“I'm sorry you had to go through that,” she said. "You're always welcome in Lunatera, you know. We can keep you safe there. Even Jordan can come if he wants, as long as he doesn't cause any trouble.”
I drew back from her embrace and gave her a weak smile. The offer had never been so tempting, but I couldn't take her up on it. “I know, and I'm grateful to you for the offer. But I'm a shifter, and so is Jordan, and we can't turn our backs on the problems with the Zodiac Wolves. They're still our family even if neither of us really has a pack right now.”
Celeste smiled sadly. “I thought you'd say that, but I had to try and convince you anyway. You are my daughter, after all. I only want to see you safe and happy.”
“I know,” I said. “Thank you.”
"On that note, I think it's time I gave you your birthday present." She removed a small box, no bigger than the palm of her hand, from inside a hidden pocket in her dark purple dress. "If you really are going to the Convergence, then it might be able to help you in your fight against the Sun Witches."
I opened the package carefully and discovered a small pendant, about the size of my thumb—a big chunk of moonstone set into silver. It was in the shape of the moon, and I tilted it in the light, admiring the play of iridescent colors, feeling the power leaking off of it. “What is this?” I asked. “It's gorgeous.”
“It's imbued with the power of the moon,” Celeste said. “I've been focusing on making it ever since you left. It holds as much power as I could physically fit into it. I almost went with a larger necklace, but it would have been too heavy.”
“Thank you,” I said, curling my hands around the pendant.
Celeste put her own hands over mine and smiled at me. “Wear it always. It will help protect you against the worst of the magic from the Sun Witches. I wish that I could go with you in person, but this is the next best thing I could think of.”
I hugged her tight, closing my eyes. She really was doing her best to make up for lost time, and I couldn't fault her for that. She was doing everything she could to help, even if it wasn't to the extent that I wanted.
Celeste drew back and put her hands on my shoulders. “I know I have a lot to make up for,” she said, echoing my thoughts. “I missed all of your birthdays up until now, and nothing pains me more. But now that we've been reunited, I'm going to spend the rest of my life making up for them. I hope that I can be there for all of your future birthdays.”
“Thank you,” I said around the lump in my throat as I slipped the chain over my head. The pendant rested between my breasts, winking in the light. It felt right, like it had been there all along, and I'd just been missing it. The power settled around me, filling in the space that the Ophiuchus pack's power had left. It wasn't quite the same, but I took a deep shuddering breath in and let it gentle the raging grief inside of me.
She finished the rest of her tea and stood. "I should get back, and leave you to your preparations. I'll be praying to Selene for you." She touched my cheek briefly and then strolled back into the entryway, where Jordan was passing through on his way upstairs. She rested her gaze on him but didn't give him a smile. “You take good care of Ayla for me,” she said. “As a brother, and as a friend.”
Was that what we were? Friends? We certainly weren't enemies anymore, but I wasn't sure what we had become either.
“I will,” Jordan said.
She patted my cheeks with love in her eyes. "Happy birthday, my sweet girl. I hope to see you again soon."
Celeste raised her hands and created a portal, spinning pure moonlight into a doorway, then stepped inside it and vanished.
"Birthday?" Jordan asked, arching an eyebrow.
"I was just as surprised as you are," I said, fingering the pendant now resting on my chest. "Come on, let's finish our game of Clue."
"Why? We both know I'm going to win."
Jordan and I settled back around the living room, and I hated to admit it, but he was probably right. He had an annoying habit of winning most of the games we played.
I watched him as he took his next turn, and felt another vivid sense of loss. What would have happened, if we'd been raised together? Without the pack feuds, without the Sun Witches interference? I could have had two brothers, not just one.
“What are you thinking about?” I asked when Jordan seemed to be taking an especially long time making his move.
He sat back and gave me a long look, before finally answering. “My entire life, I was taught that the Moon Witches were evil, along with the Ophiuchus pack. Even the Cancer pack, for that matter. But now you've introduced me to all of them, and I'm not sure what I believe anymore.”
“I know how that feels, believe me. I went through the same thing at first. Contrary to popular belief, my first months spent with the Ophiuchus pack weren't all sunshine and rainbows. If you need anyone to talk to, I'm here for you.”
“Yeah, sure, I'll definitely be taking you up on that offer,” he said in a way that let me know that he definitely wouldn't.
I rolled my eyes at him and jabbed him in the ribs, a bit harder than I'd meant to.
“Hey now, I'm still recovering," Jordan said. "You're going to be mean to your own brother while he's wounded?”
"Oh please. I haven't forgotten all the times you said you were going to kill me. I think a little payback is what you deserve, don't you?”
Jordan shook his head, but he was grinning. “I might still kill you yet. At the very least, I'm going to beat your ass at this game."
"Bring it on."
He did beat me, fair and square, and I immediately called for a rematch. What would our lives have been like if we'd been siblings instead of enemies, with fathers who had cared for us? It was hard not to imagine how much better life would have been, even if it was useless to think about these kinds of things in the face of everything we were still dealing with. It didn't do me any good to think about what could have been, but it didn't stop me from aching for a childhood in which we could easily rib each other like this.
“You know,” Jordan said, as we packed up the game later. “You don't need to be packless. I could make you a member of the Leo pack right now.”
It was a nice offer to make, even if the thought of being a Leo made my stomach turn. But then I realized Wesley could just as easily make me a part of the Cancer pack once again. I had bad memories of both of those packs, but I knew in my heart they weren't where I belonged.
“Thank you for your offer, but I don't think I can take you up on it,” I said. “In my heart, I'm still an Ophiuchus, no matter what happened with Kaden. It's the only place I've ever felt at home.”
Jordan shook his head, his mouth twisting in disgust. “How can you still be on the Ophiuchus pack's side, after Kaden treated you like that?”
“I'm not on the Ophiuchus pack's side. I'm still on the side that's against the Sun Witches, and that just happens to be the Ophiuchus pack's side right now.” I frowned at him. “Whose side are you on?”
“I'm on my own side,” Jordan said in a lazy drawl. “Same as always.”