"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

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

Ryder looked at the man and woman in front of him, unable to speak. They said they were his parents, but he was sure he had never seen them. Yet, he felt like he knew them."What do you mean, you're my parents?" Ryder asked cautiously. Zoe squeezed his hand as the couple made their way over to them."We're your birth parents. I'm your mother, Azra, and this is your father, Thane." Azra answered. She wanted to run to her son and take him in her arms, but she wasn't sure how he'd react."I thought Connor killed you. King Nickolas said he killed everyone." Ryder said, trying to hold back his tears so they wouldn't see how hurt he was. If they were alive, why didn't they look for him? Why did they let him get tortured repeatedly? He saw Azra look down with pain in her eyes."He did kill us, or at least we can't return to the world as you know it. This place we're in now is a special realm that the moon goddess made. We wanted to go to you each time we saw you getting hur

The next morning, Zoe and Ryder woke feeling refreshed. They had a lot to prepare for, and there was no time to waste. Ryder decided it was time to tell the rest of the pack about his and Zoe's true identities. They would also disclose the punishments for Oliver, Brian, Zayden, Crystal, and Connor. He mindlinked the pack and said they would have a mandatory pack meeting in the large clearing behind the pack house at noon."What are their punishments?" Zoe asked, knowing this was something Ryder wasn't looking forward to. They were getting dressed so they could go down and eat breakfast with Nick, Darina, Chase, and Sonia. "Crystal, Zayden, and Brian will remain in the dungeons for three years. When released, I will send them to another pack where they can live as servants. Oliver and Connor will be sentenced to death by starvation. You know I don't like to see anyone suffer, but when it comes to those two, no second chance will be given." Ryder said as he kissed her fore

Jessi ran full force toward Cressida. Ryder and Zoe leaped in the air and landed between the pup and the witch. Ryder grabbed Jessi and held her as they felt Cressida's spell hit them. With Ryder able to deflect spells, it didn't affect them, but he could feel a slight burning sensation."Why did you do that, alpha? I was going to kill that ugly witch." Jessi said, glaring at Cressida. "How did you get out of the basement?" Zoe asked, trying to get her heart rate back to normal. She had been terrified Cressida's spell would get to Jessi before they could."I snuck out when some other pups came in. I'm your guard. How can I keep you safe if I'm in the basement?" Jessi asked, looking between Ryder and Zoe with big, innocent eyes. "Sweetheart, we need to keep you safe. That witch is powerful, and only Ryder and I can stop her. We need to get you back to the pack house." Zoe replied, kissing Jessi's forehead. The pup looked down at the ground with tears welling in he