Sold To The Alpha
Hated Ties That Bind Chapter 39

His grip tightening around Alessia's waist, Nathaniel ran his tongue along her bottom lip, asking for er Abruptly, Alessia pulled away, her fingers leaving the Alpha's hair as she pushed herself away from him 'What are we doing?' she yelled in horror, 'you have a mate!'

that the she wolf readily permitted. The pair stood together wrapped in each other's embrace as their tongues fought for dominance.

hermands moving to her lips as she stumbled backwards.

Nathaniel took a step back, his own features a war of pain, longing and guilt, 'I..' he started before shutting his mouth again.

Shaking her head, Alessia wrapped her arms around her waist protectively, 'I think you should go Nate she whispered, dropping her head to stare at the floor. 'Lessi.. 'Nathaniel started brokenly,

'Please Nate.. just go' the she wolf mumbled as she turned away from him.

Staring at her back momentarily, the Alpha dropped his gaze as he turned around and walked to her bedroom door. Pulling it open, he stepped out before shutting it with a quiet click behind him.

Once she heard the door close, Alessia let out a small sob, her legs giving way beneath her causing her to sink to the floor. Gathering her knees to her chest the she wolf rocked her body gently, back and forth, tears falling unendingly from her eyes. Outside of the bedroom door, Nathaniel slumped against the wooden barricade and slid down to the door, his hands running through his hair in frustration before he dropped his head to his knees. 'You OK?' came Rowan's voice from beside him

Looking up, the Alpha saw the warrior's head sticking out of his bedroom door, a worried expression on his face. Sighing Nate scrambled back to his feet, 'yeah, yes, everything is fine' he mumbled. 'OK, just those raised voices just now, didn't sound fine' Rowan replied in a low tone.

Snapping his gaze to his friend, Nathaniel groaned, 'you heard that? Great, that means everyone did, so I now get to sit through a lecture from Landen, the twenty something grandpa in training! Rowan laughed lightly, 'yeah I heard, but no-one else did, your dad, Daniel and Lan are all out with that Vampire leader having a tour' he comforted as he stepped out of the room. Placing his hand onto Nate's shoulder he said, 'and I won't be telling them anything that I may or may not have heard, it's not my business nor anyone else's' he added.

'Thanks mate' Nathaniel sighed.

'No worries, that's what family is for' Rowan replied as he tightened his grip, 'but Nate?' he added quietly, you do have a mate, and the bond will tie you to her. Every time you see her, it will only get stronger, so think really carefully about the game you are currently playing because someone is going to get seriously hurt if you don't.'

Nate met the warrior's serious gaze and nodded glumly, 'I know' he whispered, 'my head is a mess, I love Arana, I know I do, but something keps pulling me to Alessia which shouldn't happen as she isn't mine. I should not be attracted to any other woman now I have met my mate, I don't understand what's going on with me.

Releasing the Alpha, Rowan watched sadly as he shook his head whilst scrambling to his feet. Giving the warrior a pained look, he walked to his own room and pushed open the door, shutting it behind himself.

Taking a deep breath, the warrior lifted his hand and knocked loudly on Alessia's door.

'I said leave me alone' came Alessia's wavering voice from inside.

'Lessi, its Rowan' the warrior replied quietly, 'open the door, you need a brother right now.

Silence greeted his words for a few moments before the shuffling of feet could be heard and the door cracked open to reveal one of Alessia's eyes that was swollen red from crying.

'Hey' the warrior said softly, 'need a brotherly hug?'

Alessia pulled the door open and threw herself into Rowan's chest, the warrior placing his strong arms around her as he guided her backwards and pushed the door shut carefully behind them.

Holding her tightly, he rubbed comforting circles on her back as she cried, after ten minutes, the broken sobs became muffled hiccups until the she wolf fell silent.

Leading her over to the bed, Rowan sat Alessia down on the edge as he took a seat by her side and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him. 'Are you OK?' he asked as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. Alessia nodded, taking the scrap of material, and blowing her nose noisily.

'Ladylike' Rowan teased giving her shoulder a nudge.

Breaking into a weak smile, Alessia giggled, 'not the time Ro' she grumbled as she cuddled closer.

'Made you smile though' the warrior replied before he turned solemn again, 'seriously Lessi, do you want to talk about it?'

Alessia rubbed her hand down her face as she let out an exasperated sigh, 'he kissed me' she mumbled.

'Ahh, that's.. interesting' Rowan replied hesitantly.

'No, it's catastrophic, horrible, awful, unnerving, stomach clenchingly worrisome' Alessia wailed back.

'That's a bit harsh little sis, why would it deserve that kind of label?' Rowan asked.

'Because I kissed him back' the she wolf admitted in a tiny voice, her hands covering her eyes in embarrassment.

'Oh' said the warrior

'Oh? That's all you have for me here Ro? I kissed a mated man! And I enjoyed it! I know that if it happened again, I wouldn't fight it and there is a good chance that if we keep going, I'll develop feelings for him. He isn't mine; he has a love and he is going to go to her and I'm going to be left behind to deal with the fact I was just some fling before he settles down.

