"I also must apologize to you for not helping when you came to us at the Convergence," he said to me. "We should have taken you in, and I have regretted my actions ever since."
"Thank you," I said, a lump forming in my throat. "I know you were only trying to protect your pack."
His face was grim. "Yes, but I should have known there was no staying out of this conflict, and done what was right. I won't ask for your forgiveness, but I swear the Pisces pack is done swimming away from the fight. We will stand with you however we can."
His words gave me hope, and I felt even better when he went to speak to Kaden next, and the two shared polite formalities. It was so very different from how Kaden had been treated at the Convergence, and it made me think change was actually possible.
It was almost midday, and the solar eclipse was starting to go into effect. Everything dimmed slightly, and I watched as the shadows of the trees changed, the leaves becoming slivers instead of the full shapes cast onto the ground. Wesley and the Cancer pack handed out eclipse glasses, and we all put them on. The tension ramped up in my chest again. The meeting was scheduled to start soon, but no one else was here. Would the Pisces and Sagittarius be the only packs to attend?
The solar eclipse was nearing its totality when the Libra pack arrived, the alpha and a few other shifters stepping out from the trees. The Libra alpha was young and unmated, probably around the same age as Kaden, and freaking hot too. He was dressed like he was attending a business meeting, with his shirtsleeves rolled back to reveal tattoos running along his muscular arms. I remembered Wesley telling me he was a fairly new alpha, and that, unlike my brother or Kaden, he hadn't inherited the role—he'd challenged the previous Libra alpha and won. To my surprise, he greeted Kaden politely and formally, much like he would any other pack alpha.
Before I could speak with him, three men and one woman emerged from the trees with the Capricorn symbol on their arms, surprising us all. Wesley had been hopeful they would arrive, since they'd been allies of the Cancer pack, but they hadn't committed either way. I didn't recognize any of them, even though I'd met the alphas a few times before, and I guessed Capricorn hadn’t sent its alphas, just the betas and a couple of warriors. I tried not to let it bother me too much—at least they'd sent someone at all.
Kaden stepped forward to greet them, but they ignored him and walked past, marching straight up to Wesley. The man at the front gave my brother a firm nod. "I am Pierce, beta of the Capricorn pack. We are here to honor our alliance with the Cancer pack." He shot Kaden a sharp glance, then turned back to Wesley. "Though we find your new company…problematic."
My hackles rose at his tone. How dare he talk about my alpha that way.
"It's nice to meet you," Wesley said, diplomatically ignoring the beta's last words. "Grab some eclipse glasses and a beer and settle in. We'll start soon."
I glared at the betas as they walked to the picnic table with the food and glasses on it. Kaden, sensing my anger, walked over to me and put a hand on my shoulder.
“It's fine. We knew not everyone would accept the Ophiuchus immediately. It's a relief they're here at all."
Since when had he become the level-headed one? I crossed my arms, still annoyed by the way they'd acted. "I guess."
We waited a bit longer, but time was running out. The sun slowly faded away behind the moon, becoming smaller and smaller as totality approached. That meant we only had another hour or so before it was all over.
As we waited for other packs to arrive, I watched the other alphas and betas interact with each other, along with the other shifters they'd brought. This wasn’t the same joyful interactions that I’d seen at the Convergence, but it was good to see so many shifters in one place, getting along despite being from different packs.
After another fifteen minutes passed, and the sun was the smallest sliver of light, Kaden said, “No one else is coming. Totality is about to begin, and we need to get this meeting started too.”
I sighed but knew he was right. If the other packs weren't here already, they weren't coming. Besides, we knew the Aries, Taurus, and Scorpio packs were already allied with the Leos, so they hadn't been invited, and we'd just learned that the Aquarius pack had fallen to them too.
“Damn, I’d hoped that Virgo and Gemini would make it too,” Wesley said, and I heard the disappointment in his voice.
"Four of the packs are here," I said, trying to find the bright side. "That's a good start."