As time went by, Ryder could not forget the words he'd exchanged with the young Witch. It had been just fifteen short months ago, and not a single piece of information to confirm nor deny the Witch Prince's previous claims.

The more Ryder thought about it, the less he understood what the words were truly trying to tell them.

The scroll had been left to him alone to decide where they would move forward from there. There had been no contact between the two species since the talk they'd had in his father's chambers.

"I swear this is the truth, father. He looked mad; I don't deny that but something about his eyes; he was telling the truth."

"Don't be naive, my boy. A witch's truth is no more than a mere mad man's lie."

Alpha Ryker often spoke in riddles where the truth lay just beneath the surface of the words. He often said what he needed to without saying much at all.

Ryder was yet to understand his father's wisdom hidden among the thorns but he was prepared to challenge this particular one.

"But there is always truth inside of madness. You taught me that."

"Not from a witch."

"Stop stressing over the words of a liar," Alpha Ryker commanded his son as he walked over to the bookshelf.

His son was seated on the wooden desk, ancient texts surrounding him.

"He would not have come in secret if it weren't urgent," Ryder murmured back, looking back at the ancient scroll.

"The witches lie, they always have. Their truth is what suits them - do not go mad for a mad man."

With an uncomfortable shrug, Ryder shook his head.

"This prophecy isn't made up. For the past fifteen months, we have sent others in search to find it."

"And nobody has ever returned with a shred of proof of such things," Alpha Ryker responded, once more, sure that this was a trick of some sorts.

"It is time for bed, my child. Lay these lies to rest and move on."

Before Ryder could protest, someone had entered the room.

"Alpha."

Both of them turned around and the man began bowing his head.

"The prodigal Delta returns," Ryder cheekily commented, for he knew nothing of where the man had been for all these years.

The Delta, who was originally third in command beneath the Alpha, smiled at the boy that had been only in his mother's womb at the time.

Most Deltas didn't get the same ranking in the pack but this one was special: Alpha Ryker's best mate.

"Eighteen years I have been gone. You have grown into a fine young man," the stranger replied, feeling a sense of detachment.

"I am surprised," the Alpha choked out, not being able to believe his eyes.

One of his closest and oldest friends had made it home.

After all this time.

"And I too, am surprised. But more so that it seems you never replaced me."

Alpha Ryker had two other Deltas in this time, yet he never chose a new Delta leader. For the position alone was always meant for Landon.

"I could never do that to you. Even if you never returned, I would've never picked another Delta to replace the hole you left in our pack," Ryker responded with a warm, teary smile.

"Leave us, Ryder. I must speak to my old friend alone."

Ryder stood up, bowed to his father and left without a word.

He understood that his father had unfinished business with the man in front of him. A man he had no memories of but enough photos that made his father's heart twinge whenever he saw them.

"Landon, welcome home," Ryker said softly, with arms wide open.

Landon smiled back and came to hug his old friend for the first time in many years.

There was a brief moment before they pulled back, and Ryker looked around but did not find what he thought he would.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" He asked, with a hint of doubt.

Landon shook his head, "Unfortunately, no. I never did. But I have been away for far too long and there are much graver things to be considered now."

"Such as?"

"That prophecy that has landed itself in your son's hands. It is the talk across the nation. It is no lie - it is a clear warning, but not from the witches themselves. It is a warning to them and us alike. We must rally the troops for a war unlike any other."

"We must find Levi then. If what you say is true, we must also find the half breed that connects us all."

"Do you know what you're searching for?"

Ryker shook his head, "If this is a war, you're certain will come to pass, we must hope the pack will be in safe hands with Ryder and his mate if anything were to happen to me."

From the moment Ryder was born, Ryker had asked Levi, his Beta, if he would bless the union between their children. For Ryker knew the Moon Goddess was likely to pair the two together.

Dahlia was a strong warrior and loyal to the pack. She would make a great Luna and Ryker hoped that the Moon Goddess could see that as well.

Together, Landon and Ryker took off to find the Beta and the troops to prepare for a war that may be coming after all.

Fear curled itself around the both of their bones, knowing now was the time to act.

Alpha Ryker stood in his office, side by side with Levi, the Beta, and Landon.

"Alpha," the War General stated with his head bowed as he walked in.

"You wished to see me."

"Take a seat, Zeta. We must take this prophecy seriously."

His best fighter stood before him, even fear couldn't be masked in his own grey eyes.

"You dismissed it as nothing but lies delivered by the witch's heir," he commented promptly, and rather disrespectfully.

"Aragon, you must understand that in my twenty years of travel, the prophecy became only big news merely a year ago. It is not a lie, but an evident warning," Landon murmured, unwrapping the scroll once more and showing it to him.

"I have come home to spread this caution. Nothing is more important than protecting family."

"Not even that mate you've been searching for?"

Aragon was mercilessly teasing him, having never liked the Alpha's long-standing friend, and in his opinion, a pretty terrible messenger.

He would never question the Alpha but he hated that Landon was given a rank of power, just below the Beta which meant he even outranked Aragon himself.

A twinge of jealousy always erupted in the pit of his stomach every time he remembered his rank was lower than a man who still acted like a pup.

With a frown, Landon casted his head down in shame.

"I know I left twenty years ago to find my soul mate and I promised I wouldn't come home without her but some things are much graver than being alone forevermore."

With those words alone, Aragon understood.

Twenty years may just have been long enough for the fifty-year old-man to grow up.

Mates were highly important to their species.

Your soul mate was your other half; the areas you lacked in were their strengths. They made you whole and without them, a wolf can die of loneliness.

Landon was picking the pack over his sanity - it was clear the prophecy was true, if he were to give up his forever to warn them and to fight alongside them.

By choosing pack over sanity, it is evident enough that he had grown in those estranged years.

"There will be plenty of time for me to search for the one I seek, but until then, we will search for the one we need if we hope to survive the war."

"And we must take precautions if I do not return - Ryder will have to step up once he finds his mate and become the new Alpha."

Alpha Ryker interjected quickly with a nod.

Each man was standing up, surrounding the circular table, and each facing their leader for the next command.

However, for the duration of their secret meeting, Ryder had been eavesdropping in the shadows.

He knew their old Delta's sudden appearance wasn't a mere coincidence and this had proved it in more ways than one.

He had come home to help fight and Ryder knew he wasn't going to sit back and do nothing either, the way his father hoped he would.

Long ago he had made a promise to their pack and to himself that he would stand and fight for them no matter what.

He was seventeen, just shy of eighteen; the moment he would meet his mate. He was sure that the moment he did too, that things would change drastically.

The young man would have to step up and learn to lead the pack to the best of his abilities.

If his father believed he wasn't going to return, then Ryder would have to be ready to make sure that doesn't happen.

There was no way in hell he was going to let his father perish in this looming war.

In a week, it will be known whether his father's choice of mate - Dahlia - was in fact their new Luna. If it is to be done, he would do it without a single second of hesitation.

Responsibilities came before love, if need be.

"I will stop at nothing to protect you, Father."

A whispered promise delivered in the dead of night.