Rowan brushed his hand down the she wolf's hair, 'Hey' he protested quickly, 'you are jumping ahead here Lessi. It was a kiss, nothing more, a heat of the moment lapse of judgement between two close friends that were fighting!

Alessia nodded slowly at his words, 'yeah, that makes sense' she agreed, relief rushing through her, 'I should just make sure that we don't get that upset with each other again!

Walking through the compound, Riley, Daniel, and Landen listened to the Vampire leader as he pointed out different areas, smiling politely at each member that they were introduced too. Cassius was obviously very proud of his clan and excitedly showed off his territory to the visitors.

'Cassius' Riley called after they had shaken hands with yet another vampire family, 'I have to come clean with you, we did not just come here to help Terri, we had an ulterior motive in replaceing you!' 'Oh? What was that?' Cassius asked curiously as he stopped to give the Luna his full attention.

Taking a deep breath, Riley replied, 'we are actually looking for someone, my son Nathaniel's mate and we understand that she may have lived here at one point if not still be here now!' Cassius' bro furrowed, 'all our members are tied to the Clan, we cannot leave unless we hear the chimes of the clock.

Daniel spoke up at his words, 'would you help us replace her then? It is extremely important to our pack.

The vampire nodded, 'of course Beta, I would be honoured to help you in your search for your Luna. Breathing a sigh of relief, Riley smiled, 'we are looking for a woman named Ariana' he said quickly.

'The sorceress?' Cassius asked in surprise, 'your son's mate is our past leaders' partner?'

The three werewolves nodded simultaneously, 'yes, we were told by King Vallance and Queen Jason that her match Valencino, started this brood after leaving his previous clan. Cassius' eyes widened, 'you know the King and Queen?' he whispered in awe.

Landen chuckled, 'our warrior is the godfather of their grandson Valentino and best friends with Prince Vallance' he replied.

The vampire swallowed a few times, trying to get his tongue to work, 'I am at your disposal gentlemen, any friend of our royal family is royalty to this clan' he finally stumbled out.

Straightening up, he added, 'the King is correct, this clan was originally created by a brood of vampires that left their own clans to join together forming a new alliace, they no longer wanted to live under their old leaders rule. The founders selected Valencino as the new leader and he selected this area to start building the clan that you see today.

Valencino recruited new members with promises of protection and a good food source, vampires flocked to him when he came through with his word. He met Ariana whilst on a food hunt and brought her here announcing to all that she was his match. She was devoted to him, and he in turn never allowed her out of his sight, he was the only person that was allowed to be alone with her. Then thirty three years ago he made a mistake, he trusted the wrong person and that person hunted him down and severed his head. We found Ariana holding his body, almost comatose as she rocked him in her arms. We brought them both back here, giving Valencino a proper vampire funeral, and trying to get through to the sorceress.

Then one of our members tried to leave the clan, to head to the local village to buy some groceries. She stepped out of the town and there was nothing there, just fields and fields of nothing, she returned to tell us and we sent out scouts. They walked for hours but could replace no trace of civilisation, they returned with the news and we realised that something was very wrong.

Panic set in, we had no leader and for some reason we were alone, the clan got together and voted that I become leader, I think they hoped that I could figure out what had happened and fix it.

I sent out vampires to strip every tree and bush that they could replace of edible fruit and bring it back to us along with any animals that they could hunt for our blood need.

Ariana finally began to come back to us, she started to head out of the town, and she could replace the surrounding villages making us realise that it was just our clan that was trapped. She brought us seeds to grow food, the ingredients we needed to synthesise our own blood and livestock so we could survive. She hated that we had been cut off though, any chance of our match being found having been taken at the death of our leader. She worked around the town, studying the slight shimmer that surrounded us and finally came up with a way to tweak whatever curse was upon us allowing us to leave when the clocks in the surrounding towns chimed midnight. She went to the towns, laying a charm on each that would cause them to call to us when our mates were there and of age to be claimed. She limited it to four at a time and alternated the villages, as she didn't want us wiping out an entire village, snatching our mates meaning that future generations would not be created for our children to replace matches with. One night while working, one of the men stopped still, he could hear a clock chiming, he walked trance like to the barrier, three others joining him and they stepped out into the darkness. We followed, but they were gone, thirty minutes later, they returned, each with a woman in their arms, they had all found their mates. Everyone rushed out of the town, to replace the place that they had gone too, but it wasn't there just as Ariana had explained to us. Over the years we accepted that only those that could hear the chime could replace the town and their mate. A few times, one of the vampires would not leave within thirty minutes and they never returned, teaching us that our time in the real world was limited which in turn made our people nervous, some choosing to rush in, grab their mate and leave, rather than stopping to explain first as they had done in the beginning.

Obviously now we realise that this was not a good idea, and we have actually instilled fear into the hearts of those that are fated to be with us and their families. Instead of them knowing that their children are coming to a better life, they think we are using them for food' he chuckled sadly.

'Anyway, After doing what she could, Ariana moved on, she said there were too many memories here and that she had something that she had to do' he finished with a small smile.

'So she isn't here?' Landen asked desperately

Cassius shook his head, 'no she isn't.. but I can get her to come back, I have a way to contact her in an emergency' he added.