Moon Touched (Zodiac Wolves: The Lost Pack #1)(73)

Chapter Thirty





The Leo pack agreed to meet with us in a week's time. Their pack lands were in Arizona, which was pretty far from the Ophiuchus territory in Manitoba, but they agreed to fly up to Canada for this meeting. On a private jet, naturally. The Leos would never settle for anything less.

The meeting was set at a small airstrip a few hours away, which was far enough for it to be neutral territory. Kaden convinced them to meet us at night, so I could use my power if needed to escape. The Sun Witches would also be weaker then, while those of us who were Moon Touched would be stronger. I prayed it would be enough, especially as the week passed and the hour of the meeting drew near.

With only hours to go, my stomach was all tangled up in knots. The whole pack seemed to be on edge, and who could blame them? It didn't help that I'd barely seen Kaden all week either. He'd been busy getting everything ready, while Stella and I had doubled down on training. She'd taught me to use both the healing lick and the poison bite, including how to regulate the amount of poison released from my fangs. I was as ready as I would ever be to face the Leos.

Then it was time to leave. I packed a bag, mostly to make it look like I really planned to go with the Leos. As I closed it up, I had the strangest feeling of nostalgia. The last time I’d gone to my room to pack my bags, my life had changed completely. I wondered if that would happen again, and prayed that if anything were to happen I would be able to stay with my new pack.

When I met Stella in the yard, there were several vehicles parked outside, but no sign of Kaden.

"He went early to scout the location and make sure the Leo pack doesn’t have any traps in place. We'll make sure we have the upper hand this time.” Her eyes blazed, and I knew she was thinking about her parent’s deaths. The Leo alpha had a lot to pay for.

Stella climbed into an SUV and motioned for me to follow her. She sat in the back, and I wasn't surprised to find Clayton in the driver’s seat. The van was packed with warriors, and there was another one just like it right behind us.

The drive was long, tense, and silent. Even Stella remained quiet. My hands were so sweaty I had to keep rubbing them on my jeans. I tried to focus on the view out the window, but I barely saw any of it. The last time I'd seen the Leos, I'd been running from them in terror. Now I was on my way to meet them head-on, and though I was still terrified, I wasn't the same girl I'd been then. I was stronger, and I wasn't alone. I had a pack that would protect me.

When we arrived, I saw Kaden standing with Harper and Dane. They all turned toward the vans as we parked in an empty field alongside the airstrip. Night had fallen, and there was very little here other than a small building with a tower and the runway, which had definitely seen better days, and beyond that, a dark forest.

We got out of the van, and Kaden walked over to us. "Are you ready?" He was asking both me and Stella, but his eyes were only on me.

"As ready as we can be," I said.

He nodded. "The Leos should be arriving in the next half hour. We have scouts patrolling the forest in case they try to approach that way instead. All we can do now is wait."

Stella took my hand. "Just remember, whatever happens, you're one of us now."

I gave her a warm smile, blinking back sudden tears. "Thank you."

The other shifters got into position around us, and we waited in silence as the waning moon rose behind clouds. Would there be enough moonlight for me to use my power? I hoped I wouldn't have to find out the hard way.

A gray wolf emerged from the forest and trotted over to Kaden, tongue lolling out the side of its mouth. It shifted back into a very naked Jack, who had zero shame as he let it all hang out. He was hot, no doubt about it, but he didn't make my heart race like Kaden did.

“There's no trace of the Leos or any other packs being here in the last day or two," he told Kaden.

"Good," our alpha said. He checked his phone with a frown. "They should have been here by now."

"They must be running late," Stella said.

"Maybe." Kaden didn’t sound convinced. The other shifters all looked grim too like they were expecting the worst.

We decided to keep waiting. Jack shifted back into wolf form to go snoop around some more, and some of the other warriors grew restless after more time passed. Kaden looked up into the night sky every few minutes, though none of us could hear the roar of a jet.

After about thirty minutes, Stella tugged on my arm and jerked her head back to the van. She grabbed a bag of chips and some water from inside it, and then we sat in the grass.

“Do you think they aren’t coming?” I asked.

Stella's mouth twisted with disgust. “I think that the Leos have no honor, and we shouldn’t have tried to bother with this. They’re probably scheming something right now.”

Hours passed, and there was still no sign of the Leos. At one point, Stella and I dozed in the grass, but Kaden walked over to us, his jaw clenched.

“They’re not coming,” he said, and I could hear the frustration in his voice.

"Have you heard anything from them?" Stella asked.

"No, not a peep."

Damn. All of that anticipation and stress for them to not even show up. Assholes.

We bundled back into the cars and prepared to leave. The drive back was tense. I could feel the anger rolling off Kaden, almost choking me with its intensity.