Strength to Find Her Way

Chapter 81

Chapter 81

Liam POV

We arrived in the conference room a few minutes later. My father sat at the head of the table with my mother on his left. I chose the seat to his right and Quinn was beside me. Also at the table were Ethan, Suze, Quinn's parents, a few of the warriors who had accompanied us, and our head trainer, Seth.

Seth has been around the royal family his whole life. He comes from a long line of royal head trainers. He is much more than just a warrior to us, we think of him as a part of the family.

I nodded in his direction as he took his seat. I hadn't seen him since before I left for Diamond Crescent. He's going to love training with Quinn in the future once we have this war settled. I doubt he's ever seen a female warrior as skilled as my mate is.

My wolf puffed up with pride upon hearing me talk about my mate. 'I cannot wait to be alone with mate again. It's been too long,' my wolf whimpered.

'Soon,' I replied as I eyed Quinn. She was also looking at Seth with a quizzical gaze.

I leaned over and said, "That's Seth. He's our head trainer. His family has been working as royal trainers for decades. I'll have to introduce you two soon."

She gave me a weak smile that I didn't understand but at that moment my father cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention. "I want to extend a warm welcome to our visitors," he began, gesturing towards Quinn's parents.

"Though I do wish it was under better circumstances. I appreciate you being here to assist us in the process of determining our next steps. As you were in the compound the longest, would you mind shedding some light on any details you might have?" he asked Quinn's mother.

I could see Darrell start to speak, probably to say she is too weak from the journey but Cora put her hand over his, "It's alright, Darrell. I want to help."

Darrell nodded before drawing her hand to his lips. Cora smiled at her mate for a moment before turning back to my father. "As you know, my name is Cora Larson. I am the mate of the head warrior of Diamond Crescent and the mother of your future queen" She smiled at Quinn as she said this before continuing, "Twelve years ago I was taken by a group of rogues as I was on my way to spend some time at the lake on pack grounds. There were so many of them. I tried to fight back but was injected by some drug that knocked me out. I didn't even have the chance to mind link my family before it was done. I was taken back to a small house and put in a large cell in the basement. It was just me down there for almost a year. I was given food and water but had very little interaction with anyone there for that period of time. There must have been something in the water or food they gave me as I was unable to reach my wolf. With no wolf, I couldn't contact my family and it would have been impossible to overpower the number of wolves in that house."

Quinn's father growled and placed Cora on his lap. I'm sure he doesn't enjoy hearing about how his mate suffered when he couldn't do anything to help her. I saw Quinn giggle a little beside me. I'm glad she is fond of the love her parents share.

Cora rolled her eyes but I could tell she enjoyed the comfort she gained from the proximity to her mate. "It wasn't until a few months after my capture that they brought another wolf to join me in that basement. She was the daughter of an alpha of a different pack. I honestly can't remember which one. There have been so many over the years."

She looked pained upon saying this. I'm sure she's come to care for those who were captured with her over the years.

"Steadily more and more kidnapped wolves started to arrive. We were quickly starting to outgrow our space and I think they knew it. I started to become like a mother figure to everyone in captivity with me. I would explain to the new wolves why they couldn't contact their wolf and helped them cope when struggling with the situation. We were all in it together so I tried to help them see we had each other's backs as best as possible."