65

All I could do was sit there for a few minutes and think about what Zoe had just revealed. Ryan had a mate back home? He’d been so charming and flirty with me the night before. I felt dirty and nauseated just thinking about it. I still didn’t think he deserved whatever fate had taken him out in the woods, but he most certainly didn’t deserve any more of my sadness and pity.

Zoe was right—I needed to worry about my own survival. I wasn’t here to get a mate, either. Did that make me as bad as Ryan and the others? I supposed it did.

“What other rumors or drama have you heard? Spill it, sister.”

Zoe quickly looked away. “Uh…oh jeez. Let me get your next outfit first, then I’ll get into it.”

She grabbed the clothes I’d be wearing. Once she started working, juicy tidbits of info started tumbling out.

“So, neither Mika nor Leif wants to be here. Their packs forced them to come as some kind of severe punishment.”

“Punishments for what?” I asked, gaping at her. What could be that bad?

Zoe shru