I blew out a frustrated breath. This felt a lot like when I'd interrogated him, when he'd given me the same non-answers. “How could you give your support to the Sun Witches when you knew everything that was going on with them?"
“It's not that easy, Ayla,” Jordan said, and his voice was tight. “There are things you don't understand..."
“Okay, so explain it to me,” I said and crossed my arms. There was clearly something more going on here, and I was sick of dealing with Jordan hedging around it. I could understand why he'd been hesitant to share this with me while he was still a captive, worried that I'd run back to Kaden and tell him everything, but there was no reason for him to continue with this secrecy. He knew that all I wanted was to go up against the Sun Witches, so why did he continue to hold information back from me? If he knew something that would help us take down the Sun Witches, why wouldn't he tell me?
Jordan frowned and opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say more. After a moment, he let out a sigh and ducked his head. “I can't say."
“You can't say?” I stood up, anger washing through me. “I've done everything, risked everything for you, and you won't tell me a simple thing like this?” I threw my hands up in the air. “You are completely unbelievable, Jordan,” I snapped, and walked out of the room before he could spout more nonsense about how he couldn't tell me or that I wouldn't understand.
I was sick of playing these games with him.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
We left Arizona in one of Jordan's cars two days later, knowing it would take some time to get to the location of the Convergence. This equinox was being held in the California mountains in the northern part of the state, which was quite a long drive from the Leo pack lands. We made lots of stops to rest and traded off driving, though things were still a bit tense between us ever since our argument, and made it there in three days with just a few hours to spare before the Convergence was set to begin.
Jordan parked miles away from where everyone else was meant to park, knowing stealth would be our ally here since neither side would be happy to see us. We hiked the rest of the way in wolf form, wearing our clothes and shoes in bags tied to our backs. I breathed in the intoxicating scents of the forest, happy to be back in one after all my time in Toronto and then in Arizona. Even though there was snow on the ground, the sun was bright, the sky was clear, and the forest smelled like life.
We stopped in a copse of trees a little ways away from where the main event would take place, facing the large clearing while remaining downwind, which was perfect if we wanted to make a surprise entrance. This Convergence looked wildly different from the last one. There were no festivities, no happy chatter of gathered packs catching up after a couple of seasons apart. It was quiet, without any interaction between the packs that looked like anything beyond curt nods and hasty words exchanged.
All of the enemy packs were already gathered—Leo, Scorpio, Taurus, and Aries. They had brought a lot of warriors, but I didn't see any kids among them this time. They must have hidden them away, knowing that this could turn into a war zone at any moment. After all of Kaden's raids over the last few weeks, they must know that the other Zodiac Wolves were planning to make their stand today.
“Look." Jordan pointed at something, and I followed his finger to a Leo pack member. “That's Austin Bates, the Leo beta. It looks like he's acting as alpha now."
"I'm assuming that's bad for us."
"Bates served under my father, and he's almost as cruel as Dixon was. I was hoping someone would challenge him for the position, but so far, no one has dared."
Behind the Leos, I saw a group of Sun Witches, and Evanora stood in the center of them holding a big golden staff that winked in the light, with a gaudy sculpture of a sun on top of it. Her daughter, Roxandra, stood next to her, looking proud and regal in red robes. I thought about the last Convergence, how I'd always wanted to get a closer look at the Sun Witches. Now I wanted nothing more than to take them all down.
As we settled into position, I looked over at Jordan and remembered the last time we'd been in a similar setting at the summer equinox, when he'd rejected me and watched his pack kill my family, and then hunted me down to finish the job of taking out every last one of my family members.
I could punch him, I thought. What had I been thinking? Friends? We were hardly even allies. But at the same time, things had significantly changed since that other Convergence six months ago, and I couldn't see Jordan as my enemy anymore either. But would he stand up to the Sun Witches with me, when the time came? That remained to be seen.
Jordan caught me staring at him and frowned. “What are you planning?"
“I'm going to use my moon magic to defend my friends and family as best I can. And you?"
"I'm just here to make sure you don't do anything stupid and get yourself killed," he said grudgingly.
There was a commotion from behind us, and Jordan and I quickly turned around to see who it was. Hundreds of shifters were approaching, and at the front of them was Kaden. My heart clenched so hard, I was fairly certain that someone was trying to rip it out.
I barely recognized the man I loved. Kaden looked like a hardened man, far older than his years, who had seen too much and gone through too many battles for his age. He was shirtless, standing tall and proud, flanked by Ethan and Wesley. My heart ached to go meet him, to stand beside him and take his hand in mine. We should be together, heading toward the battlefield as mates, willing to fight and die together.
I shook the thought away and took stock of the others who had come with him. Warriors from all of the allied clans walked behind Kaden and the other alphas, and I recognized many of them from the hotel. Stella and Clayton walked close with Kaden, and when I caught sight of Larkin, something eased in my chest. She looked so small and young among all the other shifters there, but I knew she would fight just as hard as any one of them today.
I spotted others I recognized too, including Harper, Dane, and Jack, and was relieved to see Mira and her mate weren't among the warriors here today. With only a couple months before Mira was due, I hoped they were back in Pisces lands getting some much-needed rest.
The overwhelming urge to join my pack washed through me as they approached. I'd spent my whole life being an outsider, and I was done with it. They were my home, my family, and they needed me. It didn't matter that I'd been kicked out of the pack because they were still my people. No matter what happened, they always would be my pack.
I couldn't bring myself to look away as they filtered through the forest and gathered in the clearing. Kaden said something in a low voice, and all of the alphas split up, fanning out to face the Sun Witches and enemy packs.
“Hey, do you think—” I turned to face Jordan, but he wasn't there. Something lurched through my gut, unpleasant and sudden. My body already realized what my mind was still struggling to catch up to. “Jordan?” I whispered, but there was no answer. I craned my neck to peer through the scrub as dread made my heart race faster.
Back at the Convergence, Evanora's eyes had started glowing, along with the staff in her hands. Then I caught sight of Jordan walking right up to her as if he'd never left her side. As if he'd been on her side this entire time.