Moon Touched (Zodiac Wolves: The Lost Pack #1)(22)

When I came back to my senses, holding onto consciousness by the barest thread, Mira was holding me up. “Ayla?” she was saying over and over as if I'd passed out.

I tried to smile at her, but the best I could manage was an unconvincing twitch of my lips, and then I was crushed to Mira’s chest in a tight hug. I groaned as the motion jostled my hurt knee, looking over Mira’s shoulder. Mira’s new mate rushed over and brought me a blanket, which I gladly accepted to cover my naked body, and I saw the Pisces alpha approaching too. I felt a wave of relief rush through me. I was among allies, I reminded myself. They would help me.

“What happened?” Mira said, drawing me back and looking me over. Her eyes were wide, face ashen as she noted the odd angle of my leg. “Are you okay?"

I shook my head, unable to find the words to express how not okay I was. Now that I'd found a sliver of safety, tears filled my eyes at the thought of everything I'd seen. My father. My pack. My brother. All gone.

"What happened after we left?" Mira asked, more insistent this time. "I saw Jordan reject you and then the alphas were arguing, but then the Pisces alpha said we should go in case there was trouble. As we were running away, I heard screaming and I feared..." Her words died off like she couldn't say the rest out loud.

I wiped at my eyes and looked up at her. "Everything you feared is true. The Leos slaughtered our pack. Including my entire family."

Mira gasped, her face pale. "All of them? Even Wesley?"

I replayed the last moments I’d seen him alive, swarmed by Scorpio shifters. There was no way he could have survived that. “Dead,” I whispered, grief flooding me at the memory.

Mira’s lip wobbled. "My parents?"

My chest tightened. I'd forgotten they were there too. "I didn't see them. I'm sorry."

She covered her mouth with trembling hands as tears streamed down her face. "No, no, no. They can't be..."

We held each other, crying for everyone we had lost, but when she squeezed me too tight I yelped. She pulled back, wiped her eyes, and looked me over. "You're hurt."

"Jordan. He attacked me but I managed to escape." I pulled my leg in toward my chest, wincing at the awful crunching sound it made. “I’m pretty banged up, but I’ll survive. I just need to get away from the Leos."

"You can come with us," Mira said. She glanced up at her new mate, who rubbed the back of his neck like he wasn't sure what to do in this situation. Then she turned to the Pisces alpha, who was watching us. "She can, right?"

The Pisces alpha's face drew down into a frown and he crossed his arms as he looked at me. “I can’t help you,” he said. The words didn’t penetrate my grief-addled brain at first, and I just stared at him, unable to believe what he’d said. “We’re leaving immediately, but you can’t come with us.”

“Please,” Mira said, glancing between me and the alpha. “Can’t you see she needs our help?”

He shook his head. “She’s not our problem. We can’t afford to be at war with the Leos."

"But you were allied with the Cancers," I sputtered. "You were friends with my father!"

"And from what I hear, he and his heir are dead." His face turned grim. "I will grieve their loss, and pray to the gods for your soul, but I can't put my pack’s safety on the line for you."

It was a punch to the gut. Surely, he wouldn’t turn me away. He’d always seemed kind, whenever he came to visit. Kind and level-headed, unlike Dad. “No,” I whispered, so quiet that it hardly came out at all. “Please, you don’t understand, I have nowhere else to go.”

"That's not our problem." His words were harsh, but I could see in the alpha's eyes that this was a struggle for him. He held strong though, unwilling to waver. “We’re probably already next on the Leos’ hit list, and having you with us will make them even more eager to tear us apart. We can’t take losses like your pack can. The Pisces pack isn’t even half as large as the Cancer pack is.” He winced, and then amended, “Was.”

Mira grabbed me tight and held me to her as if she could keep me with her physically. "No! We can't just leave her here."

Her new mate grabbed her and tugged her away. “Come on. We need to go before the Leos find us. You don’t owe her your allegiance anymore.”

Mira reached out to me as he ripped us apart, sobbing. I stretched my hand out to meet her, tears running down my face as well. He shoved her into a car before we could even brush fingers, and I fell back to the ground, shaking.

The Pisces alpha looked down at me, his face hard. “I’m sorry, but I have to put my people first.”

He turned and got in his Jeep, and the rest of the shifters got in their cars too. Then they drove away, leaving me in the dust. The only people who could help me, and they’d just driven away like I didn't matter at all. Like all the years of support from the Cancer pack meant nothing anymore. The second their loyalty was questioned, they turned their backs and ran.

Leaving me here. Alone. Naked.

Packless.

I glanced down at my arm, at the spot where I should have had a Leo pack symbol. That spot remained empty, showing every shifter I was an outcast. I wasn't a Cancer anymore, and the Leos wouldn't have me either. No one would take me in, not even the Cancer pack’s closest allies. Where would I go?