A Royal Mate
Part 14

We all walked back to the living room after I woke Val up to be my support. I felt like such a horrible daughter. I had just screamed at them for no reason and all they had ever done was take me in, no questions asked and raised me as their own. My mom must have felt my regret because she reached for my hand and gave it a squeeze.

She sighed and said "It is true, Anna. We are not your real parents but that doesn't mean we don't love you as our own. When you were 2 your real parents along with their entire pack were killed by a very bad wolf. He was responsible for a huge revolt against the government and all the most powerful wolves of that time. Your parents were Royals, which explains your glowing, green eyes. After Alpha Pierson found you and the other children, they brought you all here. When your father, ugh Robert, saw you he knew he needed to protect you. He brought you home and I instantly fell in love. I had given up any hope of ever having children but then you were brought to us as if the moon goddess herself delivered you. You were so brave and smart. So we started training you as a warrior. Your eyes weren't green yet because you hadn't reached puberty but we knew we would have to make sure no one ever saw them. So the year we knew it would happen we went to the doctor and got colored contacts."

I remembered it like it was yesterday "Which is why you told me it was a genetic mutation and that we needed to keep my eyes covered so no one would tease me."

"Yes but we really did it to protect you. Although, there were several people who knew you and you had shown them your eyes to scare them. You were always playing tricks on people, especially your teachers." She chuckled as she told Val the story of my teacher getting so freaked out that she practically ran out of the school leaving us all in the classroom alone. The next day she was fired for abandoning us and she never forgave me. She told everyone in town I was possessed. "Anyway, there is a lot about your family we don't know. But we were told that one day more would return to find you. That the wolves hadn't completely killed off all them. We were going to tell you about this when you graduated but you met Ryder and we never got a chance. We are so sorry Anna. We never meant to hurt or lie to you. Everything we did was to protect you. And then when we heard you left Ryder because he had done something bad, we felt so guilty and we wanted to find you but no one knew where you were." She started crying uncontrollably as my dad pulled her to him and held her close. He brushed her hair and I felt a twinge of jealousy as I watched his love for her still as strong today as it was when they first met.

"I know you did it to protect me and I am so glad you did. You gave me a life that anyone would be jealous of. You loved me when you didn't have to." I took a deep breath and nervously fumbled with my hands before proceding. I had to tell them the truth about what happened with Ryder. About my wolf. About my life now but I didn't know how to start. I had tried to forget my life before now for years but I had to tell them. If I ever wanted to be free of this secret.

As if my mom could read my mind she gently grabbed my hands and held them tight asking "What happened with Ryder?"

I paused a moment looking at my dad then my mom and finally at Val, who was sitting wide eyed in the chair. With as much courage as I could muster, I took a deep breath and let all the built up emotions come flowing out. "The first few months with Ryder were amazing. He made me feel like a real Luna, despite the fact that I wouldn't officially become one for another two years. He always wanted my input on everything and he always defending me when someone stepped out of line. But then one day, he changed. It was like a switch went off. He started staying later and later at the pack house lounge. Even though we never slept in the same room he quit coming for our nightly visit to tell me goodnight. He even started bringing random women home with him without even worrying what it would do to me. Night after night I sat there and cried myself to sleep because of what he was doing to me. I was in so much pain. My heart was broken and he continued to do this every night for 9 more months. Always smirking at me as he passed my bedroom with some new girl on his arm. One night I was awoken by screaming and moaning and I just felt numb, nothing, like there was this deep hole in my chest that would never heal. The next morning, which happened to be my 17th birthday, I got up but I felt confused. I didn't know where I was and when I walked out of the bedroom I ran right into Ryder. He looked me straight in the eyes, reaching for my hands but I pulled away in disgust. He was so stunned at my reaction so he tried to kiss me but all I felt was bitterness. I was shocked that he would even try to kiss me after everything that he had done but it only took a few minutes to realize that he didn't have any affect on me anymore. Like we were two strangers passing in the night. I immediately ran downstairs and out the front door." I paused to wipe my tears away and catch my breath. My mom was still holding my hands urging me to go on but I didn't know how they would take what I was about to say next.

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