Sold To The Alpha
Hated Ties That Bind Chapter 24

'What? Wait! No' Alessia spluttered in shock, heat rising up her neck as she tried to compose herself, Nathaniel shuffling his feet in embarrassment.

'I'm not Nate's mate! Umm I am actually from Green Vine Pack, I'm just tagging along with the group as I search for my brother' the she wolf explained hastily.

Covering her surprise quickly, Olivia nodded as she released Nate and took Alessia by the hand, 'come, let us leave all this testosterone behind us and go into the kitchen, I have a batch of our chef's cookies on the side, she just took them out!' Vaughn spun around pouting, 'babe! You can't eat Erica's cookies without me' he grumbled sadly.

Raising her eyebrow, Olivia growled, 'you know I don't share Erica's cookies with you when I am like this' she warned as she pointed to herself, 'but I will totally share them with this young woman, it will be nice to have some female company for a change! Dropping his gaze, Vaughn nodded in defeat, 'yes dear.'

Watching them walk away, Rowan sidled up to Vaughn, a knowing look on his face, 'is there something you forgot to tell Gabby and I in our last phone call?' he asked accusingly.

'Mummy is having another me!' Valentino piped up excitedly, 'we will have two Tino's then!'

The men congratulated the hybrid who beamed happily, 'I'm so stoked, it's even worth missing out on Erica's cookies for nine months' he replied, 'don't tell Liv but I am praying to the Goddess that it's a girl.'

Waving toward the door, he ushered the warriors inside the building, heading up to his father's study where they could hear voices talking.

Knocking smartly, Vaughn yelled out, 'dads! You better be decent in there, we have guests!'

Manic fumbling could be heard within before Vallance's breathless voice called out, 'come in son'

Rolling his eyes, the hybrid pushed open the door, stepping into the office, the group of warriors behind him. Glaring at his parents who were hastily tucking in their shirts he grumbled, 'aren't you both a bit too old for this now? You have a bedroom!' Jason laughed before spotting the men behind him and letting out a gasp as he jumped off the desk and rushed over to Riley and Daniel, pulling them both into a tight hug.

'Riles! Dan! You never told us you were coming, s**t, we'd have got rooms ready for you! Babe! Link the housekeeper, tell her we need 1, 2, 3 .. 'the werewolf counted, looking at each member '5 rooms sorted.

'Six' Daniel said as he returned the excited werewolf's hug, 'we have a she wolf with us who was whisked away by Liv to eat cookies.

Jason stepped back in surprise, 'wow, she must be special, Liv doesn't share Erica's cookies with anyone right now' he muttered as his gaze swept round the group and landed on Nathaniel, an expectant grin colouring his face. The future alpha held a hand up, 'nope! She is not my mate' he replied to the unasked question.

Jason's shoulders fell, 'damn, I was hoping..' he mumbled sadly before ushering the men into the room and toward the sofas, Vallance joining them, sitting in one of the armchairs as Jason perched on the arm next to him.

'Hey you said Jason and Vallance don't live here' Nathaniel said accusingly to the little boy who was still clinging to Rowan possessively.

Turning his eyes to the warrior, Valentino's brow furrowed, 'they don't, no-one has those names here, I know everyone!

'But they are right there' the Alpha argued pointing at the two older men who started to laugh.

Valentino rolled his eyes as he gave an exasperated huff, 'they are called Grandpa J and Grandpa V not Jason and Vallance' he retorted as if the warrior was an i***t.

Rowan hugged the boy tightly as he chuckled loudly, his grandfathers also laughing as Vallance said, 'that's right Tino, you tell him.'

Fixing the Luna with a stern look, Jason said, 'so? Why did you not inform us that you would be visiting?'

Riley raised his hands defensively, 'we didn't know until a couple of days ago and when we realised we needed to see you, we were not in an area that had the most advanced of communication devices.'

'So where have you been that phones don't work?' Jason demanded disbelievingly.

