Heart Broken, Bartered, But Loved

Chapter 5

Nicholas’ POV-

I was so very surprised when I saw my mate shift into a white wolf, and charge into battle, to save her brother. I couldn’t believe my mate was a white wolf. Besides the Queen of the Lycan Council and others in her ancestry, I do not know any other white wolf bloodlines. So, could it be that she is related to the Queen in some way? I could see some similarities. When Raven agreed to the truce so we could have a meeting, I was glad that my little mate’s suggestion was working. I couldn’t help but watch her strength as she carried her brother off. I mean I didn’t like his naked body touching her wolf, but he has been wounded and was healing. Nudity is a common thing in our world. I could tell her wolf was keeping her eyes either low to the ground or on the faces of men who had shifted into their human forms.

Before I followed Raven, I opened a mindlink to my Betas, “Daniel, can you reach out to your mate’s brother, get him to hire a car to come and collect us from Blue Moon, I will get the address for you to give to him. Travis and Eddie, you are with me.”

“Why do you need a car to collect you,” Daniel asked in the mindlink.

“The white wolf, she is my fated mate. She is also the daughter of that Beta. The only way we can be together is if she either runs away with the information we need on Blue Moon, or I make a deal I will leave Blue Moon alone in exchange for me having her, in her words, “as a breeder.” We spoke in the trees about it,” I replied in the mindlink.

“Can we trust her,” Eddie inquired in our mindlink.

“I believe so, I think she was abused by him, she thinks she is in danger, she also is ashamed that he is her father. I can see the hatred in her eyes when she speaks about him, and I can see the fear though she tried to hide it. I can’t let her stay there, my wolf won’t allow it,” I said, in our mindlink.

“We will stand by you. How old is she? She didn’t look very old,” Travis asked.

“We didn’t really have much time to talk and get to know each other. I have her name, and who her father is. The one she was watching before she charged out there to save that man, that is her brother. I also know she had information and proof she was going to run away and take it to the Lycan Council, but this war prevented her from running away,” I replied.

Our mindlink was interrupted by none other than Alpha Raven. He approached me, and said, “Are you and your two Betas ready to follow us back to our packhouse for the meeting you requested?”

“We are ready, Alpha Raven,” I responded, clutching the Moon flower in hand.

I knew he wouldn’t dare to attack either myself nor my Betas if I still held the flower. Our wolves won’t allow the human part of us to attack. I nodded at my Betas, and we followed Alpha Raven back to his packhouse. I could still scent my mate in the air, and honestly, it calmed me from ripping this Alpha's throat out, and her father’s throat too, for whatever he had done to her. I wanted to know what she had been through and at the same time I wanted to try to protect her from ever having to endure a heartache again. Titan growled inside my head, “I do too, I want to know what he has done to her, to make her hate him. If they refuse to let you have her, threaten to destroy them all. We can not let her stay with them.”

“She will come home with us, you have my word on that,” I replied to Titan, inside my head.

It wasn’t long before we arrived back at the packhouse. This entire pack was in shambles. The packhouse was extravagant, but the other houses we saw on the up here, were either in a state of disrepair or were just barely worthy enough to call a home. How could these pack members accept how he is treating them? All my pack members live in comfort. None of them have houses that look like this. It was a disgrace for an Alpha to allow this to happen.

When we entered the packhouse, I mindlinked Travis and Eddie, to warn them, “Keep alert, and bear in mind that the girl you are about to see said she is going to act completely differently to how she would normally act. So, I guess it is to make her father and Raven think she doesn’t want to leave with us.”

“We will bare that in mind,” Travis responded, in the mindlink.

But Eddie didn’t. He is a little more protective against strangers because his mate is pregnant, so he is overcautious at the minute, which is why I am letting this slide just this once. I am sure that will change once he gets to know Alexandra. She has such a pretty name, I wonder if she likes roses, because it is her middle name.

Raven led us into a sitting room. There were two black leather couches facing each other near a fireplace. The fire was set by Beta Blake, as I walked in with Eddie and Travis on my tail. I sat on the couch, which Raven had gestured too. Eddie and Travis stood behind me like guards. Raven sat down opposite me, trying to stare me down, which would never happen. Another young man walked in, he was the spitting image of his father, so this had to be Raven junior, the next Alpha of Blue Moon. About five minutes later, another man walked in, with my mate trailing behind him. I kept my eyes fixed on Raven, I knew he would try to figure me out, and if he saw the way I wanted to look at Alexandra, I might very well ruin things.

