Heart Broken, Bartered, But Loved

Prologue

Alexandra’s POV-

My name is Alexandra Blake. My close friends and family call me Lexi. I am eighteen years old now. I live in the Blue Moon pack with what is left of my family. I am a she-wolf. My wolf came when I turned thirteen, something that is highly unusual for she-wolves. Her name is Zira. She is almost as big as an alpha wolf and had beautiful white fur. That really glistens in the moonlight. White wolves were exceptionally rare, the only other white wolf I know of is the Queen. That is how rare they are. Rumor had it they came from one bloodline, which made me wonder if I was related to the Queen in some way. Even my brother wondered about that. Werewolves usually don’t get our wolves until we are sixteen. Males are the same. The youngest ever known to shift into his wolf was the Alpha of Blood Moon. He shifted for the first time when he was twelve. From what I know of him, he is twenty-eight now. There was a rumor about him, that if anything were to happen to the King and Queen, then he was going to be the heir to their throne.

There are a total of twelve packs across America. Blue Moon pack was the second largest and covered a total of eight of the states in the south-east of America. The packhouse and my home were in Florida. Our pack members total in the thousands. Blood Moon pack is the largest pack, covering the states of North America and Canada. They had tens of thousands of pack members, all of them warriors, fierce warriors. They most dealt with the charges and punishments of other packs, as well as hunting down and stopping the vampires that plague our world, and harm our people. The Lycan Council pack was a small pack in California. It consisted of members of the Lycan Council, their families, guards of all types, from security and prison guards, their families, and finally, some of the best pack doctors in the world. They were ruled over by a King and Queen, who, with the members of the council, ruled over all the packs. There is a school there that teaches the pack doctors from all packs, they also teach the nurses that work alongside them. The Alphas train there. The nine other packs were far smaller, most only covering a single state. You have the Eclipse pack, Shadow pack, Lotus pack, Red Howlers pack, Moon Howlers pack, Moon Warriors pack, and Snow paw pack. They are entirely werewolf packs. There is Evergreen Pride too, which is a pack that consists of were-lions and werewolves. Finally, there is the Crescent Mountains pack, which is a pack that consists of were-bears and werewolves. They live in the mountains of their state.

I am the daughter of Beta Keith Blake, the very man who hates me. My mother died when I was a baby, but I know the truth about her death, something my father has spent years trying to hide and conceal from me. Thanks to letters she had written and given to my brother, Eric. He was seven when she died. She made him promise to take the letters and only open them on the day that we turn eighteen, and to never tell our father that he had them. The day Eric turned eighteen, he opened his, and after reading it, he became overly protective of me, he would never let me go anywhere alone. It only got worse when I started dating Alpha Theodore Raven’s son, James Raven, when I turned sixteen. He was a year older than me. Even my father got protective of me after that, started becoming very strict on my whereabouts and my curfew. I thought it was my father’s way of showing his love for me. Eric would tell me that it wasn’t his way. The day I turned eighteen, Eric gave me the letter, and I just found out how much my father hated me, how much he hated my mother, and what he was planning to do with me. I didn’t believe it, until things changed last year.

Women are not allowed to fight in our pack, so we are not trained too. So, it was something we did in secret to begin with, from the time I turned thirteen, but my father found out, not long after I turned seventeen, and he wanted to throw me in the deep end. I challenged him, told him I wanted to prove that I had the right to be a warrior, that I could fight as well as men. He threw me into the ring. I ended up having to face several warriors. One after the other, and I held my own, but I came out a bit beaten and bruised. I could tell that it made him mad, but he left me alone after that, and let me train. I was the only female warrior. James was proud to have the first female warrior in our pack, as his girlfriend. Looking back at it now, I became more of a trophy girlfriend.

For all of my life, I only ever had Eric, my brother who raised me, my two best friends, Tristan Arnold and Kayley Price. I have only ever had them, until I started dating James, and then Kayley disappeared entirely with her whole family. James was the only one not scared off by my brother. He was my first love, the one I hoped and prayed to be my fated mate. We are all able to find our fated mates after we turn eighteen, but if we don’t find them, we can choose a mate for ourselves. James turned eighteen, a year before me. He never said I was his mate, but he didn’t mean to say anything either. Then I turned eighteen, and nothing. He wasn’t my fated mate. But I still had feelings for him, that wasn’t going to change any time soon. He was great to me. I honestly thought he was perfect, so I figured I would wait a year, and if I didn’t find my fated mate, I would choose him as my mate. I will never forget the day he broke my heart...

