Elizabeth POV I look to the man in the bed and simply feel pain. The pain that I had thought I had met my father. Then I thought so terribly of the man because of his reactions. “Why?” I ask him. He looks at me as if just realizing I was in the room. “Why what?” he asks softly. “Why did you do all of this?” I ask. “It is not your time to know. Suffice it to say you were never meant to return home,” he says as if dismissing me. “What do you mean?” I ask confused. “Exactly what I said. You were never supposed to return. You were supposed to be dead by now,” he replies as I gasp at the hatred coming from him. “Why?” I ask. “Do you think this was all coincidence, Elizabeth? We all knew what you were. We needed you to be removed from the Kingdom. You had the potential at being the strongest ruler this Kingdom has ever experienced,” he spits out. “I now realize you are too weak to be that ruler,” he adds. “He made you weak,” he spits out l

Alpha Carter POV The morning came way to quickly, but we had too much to do today to take our time getting up and moving. The primary goal was to find the real King and pray to the Moon Goddess he would survive whatever he had been through. Elizabeth came out of her walk-in closet dressed for the day. She sighed as she moved towards the sitting area and just sat down for a moment. I walked over sitting in front of her on the foot stool. I take her hands in mine, “What’s wrong?” I ask. She looks up at me with her beautiful pale blue eyes. “I was so intent on hating the man I thought was my father. Now I will have to learn to not feel that resentment towards him. I do not know how to do that,” she admits to me. I put her hands to my lips momentarily pausing before I replied. “I think when you met the imposter you knew he was not the real deal. That is why you have been so guarded with him,” I say to her. “I also know you have a hu

Miranda POV My mother continues to unravel the first barrier as I simply stare at the mess in front of us. It was the signature of a powerful witch. A witch with psychopathic tendencies. She was strong. Her spells were as complicated as they could be. They wove into them little booby traps that would destroy anyone in its path. One wrong move and we would all be dead. “What?” Elizabeth asks. “This is not good,” I mutter as I move across from where we were standing to try and get a better look at what I was facing. “What?” Carter asks. I can sense their frustration building but I cannot take my eyes away from the masterpiece in front of me. If she was not so evil, she could have been an amazing asset to the Witches Council. “The spells. They are spells of an ancient witch. She is older than the warlock,” I share with them as I remain focused on the task ahead. There it is. I see the starting point straight ahead of me. I turn to look at

Elizabeth POV I lay there feeling my broken bones slowly start to mend. Ashley has been hit with a power we did not recognize. I lay there on the ground watching everything unfold around me. I see Carter rip the head off the witch’s neck. I see the green toxins flow in the place of blood. I see him crumble before me. I cannot make out what is happening. I see Miranda and the others trying to help Carter, but I see him pass out. I feel the moment I start losing my connection with him. I roll over trying to drag myself to him but can only go so far when I realize I am too broken to move. My fingers are digging into the earth, but I can no longer move forward. I try to cry out, but my breath is shallow. Something is restricting my lungs. “You need to calm down,” I hear a tired Ashley convey to me within our mind-link. “Carter,” I say to her, but she cuts me off. “Everyone is helping him. We need to help ourselves,” she reminds me as I rea

Elizabeth POV Pondering the message from the Moon Goddess, I look up in surprise to see Eric entering my room on his own. “You are looking good, brother,” I say to him as I sit up in the bed. I cringe a little at the discomfort but manage to rise on my own. “What happened to you?” he asks as he sits down in the chair by my bed. “A punctured lung but I am on the mend,” I say to him. “How is the King and Queen?” I ask still not one hundred percent comfortable calling them mom and dad. “I do not know. Nobody is talking to me,” he says sounding frustrated. “What do you mean?” I ask concerned. I had no idea on my father, but was happening with my mother? “They do not know if father will make it,” he replies getting choked up. “And mother passed out when they got here. Nobody has said what is happening with her either,” he shares with me. I sit back and look straight ahead. Had I come this close to only lose them? I had not met my father yet.