The Luna launched into the story, Nathaniel and Landen helping to fill in the details as he spoke.

Leaning back, Vallance whistled, 'OK' he breathed, 'well that's a story! Looking over at Jason he raised an eyebrow as the werewolf nodded before looking back at the group. 'Valencino.. Valencino.. hold on, I need to check the files, how many years ago was he killed?'

Every head swivelled to Rowan who muttered, 'Thirty Three!'

Nodding distractedly, Vallance stood up and walked behind his desk, running his fingers along a huge collection of books as he muttered to himself before pulling one out. Carrying it to his desk, he called out, 'month of death?'

'March' Rowan replied immediately without looking up as he kept his attention on the four year old who was rummaging in his jacket pocket, pouting when he found no sweets.

Flicking through the pages, Vallance scoured the pages until he stopped on an entry, 'Valencino, died 27th March by beheading, part of the Black Wing Clan until he left and started his own brood with six other Vampires. The brood resided in Fletchling' he added as he looked up. 'This your man?' he asked curiously.

Rowan nodded, 'yeah, I remember that he had a small following, he never let me see where his clan was though, seems he was right not to as I would have taken the rest out as well' he growled angrily.

Nathaniel shuffled forward as the room fell quiet, 'Vallance' he said hesitantly, 'umm, Lessi is also looking for a Vampire, it seems one approached her brother at a witches village two days walk to the east, would you know of any Vampire's residing near there?' Vallance furrowed his brow as he thought, 'not off the top of my head, do we have a description of the Vampire?' he asked.

Nathaniel shook his head, 'no, all we know is that her brother went willingly with the man' he replied.

Vallance ran a hand down his face, 'I don't have any registered Clans near that village, the witches don't like us to be that close to their land' he sighed. Closing his eyes, he concentrated for a moment before opening them again just as hurried feet could be heard outside. A sharp knock echoed from the door, the Vampire King calling out for the visitor to enter.

Opening the door a broad shouldered vampire swept into the room, bowing deeply to Jason and Vallance before he spoke. 'My King, you summoned me' he said, his voice deep and resonating.

'Yes Ellic, there is a she wolf in the kitchen with princess Olivia, she has a photo of a young werewolf on her. I need you to borrow the photo from her, make sure that she knows that it will be returned safely to her. Then take three guards and head to the witches village two days east. We have a visiting brother who took charge of the werewolf in the picture and I want to know who it was and where he is' Vallance ordered.

'It will be done my King' the vampire replied with a second bow before gliding from the room again, shutting the door softly behind him.

'Well we cannot do anything until Ellic returns so you will all be staying here for the night' Jason said forcefully.

'But.. Ariana.. 'Nathaniel protested worriedly.

Jason reached over and placed a calming hand on the future Alpha's shoulder, 'one night is not going to allow her to slip through your fingers Nate, from your story it seems she is laying low so she wont be flitting from one place to another and she wont expect you to be able to replace her fiancée's brood this quickly.

Riley nodded in agreement, 'Jason is right Nate, plus we have been sleeping rough these last few days, it would do us all good to have a shower, eat some decent food and get a good night's sleep before we set out to replace her.'

Staring at his feet, the Alpha finally nodded glumly as Jason jumped to his feet excitedly. 'Come on, lets head down to the kitchen and see if Erica has dinner prepared if not you are all welcome to try and wrestle a cookie from our daughter in law. We do enjoy the entertainment of watching her shred her challengers into small pieces, I believe our son almost lost a finger a few weeks ago' he added with a chuckle.

The mated men all laughed knowingly as Vaughn shuddered at the memory, Nathaniel just looking at the warriors in confusion.

Landen slapped him on the shoulder, 'you'll see mate, when we bring our Luna home, you'll understand everything' he said with a grin.

Heading out of the office, the group made their way downstairs and into the dining hall, where they could hear the voices of Olivia, Alessia and the Vampire cook, Erica from behind the kitchen door.