Sold To The Alpha
The Cursed Luna Chapter 48

Charity stared at Darius open mouthed, 'who is it?' she asked trying to mask her fear.

Darius took a deep breath before raising his eyes to the Luna's, 'I think it's Alpha Marcus, and by the sound of it, he is not in good shape' he murmured, anger and agitation evident. Charity's breath caught in her throat at his words, 'My grand father?' she repeated in a strangled voice, 'where is he?'

Darius shook his head defeated, 'I don't know Luna but I managed to reply to him that I was here before the mind link cut out again, whatever is happening to him its bad' he finished.

Charity tried to hold in her emotions as she stared around at their surroundings, 'we need to get back to the pack house' she said vehemently, 'we need to tell Aaron and Merrick what we found out and make a plan'.

Darius nodded solemnly before taking Charity's arm and leading her back toward the open grounds, crossing over to the pack house quickly. Just as they reached the steps leading up to the door Jonas' voice boomed out behind them, 'Luna! what are you doing out here?'

Turning toward the voice, the pair saw Jonas, Aaron and Merrick striding toward them from round the side of the building. Hitching a smile onto her face, Charity beamed toward them, 'Alpha! there you are! I was feeling much better so we came out to look for you all, join the tour but we couldn't replace you so were returning to the room, I didn't want my husband to return and replace me missing, he gets very worried when he can't replace me' she added with a small laugh.

Jonas laughed loudly slapping Aaron on the back, 'That is very true Luna, us Alpha's are very protective when it comes to our loves' he said though Charity was sure she saw a slight flicker of anger flash across his eyes when he spoke. Walking over to Aaron, she slipped her arm through his, holding him close to her, 'Well I don't know about you boys, but I wouldn't min getting some lunch' she said, smiling at each of them.

Jonas grinned back, 'I will walk with you to the dining hall Luna, but then I must leave you i'm afraid'

Feigning disappointment Charity said 'Oh, will you not be able to join us Alpha?'

Jonas waved his hand 'My apologies Luna, pack work calls me unfortunately, but I shall make sure to see you all later on' he added with a smirk.

As they reached the dining hall door, Jonas nodded his head toward Aaron before taking Charity's hand in his, bringing it too his lips, his eyes never leaving hers, 'Until this evening Luna' he growled before dropping her hand back to her side and turning to leave, striding up the stairs toward his office.

Aaron's grip tightened on his wife as he watched the other Alpha ascend the stairs whilst Merrick gave a low angry growl. Charity squeezed Aaron's arm comfortingly before leading the way into the hall, where they all got a plate of food and sat down away from the other pack members.

In low voices Charity and Darius filled the two men in on what they had learned and the fact that Marcus was somewhere on Jonas' territory apparently being held against his will.

Merrick looked furious, despite now being the Beta of Silver Cross, he was still fiercely loyal to Marcus and Red Moon, 'We need to replace him and fast' he growled angrily, glaring at Darius who nodded his agreement.

Aaron played with his food as he thought, finally he replied, 'I think that Merrick and I should keep Jonas busy, Darius, you take Charity and see if you can reach Marcus, replace out where he is'

As Charity started to argue, Aaron caught her eye sadly, 'Baby, I really don't like it either, but i'd rather you were as far away from Jonas as possible, I think you will be safer out there searching the grounds than any where near that letchy bastard'. Charity nodded defeated, recognizing that Aaron was right, Jonas was entirely too interested in her and seemed unbothered about the fact she was already mated to another Alpha.

The four finished their meal and rose from the table, tidying away their plates. Exiting the dining room, Aaron and Merrick headed up the stair toward Jonas' office whilst Charity and Darius hurried out of the front door, making a bee line for the woods where the mind link had been stronger.

Entering the woods, the pair slowly retraced their steps back to where Darius had received the link, when they arrived, Darius came to an abrupt stop, his eyes clouding as he opened his mind link, calling out silently to the Red Moon captive. After a few minutes his eyes cleared and he looked down at Charity shaking his head mutely. Linking her arm in his, the pair made their way deeper into the woods, stopping periodically so that Darius could call out and listen for some sort of reply.

