The drive was long, tense, and silent. Even Stella remained quiet. My hands were so sweaty I had to keep rubbing them on my jeans. I tried to focus on the view out the window, but I barely saw any of it. The last time I'd seen the Leos, I'd been running from them in terror. Now I was on my way to meet them head-on, and though I was still terrified, I wasn't the same girl I'd been then. I was stronger, and I wasn't alone. I had a pack that would protect me.
When we arrived, I saw Kaden standing with Harper and Dane. They all turned toward the vans as we parked in an empty field alongside the airstrip. Night had fallen, and there was very little here other than a small building with a tower and the runway, which had definitely seen better days, and beyond that, a dark forest.
We got out of the van, and Kaden walked over to us. "Are you ready?" He was asking both me and Stella, but his eyes were only on me.
"As ready as we can be," I said.
He nodded. "The Leos should be arriving in the next half hour. We have scouts patrolling the forest in case they try to approach that way instead. All we can do now is wait."
Stella took my hand. "Just remember, whatever happens, you're one of us now."
I gave her a warm smile, blinking back sudden tears. "Thank you."
The other shifters got into position around us, and we waited in silence as the waning moon rose behind clouds. Would there be enough moonlight for me to use my power? I hoped I wouldn't have to find out the hard way.
A gray wolf emerged from the forest and trotted over to Kaden, tongue lolling out the side of its mouth. It shifted back into a very naked Jack, who had zero shame as he let it all hang out. He was hot, no doubt about it, but he didn't make my heart race like Kaden did.
“There's no trace of the Leos or any other packs being here in the last day or two," he told Kaden.
"Good," our alpha said. He checked his phone with a frown. "They should have been here by now."
"They must be running late," Stella said.
"Maybe." Kaden didn’t sound convinced. The other shifters all looked grim too like they were expecting the worst.
We decided to keep waiting. Jack shifted back into wolf form to go snoop around some more, and some of the other warriors grew restless after more time passed. Kaden looked up into the night sky every few minutes, though none of us could hear the roar of a jet.
After about thirty minutes, Stella tugged on my arm and jerked her head back to the van. She grabbed a bag of chips and some water from inside it, and then we sat in the grass.
“Do you think they aren’t coming?” I asked.
Stella's mouth twisted with disgust. “I think that the Leos have no honor, and we shouldn’t have tried to bother with this. They’re probably scheming something right now.”
Hours passed, and there was still no sign of the Leos. At one point, Stella and I dozed in the grass, but Kaden walked over to us, his jaw clenched.
“They’re not coming,” he said, and I could hear the frustration in his voice.
"Have you heard anything from them?" Stella asked.
"No, not a peep."
Damn. All of that anticipation and stress for them to not even show up. Assholes.
We bundled back into the cars and prepared to leave. The drive back was tense. I could feel the anger rolling off Kaden, almost choking me with its intensity.
“We’ll find another way to get to the Leos,” I eventually said, when Kaden met my eyes in the rearview mirror briefly. He didn’t say anything. I didn’t know if he believed me or not, and I didn’t try to say anything else to convince him.
By the time we got back, it was already dawn. Some of the other shifters went home to get some sleep, while Stella and I followed Kaden into the house. Kaden disappeared into his room without another word, while Stella made a pot of coffee with a yawn. I stared at the sun, wondering if I should try to get more sleep, or accept that it was a lost cause.
"At least we got a nap in," Stella muttered, rubbing weariness from her eyes.
"I'm going to go take a shower," I said. "Maybe it will wake me up."
"Good idea. I'll get one after you."
I headed upstairs and popped into the shower. The warm water instantly helped perk me up, and I felt a lot better after washing my hair. Showers did such a good job of washing away all the shit from the previous day and giving a fresh start. That was exactly what I needed today.
I dropped the soap when an ear-piercing sound blared through the house. I covered my ears, glancing around, and then realized the sound was coming from the town. An alarm, blasting throughout the pack lands—warning us we were in danger.
