The spy watched Ryder with the royal couple and the soldiers, and he began sweating. They were getting too close to Zoe for comfort. What should he do? He smirked when he had an idea. If he found Zoe, he would be considered a hero. That would be the best way to stay under Ryder's radar. He quickly shifted into his wolf and began sniffing around. He had to get to the area where Zoe was buried before the soldiers did; otherwise, it would look suspicious. "Why are you doing this? You should follow your alpha; you shouldn't be conspiring against him." His wolf mindlinked him as they headed in the direction of where Zoe was buried. "Shut up, you fool. How else am I going to become alpha? I should be the alpha, not that imposter. He's not one of us. If that old idiot had done what he promised, everything would have gone as planned. Instead, he had to adopt Ryder and make him alpha. I plan to change this pack. We should be fighting against humans, not protecting them
"I'm just going to take a little blood from each of you. I should have the results later today." Julius, the lab tech from the palace, said as he got his supplies ready. He came while Zoe was showering. Ryder had him go to his office so the rest of the pack wouldn't know what was happening. Zoe noticed Nick and Darina kept staring at her almost nervously. She wondered what was wrong. As soon as Julius finished taking their blood and Chase took him to a room where he could process the results, Zoe turned to the king and queen."Are you okay?" She asked softly. Nick and Darina exchanged a look."Can we stay here and have a talk? Maybe have lunch brought to us because this may take a while." Nick answered. Ryder wondered what was going on, but he didn't ask. He mindlinked the kitchen staff and asked them to bring lunch to his office for the four of them."Okay, lunch will be brought up soon." Ryder led everyone over to the couches. He pulled Zoe next to him and put hi
"What do you mean, you know why we were kidnapped?" Ryder asked as Julius left the office. "Sit down. I'm going to tell you how you two were destined for each other for hundreds of years before your births." Nick said quietly. He never thought the story he had heard as a pup would involve his own daughter. Ryder and Zoe sat on the couch across from him with their arms wrapped around each other. Darina sat next to Nick, holding his hand. "Ryder, have you ever heard of the Lightning Guardians?" Nick asked."No, never," Ryder answered. Axel was quiet as he listened. He knew there was something unique about Ryder, but he never knew what. He was hoping the king would have the answers. "The Lightning Guardians are the ultimate guardians. As you know, your pack, The Dark Moon Guardians, was made when I made your father alpha to protect the humans in the area. There are multiple guardian packs all over the world to protect humans and shifters, but there is only one that
Zoe and Ryder walked around the pack lands with the pretense of getting fresh air. In reality, they were trying to identify the men who Zoe heard burying her. Chase and Sonia walked with them, while Nick and Darina stayed with Julius as he finished running the tests. So far, they hadn't had any luck locating the two men. It surprised everyone in the pack that Zoe was doing so well, but Ryder told them it must be because he had already marked her. They didn't even tell Chase and Sonia the truth. They trusted them but were still trying to wrap their heads around everything themselves. "Zoe, this is Oliver. Our dads had been best friends since they were pups." Ryder said as a short older man with sandy brown hair approached them. He looked like he was in his fifties, but Zoe knew he could be much older. She held her hand out with a smile."Hello, luna," Oliver said quietly."It's nice to meet you." She said. Oliver shook her hand, but the look in his eyes gave Zoe ch
Brian and Zayden sat in their cells in the dungeon. With the silver collars around their necks, they couldn't shift, mindlink, or use any other werewolf abilities. There were no guards inside. They were only outside, so the two men felt comfortable talking quietly without being overheard. "How much do you think they know?" Zayden asked. He hadn't wanted to get involved, but Brian had convinced him it was the only way to get rid of Ryder. He wanted to come clean about everything but knew Brian wouldn't agree."They know we buried her, but that's it. Ryder can't kill us for that. They found her alive, although I don't know who could have seen that tiny hole in the ground." Brian said. There were only three of them that knew where she was buried, and none of them would have told Ryder. "Do you think we should tell them about Connor when they come? Maybe it will throw some of the heat off us if we tell them it was all his idea and we did it under duress." Zayden asked h
Cleveland OhioConnor looked around the nice neighborhood and thought Penelope had done well for herself. If her adoptive parents lived here, they had to be loaded. It was late evening but still early enough that he wasn't concerned about waking anyone up. As he drove past each large house, he looked for the address he had gotten from the agency. When he found it, he stared at the house in disbelief. It was more a mansion than a house. Made from red brick and three stories tall, it was massive. He drove up the long driveway and parked next to a huge fountain. When he got out of the car, he walked up the wide stone steps to the front door. Ringing the doorbell, he could hear a woman speaking inside. The door opened, and a young woman in her twenties looked at him in confusion. Connor sighed in relief; this had to be Penelope."Hello, can I help you?" The woman asked. "Hello. I'm sorry to intrude, but I was looking for Penelope Mills." Connor answered."I think you
The following morning, the search for Oliver continued. They were keeping it under wraps from everyone except Nathan and the warriors he trusted. There was no trace of him anywhere. Ryder was beginning to think that Oliver had help from more than just Connor. Zoe started noticing some changes as they ate breakfast in the dining hall. Her vision was better, allowing her to see details on the wall on the other side of the room that she hadn't noticed before. She began picking up Ryder's scent. It smelled like pine trees and a fresh sea breeze; it was intoxicating. Her body responded every time she smelled it. "Are you okay?" Ryder asked quietly, noticing her face was flushed."Yeah. I think I'm starting to feel some more of my wolf. Like I can smell your scent now, and it's making me hot all over." She whispered so no one else would hear. Ryder chuckled."Now you know how I've felt since the first time we met." He said near her ear, kissing her cheek. Zoe felt her
Oliver watched and waited. He only had a little of the spray that hid his scent. He took it from Crystal after she used it on Zoe. He was also still under the witch's spell, where he could make himself disappear. Connor had told him about Cressida, so he had asked her to place a spell on him. Oliver knew it was risky to be under a witch's spell, but he didn't have a choice.He was in the trees trying to hear what was being said inside Ryder's office, but it was soundproof. Oliver decided to wait until Zoe was separated from Ryder, and then he would attack. He would only have one chance to take her. The witch had given him a potion that would make Zoe disappear and put her to sleep simultaneously. Once he took her away, she would never be seen again. Oliver looked down and saw Nathan walking nearby, so he used more spray to cover his scent. He wasn't stupid. He knew he would be thrown in the dungeons as soon as they got their hands on him.Nathan sniffed the air again. H