His eyes snapped to me immediately, and I was startled by the clarity in his gaze. I'd thought that we'd keep him drugged with Ophiuchus poison as long as we had him, but he seemed lucid.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he snarled at me. He turned around on his heel and paced back again. I watched him pull the chain taut, and then turn around and repeat the motion in the opposite direction. “Are you here to kill me finally, put me out of my misery? I'd take it, rather than being stuck in this shitty basement in Libra pack territory. It reeks of humans.”
“I'm not here to kill you."
Jordan let out a bitter laugh. “What, then you're going to try and remove the mate bond again? Didn't you get your fill of failure the first time around? We both know that it won't work a second time, either. As far as I can tell, you don't have a Sun Witch yet, and you aren't likely to get one. So I'd get used to the mate bond if I were you.”
I knew what he was doing—he wanted me to lash out, to match this violent energy that was pouring off of him. I was tempted to snap back, to let my sharp tongue get the better of me, but I took a deep breath. “Honestly? I don't know why I came. I just…” I paused and shrugged. “I just wanted to talk to you.”
Jordan let out another bitter laugh. “We have nothing to talk about,” he said. “Unless you plan to free me."
"You know I can't do that."
Jordan watched me, eyes still wary. I had to find some way to prove to him that I had no intentions of hurting him, but there wasn't any easy way to do that. He'd never believe me if I said it. I sat down on the floor, just out of reach of the end of his chain. Jordan watched me as if waiting for an adder to strike.
After a moment, when I didn't pull a knife, or make any moves to hurt him, Jordan sat as well, a few feet away from me. I watched him for a few moments longer. “Did you know?” I asked suddenly, the question leaping out from me without my permission. It was too late to take it back, so I plowed on. “That you were my brother all along?”
Jordan recoiled as if I'd struck him, and the disgust on his face couldn't be feigned. “No. I was just as horrified as you were when I learned that. I definitely wouldn't have kissed you or tried to mate with you if I'd known.”
Something that had been squeezed tight for a long time was released in my stomach. “Good,” I said.
"If you had come back with me at the solar eclipse meeting, I would have made them remove the bond," Jordan said. "That's why I tried to grab you. I want it gone as much as you do."
"You really think they would remove it?" I tilted my head, finding it hard to believe. "Or that they didn't know all along that we were siblings?"
"I demanded they remove it, and they said they would. They listen to me."
I shook my head. “How can you be working with the Sun Witches?” I asked. “Especially knowing what they did to us."
Jordan clenched his jaw, muscles working as he watched me, eyes still wary. “You don't understand. The Sun Witches want to unite the packs, just like I do. I don't know why they mated us together, but it must have been an error.”
I scoffed. I would have believed that before my time in Lunatera, but now I knew that the Sun Witches did everything for a purpose. We were just pawns to them, and they wouldn't care about two shifters' feelings if it meant that they could further their own game. “No, they did it to spark a war. Don't you see that the Sun Witches are manipulating the packs? They have us tearing each other apart in an attempt to enslave us once more.”
Now it was Jordan's turn to scoff. “That's ridiculous. The Sun Witches aren't strong enough to enslave all of us.” He so blindly followed them. It was almost sad. Jordan's eyes sharpened on mine again. “If you would have just gone with me at the meeting, I would have protected you. I would have—”
“There's no way you can protect me when you're part of the threat,” I snapped at him, anger rising once more and washing over me in a sudden wave. “I stupidly thought you weren't as bad as I believed. I tried to put aside my pack's prejudice and hoped there was some good in that black heart of yours, but I was wrong."
I pushed myself up and stormed out of the room, and Jordan didn't say a word as I slammed the door behind me. As I turned away from the door, I ran right into a solid body, and I stumbled back. I looked up to find Kaden standing with Jack and the other guard, watching me with suspicion.
“What are you doing with Jordan?” Kaden asked. The suspicion didn't leave his gaze, and I gave him a wild look. Surely, he couldn't think that I was doing anything bad? Did he not trust me? There was a line of tension running through him, half jealous and possessive, and half resigned.
The anger toward Jordan found a new target: Kaden. “I'm trying to get information out of him."
“You're wasting your time."
“I am not,” I said, drawing myself up. “I learned a bit.” I shot a poisonous look over at Jack. He'd probably said something to Kaden, and I wasn't in the mood to be questioned like this right now.
“Anything useful?” Kaden asked, folding his arms over his chest.
I stopped and considered. What Jordan had told me wasn't new information. He trusted the Sun Witches, almost to a fault. That was already common knowledge, and Kaden would just be annoyed if I parroted information at him that he already knew. “Not yet, but I will."
Kaden stepped forward, every inch the alpha male I'd met in the forest a lifetime ago, convinced that he was going to kill me on the spot. “The mate bond is clouding your mind. You need to stay away from Jordan until it's broken."
I glared at Kaden rather than backing down. “It's not the fucking mate bond. I don't feel that way at all for him, and I haven't for ages. Or do I need to remind you that he's my brother?”
“That doesn't mean that it'll affect you any less,” Kaden said. “A mate bond is still a mate bond.”
“Dammit, Kaden, I just want to stop the Sun Witches, like you and everyone else here. You should know that by now—” I broke off and shook my head. “Forget it. Just get out of my way."
When Kaden didn't move, I shoved past him, slamming my shoulder into his as he moved to block me. I loved Kaden, but during my time in Lunatera, I'd forgotten how infuriating he could be. After everything we'd been through, I couldn't believe that he wouldn't take me at my word. How many times did I have to prove to him that the mate bond between Jordan and I meant less than nothing?
"Ayla, wait," Kaden called, as he came barreling after me down the hallway and around the corner.
I spun to face him. "How can you still not trust me after everything I've done for you?"
"I do trust you. I don't trust him. He's a snake in wolf's clothing."
"That's funny coming from an Ophiuchus," I muttered. "I don't trust Jordan either, but I'm the only one who might be able to get any info out of him."
"Leave me alone with him for thirty minutes and I'll get something out of him," Kaden said with a low growl.
Selene save me from the arrogance of alphas. "No, you won't. Torture won't work on him."