Over an hour passed without success, Charity was starting to worry about how much longer her husband could keep the other Alpha busy when Darius' eyes suddenly clouded again, his grip tightening on Charity's arm as he silently called out.

His eyes clearing, he started to walk forward again as he muttered, 'It's definitely Alpha Marcus, he is very weak, he said he is underground somewhere, there are guards, they have been injecting him with wolfsbane every time he wakes up, knocking him out again, that's why the connection keeps cutting' he rambled worriedly, 'he has been waking up but feigning unconsciousness for extra time to keep calling out for help'

Charity's face was a mixture of terror and determination, 'When you get through again, you tell him we are coming for him' she growled

As they kept walking the sound of low voices reached their ears, slowing down they crept forward, following the sounds and distinct smell of werewolves carefully keeping themselves down wind, before peering round a large tree. Two men were stood with their backs to the visitors, chatting idly as they stood guard over a latched wooden trap door that was nestled into the dirt. From their demeanour it was obvious that both found this an easy job and didn't expect company.

Waiting silently, Charity and Darius watched the two men until one muttered something to the other before setting off into the woods.

'Hurry up' called out the guard to his comrades fading torso before giving a cursory glance around and returning to picking at his nails.

Darius silently stepped out from behind the tree, creeping up on the man and grabbing him, twisting his neck before he had time to acknowledge what was happening. Heaving the body over his shoulder, he carried him back to the tree's dropping him within a nearby bush making sure he was hidden from view before returning to stand beside Charity.

The second guard returned moments later, stopping when he realized his friend was missing, 'Archer?' he called out loudly, looking around the clearing, his eyes trying to pierce through the trees, 'man if you needed a piss you could have waited for me to come back, the Alpha will freak if he knows we left our post unattended' before adding in a mutter, 'not that it matters, nobody ever comes out here anyway'

Turning back to the trap door, he started to rummage in his pocket before pulling out a packet of cigarettes and a lighter, as he opened the packet and removed one of the cigarettes, placing it between his lips, Darius stepped out from behind the trees and stealthily made his way up behind the guard, grabbing him swiftly and ending his life before hoisting him onto his shoulder and dropping him in an adjacent bush to his partner.

Checking for any further guards, Darius took Charity's hand and led the way to the trap door, using his free hand, he dragged back the three bolts before grabbing the inset metal handle and heaved the door open, a loud creaking noise coming from the hinges as it lifted from its grave of dirt.

As the light that filtered through the trees illuminated the hole, the duo's eyes were drawn to rudimentary steps that had been carved into the stone embedded into the earth. Leading the way, Darius slowly made his way down, fumbling in his pocket before pulling out the keys to his 4x4 that had a small torch dangling from the key chain. Looking at Charity he smiled wryly as he pressed the small button, causing a small beam of light to cut through the growing darkness around them 'My mate insisted I carry it, she said it might come in handy, please do not tell her she was right, i'll never hear the end of it.

Reaching the bottom step, the pair inched their way through the darkness, Charity gripping onto Darius' hand painfully as she tried to penetrate the darkness with her gaze. A soft glow ahead caught their attention, edging closer they stepped out into the light of a oil lamp that swung gently from the ceiling, in front of them were the strong iron bars of a prison door, bolted and padlocked. Stepping forward, Charity stared through the bars at a single chair bolted to the floor, a lone figure chained into it, filthy with matted hair, his body covered in burns, cuts and scars, his wrists raw where he seemed to have fought against the solid silver manacles that encased them.

Charity gasped as the mans head fell to the side, throwing his face into sharp relief, the swollen and bruised eyes struggled to open, before they settled onto Charity's face, surprise then horror flitting across his features. 'Charity' he croaked 'You need to get out of here! go!'