Heart Broken, Bartered, But Loved

Chapter 7

Nicholas’ POV-

We had just crossed the Blue Moon pack boundaries, into my pack’s lands. When my quiet little mate gasped, we all turned to look at her. I had been worried about her the whole car journey. I was eager to ask her questions, because I had so many going through my head. I watched as she sat up straight, and straightened her clothing and hair. I smiled at her, and asked, “Your first time leaving your pack?”

She nodded, “Yes, I was forbidden to leave packlands, I am pretty sure that scumbag of a father of mine would have locked me up in the house if I attempted to leave, and he found out. That would just be the bare minimum he would do.”

Titan growled inside me, and a low growl came from me. I was angry at that man, not just for what that man did to my pack member, but for what he would do to his own daughter, and my mate. My growl made Nigel jump, and he swerved the car a little. I looked at him, and apologized, “Sorry Nigel, I forgot you were driving and are still getting used to us wolfing out sometimes.”

“It is okay, Nick. If I was in your position, I would have done the same, if I could, but I am not a wolf. Doll, your dad sounds like an asshole,” the human called, Nigel responded.

“You have no idea how much of an asshole he is. I never knew humans would be able to exist in packs,” Alexandra smiled.

“In my pack, humans can exist in packs. Nigel here, his sister, is mated to Daniel Biggs, one of my Betas. Nigel raised his sister, so I accepted both of them into the pack, on the condition that Nigel never speaks to anyone about werewolves, and tries to be a part of the pack. You are doing well so far, aren’t you,” I said.

“I honestly love it, especially the training. I never got into an exercise routine, and it started making me unappealing, but when I moved in with you a lot, that all changed,” Nigel replied.

“Well, it will be interesting to see more of the world, and to meet and get to know new people,” Alexandra said.

“So, I heard your brother call you Lexi. Do you prefer Lexi or Alexandra,” I asked?

“To be honest, only a few people ever called me Lexi. Mostly my brother and my friends. Everyone else called me Alexandra, because my father calls me Alexandra,” she replied.

“That sounds familiar,” Travis muttered.

“I only let my inner circle, so this bunch, their mates, my other beta and his mate, and finally my family, call me Nick. Everyone else has to call me Nicholas or Alpha Carter, depending on who you are. You can call me Nick or Nicholas, I don’t mind,” I smiled at Alexandra.

She smiled at me, “Well, Nick, you can call me Lexi, if you want.”

“How old are you, Lexi? You look really young,” I inquired.

“I am eighteen, nineteen very soon,” she whispered.

“I turned twenty-eight a couple of months ago. Are you comfortable with a nine-year age gap between us,” I pressed?

I was more than okay with it. I could see her spirit before she jumped into the battle. Anyone could see her strength, bravery, intelligence, care, and love. I watched her pause to think about the age gap, she turned to look back at me, and said, “I am comfortable with it. Are you?”

“Of course, I am. Is there anything else you would like to ask me,” I smiled.

“A million things, some of which would probably be best if we spoke in private about,” she replied.

“Why don’t you tell us why you hate your father so much? Or, why would something happen to them if they gave you to Nick,” Eddie asked, quite rudely, crossing his arms across his chest.

I growled lowly in warning at him, but Alexandra stopped me pulling my hand closer to her, so she could rub it with her other hand, so she could keep her fingers interlocked with mine. I instantly calmed down. She said, “He has every right to ask. He has to protect his Alpha and pack. It is a long story. But as for what would happen, it could link with what they had planned to do with me.”

I looked at her, and growled, “What did they plan to do with you?”

“I should probably start at the beginning,” she replied.

I nodded, and waited for her to proceed. Eddie was watching her too. She nodded, “So, it began when I was born. My father never wanted daughters, I think. So, when I was born, my dad would only look after me when necessary. After a few months, my mother discovered what my father and Raven had planned to do with me. They had crossed paths with a particularly nasty vampire, killing this vampire’s child. That vampire was the King. He had the power to wipe their pack from the planet, so they made a deal. Apparently, the vampire wanted a pure daughter of rank from the pack. He wanted one that was unique. No girls had been born yet. Raven’s mate died giving birth to a still born girl, before I was born, so I was the first girl born. The deal was that when I reached twenty, the mating age for vampires, I would be given to them, as a breeder. That would probably be what would happen if I wasn't given to Nick. The main reason I hate my father is that when my mother found out what he had planned to do with me, she tried to run away to the Lycan Council with me and my brother. She told him that there were people there that would protect us. They reached the border with me, and then my father stopped them. She tried to protect us both. But my father killed her, and took us back home. We didn’t find any of this out until we were given a letter when we turned eighteen. She made Eric promise not to open them until we turned eighteen. He had never treated me like I was his daughter, more of a burden to get rid of. Eric was seven, he pretty much raised me after my mother died.”