I was at home with Eric. It was five months after my eighteenth birthday. We were relaxing after he trained me to fight that afternoon. We were just watching a movie, when my phone buzzed on the coffee table. I picked it up, and opened my phone. It was a text from James, asking me to come to the packhouse, as he wanted to see me. I was so love struck by him that I jumped up in excitement to see him. Eric didn’t much like the idea of me going, but didn’t stop me. I changed and headed over to the packhouse, and to his room, which is where he texted me to meet him.

When I reached his door, I could hear sounds coming from inside, sounds that broke my heart. I wanted to turn around and run from the room, but I had to know that it was him. That he was doing exactly what I think he was doing. My hand began to shake, as I reached up and turned the door knob. I could smell what was going on in there, before I could see it. Werewolf senses can be overpowering sometimes. My eyes widened at what I saw. A random girl on top of James, she was riding him. They were having s*x. He was cheating on me. I turned and ran away from him at that point. I couldn’t look at him anymore. My heart shattered; he betrayed me. He knew as well as I did why I waiting to give myself to him.

I ran home after that, straight to Eric. I was crying, and ran straight to my bedroom, pushing past Eric. I curled up on my bed, crying my eyes out. He, of course, being the worried big brother that he was, followed me up to my room. He went into my room, and closed the door behind him. He sat on my bed and pulled me into his arms. He just held me until I calmed down enough for him to ask, “You need to tell me what happened?”

“It is over. He slept with someone else.” I sniffled.

“I will kill him for hurting you,” he growled.

“No, don’t. There is no point. I will just break up with him, and focus on my training, until I find my mate.” I said.

“Well, I hope your mate is from outside this pack,” Eric responded.

“I do too, but I hope your mate is too.” I whispered.

“I am the future Beta, I can’t leave.” he whispered.

“You could, we both could,” I replied.

We talked for a little while longer, and then my best friends showed up. Kayley and Tristan were raging about what James had done to me. The next morning, they were all there with me when James tried to come in and speak with me.

“Hey everyone, ... what is going on here?” James said, as Kayley, Tristan, and Eric blocked his way to me.

“You should know, you man whore.” Kayley spat. She was pissed.

“I am not a man whore.” James replied.

“So, that wasn’t you screwing that girl in your bedroom last night.” Tristan glared at him.

“I wasn’t in my room last night.” he lied.

“That is funny, because I saw you in your bed last night, screwing a girl,” I said.

“You saw,” he gasped, his eyes widening.

“Yes, you texted me asking me to come over because you wanted to show me something. I found you screwing another girl.” I growled.

“Well, what do you expect? You are eighteen now, yet you still won’t let me get between your legs.” he shrugged.

“We are over. You cheated on me and lied to me. I am glad I didn’t give myself to you. I will be happy when I find my fated mate. At least he won’t treat me like you have done.” I growled.

“I think it is best you leave, and stay away from my sister. You ruined your chance at having her as yours, now leave.” Eric said, as calmly as he could.

“I really do love you, Lexi. That is true, and won’t change anytime soon.” James said, turning to leave.

“Wait, I have one more thing to say,” Kayley said.

James stopped and turned back around to look at Kayley. She smiled at him, before slapping him across his face, leaving a nice red mark. He left quite quickly after that. I am pretty certain that he had tears in his eyes as he left. I never spoke with James after that, he broke my heart and trust in men. My first love and the first to break my heart. From that day, I focused on my friends, my brother, and my training. Of course, on finding my mate too.

A week later, though, the worst happened. Kayley and her entire family disappeared. Alpha Raven said that it was a rogue attack that saw them killed, and their house burned to the ground. Raven told us that the morgue was off limits, and it would be a closed casket funeral. Something felt off. Kayley was a natural fighter. She trained with my brother and I in secret. Her mother came from a warrior pack, where all women are warriors too. Her brother and father were some of this pack’s best warriors. It made me suspicious. Tristan and Eric were suspicious too, I could tell. After Alpha’s announcement, Eric and I snuck into the morgue at the pack hospital. There were no bodies for Kayley and her family. Tristan was on the lookout for us, to make sure we didn’t get caught. We headed to Kayley’s home after that.

