 'because if mum replaces out that dad let me get almost killed whilst he stood by and watched, she will mutilate him worse than Gabby will to you!

Rowan started to laugh, 'yeah, that's true, Bella is a scary as she wolf where her kids are concerned. I hid from her for a week after she had a "chat" with me about what would happen if I ever hurt your sister' he replied as the pair laughed harder. 'What's so funny?' Daniel called from the doorway, as he watched the two men with Landen stood just behind him.

'Nothing, we are just making some plans for where to look next for Ariana' Rowan replied casually.

'I'm intrigued, spill the details' Landen said as he pushed his way into the room.

'We are going to see a Vampire expert' Nathaniel replied with a grin as he settled back against his pillows and picked up his plate of biscuits, eating them happily.