Moon Touched (Zodiac Wolves: The Lost Pack #1)(26)

“How did you escape?” Kaden asked.

“I don’t know,” I said.

In one smooth motion, Kaden stood, kicking the chair away with a burst of strength. “I told you not to lie to me,” he growled, and the tension in the air sharpened. “I could kill you just as easily as release you.”

Ah. There were the familiar threats. He was no different than anyone in the Cancer pack, after all. "I'll tell you, but I want my own answers first."

He crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows. "Answers about what?"

"Where are we? What happened to my injuries? How did you knock me out? And who dressed me?"

He smirked at that. "I can't answer most of those. Not yet. But I will say...I'm the one who dressed you."

My eyes widened at that and my cheeks grew warm imaging those big hands of his all over my naked body. I picked at the enormous shirt. "You could have gotten me some clothes that fit me."

He gestured toward me, his eyes narrowing. "Your turn. Tell me how you escaped before my last bit of patience vanishes."

“I really don’t know,” I said, holding my hands out. “I stepped into the moonlight and then suddenly I was a few feet away. It happened a couple more times before I realized I was moving from one patch of moonlight to another. I have no idea how I did it, and when I tried to use that power again, I couldn’t.”

Kaden sat back down in his chair, looking almost intrigued. He was quiet for a few moments longer, and I thought he’d be interested in asking me more about that, but then his eyes moved up and down my body like he was appraising me. “You don’t have a pack mark. I didn’t see one on you when we first met either. Why is that?”

I ducked my head. The fun questions now, apparently. “I’ve always been an outcast in my pack because I’m half-human. I never had a pack mark.”

“Aren’t you the alpha’s daughter?” Kaden asked.

I looked up at him and gave him a wry smile that held no humor. “You’d think that would help, but it made it worse. I’m a result of his affair with a human. She abandoned me with the pack, and even my father couldn’t turn me away. He raised me, but not as his own. The worst treatment came from him and my stepmother.” I sucked in a breath, thinking of Wesley again. “The only one who ever showed me any love was my brother, Wesley. And now they’re all dead and it doesn’t matter.”

I blinked away tears at the thought of my brother, turning my face away from Kaden. I didn’t want him to see me like this. Any weakness, no matter how justified, could be used against me in the future. I drew in a shaky breath and continued. “I’d hoped that when I turned twenty-two and came to the Convergence I’d get a mate in a different pack. One who would treat me better.” I let out a bitter laugh. “You saw how well that went.”

Kaden was quiet for a beat longer, tension still thick in the air. “Do you feel any ties to the Leo pack or your mate?” he asked, instead of the million other things he could have said. “Do you want to go back to them?”

I whipped my head around to glare at him. “Fuck no. I want them all to die for what they’ve cost me." Then I hesitated. I could lie, but what was the point? "But yes, I still feel the mating bond with Jordan, though I wish I couldn't.”

Kaden smiled, but it wasn't a nice smile. “I have good and bad news for you. Which do you want to hear first?”

“I don’t care,” I said. “It’s all news.”

“Good news first, then. You’ve become useful to me, so I won’t kill you. Yet.”

The implied threat may have cowed me, just a day ago. Now, I just stared at him blankly. “And the bad news?”

“You’re going to use your bond with your Leo mate to set a trap for the Leos. You’re going to be our bait."

I laughed, the sound dragged out of me. “You can fuck right off with that plan. I’m not going to be anyone’s bait.”

Kaden’s lip drew up in a snarl. He moved so fast I didn’t see him get out of the chair. It crashed to the floor behind him, and I jumped, despite my bravado.

“You’re alive because I allow it. You will follow my orders if you want to remain that way.” His hands tightened around the bars, thick muscles in his forearms flexing. Kaden’s voice dropped so low, it was practically a growl. “And if you ever disrespect me again, I’ll tear your throat out with my teeth.”

The threat was very, very real. I’d just watched an alpha do it to my father, only hours before. Something cold slithered through my veins. No matter how well they were treating me, they still weren’t my friends. I kept my face blank, not allowing him to see my fear. He could probably smell it, but I raised my chin anyway and met his eyes.

Kaden pushed away from the bars and walked to the door. “I thought you’d want revenge on the Leo pack for what they’ve done to you.” He stopped and glanced back over his shoulder. "I can give that to you. No one else will have the guts to stand against them. Think about it. It’s the only offer you’ll get from me.”

With that, he turned and left me with nothing but my thoughts and half a bottle of water to keep me company, while his parting words echoed in my skull.





Chapter Eleven