“He figured it out when Griffin, my younger brother, was born on the cusp too."
I sat back at this information. Another brother. My family was getting bigger by the day, by the looks of it. Do you have any other brothers up your sleeve? I almost asked, but pulled my attention back as Jordan continued with his story.
“When Dixon found out, he became obsessed with taking down the Cancer pack. He went to the Sun Witches, and they offered their assistance in helping him take down not just the Cancers, but to help him with ruling over all the other packs,” Jordan said.
I folded another book down to my left, and Jordan looked at it with a smile. We were now even.
“And the night of the Convergence?” I asked. “Did Dixon know that we'd be mated?”
“No, I don't think he knew anything about that. I think my mother suspected something was going to happen though.” He paused and tilted his head to the side, his eyes lost in the memory. “She didn't want me to go to the Convergence. Dixon insisted, of course, even though I'd gotten my wolf a year earlier. But Dixon made my mom and Griffin stay home. He didn't want them there during the fight.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket, signaling that it was time for me to go. “Well, thank you,” I said. “This has been a rousing game of Go Fish. I'll be back tomorrow.” I gathered the cards like I had yesterday, and got up.
“Wait,” Jordan said, and I looked up at him. He frowned, as if deliberating over something, and then took in a deep breath. “I'm sorry for being a dick to you about being a half-breed." His lips twisted up with the irony of it. “Of course, that came to bite me in the ass.”
I stared at him. That was the last thing I would have ever thought I'd hear Jordan say. “Thank you,” I said softly as I moved toward the door.
"I'm sorry about a lot of things, Ayla." For once, he sounded sincere...and almost regretful.
“I accept your apology.” I left the room, feeling unsettled by how much his apology affected me. I'd needed to hear it, on some level. It would never make up for the horrible things he'd done to me, but it was a start.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
One thing that was nice about spending so much time in the hotel was that Kaden and I were able to take breakfast together most mornings, even though we both had a lot of duties that pulled us apart during the day.
I woke one morning to find Kaden making breakfast, the muscles of his bare back working as he shifted a pan over the fire. I smiled as I watched him for a few moments, before joining him in the kitchen.
He was tense, as he was almost every day. He was still frustrated by the lack of action taken by all of the packs, and I couldn't blame him. We'd talked it over more than once, but it felt like going in circles. We weren't getting anywhere, and it was getting more frustrating by the day. His tension bled into mine, and it was hard to catch these few moments of peace.
I wrapped my arms around his middle and he leaned against me for a moment before going back to his work. “How are you feeling this morning?”
"Frustrated," he said. "No one seems to care that our people are being held captive by the enemy, and they won't let me do anything about it. Maybe we should go back to the Ophiuchus pack lands since our enemies know where we are anyway."
I shook my head. “Not yet, we're still forming alliances with the Libras and the other packs. It's a slow process and I know it's taking forever, but it'll be worth it, I promise. I know you want to get back to the forest, but this will pay off. Besides, we're all working on Moon Witch training, and I'm getting close to getting Jordan to talk. I can feel it.”
Whatever ease permeated the air evaporated at his name. We hadn't gone so far as to discuss our differing feelings on Jordan lately, but it was a constant elephant in the room, impossible to ignore.
“I still don't like you going to see him,” Kaden said.
“I know you don't, but he's our best hope of learning what the Sun Witches and Leos are up to. Besides, he's my brother and... I know this sounds crazy, but I don't want to give up on him completely."
Kaden let out a huff of air and grumbled something incomprehensible. He didn't say anything else on the matter though, so I decided to change the subject.
“How's training been going?” I asked, hoping to turn the conversation to something we could agree on, at least. Kaden had begun helping to train some of the Libras with members of the Ophiuchus pack. The Libras were generally peacekeepers, preferring diplomacy over violence, but to my surprise, Kaden had managed to sway some of them, and they were eager to learn.
“Good,” Kaden said, smiling a bit. “Ethan is a hell of a good fighter.”
“I'd love to see you two spar,” I said, and then made sure that Kaden could hear the teasing note in my voice as I looked him up and down. “Shirtless, of course.”
"You'd distract me too much," Kaden said, pinching my butt. "The smell of your lust is intoxicating."
I flushed at that and swatted his hand away. "Only to you."
We had an easygoing breakfast after that, and then I got ready and met my friends down in the lobby of the hotel for our much-anticipated shopping trip.
The hotel was located in the middle of a commercial area, so all we had to do was walk down a few blocks to find what we were looking for. Our eyes were wide as we headed out, since like most shifters we hadn't spent much time in big cities, and this was all pretty new to us. Stella and Larkin were chattering away about what sort of clothes they might find, while Harper laughed along with them, and Mira and I grinned at every shop we saw. This was my first ever girls' day out, and I was going to enjoy every second of it.
I looked around as we walked toward the entrance of a clothing store Stella and Larkin wanted to visit, and couldn't control my smile. Kaden was always grumbling about being surrounded by buildings and not being able to see the stars at night, but I found myself enjoying Toronto, even if I wouldn't want to live here all the time.
We entered the store, and something warmed in my chest as Larkin immediately sped off, like she'd never been in a place like this before. I looked over at Mira and Stella, who stood with me in the doorway.
“Well?” Stella asked, grinning at me. “What do you want to look for first?”
I'd bought and lost so many clothes over the past few months alone, I wasn't even sure. I remembered when Stella had taken me to the small store back in Ophiuchus pack lands, and I'd been amazed by the selection. Here there was even more choice, and while I was still awed, it wasn't the same sort of thing I'd felt before. My life had changed a lot since leaving the Cancer pack.
As we waded through the displays of clothes, it felt like something had been lifted from my chest. I'd spent so much time lately worrying about what was going to happen. The Zodiac Wolves couldn't come to a decision about what to do about the Sun Witches, and they were all nervous about the upcoming Convergence. I had to admit that I was fed up with their indecision almost as much as Kaden was. But I didn't think Kaden should charge in and kill the Leos while they were in their mating frenzy either.
I shook my head as I held the sleeves out from a pretty green shirt that would make my hair stand out. This was the time to forget all of that. I was here to shop with my friends and not think about an impending pack war.