Sold To The Alpha
A Love spoken Chapter 16

Sitting in her room alone, Gabriella stared out of the window across the grounds, her heart hurting as she played back her last meeting with the silent Rogue. He hadn't even tried to stop her from rejecting him, even as he fell to the ground he hadn't made a sound

and then in the split second that her brother's voice had distracted her, he was gone.

'At least I'll no longer feel the mate pull' she muttered to herself, trying to convince herself that she was happy about what had happened. But each time she shut her eyes, she could see the pain in the Rogue's face, as if she was breaking him but he hadn't even tried to touch her let alone claim her as his own.

Growling in anger, her confusion swirling in her mind, she got up from the window seat, where she had been huddled and threw herself onto her bed, pummelling the mattress with her fists as she screamed into her pillow, trying to release her pent up feelings. A knock on the door halted her tantrum, 'go away' she shouted angrily.

'It's us' came Olivia's voice through the door, sighing heavily, Gabriella dragged herself off of the bed and stomped over to her bedroom door, unlocking it and pulling it ajar before making her way back to the bed and slumping down on it again. Walking in, Sierra closed the door gently behind them as she and Olivia made their way over to the bed and sat down next to the teenager who stared at her hands that were curled in her lap.

'Gabby, talk to us' Olivia said softly, taking the princess' hand and holding it comfortingly.

'There is nothing to talk about' Gabriella replied flatly, 'it's over'

Sierra shook her head vehemently, 'I don't believe that Gabby, he came back' she argued.

'And I rejected him' Gabby muttered, her voice monotone.

Both the she wolves sat staring at her in shock, 'you.. rejected him?' Sierra finally managed to say.

Gabriella nodded, her face stoic of emotion, 'He wouldn't accept me, wouldn't tell me why he didn't want me, he didn't do anything' she mumbled, 'not even when I rejected him, he fell to his knees from the breaking of the bond but he didn't try to get me to change my mind, he didn't even accept it' she continued as tears started to fall. Bringing up her eyes to meet Olivia's, her face crumpled, 'why didn't he want me Liv? Why didn't he even fight for me? I can't even have a second chance at a mate as he didn't accept to release me from our bond.'

Olivia gathered the teenager into her arms, brushing her hair with her hand as she comforted the sobbing young girl. 'I don't know Gabby, I wish I did, I wish I had answers for you, but I don't' she replied sadly.

Gabriella choked on her tears as she added, 'There is one positive in that I will no longer feel the pull toward him, so I can possibly find someone to care for me and I for them, but it won't ever be close to the strength of the bond!' she sobbed, her heart breaking for the loss of her other half.

Sierra put her arms around both girls and hugged them tightly, 'Gabriella, we all know that the Moon Goddess has a very weird path that she wants us all to walk, you have to hold out hope that this is all just a part of her plan. I refuse to believe that you are not destined to find your happy ending' she murmured into the young girl's back as the three of them sat entwined.

Sitting up slightly, Gabriella wiped the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand, 'I really hope so Sie, but right now, the Moon Goddess feels like she's playing a vicious game with my heart' she replied.

Seeing that the teenager was starting to calm down, Olivia murmured, 'will you tell your mum and Nate about this? I know Nate is worried about you, he keeps asking why you are not being your usual annoying self, I think he almost misses being woken up by one of your pranks. Gabriella giggled at her words, relieving the two she wolves slightly,

'No, I think I'll keep this to myself for the moment, I'm not ready to deal with the backlash of coming face to face with a Rogue, putting myself in danger, blah blah blah' she replied with a grimace.

Sierra and Olivia chuckled, knowing the princess was right, 'well I don't know about you two but I feel that this requires the biggest tub of ice cream that we can find in the freezer' Sierra declared, jumping up and pulling on the arms of her two friends insistently. Gabriella groaned as Olivia dragged herself to her feet and turned back to the teenager.

'Come on Gab, you know that she won't give up until we do as she wants' the eldest she wolf said with an eye roll, bringing herself a sharp elbow to her side in payment for her words.

Standing up from the edge of the bed, Gabriella tried to pout as the girls pulled her unceremoniously from the room and toward the stairs, but deep down she felt slightly better for having spoken to them. As they made their way down the stairs to the ground floor, she couldn't quite shake the eerie feeling within her, like she was missing something important though.