There was an awkward silence, until Raven started talking, “Well, shall we begin with introductions?”

I gave him a single nod. Raven pointed to the first young man to walk in and said, “This is my son. James Raven, future Alpha of Blue Moon.”

“The resemblance is uncanny, pleasure to meet you,” I replied.

“And, you, Alpha Carter,” James said.

“Well, this is my Beta. Beta Blake, and his son and daughter, Eric and Alexandra,” Raven gestured towards the Beta, and then to the man that stood close to Alexandra.

“Pleasure to meet you all. Will your Luna and Beta female be joining us,” I inquired, I mostly wanted to gage the reaction.

“Our mates are dead,” Beta Blake snapped.

Raven growled at his Beta. James looked sad. But Eric and Alexandra’s reaction was interesting, they both glared at their father with a hatred that spoke volumes. They looked like they wanted to beat the crap out of their father, maybe even kill him for something, I guess in regard to their mother. I would have to ask Alexandra about that later one.

“Well, these are my Betas. Eddie and Travis,” I said, gesturing first to Eddie, then to Travis.

Raven just nodded, acknowledging them. Before Beta Blake whispered, “Alexandra shouldn’t be here.”

He may have been talking to himself or to Raven, but everyone heard it. I c****d an eyebrow, as I asked, “Why is that?”

“She is a woman, she should be at home, cooking dinner. Away from fighting and politics,” Blake responded.

Alexandra’s fists clenched, and she went to take a step towards her father, but Eric stopped her, even though he looked pissed, so did James. She growled, “And, if I hadn’t been on that damn battlefield, you would have lost your own heir to your precious title. Your own son.”

“I do have to admit your pack does need to come into the twenty-first century. Women are more capable than you realize,” I said.

“Well, let’s leave that subject for another time, and get down to business,” Raven interjected.

“You are right, we should,” I paused, waiting for them to try to offer something.

“I can offer money,” Raven suggested.

“I don’t want money. My wealth is already vast. I want your Beta to be punished,” I replied.

“I won’t punish my Beta, for a simple he said case. My Beta says your pack member crossed pack boundaries,” Raven responded.

“Well, Beta Blake, when you attacked my pack member, did you leave him to crawl his way back to my pack territory,” I asked him, my eyes narrowing.

Blake gulped, “I left him where I beat him to the ground.”

“That would have meant he would have had to crawl back to our pack territory, and there would have been a trail of blood. There was none, no trail of blood, which means you are lying, and you crossed pack boundaries, on to my land,” I glared at him.

“Even if that is so, and he lied, I will not allow you to punish him,” Raven interjected.

“Fine, then you must punish him, in front of me,” I said.

“I already said I would not punish him, and I don’t like repeating myself,” Raven growled.

“Very well, I don’t like your pack crossing into my land uninvited, I don’t like that your Beta attacked my pack member, that he lied about it. So, if you won’t punish him, and you won’t allow me to punish him, the only way I see for me to leave you and your pack in peace, is if I take something from him,” I said, as I stared Raven down.

I forced out my aura, everyone was feeling it, and none of them liked it, they hated it. The only one who didn’t seem affected was Alexandra. Raven stared at me, as he said, “And, what would you take from him?”

“His daughter. I need a breeder,” I smirked.

“You bastard. She is worthy of more than that,” Eric growled, but he never lunged, so it was clear he was faking the rage.

“Eric is right, you are not having her. She is staying here with me, she is mine. She will not leave,” James interjected.

I bit back my growl, but Alexandra didn’t hold back, she growled, “Don’t you act like you care now. You are nothing more than a cheating scumbag. I hate you. I will NEVER be yours.”

“Don’t talk to my son like that,” Raven said.

“Well, maybe if the scumbag could keep it in his pants, then maybe he wouldn’t need to be spoken to like that,” Alexandra whispered.

“Lexi,” Eric warned, keeping his voice low.

So, she likes being called Lexi for short. That is good to know. She dated James. God, how far has she gone with him? Another thing I would have to ask her. I noticed that Raven and Blake were mindlinking to each other. I guess they were discussing my proposition privately.

“Well, what is your answer, Raven,” I said, showing my impatience.

“You can’t seriously be considering this,” Eric said.

