Moon Touched (Zodiac Wolves: The Lost Pack #1)(49)

I glanced over at Kaden, who trudged beside me in a black shirt and jeans. I wished I could have been mated to someone like him, rather than Jordan. At least Kaden had never looked at me with such cruel eyes, and he'd never injured me either.

But he wasn't my mate.

Who was I kidding? I wanted Kaden anyway. He was hot, and everything an alpha should be, and I would gladly fuck him just to relieve some of this constant pressure between my thighs. If I didn't do something about it soon, I thought I might implode.

Kaden glanced over as if he felt my stare, and I could have sworn his lips twisted down. Despite the chemistry between us, Kaden was always the first to pull away and made it very clear with his actions that he didn’t want me.

“How’s cleaning going at the school?” Kaden asked as we continued walking through the forest. It was a warm day in early July, and the sunlight filtered through the trees and warmed my shoulders.

"It's fine," I said, surprised he was bothering with small talk. "I like to see Stella with the pups."

Stella had an amazing gift when it came to the children. That was one of the first things I’d noticed when I’d stepped into her kindergarten classroom. I’d spent too much time simply watching her teach and the children interact with her, before remembering I had to actually clean the room I was standing in.

I'd spent days cleaning the place, all except the huge fucking snake they had in one of the rooms. No way was I getting near that thing. I couldn't believe they actually had it at the school, where it could hiss at the children walking past. I suspected it was thinking about eating them, but Stella told me the snake was harmless. Sure.

I was still getting used to seeing wolf pups at the school too. It was incredible to see a child running around, only to have a wolf there a moment later. It seemed to happen mostly when they got upset. I’d never had to deal with upset baby shifters, but the teachers had a good handle on it. They seemed used to the extra work of running down a small wolf that could outpace even the fastest adult in human form.

"What are we doing out here?" I asked.

"I want to show you the different routes we use for patrols and show you what sorts of thing to watch out for when you're on duty."

My eyebrows shot up. "Wow, that almost sounds like you might actually trust me a tiny bit."

"Don't get your hopes up. This is as much a test as anything else."

Of course. Everything was a test, and no one would tell me what my grade was.

As we got further into the forest, Kaden said, “Most of the packs have no idea where we live, and I'd like to keep it that way. The mystery surrounding us has kept us safe for all this time, but we need to be prepared for an attack, now more than ever. After the most recent Convergence, we might be targeted now, especially with the upheaval." He paused and rested that heavy gaze upon me. "And with you here.”

I met his eyes with a hard look of my own. "You did want to use me as bait."

He grunted. "And we will, once we're ready."

We kept walking, trudging uphill and through some mud, and I couldn't help but think this would be a lot easier as wolves. When I'd hiked before, I'd always had my camera, or at least my phone, to make the journey more fun, but now I had neither of those. Maybe if I was a good girl, Kaden would let me have a phone again. I let out a heavy sigh and he shot me a glance.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Nothing. It's just... I wish I had my camera.” There wasn’t any response, so I just shook my head and continued. “I majored in photography in college, and I loved taking photos of nature. This forest is so beautiful I'd like to capture it too, but, well, no camera."

“What happened to it?” Kaden asked, surprising me. “Was it left back at the Convergence?”

“No, it was smashed before that. I got on the bad side of the Cancer beta’s son, and he and his mate decided it would be a fun way to torment me. I had some photos on my phone as well, but…well, I guess I lost that too.”

His hard blue eyes raked up and down my body. "Are they the ones who gave you those scars on your body?"

I flushed at the unexpected question, embarrassed he had seen so much of me, including all the things about my body that brought me shame. "A few of them, yeah."

"And the others?"

The anger in his voice shocked me. I swallowed and said, "Most of them were from my father."

Kaden growled, a low and terrifying sound that raised the hair on my arms. "If he wasn't already dead, I'd kill him myself for that."

I froze, his words echoing through me. "I...you would?"

He kept walking, falling into silence once more. I stared after him for a moment, trying to wrap my head around what he'd just said, before chasing after him. Did he...care for me? Or was he just pissed off that an alpha would treat their pack member—their daughter—that way?

I caught up with him and felt a connection between us, one I wanted to explore more. I found myself babbling, unable to stop. "I was lucky he let me go to college at all. The only reason he agreed was because my brother pressured him. Did you go to college?”

“No, I didn’t have the chance. I became alpha at eighteen.” He'd gone back to being his normal, surly self, and I didn’t expect him to continue, but then he surprised me by speaking up again. “I planned to go to college, even applied and everything, and then my parents were killed. I had to drop everything to take care of Stella and the pack.”