I took a deep breath and tilted my head back to let the rays of sun shine onto my face. That was another thing I'd missed in Lunatera. I never thought I could miss the sun quite so much, but standing under it, I realized that I'd taken it for granted. I certainly wouldn't be doing that anymore.
Wesley was seated by the lake, and to my surprise, Mira was with him. I opened my mouth to call out to them, but stopped. There was something about their posture, something intimate in the way they were curved toward each other, sitting a bit closer than was probably proper. Wesley reached out and touched her shoulder.
I walked a bit closer and caught sight of the looks on their faces. I knew Mira had always had a crush on my brother, but this went beyond that. This was fondness, or longing even—and he wore the expression too. I raised my camera and snapped a picture before I could stop myself. It was too pure of a moment to pass up. When I looked at the picture on the small screen, I smiled. It captured their emotions perfectly.
I looked back up at them, a pang of sadness nearly catching me off guard. If the Sun Witches hadn't interfered, they probably would have been mates. Once we remove the bonds, they can find out, I told myself before I could let the sadness completely overtake me. There was still hope for them, and I'd rather focus on that than wallow.
Mira started to say something, but glanced up and noticed me. She paused mid-sentence and waved toward me, and I noticed the bit of space they put between themselves. I wanted to tell them that I didn't care, but bringing it up might be an issue in and of itself. She was still mated to someone else, after all.
I walked the rest of the way out to join them, and Wesley scooted over so I could sit between them. He slung a hand over my shoulder, and I leaned into him. I'd missed all of them, and I couldn't help but smile as I settled between them. No matter how much I'd enjoyed living in Lunatera, this was where I really belonged.
“Did I miss anything while I was asleep?” I asked.
“Amos had to go back to the Pisces pack, but he asked Aiden and me to stay with you and the rest of the Ophiuchus pack," Mira said. "He wants us to keep him updated on everything.”
I grinned at her. “I'm so happy to hear that. Now we just need to get Wesley to stay too, and it'll be like old times again.”
Before Wesley could answer, a voice called out Mira's name. I twisted around to see Aiden, her mate, standing where I had been just a few minutes ago. I wondered what he would have thought if he'd seen her and Wesley together, and I was glad that I'd been the one to find them instead.
Mira jumped up. “We'll chat more later."
I watched her go for a few moments before turning back to Wesley, whose eyes were glued on Mira.
He finally looked back at me. “What are you grinning about?” he asked, shoving me slightly.
I shoved him back. “Oh, you've got it bad, brother."
“I have no idea what you're talking about."
I shook my head. There was no use trying to push him about it since there wasn't anything that could be done about it until we could remove the bonds. “Never mind. Are you staying too?"
Wesley gave me a look that said he thought I was being crazy again, and then he frowned. “I wish I could, but I have to get back to the Cancer pack. Although I don't have a way back there, since my car was back at the cabin in Oregon.”
"Right. At Dad's sex cabin."
"Um, what?" Wesley asked, and the look of disgust on his face was almost comical.
“When I was with the Moon Witches, my mom told me I was conceived in that cabin. Likely, Jordan was too.”
Wesley made a noise of protest. “Why would you tell me that?”
“Hey, if I had to be cursed with that knowledge, so do you.”
“It's a good thing it burned down then,” Wesley said. “After you told me about the fake mate bonds it got me thinking. Do you think that my mom was really Dad's real mate?”
“Probably not." Although they were a perfect match for each other. Both good at making everyone miserable. But I wouldn't say that out loud to Wesley. Even though they had been awful to me, Jackie and our dad had still loved Wesley. “The Sun Witches probably put them together, although I don't know why.”
“My mom was originally part of the Capricorn pack—the daughter of the previous alpha, in fact—and their bond was the beginning of an alliance between the Cancer and Capricorn packs. That's probably why the Sun Witches wanted them to be together.”
“That would make sense,” I said.
“I never understood how they were supposed to be mates anyway,” Wesley continued. “They fought more than they got along.”
That was true. I hadn't minded the fighting because it meant that they spent less time concentrating their efforts to make my life miserable, but it must have been hell for Wesley. “I don't ever want that to happen again. I'm going to figure out how to remove the spell that the Sun Witches cast on all of us, so we can be free to choose our own mates. It's only right.” I let out a sigh. “And it's going to start with Jordan.”
Wesley nodded. “Keep me updated on that.”
“I will. But first, let's get you back to the Cancer pack.” I stood up and held my hand out for Wesley to take.
He looked at it and raised his eyebrows. “What? You're going to take me there? It's a long way."
“Just trust me,” I said.
Wesley still looked skeptical, but he stood up and took my hand. I concentrated on the little island I'd spent my summers at, where the Cancer pack was now hiding. I could recall it in almost perfect detail and then reached inside of myself to access the magic I knew was there. It was like stretching a muscle. Still sore after yesterday, but I had no doubts I could get Wesley back to where he needed to go.
Something tugged at the back of my gut, and then the calls of the seagulls up ahead were real. I blinked at the bright light coming off the waves as Wesley staggered, looking around.
“Holy shit,” he said, looking around and then turning back to me. “I'm all for your new powers, but could you warn me next time?”
I grinned at him. “What fun would that be?”
“That's pretty impressive.” He sighed. “No one should have ever underestimated you, Ayla. Not our dad, and not the other wolves in our pack. And certainly not the Sun Witches.”
There was a sudden lump in my throat that I had issues swallowing past. I nodded, hoping that it would convey everything I felt to Wesley. “Thank you,” I managed to say.
Wesley squeezed my shoulder and then stepped back. “I'm going to prepare the Cancer pack to fight and reach out to some of the other packs for alliances. We'll keep in touch, especially now that you can just teleport yourself halfway across the world like it's no big deal.” He grinned at me and then opened his arms for a hug.
It was nice to know I could visit him whenever I wanted. This goodbye wasn't as hard as the last one we'd shared, but I still found myself tearing up as I wrapped my arms around his waist and inhaled his familiar scent. “Yeah, we will."
I stepped back, and Wesley raised his hand to me in goodbye as I closed my eyes and focused on getting back to the lake and Kaden. Home.