When they finally adjusted, I glanced around. We were at the edge of the Leo pack village, and beyond it, there was only harsh desert, with hills, and tumbleweed, and an honest-to-god cactus sticking out of the ground. I was definitely not in Canada anymore. The Leo village butted right up against the desert, with rows of nearly identical two-story houses that all looked pretty new, each painted in one of three shades of sand with clay tile roofs.
Before I could take it in, Jordan started walking away, toward a patch of green up ahead. I hesitated, looking back at the prison building, but the guards stayed put. Jordan was going to take me out into the village by himself, with no backup? Was he that confident?
I hurried to follow Jordan. “Aren’t you worried I’ll try to attack you, or run?”
"Not really." He gave a casual shrug, his face lit up with a cocky smile. When he glanced over at me, his hair blowing in the wind and the sun kissing his tanned skin, I got the distinct impression that he belonged here in this dry, hot place. “I’m trying to treat you like my mate. If you do try to run, you won’t get far. And if you attack me…" His smile turned wicked. "I'd take great pleasure in pinning you to the ground. I think we both know what would happen after that."
His words flared the lust inside me I'd been trying so hard to ignore. I couldn't help but picture us tousling out here in the desert heat, trying to battle one another until we finally gave in to the urges we both felt. No, attacking him was not an option. Not when I couldn't trust my own body to obey. My only choice then was to run. Maybe not now, but later.
“I want you to come to me of your own free will at the full moon," Jordan continued. "That’s why I want to talk.”
"Then let's talk," I said, taking a step toward him and letting the desire settle over me like a warm blanket. A new plan formed in my mind. If Jordan wanted me to come to him, to be his perfect mate, I could do that. If I made him believe that I trusted him and accepted him, or better yet, that I wanted him, he might lower his guard enough to give me a chance to escape. If he let me out of my cell once, he would probably do it again as long as I behaved. It would be tricky though. It would require subtlety I wasn’t entirely sure I was capable of, and worst of all, it would require me to put away my sharp tongue and pretend to swoon over him.
I looked up at him from under my lashes, taking him in. Damn, he was gorgeous. My body ached for him, my pussy pulsed with need. Okay, so the swooning part would be easy thanks to the mate bond. Maybe too easy. I had to reign this girl in before she got me in trouble.
"Come," he said. "I want to show you my favorite part of town."
He lightly touched my elbow and led me toward the gazebo on the edge of town surrounded by a lush garden. It was the complete opposite of the harsh land around it, and I wondered how it could survive this heat. He opened a small gate and we stepped inside, and it instantly felt cooler. I took a long, deep breath, smelling dozens of different plants and flowers in the air. They were thriving, despite some of them being clearly made for cooler climates.
Jordan strolled along the path toward a gazebo up ahead. "This garden was a gift from the Sun Witches. The temperature will always stay comfortable, no matter the weather.”
Wow, I thought. The Sun Witches really have been favoring the Leos. Had Dad known about this? Did the other packs? With the Sun Witches helping the Leos and giving them their blessings, they really could take over the other packs. That also explained why the Sun Witches didn't lift a finger to help the Cancer pack when the Leos slaughtered us, despite all their talk of how there was no fighting at the Convergence. Fucking hypocrites.
A bolt of worry went through me when I remembered Kaden saying he wanted to take down the Leo pack and all the others as well. What could he possibly do against the might of the Sun Witches combined with the huge numbers of the Leo pack? And if the Leo pack did manage to conquer the rest of the other Zodiac Wolves… I swallowed hard at the thought. I was beginning to realize that even if I did escape this place, I might never be safe from them.
We stepped inside the gazebo and Jordan directed me toward the bench and then sat right beside me on it. The mating bond urged me closer, begging for me to touch Jordan, but the part of me that cared for Kaden howled its disapproval. A war was quietly waging inside me, pulling me apart at the seams, tugging me in two different directions until I wanted to scream. All I wanted was to run back to my cell and hide, but I knew this might be my best chance to win Jordan over.