Star Cursed (Zodiac Wolves #2)(70)
"That's nice of you," I said, forcing a smile. A lingering awkwardness sat between the four of us, but we were all working through it as best we could. When they walked away to speak to Wesley next, I finally let out the breath I'd been holding.
The Pisces pack arrived next. When they emerged from the forest, my heart leaped in joy at the familiar face heading toward me.
“Mira!” I rushed toward her. I hadn’t expected Mira to come, but she and her mate, Aiden, were there in the front of the small group, with the Pisces alpha only a step behind them.
She grinned at me and hugged me just as tightly as Wesley had done earlier. “I’m so happy to be here,” she whispered to me. Whatever she’d said to finally convince her alpha to come, I was grateful for it. Even just getting him here was a good first step. They might not ally with us, but at least they were willing to listen.
Mira’s gaze was caught on something over my shoulder, and when I turned to look, I realized she was staring at Wesley. I’d seen that look directed at Wesley before. Her lips parted a little, and then she shook herself and smiled at me again. I raised my eyebrows, surprised she still had her obvious crush on my brother even with her mate bond.
Wesley walked over to greet us, and Mira quickly looked down at the ground, as if she’d been caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to be doing. He opened his arms to Mira, and she hesitated, before giving him a stiff hug. "I'm so glad you could make it," he said. "I'm sorry about your parents. They were fine people and will be missed."
Mira glanced up and gave him a sad smile. "Thank you."
"We miss you in the Cancer pack as well," he continued. "I hope you're adjusting well to your new life as a Pisces?"
"Yes, they've been very kind to me." Mira rubbed at her chest absentmindedly, and I followed the motion with sharp eyes. That was where what I felt for Kaden popped up. Not in my gut, like with Jordan and the mate bond, but in my heart. Could her mate bond be fake too?
I opened my mouth to say something, but then Aiden joined us, and Mira quickly looked at him with obvious affection. He was broad-shouldered and muscular, handsome in sort of a dopey way, with sand-colored hair and green eyes. Mira introduced everyone, and he gave us warm smiles, but I couldn't forget that the last time we’d met he’d dragged Mira away from me, leaving me for dead. I couldn’t muster a smile for him, so I settled with a simple nod. Mira's face changed as she looked at Aiden, obviously enamored with him, and I began to doubt my earlier assumptions about her and Wesley. She probably just felt awkward around him now that he was alpha. That would be understandable. I'd just wished they were mates, since I wanted two of my favorite people together, and had probably been seeing what I wanted to see.
Wesley moved to speak with the Pisces alpha next, whose name I remembered was Amos. They shook hands, and my brother said, "Thank you for coming. We appreciate your support."
“I’m sorry about your family, and for not assisting the Cancer pack before,” Amos said, looking Wesley square in the face. He was probably in his sixties, with gray hair and a weathered face, wearing a flannel shirt and jeans, but somehow looking more dignified than anyone else here. “We don’t have many fighters, but we should have stood by your side during all of this. If there is anything we can do to help your pack recover, please let me know."
Wesley bowed his head and offered his thanks for the offer, and to my surprise, Amos turned to me next.
"I also must apologize to you for not helping when you came to us at the Convergence," he said to me. "We should have taken you in, and I have regretted my actions ever since."
"Thank you," I said, a lump forming in my throat. "I know you were only trying to protect your pack."
His face was grim. "Yes, but I should have known there was no staying out of this conflict, and done what was right. I won't ask for your forgiveness, but I swear the Pisces pack is done swimming away from the fight. We will stand with you however we can."
His words gave me hope, and I felt even better when he went to speak to Kaden next, and the two shared polite formalities. It was so very different from how Kaden had been treated at the Convergence, and it made me think change was actually possible.
It was almost midday, and the solar eclipse was starting to go into effect. Everything dimmed slightly, and I watched as the shadows of the trees changed, the leaves becoming slivers instead of the full shapes cast onto the ground. Wesley and the Cancer pack handed out eclipse glasses, and we all put them on. The tension ramped up in my chest again. The meeting was scheduled to start soon, but no one else was here. Would the Pisces and Sagittarius be the only packs to attend?
The solar eclipse was nearing its totality when the Libra pack arrived, the alpha and a few other shifters stepping out from the trees. The Libra alpha was young and unmated, probably around the same age as Kaden, and freaking hot too. He was dressed like he was attending a business meeting, with his shirtsleeves rolled back to reveal tattoos running along his muscular arms. I remembered Wesley telling me he was a fairly new alpha, and that, unlike my brother or Kaden, he hadn't inherited the role—he'd challenged the previous Libra alpha and won. To my surprise, he greeted Kaden politely and formally, much like he would any other pack alpha.
Before I could speak with him, three men and one woman emerged from the trees with the Capricorn symbol on their arms, surprising us all. Wesley had been hopeful they would arrive, since they'd been allies of the Cancer pack, but they hadn't committed either way. I didn't recognize any of them, even though I'd met the alphas a few times before, and I guessed Capricorn hadn’t sent its alphas, just the betas and a couple of warriors. I tried not to let it bother me too much—at least they'd sent someone at all.