We did a thorough pass of the village anyway, making sure we wouldn't be ambushed, and that no sniper was waiting on top of the gas station to take us out, or something along those lines.
Kaden let go of my hand and came into focus again. “No one’s here,” he said. “No sign of a fight either."
"They must have left town."
Kaden shrugged. “It’s your old pack. Where would they have gone?”
I gazed across the town I'd grown up in as I considered his question. With my entire family gone—and me presumed dead—the beta would have taken over. He'd hated me, as had his son, Brad. I had no idea where he would have taken the pack. We were at a dead end.
“I don’t know." I let out a frustrated breath. “We could look through the town some more, see if there are any clues as to where they went.”
"That could take days," Kaden said, his brow furrowed. "Is there somewhere we can stay while we're here?"
"Take your pick," I said, spreading my arms wide at the empty houses. Of course, breaking into someone's abandoned home and crashing there felt wrong. I shook my head. "I suppose we can go back to my childhood home. I might as well see if there are any clothes or shoes there I could use."
Kaden's eyebrows darted up at that idea. "I would very much like to see where you grew up, little wolf."
I sighed, as the sea air whipped at my hair. "Don't get too excited. I didn't exactly have a happy childhood there."
He took a wayward strand of hair and tucked it behind my ear. "I don't care. It's still a part of your past. I want to know about all of it—the good and the bad."
I swallowed hard, turning my gaze toward the direction of my old home. Even though I dreaded returning there, something in my gut tugged me forward, and I became certain that I had to do this. No matter how hard it would be.
Chapter Nineteen
Kaden took my hand again, giving me the courage to start walking down the road toward the largest house in the village, nestled atop a rocky cliff overlooking the waves. The alpha would never settle for anything less of course, but the house wasn't so grand that it felt out of place in the town either. The two-story house was painted white and gray, with lots of windows so the ocean could be seen from every room. A narrow path led down to the private beach, but we passed it by and headed straight for the front door. There were no lights on inside, not that I'd expected to see any, but each step still filled me with dread as I approached.
The door was locked, but I kicked aside the rock that we kept on the porch with the spare key, and pushed the door open. Once I flipped the lights on, I just stopped and stared. It looked exactly the same as it had the day we’d left for the Convergence. Dad's coffee cup sat next to the sink with the expectation that I’d wash it when we got back. One of Jackie’s gossip magazines was splayed out on the counter next to the rest of the mail.
Kaden was completely silent, but I felt him hovering close to me as I walked through the living room. Jackie had redecorated the place recently, painting the walls stark white, then changing all the furniture to a modern gray, with black and white accents around the room. She loved to do this every few years to keep up with the trends, but to me, it felt staged. The room was spotless, with nothing out of place, like she wanted anyone who came into the house to think we had a picture-perfect life.
All sorts of emotions bounced around inside me, and I couldn't focus on any single one of them. In a way, it was nice to come back to this place where I'd spent most of my life. This home was all that I'd known, and I did have some happy memories inside it. Of course, they'd all been with Wesley, and at that thought, the heavy weight of my grief nearly crushed me. There were bad memories too, of course. All the times my parents had been cruel with their words or their hands. Or in other ways, the more subtle yet more painful ones, like when Wesley got Christmas presents and I didn't. Or how he was in every single family photo hanging on the walls here, but I was nowhere to be found.
Being back in this house made me so angry, and sad, and relieved that they were gone, and guilty for feeling that way, and so many other emotions I didn't even have a name for. I nearly bolted out, too overwhelmed by it all, until Kaden rested his hand on my lower back as if he knew I needed his support.
"Breathe," he said. "If it's too much, we can go."
I nodded, taking a long, slow breath, and pushed through the turmoil inside me. I wasn't sure I'd be able to sleep in this house tonight, but we should at least visit my room before we left. "I'm all right. Thanks."