“They gave up fighting a long time ago,” Larkin said.
I sighed and opened my mouth to say something else. Before I could, another figure joined us from the direction of the hotel—Kaden. I stood back as Larkin went up to greet him, but was secretly pleased he'd seen fit to join us tonight. He gave me a long, heated glance as Larkin talked to him in hushed tones, catching him up on what we'd been doing so far.
I watched as Kaden focused, speaking ancient Greek as if he'd been a fluent speaker his whole life. To my surprise, he drew down a huge beam of moonlight, almost as bright as a full-blooded Moon Witch could create. I shielded my eyes as I looked at him, taken aback. I'd seen him use magic before, but I'd had no idea he was this strong in it. Of course, being the cocky alpha he was, he'd best everyone. Why was he so damn good at everything?
A few scattered claps went throughout the group as Kaden let the moonlight go, and the clearing faded back to darkness. Kaden joined Stella, Mira, and me as we continued practicing, but he hung back and watched for the most part. I tried not to feel his gaze prickling at the back of my neck, but every time I glanced over, he was looking at someone else.
Larkin ended the class a bit later, stepping back into the middle of the group and beaming around at all of us. “That was an excellent first class, you are all amazing students,” she said. “I can't wait to continue working with you. I'd like to meet up again next week, and every week following if you're interested. And if you could spread the word and try to get anyone else here who thinks they might have Moon Witch blood, I'd appreciate it.”
There was a murmur of assent around the group, and a few of the shifters shared meaningful glances. I knew they'd bring more of the pack here, and a jolt of pride went through me at Larkin and the assembled shifters. We were all working together, and I found myself grinning, my annoyance at Kaden forgotten once more as I soaked in the uplifting atmosphere of the assembled group.
As Larkin formally ended the class, I listened in on the exchanges of the other shifters. Mira was almost vibrating with her success right next to me. “I never imagined that I could do anything like that,” she said.
“I'm surprised I could too,” Stella said, grinning at Mira's enthusiasm. “I knew about my Moon Touched gift, but I never thought I'd have access to actual Moon Witch magic.”
“This is so cool, I can't wait to tell—” Mira broke off and glanced over at me. I raised my eyebrows at her. If she had been about to say Aiden, why had she cut herself off? I had a sneaking suspicion that she'd meant Wesley, and that she knew I was catching onto her continued crush on him. I turned my attention elsewhere, letting it slide for now. There would be plenty of time to rib her about it later.
I overheard Harper speaking to Larkin as everyone headed back home. Dane had a Moon Touched gift, but Harper had never had one. I had the feeling that she made up for it by being one of Kaden's best warriors, but someone like Harper who was clearly competitive was probably happy to be on even footing with her twin. “Maybe I'll be able to do some magic in combat,” she said, grinning. Harper was one of the stronger of the bunch, and I grinned as I thought about her lobbing attacks at the Sun Witches.
“I'm going to try to get you to that point,” Larkin said. “You would be good at that.”
Everyone eventually trickled away, but I walked back to the hotel slowly with Mira, Stella, Kaden, and Larkin. “I'm so glad you came here with me,” I said to Larkin. “I never would have been able to teach everyone by myself. Thank you for your knowledge, and your willingness to teach us.”
“I'm happy to be here,” she said, and then sighed, looking down at herself. “I just hope that I'll finally age up while I'm here too.”
“We need to get you some new clothes,” Mira said, looking at Larkin's homespun dress. “That'll definitely help.”
Stella clapped her hands. “Oh, I've been dying for a chance to go shopping in a big city for a while. All we've had access to are the clothes in Coronis, and they're…” She trailed off and wrinkled her nose in Kaden's direction. “Not the most stylish."
"Yes, please,” Mira said. “I need some new clothes as well."
A pang of guilt went through me at the reminder of her leaving everything behind when we escaped the Leo pack. “We can make a trip out of it,” I said. I'd never been to a larger city to shop, and I was excited to see what options were available. I still remembered going to the store in Coronis and being overwhelmed, and if Stella thought that their options were limited, I couldn't imagine what it would be like here.
“Kaden?” Stella asked, looking at him.
"Fine, as long as you stick together and are safe.” He gave Stella a hard look. “And don't spend too much of my money.”
Stella rolled her eyes. "We'll spend whatever we need to spend, won't we, Ayla?"
I was about to answer, but we'd reached the hotel lobby, and Clayton was rushing toward us. Kaden's face went tight with tension as Clayton drew near.
"We have a problem,” the beta said.
Shit, I thought. What now?
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Kaden and I followed Clayton through the hotel to a conference room, and the tension was almost suffocating. He refused to say anything, despite Kaden asking him what this was about. “We need privacy for this conversation,” Clayton said. The others—Larkin, Stella, and Mira—all hung back, sensing this was alpha business only.
When we arrived at the conference room, Ethan was already there, his handsome face grim and devoid of any color. “A package arrived for you,” he said, before any of us could so much as greet him. "It smells like death."
On the table was a package that looked like it could be anything. When I stepped closer, I saw the label and had to cover my nose from the horrible stench.
“Postmarked Arizona,” I said.
Kaden frowned and peered down at the box. “It must be from the Sun Witches or the Leos. There isn't anyone else in Arizona who would bother sending something to us."
I bit my lip. “Should we even open it? It could be a trap.”
“Would they have put their location on it if it were a trap?” Kaden asked dryly, and I tilted my head to the side. He had a fair point.
Kaden's hands shifted to claws, and he cut through the packaging with precision. The instant he pulled back the flaps of the box, the smell got even worse, becoming a suffocating aroma of death and decay. I nearly gagged as he pulled the wrapping apart and extracted something from the box.
A head. A human head.
And not just any head, but one I recognized.
Tanner.
I drew in a sharp breath and suppressed the urge to scream. I turned away quickly, but it was too late, and the image was branded on the backs of my eyelids. There was no way I could forget it.
Once I swallowed down a few waves of nausea, I slowly turned back and looked again. Kaden stared at the head with an unreadable expression, but I knew he must be upset too. Tanner had been a friend once, and though they'd had a falling out, it hurt Kaden to see any member of his pack killed. Especially in such a horrible way.