Tears had trickled down her cheeks. I couldn’t take it anymore. I undone my seat belt, and scooted closer to her, wrapping my arms around her, and kissed her on her head, as I whispered, “I am sorry, it is okay. You will be safe with us.”

“I am so sorry. I thought you were going to betray us, because of who your father is,” Eddie said, looking down in shame.

“It is fine. I don’t expect you to trust me straight away, all I ask is that we respect each other, and then we can build trust from that,” she replied to Eddie.

“You maybe young, but you are going to be an amazing Luna,” Travis smiled.

I was so happy with that praise from my beta, towards my mate. She took it in stride and smiled softly, “Thank you, Travis. I can’t wait to prove it to everyone.”

A phone was ringing, and Nigel passed his phone to Eddie. Eddie looked at it, and said, “It is my mate.”

“Put it on speaker,” I told him.

He nodded, and answered the call, “Hey gorgeous, you are on speaker. Nigel is driving.”

“Oh good, glad I am able to speak to you all. I hear from Daniel you have an extra guest with you,” her voice came through the speaker on the phone.

“Yes, we do. She is my fated mate. Her name is Alexandra,” I said, moving closer to the speaker.

“Well, Alexandra, it is a pleasure to meet you, or at least speak to you. Nick, I am so happy you found your mate. Since you left the other day, word got around, and a certain somebody has been hovering around the packhouse all day. She is sitting in the common room. She won’t listen to your mother or your sister. They are pissed with her, and she doesn’t believe you have found your mate. I think the whole pack knows,” she said.

Great, now I have to do with Ruby. Now, Alexandra knows too. I felt her hand slip from mine. She looked a little worried. I groaned, “We will be getting home soon. Tell her if she doesn’t leave, then Daniel will throw her in the cells for a day. I will not have her ruin the arrival of my mate to our packhouse. Can you let Daniel know that I will be taking a day off? I want to spend some time with my mate.”

“Oh god, have you talked about that stuff yet? Alexandra, I am sorry, and trust me he has been waiting to meet you even since he became Alpha. I will go tell Daniel now. Eddie, we have a scan for the baby when you get back. Nigel, your sister, wants to talk to you about something important when you get home. She wanted me to tell you that,” she said.

“I love you, gorgeous. See you soon,” Eddie said, to his mate, and cut the phone off.

I turned to face Lexi, and she was looking out the window, her arms wrapped around her stomach. She was taking deep breaths. I placed my hand on her knee, and said, “Lexi, please look at me. I want to explain, and everyone here will tell you this is the truth. Between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one, I was reckless, and didn’t care what I did. I slept around. I slept with a girl called Ruby, just once. She hovered around a lot after that. When my dad was killed, I took over as Alpha at the age of twenty-one. The day I took over was the day I made it very clear that I would be searching for my fated mate. I waited seven years; in that whole time, I had never been with another girl. Two days ago, I made the decision that I was thinking about choosing my mate, as I still had not found you. I only told my betas and family, but word still got out. But now, I have found you, and trust me when I say you are MINE.”

She was blushing a little. I am not sure whether it was because of what I said at the end, or the fact that I talked about sleeping around. She looked almost shy and timid. There was something going on between her and the Alpha mutt. So surely, she can’t be a virgin.

“Surely, you have had a relationship with someone,” I said.

“I... I... I am not comfortable talking about that quite yet,” she whispered.

I looked to Eddie for help, and asked in a mindlink to him, “What do I do? You saw how she and the Alpha mutt interacted. It was clear there was something between them. I have to know if she slept with him or not. I need to know how far she has gone with him. I don’t want to push her before she is ready.”