It was so loud it made every hair on my body stand on end. I went into full panic mode, stopping just to grab a towel on the way out into the hall. I almost ran smack into Kaden, who was coming out of his room.
The second he saw me, he grabbed my arm. "Come on, we have to get out of here."
"What's happening?" I asked, as he practically carried me down the stairs.
“My wards along the pack lands are being broken. It should be impossible, but there’s no way I’m wrong about it. I can feel them being torn apart.”
“Is it the Leos?” I asked, as my panic rose to new heights.
"It must be. They must have been there all along and somehow followed us back.” His face darkened with barely-checked anger. “It should be impossible."
"Where are we going?" I asked, clutching my towel tight to keep it wrapped around my body. Kaden must have noticed because his eyes dropped to my exposed shoulders and then to my legs.
"Get dressed. We're going to the town square to prepare for battle."
I rolled my eyes. It was just like Kaden to drag me down here and then order me to run back up and get dressed. I barely even noticed my state of undress anymore, and I’d probably be in wolf form soon anyway. Back at the Convergence, I’d been so conscious of being naked, but now I was a lot more comfortable with it, after all the shifting I’d done. No one looked twice at someone who was nude and getting ready to shift. But I had a feeling Kaden wanted me dressed for him more than for me. Either he didn't want other guys looking at me, or he found me way too distracting without my clothes on.
I quickly dressed in some of my training clothes, then ran back downstairs. Kaden jerked his head to the door, and I was surprised he'd waited for me. There was no sign of Stella, so she must have already left.
Together we ran toward the center of town, while other shifters did the same, some already in wolf form. The park in the center was packed, much like it had been at my party, but this time there was no laughter and no music. Everyone looked scared, and no one seemed to know quite what was going on.
Kaden let out a howl that shook me to my very core, getting everyone's attention. Pack members drew closer to Kaden, looking up to him for answers. I spotted Stella in the crowd, her eyes wide.
“We’re under attack,” Kaden said, and a collective murmur went through the crowd. Kaden held his hand up and it stopped. “We’ve trained for this. You all know what to do. Warriors, take up defensive positions. Everyone else, head for one of the hidden shelters. Follow Clayton and Stella.”
Kaden put his hands on Stella's shoulders and they shared a look. He said something to her low, too low for me to make out among the commotion around me. Then Stella hugged her brother tight, before pulling away. She joined Clayton on the other side of the park, where some shifters were gathering, including all the children. I watched her go with a lump in my throat, praying they would all be safe, and then turned to join the fighters.
Kaden grabbed my arm. “Not so fast. You’re going with Stella."
I yanked my arm out from his grip. “No, I’m going to fight for my pack."
"They’re here for you,” he said, his brow furrowing. “But I won’t let them have you. You need to hide with Stella and the others."
"I thought I was bait?" I said with a short laugh. "Now you want me to hide? No way."
“Ayla, I don�
�t have time to argue with you." He took my face in his hands, gazing into my eyes. "I need you to hide, and I need you to go now. I care about you too much to lose you."
I gaped at him. “You—what?”
His mouth was on mine then, hot and rough, and he kissed me like he feared it might be the last time. I clung to his shoulders as I opened for him, wanting everything he would give me. His lips, his tongue, his hands. All of it, for as long as I could get it. Even if it was only a few seconds.
"I care about you too," I said, between rushed, frantic kisses. Neither one of us could seem to stop. "But I'm still going to fight. I won't let anyone die for me while I hide away."
That ended the kissing.
Kaden's eyes narrowed. “Don’t make me force you."
"Force me?" I scoffed, and then realized what he meant. Now that I was a member of the pack, he could make me do anything he wanted using his alpha command. I’d never seen him use it before on anyone, which said a lot about him as an alpha. Dad had gone around flinging commands at everyone, and I had no doubt the Leo alpha did the same.
"Go with Stella," he commanded, his words sounding like a guttural growl, something halfway between man and beast.
I felt the power in his voice and gritted my teeth, waiting for the compulsion to overtake me, but it never did. Huh. That was new. I lifted my chin. "No."
