Moon Touched (Zodiac Wolves: The Lost Pack #1)(12)
“You make sure of that." The words slipped out as I looked up at him defiantly. He just had to make sure everyone knew I was an outcast. “If you hadn’t screwed around with a human, maybe you’d have a daughter you could be proud of.”
Dad’s eyes flashed, and for a moment I thought he’d hit me right in front of everyone. But no. That would admit that I’d gotten to him. He’d never show that kind of weakness in front of this many shifters. He simply sneered at me and gave me another alpha command, just because he liked to see me bend to his will. “You’d better sit down now before you inconvenience us more.”
I gritted my teeth and sat next to Wesley. When I chanced a glance up at him, his lips were pressed together in a tight line, but he didn’t dare to speak up against an alpha command, especially in front of everyone. I wouldn’t get any help from him. Jackie was ignoring us entirely, staring into the fire in the center that illuminated the clearing. Probably for the best.
As true night fell and the moon peeked out of the clouds, the silence dragged on, and I felt all eyes on me. I burned with shame, even though I hadn’t actually done anything wrong. I wished I could sink into the ground and cease to exist. But no, that would give them all too much satisfaction.
I kept my chin held high as I glanced between the different packs, refusing to let them cower me. It was probably the one and only time I'd ever see them all gathered like this anyway, and I was curious. I spotted the Gemini pack, with their twin alphas—they always ruled in pairs—and the Virgo alpha, who was female and unmated. Unlike the rest of the packs, the Virgos were matriarchal and their women made all the decisions. I often secretly hoped I'd end up in their pack.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, the Sun Witches arrived. They walked through the crowd, shifters moving out of the way for them. I relaxed a little as they passed by, and the rest of the attention was taken off of me.
One woman stood out from the cluster of warm-colored clothes. She was the only one in bright red robes and was practically dripping with gold jewelry. She was beautiful, platinum blonde, and pale, but she didn’t look human. It didn’t take extra senses to feel the power radiating off her. My teeth buzzed as I looked at her, and I found myself focusing on the other women around her, unable to keep staring at her for too long.
“Greetings,” the woman intoned as the other witches fanned out around her. “For those who are new, I am Evanora, the High Priestess of the Sun Witches, and it is my honor to lead this Convergence. This morning we welcomed the newest members of the packs, and tonight we will take those who have come of age and unlock their full potential.”
As she continued in her smooth, sonorous voice, I found myself looking around. I knew what would happen already—I’d been preparing and reading about it for years. The others were all enraptured by her voice, but I found my mind elsewhere. Where was the male I’d seen in the forest? He wasn’t with any of the alphas, and as I scanned faces, I didn’t see him or the other men he was with either. The strange feeling roiling in my gut intensified. There was something off about tonight.
“Once you’ve gained your wolf, there is the potential to meet your mate tonight,” Evanora said, and I felt her gaze heavy on me. A chill went through me as we locked eyes. Everything in me screamed to look down, to show my submission, but I froze in place, fighting the urge. Before I could look away, she moved on, her gaze finding the others who would be part of the ritual tonight. I drew in a breath. Maybe she hadn’t been singling me out, as I’d originally thought, just doing whatever it was that Sun Witches did to make us feel their power.
A gasp went through the crowd, and for a moment, I thought it was because they were reacting to what she said. It didn’t make sense, everyone knew of the ritual to meet their mate. It was what many of us looked forward to most at the Convergence, as much as unlocking our full powers.
Then I saw the movement. It came from the back, and I craned my neck to see what was happening. Evanora’s smooth voice cut off as she noticed, and the whispers increased.
The front line broke to allow four people through. My jaw dropped as I recognized the large, rugged male from the falls, along with the others I’d seen right before I’d turned tail and fled. There was a female with him as well, one that I didn’t recognize.
He was dressed this time, at least partially. No shirt, just dark ripped jeans, and the heavy muscles of his shoulders and chest looked even starker in the firelight than they had under the light of the sun. Now that he wasn’t pinning me to the ground, I saw that his pack mark was on his upper chest. All three of the wolves with him bore the same symbol—a ‘U’ shape with a snake running through it. It didn’t look like any of the twelve Zodiac signs I’d been surrounded by since birth, but it was a pack mark all the same.
Whispers rose up, replacing the stunned silence. I heard the word, “snake,” muttered over and over again, and I wondered if they were talking about the tattoo on the man’s upper arm, which twined around his skin as if it was a real animal, and not just ink. But no, they were looking at all of the new arrivals, not just him.
The other three hung back from the Sun Witches, but the man, who must have been their alpha, stepped right up toward Evanora. He took his time, looking around the gathered packs until his gaze stopped on me and lingered. My breath caught. Out of everyone in the crowd, somehow he’d found me. Had he been looking for me? I felt a bolt of fear go through me, and something else too—something like need. Another whisper went through the ranks of shifters gathered, but I couldn’t move under his piercing gaze, like he was holding me down in the forest all over again.