******

Vaughn and Rowan had been trudging through the bleak countryside for hours, the Ghost seemed completely at ease with walking in silence, but the young Prince finally had to break the suffocating silence.

'So they call you the Ghost?' he started, watching the werewolf out of the corner of his eye.

'Correct' Rowan replied, not sparing the Vampire a glance.

'How do you end up getting a nickname like that?' Vaughn prodded

Rowan shrugged, 'No idea, maybe they are all scared of me so I get the scary name' he answered evasively.

Vaughn swallowed down a growl of annoyance, 'look we are stuck together so you might as well talk to me, do you really want to spend the next however many weeks that we could be here searching for a needle in a haystack, walking in complete silence?' he demanded.

'No issue with that over here kid' Rowan replied easily.

The prince snorted, 'that's rich' he muttered, 'only looks a few years older and calling me a kid.'

Rowan finally looked over at the youngster, raising an eyebrow, 'looks can be deceiving Vampire, you would do well to remember that' he said in a low dark tone.

'what is that supposed to mean' Vaughn grumbled, an abrasive chip forming on his shoulder from the other man's condescending tone.

'It doesn't matter, just forget it' Rowan replied, looking away again.

They stomped along for a few more minutes before the prince tried again, 'so where is your mate?' he asked, immediately noticing that his companions shoulders stiffened slightly at his words.

'Not here' the warrior replied defensively.

'she died?' Vaughn gasped, his eyes wide as sympathy leaked into his heart.

'No, she's alive, she just doesn't want me' the Ghost replied bitterly.

'She rejected you?' Vaughn continued awed.

Rounding on the young Vampire, Rowan grabbed his arm angrily, 'look, you are a whole lot too nosey for my liking, you need to understand that we are not friends, not companions, not even associates. I usually work alone but for this mission I have had you foisted on to me, the last thing I wanted was a spoilt brat of a prince who has never seen a bad moment in his silver spoon serving, servant a*s wiping, gets whatever his little heart wishes for, life. Stop asking me questions about my mate, my life and who I am, trust me you are better off not knowing. Lets get this s**t done so you can go back to living your best life with your super important parents' he growled vehemently.

Releasing the hybrid, he spun back to the front and continued to march ahead, leaving the gaping Vampire prince behind him. 'Well Soooorry' Vaughn mumbled to himself as he hurried to catch up, falling into step beside the furious werewolf who seethed to himself, his fists clenched by his sides.

After another hour, Vaughn finally spoke again, 'maybe we can stop for a drink?' he offered, 'think about a strategy to find this person we are searching for?'

Sighing heavily, Rowan nodded, veering slightly to the right and heading for a clump of stones that were laying in the hard earth, dropping heavily down onto one and beginning to rummage in his back for a bottle of water, Vaughn doing the same. 'Did the High Priestess give you any way to track this person?' Vaughn asked, as he took a sip of his own bottle of water.

Rowan shook his head, 'no, I hope to be able to scent their pack when we get near' he replied.

Vaughn nodded, deep in thought, 'she gave me a tracker' he replied idly.

Rowan sat up straight and stared at him, 'what do you mean a tracker?!' he demanded.

'She said that when we got close to our mark that I would feel a pull in the right direction, the closer I get, the stronger the pull will be' Vaughn said with a shrug.

'Great, and when were you thinking of sharing that you are a walking target beacon?' Rowan growled angrily.

The Vampire's eyes flashed, 'well as you have cut down any chance of me having a conversation with you, I didn't really get the chance' he flared back.

Rowan growled challengingly, before muttering, 'I could have done without the bloody babysitting job.

Vaughn growled back loudly, 'trust me mate, I don't need a babysitter, I can handle myself just fine so don't you worry about me, you carry on being your selfish arrogant self and we'll get through this as quickly as possible.'

'Fine by me' Rowan replied, screwing the cap back on his bottle and throwing it back into his bag before zipping it up. Standing up he threw his bag over his shoulder and stood impatiently tapping his foot as Vaughn got his things together and joined him. As they set off again, Vaughn muttered under her breath, 'oh and just so you know, it's not as great being the son of the King of the Vampires as you would think!'