Kaden stared at me with his brow furrowing. "It didn't work on you. That shouldn't be possible."
Suddenly a howl went through the air, loud and clear as a bell. The hairs rose on my neck, and Kaden swore under his breath, shoving me behind him.
That was all the warning we got before a huge attack force entered the town. Wolves poured in, alongside humans that hadn’t shifted yet, bearing Leo, Aries, and Taurus pack marks. Walking behind them was a group of robed women—the Sun Witches. Shit, they were here too? That must be how the attackers got through Kaden's wards.
Then I felt a sudden awareness inside me, and all the feelings I'd kept at the back of my mind since the Convergence suddenly flared to life. Jordan. He was here, and my eyes couldn't help but seek him out like I was hungry for the sight of him.
There. Standing beside his father, the Leo alpha, at the edge of the forest.
He'd come for me.
Chapter Thirty-One
I hadn't seen Jordan since the night of the Convergence, and the tug at the base of my spine from the bond nearly knocked me over. Damn, he was gorgeous. I'd forgotten how pretty he was while I'd been apart from him, and now I soaked up the sight of his perfect blond hair and chiseled jawline. Heat pulsed inside me, drawing me toward him like a dog on a leash.
As if he’d felt it too, Jordan’s eyes met mine and he gave me a cocky smile. He looked at me like I was something he owned, and the bond made me want that too. Everything inside me screamed for me to run to him, and I clenched my fists as I resisted the pull. Fuck. Maybe I should have gone with Stella after all.
I turned back toward Kaden and some of the haze cleared. He was the one I wanted. Not Jordan. As long as I focused on that, I'd make it through this fight.
Wolves surrounded us from every side, while our own warriors charged forth to meet them. Kaden leaped from my side, not even bothering to shift as he knocked into one of the enemy wolves and sent it flying. The shifter yelped and didn’t get up again.
A male Leo opened his mouth and used his lion roar to scatter our forces as we met them head-on. I felt the urge to run deep in my bones, muscles tensed to do just that, but I gritted my teeth and weathered it. When I looked up again, Kaden was the only other one who hadn’t fled, and he ripped into the Leo with his bare hands with a snarl. Other wolves immediately charged him.
I stepped up to help him, but a movement out of the corner of my eye distracted me. A group of wolves was headed after Stella’s group. Aries wolves. Getting ready to do their ram charge.
“Oh, no you don’t,” I muttered and sprinted after them, stripping my shirt off as I did so. I shifted since I could get to them faster on four legs instead of two, and instantly felt more alert as a wolf. Since it was daytime, there was no way I’d be able to use my moon magic, but I still had the powers of the Ophiuchus pack.
I leaped onto the back of the first wolf and bit into him, deep and hard. Poison seeped from my fangs, and I made sure it was enough to kill. He fell, and I stepped in front of Stella, who was shielding some pups with her body in her wolf form. She was black, like her brother, though not nearly as huge. I snarled at the rest of the wolves. Another one jumped forward, and I took him down, too. I was vicious, just like Stella and Kaden had taught me to be, but I'd sooner die than let these wolves hurt my pack's pups.
Thank you, Stella's voice said in my head. It took me a second to remember that as a member of the pack, I could communicate with them as a wolf now.
Go, I told her, as I snapped at another wolf, daring her to get close enough for me to use my teeth on her. Stella nudged the wolf pups away, and they disappeared into the woods with her.
A wolf I now instinctively recognized as Harper jumped in and helped me defeat the last of the wolves trying to go after the pups. Then we gave each other a quick nuzzle of solidarity with our snouts, before running back to the center of town.
I caught sight of Kaden in the center of the town. He was still in human form and covered in blood, surrounded by dead wolves he must have somehow killed with his bare hands. Pride welled up inside me—that was my alpha.
“Dixon!” he shouted over the din of the fight. “Come out, you fucking coward, and fight me. Alpha against alpha, like in the old days. Or are you afraid I'll beat you?”
The fighting paused, wolves dropping their prey and turning to face their respective leaders. Dixon laughed from the edge of the battle, where he'd been watching it all. “I’m not afraid, but you should be."
