When he was gone, Kaden grabbed me and dragged me into his lap. "You're brother is a good man. He will be a great alpha.”
“He’s the only thing that made living here bearable. Finding out he’s alive is…everything.” I leaned against Kaden and then had a new thought. "If the mate bond was a spell cast by the Sun Witches, do you think it can be broken with magic too?"
Kaden played with my hair, his eyes thoughtful. “I’m not sure. The only spells my parents taught me were basic things to protect the pack, like setting up wards. For complex magic, we'd probably need a real witch."
Damn. There was no way one of the Sun Witches would be willing to help us. That only left one option: the Moon Witches. But no shifter had seen them in decades, not even the Ophiuchus pack. I wanted to find them, but I didn't even know where to begin looking.
The waves lapped against the shore, a strange sort of music to my ears. For so long, I hadn’t thought of myself as part of the Cancer pack, and I’d tried to pretend that I didn’t love the sound of the sea as much as the next shifter. But there was something about it, something that eased the constant tension in my shoulders and made everything seem a little less daunting.
It was late, and I’d crept out of the house to walk along the beach. There were too many things to think about, and I didn’t want to keep Kaden awake with my pacing. I dug my bare toes into the sand as I continued walking, and tilted my head up to look at the stars. The moon had risen higher, and I found my gaze drawn to it, as usual. This time, I didn’t feel the serenity and strength it usually gave me.
Where were the Moon Witches? I didn’t have the faintest clue as to where I’d find them. Hell, I didn't even know where to begin looking. Had they gone into hiding? Or had every bit of their existence been systematically wiped out by the Sun Witches, except for the small traces of their blood in the Ophiuchus pack? Was my mom still alive, or had she perished with the rest of the Moon Witches?
If Kaden hadn’t appeared at the Convergence, I would have never believed that he—and the Ophiuchus pack—existed at all. Were the Moon Witches biding their time to make their comeback as well? Now seemed like the perfect time to do so—and we could certainly use their help. If they were keeping up with what was going on with the packs, hopefully they’d realize now would be the time to stand up to the Sun Witches. But so far, they hadn't made an appearance.
I shook my head and sighed. I was beginning to get frustrated with these insurmountable tasks we were having shoved onto our plates. Oh, just locate the Moon Witches, and find a way to make all of the other packs ally with you, while trying not to get captured again by the Leos and Sun Witches. Easy peasy.
A scuff of feet on the sand behind me sent me into an immediate defensive position. I half expected Brad to find me and try to beat me up again, just out of spite, but it wasn’t him who stood behind me. I blinked, fists still clenched. “You scared me."
“You shouldn’t wander off like that,” Kaden said. “It isn’t safe, especially when we have the Taurus pack hot on our tails.”
I rolled my eyes. I liked that he wanted to keep me safe, but sometimes he could be a bit overbearing. “Ooh, the big bad alpha, looking out for me to make sure I don’t get eaten up by the Cancer pack. Hold on, let me find a patch of sand soft enough to swoon onto.”
Kaden’s lips didn’t so much as twitch. “You do need to be more careful. So many people want you hurt—or dead.”
“Sorry,” I said with a sigh. “I just had to clear my head. This is all so overwhelming.”
“I get it. It’s a lot to take in. Being lied to your entire life can’t be an easy thing to swallow.” He tilted his head back to stare up at the sky, and I remembered when we'd first kissed, on the roof of his house as he showed me the stars through his telescope. He'd pushed me away after that, believing we could never be together, but now we knew the mate bond was a lie.
"It is a lot, but it's easier with you here." I turned toward him and he opened his arms wide, drawing me into his embrace. I rested my head on his shoulder, breathing in his scent, feeling safe and content. I just had to ignore the niggling feeling in my gut that said this happiness could never last.
Chapter Twenty-Two
We spent the next week living with Wesley and the orphan shifters. I got the sense Kaden was impatient to return to the Ophiuchus pack, but I hadn't seen my brother in months. The thought of leaving Wesley so soon after finding out he was still alive physically hurt. But we couldn't stay on this island forever, even if it was the perfect hideaway. We had our own path, and Wesley had to take care of the Cancer pack.