“One thing I have learned about women, is if they say they are not comfortable talking about something, it is usually because they have been hurt by someone. She called him a cheating swine, so maybe he cheated on her. The best thing to do is push gently, start small, and see how far she will let you get before she wants to stop. Just don’t be worried if you accidently push her too far. You are an Alpha. Judging by your mate, she is a strong woman, she will let you know what she is comfortable with,” Eddie replied, in the mindlink.

I felt a soft dainty hand reach up and stroke my cheek, before cupping my cheek, and turning my head to face her. She whispered, “I promise I will tell you one day. I will tell you this, the break-up was bad, and I never had time to heal from it, because a week later, my best friend and her whole family were supposedly killed by rogues. According to Raven, I didn’t believe it. I found proof he was lying, and that was when I started to dig up all this proof. I kept myself busy, trying to get evidence together in the hopes that I could save my best friend and her family. So, will you give me some time to figure things out? My wolf wants you, she wants me to tell you everything, but I just need a bit of time to deal with the past, so I can look to the future with you.”

I nodded, “Thank you for telling me. I don’t want anything to come between us, so I will give you some time. Just please don’t take long. I am not sure how long I can restrain my wolf.”

“If I am honest, I am not sure how long I can restrain mine for either. Nick, I have had a lot of bad in my life. Only a few good things. My brother is the biggest good thing. My best friend and her family were always there for me. Her mother was the one who explained all the things a she-wolf should know, as my mother could not. Then there is my other best friend,” she replied.

“You have another best friend. Why didn’t you talk to her about the whole break-up thing,” Nigel asked.

“Because he was acting just like my brother, turning to violence,” she responded.

“Was that the guy who grabbed you, and tried to drag you away from Raven,” I inquired.

She nodded, “Yes, and he is an i***t for doing it. Though I know why he did it.”

“He has feelings for you,” I said.

“So, I wasn’t deluded in thinking that. He knows he will never have a chance. I swore after the break-up I was not going to see anyone until I met my fated mate,” she shook her head.

“Well, I am taking the rest of the day off, so we can get some rest when we get to the packhouse and get some food too. I can help you unpack your things,” I offered.

She nodded, “I like the sound of that. But where will I be staying?”

“In the pack house with me, of course,” I replied.

Travis chuckled, “I think she meant which room.”

She nodded at what Travis said. I smiled, now this reaction I had to see, “In my room with me.”

She gulped, a blush creeping across her cheeks. Her heart rate picked up a little. I smirked, “My wolf won’t allow you to sleep in any other room. We can discuss it later in private, if you want.”

She nodded. I smiled, “So, how about you tell me more about yourself?”

“Well, what do you want to know,” she replied.

“Music, music is how you can win a girl,” Nigel blurted out.

I just shook my head. Everything revolved around music for him. She smiled, “Well, I like all sorts of music, I guess it just depends on the mood I am in.”

“I am pretty much the same,” I smiled.

We continued that conversation of getting to know each other. We were almost back at the packhouse. I learned that her favorite color was red, which is mine too. I learned that she paints. Her brother has been training her to fight. I also found out her wolf’s name. Zira. A beautiful name for a white wolf. Titan was overjoyed about that. Apparently, Zira was too. They were both eager to meet each other. So, I asked if she would go for a run with me one day in wolf form. She agreed, which made me hopeful that things could progress quickly between us. I am twenty-eight and an Alpha. I am sexually frustrated and in need of an heir. Now that I have met my mate, the mate bond is going to kick my emotions into overdrive.

Nigel turned the car down the final road, which led straight to the pack house. I pointed out some of the structures to Alexandra, so she would know what they were. I told her I would give her a proper tour tomorrow. She was in awe of my pack, which is what I hoped for. When she saw the pack house, her jaw dropped even further. She had never seen such a luxurious place. An absolute ton of my pack were waiting outside the pack house, with my mother, sister, beta females, and Beta Daniel, standing right at the front. They must have been absolutely eager to meet my mate. I had to hope that this wasn’t going to be too much for her. It was quite a welcoming committee. I gazed over at my mate, to see her, already trying to fix her clothing and hair. She must be worried about making a good first impression. She didn’t need to worry, she was a goddess, and is my mate, they would love her.