The Leo alpha shifted with a roar, becoming a huge wolf, his fur a reddish-gold that always seemed to catch the sunlight. He was so large and ferocious he almost looked like a lion himself.
Kaden shifted as he ran to meet the other alpha, becoming a monstrous black beast with poison fangs, like something out of a nightmare. The other packs all thought him a villain, and though he certainly looked the part, I knew better now.
Dixon waited for Kaden to get close to him, and then let out his lion’s roar. It was far enough away that I didn’t feel its effects, but Kaden stopped mid-stride and shook his head. I saw him tremble as if fighting against his body’s urge to run, and then he snarled again and leaped at Dixon, teeth flashing.
They tumbled to the ground, rolling and fighting for dominance. It was dead silent as we all stood frozen, watching them tussle for dominance, the only sounds the snarls and growls as the two alphas fought. Kaden landed a bite on Dixon, but the older wolf shook it off and kept fighting. He chomped down on Kaden's leg, jerking him around, and then tossed him into a tree with a show of strength. I pawed at the ground, whining softly, worried for the man I'd come to care so much about. I desperately wanted to run to him and help however I could, but I knew this wasn't my fight.
It went on for what felt like an eternity, a blur of fur, claws, and fangs that was sometimes hard to follow. I watched Kaden land several more bites on Dixon, and with each one, he seemed to weaken. But Dixon was fierce, fighting back with everything he had, his snout coated with Kaden's blood. He managed to knock Kaden to the ground, standing over him, and my breath caught, fearing the worst. But then Kaden flipped him over, knocking the other alpha to the ground, and sunk his fangs into Dixon’s neck. The Leo alpha twitched a few times and then went still.
Kaden lifted his blood-soaked head and howled, signaling the win. The sound echoed through the entire forest, and I knew every shifter fighting on either side had heard it. I looked around, trying to see what the Leo pack would do without their leader. A growl went through several shifters close to me, and then they turned tail and fled. I chased them down, as did others of my pack, and watched several meet their end
as they tucked their tails and ran.
Let them flee, Kaden told us, and a huge sigh of relief went through my entire body at the sound of Kaden's voice in my head. They’re nothing but cowards. The victory is ours.
Something wasn’t quite right though. I hadn’t seen Jordan during the fight. I closed my eyes and sought him out through the bond, which wanted nothing more than to lead me to him. Uneasiness roiled through my gut as I realized which direction he was in—the same direction Stella had gone with the pups. I ran toward the woods without waiting to see what Kaden would do next, letting the bond finally pull me to Jordan, as it had been trying to do since we were mated.
Jordan lounged against a black SUV with some of the Leos who had successfully fled, and didn’t look surprised at all to see me crash through the underbrush. I was momentarily stunned with a wave of desire for him and had to forcibly hold myself back from leaping on him—either to kiss him or to kill him, I wasn't entirely sure.
“So glad you’ve decided to join us,” he drawled, flashing me a sinister smile. “Now you're going to get in the car and come with me."
I shifted back to human form, not even caring that I was naked. "Like hell I will. This is my pack now and your alpha is dead. Get the fuck off our lands and stay out of my life."
"I can't do that." His eyes raked up and down my body possessively and I shuddered with a mix of lust and hatred. "I'm not leaving without you, but I will make you a deal. The Sun Witches have the weak ones from your pack surrounded, along with the children. At my command, they’ll burn them all alive. That is, unless you come with me now.”
"I don't believe you."
He pulled out a phone from his pocket and tilted it toward me. On the screen, I could see Sun Witches standing around a hatch door they'd uncovered in the middle of the forest. As I watched, they dragged one of the wolf pups out of it, and then the camera panned to show me Stella and Clayton, both captured, both fighting with everything they had to escape. Fire surrounded them, the flames licking at their tails, and only the Sun Witches' magic kept it from spreading across the entire forest.
Moon Touched (Zodiac Wolves: The Lost Pack Book 1) Page 23
