Sold To The Alpha
Hated Ties That Bind Chapter 54

Rowan stared at the woman in front of him in shock, taking in her agitated state as she watched him just as closely. 'Ariana' came a croak from the other side of the room, 'you don't have to do this.

The two warriors turned simultaneously to gaze over at a second cage that held Nathaniel who was on his knees by the bars, his own eyes fixated on his mate.

Ariana shivered involuntarily, her eyes closing slightly as his voice affected her before steeling herself, 'I'm sorry werewolf' she sighed softly, 'I don't have a choice, I can't rest whilst he goes unpunished for his crimes!

Riley growled, 'he was punished' he said loudly, 'by you, when you tied him to the council and made him do atrocious things that no man should ever have to do, not to mention what you did to my daughter, who did nothing to you!' Ariana's eyes widened as she snapped her gaze to the Luna, 'I did not hurt your daughter' she whispered angrily.

'Yes you did, the moment you made her mate unable to claim her' Riley replied with barely concealed fury. 'You forgot when you were invoking your revenge, that not only would it hurt Rowan, it would also cause immense pain to the one he was mated too! Ariana stumbled back slightly as if Riley had physically pushed her, clutching at her chest as she muttered uncertainly under her breath.

'I..... didn't mean to cause her harm, I was protecting her from him' she finally managed to get out, pointing a shaking finger at the ex-Rogue.

Riley growled again, 'but you didn't protect her, all you did was cause her pain, how are you any better than Rowan?'

Ariana's eyes darkened at his words, her hands balling into fists, 'don't EVER put me in the same league as this monster' she snapped, 'he is pure evil! I just want to protect everyone else from suffering at his hands like I did.

Riley went to reply when Rowan placed his hand on the Luna's shoulder, silently asking him to step down. Swallowing his anger, the Luna shot his son in law a quick look, nodding curtly as he allowed Rowan to take over. Rowan stepped as close to the bars as he dared, his gaze never wavering from the sorceress'.

'Are you ready to die Ghost?' Ariana asked quietly.

Rowan nodded, 'I am Ariana, I am ready and willing to die if that will save my family. Will you let them go unharmed?' he asked softly, 'will you give my brother in law a chance to show you a life without pain?' The sorceress hesitated slightly, uncertainty evident, 'but he isn't my mate' she whispered through the pain.

Rowan reached through the bars, his handout to her as he ignored the burning of the silver, 'what if I could show you that he is Ariana? Would you accept him?'

'Rowan stop' Nathaniel yelled desperately as he too tried to reach through the bars, 'you don't have to do this.'

Rowan's eyes never moved from Ariana's as he slowly nodded, 'yes I do Nate, Ariana deserves the truth and I don't want to die with her believing a lie, don't you want to know why I killed that Vampire?' he coaxed. Ariana scowled, 'the only lies I have been told are by you Rogue' she hissed, though a flicker of worry crossed her features.

The warrior smiled sadly, 'let me tell you a story Ariana, and once I'm done, I won't fight you when you kill me, I'll stand right here, unmoving, and let you stab me with a silver knife straight to my heart.'

The sorceress fidgeted, 'you are lying' she muttered in confusion.

Rowan turned to Riley as he retracted his hand, 'Luna, order me to not move from this spot without Ariana's permission' he said solemnly.

Riley shook his head immediately, 'no Rowan, I won't do that!'

Rowans eyes sparked slightly as he gave the Luna a sad smile, 'please.. dad.. I need her to know I'll follow through with my promise!

Riley flicked his eyes from his son in law, to his son, to the sorceress and back again, 'I can't Rowan... Gabby... he said, his voice filled with pain.

The warrior straightened up, 'she will understand, and she will live through my death' he replied firmly, 'you, Bella and Nate will make sure she does. The future Alpha cannot come to any harm, we need him' he added, 'I swore to protect my Alpha and Luna with my life Riley, they were not just words I said to be accepted by Silver Cross, I meant them.'

Riley gulped as his eyes filled with tears, 'Rowan, Head warrior of Silver Cross, I command you to tell your story, you are ordered not to move unless Ariana gives you permission, you must follow her instructions exactly! Rowan shivered as the command set onto him, his body stiffening in place.

The sorceress frowned as she stepped closer, 'sit on the floor' she ordered, watching in amazement as Rowan immediately complied.