“After some thought, you can have the b***h as your breeder. But once she is packed up to leave, you and your pack must leave and not step foot on my land again,” Raven responded to my offer.

“Dad, you can’t be serious,” James growled.

“Shut your mouth, boy. There are plenty more bitches out there, better ones too,” Raven said to James.

“Raven, you can’t do this. You know what will happen...,” Blake whispered to Raven.

Raven stood up and struck his Beta, growling, “Shut your mouth, unless you want to be stripped of your title.”

Now, what secret would warrant that kind of threat? I was interested to know what would happen. I knew they wouldn’t tell me. I did wonder if Alexandra knew what would happen or why her father wanted her to stay, when it was blatantly obvious that there was no love loss between them. They disliked each other a lot. I think he blames her for something. She and Eric clearly know something about their father that makes them hate him.

“I am not going. I will not be bartered for peace, because my dad is an asshole and is probably the only Beta in the world that doesn’t know where the pack boundaries are,” Alexandra said, crossing her arms across her chest.

It made it harder for me to not get distracted by her breasts. Raven growled at her, “I am your Alpha, and this is how it will be. Alexandra, you will go home, and pack all of your things. You will leave with Alpha Carter today. You will do your duty and spread your damn legs for him, it will keep your pack and family safe.”

“I am not leaving my family,” she retorted.

A fearless one, isn’t she? Raven forced out his Alpha aura. We all felt it. But it didn’t affect Alexandra. I suspect it was because she was a white wolf. Eric was able to fight it off for some time, but he gave in and bowed his head. He wasn’t as strong as her.

“You will do as you are told. Eric, take your sister home, and help her pack. We will be there in thirty minutes. She had best be packed,” Raven roared.

“Yes, Alpha,” Eric whispered, he gripped his sister’s arm, and began to pull her from the room.

“No, she is not leaving,” James snarled.

“Shut your mouth, boy. Beta Blake restrain him,” Raven growled.

Blake did exactly as instructed.

“I won’t leave, I hate you all,” Alexandra could be heard shouting, as she was pulled from the door.

Once Eric and Alexandra were gone, Raven asked, “Will you need a car to get back to your pack with the girl’s things?”

“I have already had my Beta, call for a car to come and get us, thank you. I do hope that is okay,” I replied.

“Of course. How did you know I would agree,” he inquired.

“Well, you really had no choice, your Beta was in the wrong, my attack is legal, it will only stop if my requests or demands are met,” I said.

“Well, I do hope she won’t be difficult for you to breed with, she is a handful,” Raven said.

That just pissed James off all the more, and he stormed from the room, throwing Blake off of him in the process. It made me smirk. I do hope he doesn’t run off and try anything with my mate. I looked back at Raven, and said, “He does have a lot to learn about how this game is played, doesn’t he?”

“Yes, he does. He loves that girl, and he is an i***t for it,” Raven sighed.

“Well, that girl is now mine to breed with. She is beauty, so we will certainly produce some good-looking off-spring,” I smirked.

Beta Blake scoffed, “Just don’t try to send her back when you're done with her. If you don’t want her, you can kill her.”

“Why would you say that about your own daughter, not very fatherly,” I retorted.

“I would have disowned her long ago, if she didn’t serve a purpose,” he muttered.

I shook my head, “If you could give your address to my Beta, so they can get it to the driver, that would be appreciated. Then, will you take me to see my prize?”

They nodded, Blake gave his address to my Betas, and they got it to the driver. While Raven poured me a glass of whiskey, we fell silent. After we had a drink, Raven and Blake showed Eddie, Travis, and I to Blake’s home, where Alexandra was with her brother Eric trying to pack her stuff. I do hope that she was ready. When we arrived, the car was just pulling up with Daniel’s brother-in-law in the driver’s seat. Eddie checked on him. We waited around outside after that. I was eager to get my mate out of here. I had a lot to ask her, and a lot to figure out about her. I had to know how far she went with that Alpha brat, because I was going to rip his throat out right now. I hated myself for having to call her a breeder. I will make sure to apologize for calling her that. I know she told me because James was right, she is worth more than just being a breeder. She is worthy of being the Luna of the largest pack in our world. She is smart, strong and beautiful. She is perfect in every way so far. You can see that she is a true fated Luna, just in the way she holds herself. I just have to make sure that I don't make it obvious that she is my mate.