When Oliver was about to pull her panties off, Lyra growled. She knew it was time to show him who he was dealing with. While he went to check out the window, Zoe ran into the bathroom. With her new speed, it took less than a second. "This is going to hurt, but it will be over quickly," Lyra said as they began to shift. She was afraid it was too soon, but Oliver's kidnapping of Zoe sped the process up. All her wolf abilities came out in force. Zoe felt her bones shifting as she grew. Her skin turned into fur, and she had claws in place of her fingers. Looking in the mirror, she saw an enormous white wolf on two legs looking back at her. Lyra went into the other room. Oliver was staring at the bed as they snuck up behind him. Zoe laughed inside Lyra's head when his eyes got as big as saucers. He tried to run to the door, but she stopped him. "What are you going to do to him?" Zoe asked Lyra. She would love to kill him for the terror he put them through, but she w
Connor stood outside the pack lands waiting for Oliver. He had texted him and told him to meet him an hour ago, but there was no response. Where was he? He needed to know what was going on inside the pack. If Zoe was the princess, she might already be awakening her lycan. They couldn't allow her to fully transition, or it would be a lot harder for him to stop Ryder. Not impossible, just harder. He was getting anxious while he waited. Why hadn't he received anything from Oliver? Connor decided to try Crystal. He had promised her that she would be his mate if they took down Ryder, and she would have special abilities from mating with a Lightning Guardian, but in truth, all he was doing was using her. He forced Crystal to have sex with him whenever he wanted with the promise he would mark her once Ryder was dealt with. He would dispose of her like he'd done with all the others before her. When he didn't get a response from Crystal, he began getting worrie
Ryder and Zoe had just gotten out of the bathtub when Nick mindlinked her. He said one of his lycans saw Connor sneaking onto the pack lands. He had a spell on him that made him invisible to werewolves but not to lycans. Nick figured whatever witch gave him the spell didn't tell him it didn't work on all shifters. Ryder told Zoe to act casual when her dad said they saw him going upstairs. When Connor came in with the woman who brought their food, Zoe could see him, but Ryder couldn't. They decided to talk in mindlink to not let him hear them."He's standing on the side of the room watching us. He looks pretty smug," Zoe smiled at Ryder as he leaned over to kiss her. "After we eat, we'll go to bed. I've got a plan. Tell your dad to have his lycans ready to come in when we tell them." Ryder said. It was time for them to have the upper hand. When they were done eating, he put the tray in the hallway and saw the lycans, Nick, Darina, Chase, Sonia, and Nathan, standing
Zoe looked at Cressida and smiled. She could tell most of the injuries were superficial, so she quickly cleaned them. None of them needed any bandages. "I don't trust her. There's something off about her scent. Be careful." Lyra told Zoe, still trying to get a feel for the young woman."Do you know who attacked you?" Zoe asked as she cleaned a few scratches on her arm. "No. I was taking an early morning walk when I was attacked. So tell me about this place." Cressida didn't want to waste time with her fake story. She needed to move fast before anyone was able to tell she wasn't a human."There's not much to tell. We just prefer to live in a remote location away from the city." Zoe answered cautiously. Cressida smiled widely at her."It's nice out here. So was that your brother you were with? He's really hot. Do you think I have a chance with him?" Cressida could feel the anger in Zoe, and it took everything in her not to laugh."He's not my brother. He's my
Ryder woke up when he heard Zoe crying. He was concerned that she was hurt, but when he looked into her eyes, she looked heartbroken."What's wrong?" He asked, sitting up and pulling her onto his lap. Zoe cried even harder as she clung to him. Ryder had never done anything to make her think he would ever leave her. They were already fully mated, but that didn't stop the pain in her heart from the dream she had. It had felt so real. When she could finally speak, she looked up into his eyes. He had so much concern and love for her she felt ridiculous for thinking he would betray her."I had a bad dream," She said, leaning against him, burying her face in his neck. His scent made her heart feel a little better."What type of dream?" Ryder asked softly, running his hand up and down her arm. "I dreamt that you and Marisa were having sex. When you were done, your marked and mated her. It felt so real I expected to wake up alone." Zoe replied, sliding her hands over his w
"What do you mean she was your first mate?" Zoe asked carefully. Nick looked around and realized there were too many ears."Let's go somewhere we can talk privately," He said. Ryder led Zoe, Nick, Darina, Chase, and Sonia to his office. Once they had all sat down, Nick took a deep breath."Dad, I thought Mom was your fated mate? How were you mated to that witch?" Zoe questioned. She saw the look of pain on her mother's face, making her heart ache."Your mom is my fated mate. I was mated to Cressida about thirty years before I met your mom. I was a king with no mate, searching desperately for my fated mate. I didn't realize she was a human that hadn't been born yet." Nick wrapped his arm around Darina. He knew this hurt her every time it was brought up, but he needed to explain how he mated with the witch."When I was searching for my mate, I ran into this beautiful young woman. I instantly felt the mate bond; even my wolf felt it. We knew we had finally found our ma
Nick met with Julius and tasked him with finding a hybrid witch to help them with Cressida. His heart still hurt thinking about how she had betrayed him all those years ago. He was in love with her, and when he found out it was all a lie, it took time for him to trust another woman until he met his real fated mate, Darina. She was the angel that brought him back to life. Nick smiled as he walked toward Ryder's office. Without Darina, he would have continued down that lonely black hole of despair. When he opened the door, he saw his mate sitting with Zoe, talking quietly on one of the couches. He walked over to where Ryder was seated at his desk."Everything okay?" Nick asked Ryder looking toward the two women."Yeah, they're talking about Cressida. They both have their concerns about what she did to you and how she got in Zoe's head. I think Darina would prefer not to have her anywhere near you." Ryder answered truthfully. He glanced up at Nick, who was frowning."I w
Ryder jumped up when the room went black, ready to fight, but Ariel was doing a little show and tell. She made an image appear in front of them. It looked like a black forest with a small hut."Sorry about the sudden darkness, but it's best for what I want to show you. This is Cressida's forest. She has a spell on the entire area, so she knows when anyone enters. There are several caves; in one, she keeps men who she refers to as her soldiers. Do you know anything about what Cressida does?" Ariel looked around at the others."No. We know she likes to mess with people's lives, but that's all." Darina answered bitterly."I've hired spies to go into her forest and report back to me. Some of them didn't make it out, but the ones who did all told me the same thing. Cressida prefers young virgin women over men. She puts a spell on them, making them sexually compliant with her. After having sex with the women multiple times, she'll have one of her soldiers come in and have se