'Grab the bars with your hands' she said, her eyebrows rising as the warrior did her bidding, his face grimacing as the silver ate into his hands, but not letting go.

Watching him flinch for a few minutes, Ariana finally said, 'OK, release the bars, Rowan letting go with a whimper, dropping his blistered hands into his lap.

Nodding hesitantly, Ariana reached into her pocket and pulled out a key, indicating to Riley to step back, 'if you move, I will command him to stop breathing' she warned.

Riley nodded as he inched back into the corner of the cage, Ariana waiting until she was sure he wouldn't move before opening the door and ordering Rowan to stand up and step out.

Following her order, Rowan exited the cage, standing to the side as the sorceress locked it again behind him.

'Sit down and tell me your story' Ariana ordered softly as she placed the keys on the nearby table and sat on the dusty stone floor across from the warrior, waiting patiently for him to comply with her command. Sitting on the cold stones, Rowan took a deep shuddering breath, closing his eyes, his face becoming sad as he began to speak.

'My father was a Beta of a affluential pack far from here, they were strong and other packs were desperate to obtain them as allies. When out scouting the area, he came across my mother, his mate. She was a Rogue, and she was also in heat, my father fought off the other Rogues who were circling her in fury, ripping out their throats before succumbing to the mate bond, mating, and marking her as his own.

Once she was marked, there was nothing he could do, they were bonded tightly to each other, he could no longer live without her. He took her back to his pack but when he introduced her to his Alpha, the leader refused to accept her, Rogues were dirty, the scum of the werewolf world and he would not sully his pack with one, especially not as a Beta's mate.

He banished my father along with her, ordering them out of his territory, telling them that if any of the pack saw them again, they would be caught and killed in front of everyone.

My father was furious, he blamed my mother for his loss of title, his anger only grew when he found out that she was pregnant with a pup, completing the bond between them, she was pregnant with me. Once I was born, he started to replace solace in the arms of other women, leaving my mother to scream in pain on the floor of our home as he drank himself into oblivion on wolfsbane spiked whiskey and then had his pleasure with any female that would open their legs to him.

When he was home, he would beat my mother viciously, yelling at her that she was the cause of his misery, that she had tricked him into getting her pregnant so that he had to remain with her.

When I was four, I woke up to my mothers' cries as my father punched every inch of her body that he could replace, roaring at her about how she was useless, weak and the reason for his crappy life. I snuck down the stairs, I could see blood where he had torn at her skin, her face and arms were covered in dark black bruises.

I ran at him, grabbing his arm to try and stop him hitting my mum, to try and protect her but my father threw back his arm, smacking me in the stomach and sending me flying across the room into the far wall. I crumpled to the floor, my head aching as blood pooled from a crack in my skull.

My mother had never stood up for herself before, she always just sat there and allowed her mate to take his anger out on her, but in that moment, her eyes met mine as I lay there, tears streaming down my face. Turning back to my father, her face hardened as anger rolled off her, she grabbed his hair and pulled him back, punching him in the face as hard as she could. My dad was shocked for a moment before his rage increased and he beat her with everything he had while she scratched and clawed at him, screaming at him about hurting her son.

There was blood everywhere, and I watched as my mothers strikes became weaker and weaker, her eyes barely open as they had swollen so much from her mate's fists. Grabbing her head, my dad smashed her skull into our living room floor, over and over again as he yelled at her until she was no longer moving.

Staggering back, he dropped to his knees, his eyes wide as he stared down at my mother who was nothing more than a bloody mess on the floor, her chest wasn't moving and her eyes were closed, he had killed her.'

Rowan's breathing was laboured as he spoke, a tear rolling down his cheek as he kept his eyes closed.

'Goddess, Rowan' the Luna murmured in horror as he sank down behind the warrior, who was too lost in his memories to notice.

'My dad stumbled out of the house, leaving me in the room with my mother's body, I crawled over to her, cradling her in my tiny arms as I cried, begging her to wake up, but she never did.

With my mother gone, my father turned his anger onto me, justifying himself by the thought that if I had not have been born, he could have left my mother, gone back to his pack and she wouldn't have died. I spent most of my nights laying in a pool of my own blood trying to heal ready for the next day when he came home drunk.

Six months after he buried my mother in our back garden, he came home in his usual state, but this time he was dragging a human woman by her hair behind him. He introduced her as my new mum before grabbing her head, tipping it sideways and forcefully marking her.'