We arrived at the charred ruins of Kayley’s home. Even the strawberry plants outside were burnt. All the good times, Kayley and I picked strawberries from those plants, destroyed by fire. This wasn’t something a rogue would have done. They would just steal things, you know, food, clothing, toiletries, sometimes electronics and vehicles. It just depended on what they needed. The most damage they would have caused was damage to a single window or door. But as we entered the house, we noticed that almost all their possessions were in the place that they left them.

“This doesn’t make sense. If the rogues killed them, there would be more damage to the property and things that are right here would be gone.” Eric voiced his opinion.

“I think Raven was lying. I don’t think they are dead, or if they are, then he and our father are more than likely responsible for this.” I replied, gesturing to the c*****e in that house.

I only said the Alpha’s last name, because he really does not deserve that title, especially considering the disappearances and that now something has happened to my best friend and her entire family. We looked around the house, when I noticed something. Beneath what was once the dining table there was a ton of burnt duffle bags. I walked towards the table. My foot went through the floor boards. Eric grabbed me, as Tristan said, “Be careful, Lexi.”

I pulled my foot out and moved closer to the table, dragging the bags out. Eric and Tristan knew exactly what I was doing. They opened a bag each. I opened one, too. Eric said, “They are full of clothes.”

“They were trying to leave,” Tristan gasped.

“Why would they? If Alpha Raven found out, he would be pissed. You know as well as I, that we are not allowed to leave pack territory, without his consent.” Eric replied.

“Yet there have been disappearances for the past few years. Not close together or frequently enough for our people to be too suspicious. People leave and never return, or they disappear.” Tristan said.

“Yeah, well, I don’t believe those people that left just left. I think they disappeared like the rest of them. I have a list of names, ages, and dates of when they disappeared back home.” Eric whispered.

I pulled a teddy from the bag. I was looking in. It hadn’t been touched by the fire. I will have to take this with me. I even found Kayley’s memory box. I planned to take them and keep them safe. Hopefully, we will be able to find Kayley and her family, and I can return them to her. Eric pulled the medals from Kayley’s brother’s bag.

“This is Kayley’s favorite teddy. It never ever left her bed, except for when they went away, or she went on sleepovers. They were leaving.” I interjected.

“Are you sure?” Eric asked.

“Positive.” I nodded.

“Which could mean that our father and Alpha Raven had something to do with their disappearances,” Eric said.

“He could have had something to do with all the disappearances in the pack. You read those letters mum wrote.” I replied.

Eric nodded, “You are not wrong. I think it is time we started seeing what we can get our hands on.”

I went through the final bag and found a couple of photo albums and a small trinket jewelry box.

“You have a reason to be in the packhouse, Eric, being the future Beta, neither of us do.” Tristan said.

“I can get you a job in the kitchen or as a cleaner, Lexi,” Eric suggested.

“Then, I would be able to cook food for them, and freely move about the house, particularly at meal time, or more freely as a cleaner. Do it.” I said.

They looked at me. I shrugged, “We need to do something. You know, I can’t stay here much longer. If we can get enough evidence, I can take it to the Lycan council pack. They can help us.”

“I agree.” Eric nodded.

“Me, too.” Tristan added.

“We should take these things with us. If we find out where they are, and manage to save some of them, it could make them feel more at home with some of these things.” I suggested.

“Always so caring, Lexi.” Eric smiled.

“No, I am angry, but full of hope,” I replied.

With all my heart, I believe Kayley and her family are still alive, right now. I just had to hope we were quick enough to rescue them from wherever they are. I hope we can find them. Kayley is like a sister to me, and losing her would break me. I can’t lose the only girl I could rely on for women-related things. Her mother, too, Eric, brought me to her, when I started going through puberty and had my first heat. She helped me a lot through that. Kayley’s parents and her brother were like family to me. I hated that this happened to them, but I would do everything I could to try and save her and them.

“Someone is watching us.” Zira said, to me in my mind.

“We should go home. I…” I said to the guys.

“I sense it too,” Eric whispered.

We walked home together after that, wondering what had started to watch us. I just had to hope that who or whatever it was, didn’t hear what we had said.

Since that day, we have worked hard, in secret, to figure out just what my father and Alpha Raven were doing. We had many questions. When we found the answers, we hated it. We made such to photocopy and take pictures with our phones of anything we found, so we could run with it. All the information we gathered was hidden in a bag inside the vent in the wall that was under my bed. We weren’t expecting what we found, but it made sense. It also puts us all in greater danger...