Rowan shuddered at the images, 'I had never heard a scream of pain so bone chilling than at that moment' he whispered, 'not even from my mother as she fought for her life, it was almost primal.

My step mother soon fell pregnant and gave birth to a girl, my little sister Celeste, she was a ray of sunshine' he said, a small smile stretching across his face at her memory. 'These beautiful blonde curls all over her head and grey eyes just like mine and dad's. Having Celeste didn't alter my father though, he continued to beat me and my step mother, it was worse for her, as a human she had no chance of fighting back against him.

As Celeste grew older, I would sleep across her doorway at night, trying to protect her, my father wouldn't be able to reach her without falling over me if he came home drunk and headed for her room.

I remained at the house until I was thirteen, one night my father came home so blindingly drunk, punching my entire body as I tried to protect myself, his attack so violent, that I honestly believed that he was trying to kill me. He finally backed off after an hour, leaving me with four broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder and a cracked eye socket.

Celeste came down the stairs after he went to bed, creeping over to me, cradling me as I bled across her night dress, her little body shaking with sobs as she begged me to leave, to run away and save myself. I refused, I couldn't leave her, she was only nine, how could she protect herself against that brute, she needed me. But she refused to be swayed, pleading with me over and over to leave, swearing that our father would never hurt her as he had never tried to before.

She wouldn't let me go until I nodded in defeat, then she lay me back down, letting my body try and heal my bones enough to move as she ran silently up the stairs, grabbing my schoolbag and dumping everything onto the bed before stuffing clothes in it. She also emptied her little piggy bank that she saved the pennies in that her mother gave her on occasion, coming downstairs and pressing them into my stained hand.

I hugged Celeste as tight as my slowly mending ribs would let me before turning around and running out of the front door, not looking back.

I lived on the streets for the following years, picking pockets and fighting to get by as I made my way across the country, away from my father. One day I picked the wrong pocket, one of someone who was quick to feel my hand and grab it, this is when I met the Collector, his name was Sebastian. He said he could see something in me and took me under his wing, teaching me his trade before introducing me to the council and having me added to his team.

Sebastian was impressed at my ability to read people and situations; I also had an impressive knack for replaceing people which was an asset in our job.

Seb was good to me, set me up with a small apartment to rent, treated me like a son. I was still young though, still hurting from my real father and was just waiting for this new dad to turn, I was always ready to run.

I started taking side jobs to earn extra money that I could keep hidden for when this good fortune eventually turned sour. One day I was approached by a Vampire, he wanted to procure my services. He told me that he had found his match, she was only sixteen, but he could feel the bond even if she couldn't. He told me that normally he would wait for her to reach eighteen and feel the bond herself, but she was currently under the protection of a violent werewolf who he doubted would let her go. Though he was confident he could handle this danger, he feared that she could get hurt in the crossfire or be scared by what he would have to do to save her and run from him.

He convinced me that he wanted to give this young girl a perfect life, save her from her situation, after much persuading, I finally agreed.

The vampire handed me a piece of paper with the address, and I headed over, spending the next twenty four hours scouting out the house but no-one came or left.

Just as I was about to head home the second day, the front door opened and a young teenager stepped out, she had a hoodie pulled down over her face, books clasped to her chest as she shut the door behind her as quietly as possible.

She hurried down the path and onto the street, making her way toward the town centre as I trailed along behind her, watching how she avoided everyone, keeping her eyes to the ground.

Seeing my chance, as she walked past an alleyway, I ran up behind her, grabbing her from behind, my hand closing over her mouth as she tried to scream.

The teenager thrashed in my arms, but she was no match for my strength and soon dropped her books, hanging from my grip in defeat, her hands in front of her face. She didn't beg me not to hurt her, make promises if I would just let her go, she just hung there silently waiting for me to speak.

I muttered that I wasn't going to hurt her, that I was sent to collect her by someone who wanted to help her and to please not run from me.

I placed her feet back onto the ground, watching her as she rubbed her hand up her other arm nervously, her face still tipped down to the floor. There was something about her that was familiar, her scent, it made my wolf purr but not in a replaceing my mate way. Reaching out my hand hesitantly, I slowly pulled the hood from her head, dropping it to her back as waves of blonde hair cascaded out and down her shoulders to her waist.

Hesitantly, she looked up at me, her scared grey eyes connecting with mine as I froze, as I realised that it was my sister, Celeste.