Wesley squared his shoulders and nodded. “You’re right. It’s more than we had before, and if they agree to ally with us, we stand a chance.”
"It'll be enough," Kaden said, his eyes gleaming with determination. "Let's get started."
Chapter Thirty
The totality began, leaving only a small corona of light above us, casting the area in murky darkness. We walked toward the area we'd set up earlier, a circle of picnic chairs where all the alphas and betas would be able to see and hear everything. Wesley invited everyone to join us, and anticipation raced through me as the shifters gathered around for the start of our own mini Convergence. The alphas and betas sat in the chairs, while their other pack members gathered behind them. I took my own seat in the Ophiuchus section, my stomach clenched tight with nervous energy.
“Thank you all for coming,” Kaden said, after calling for silence. “We've recently learned that the Leos are planning to take over all of the packs and make them submit to their rule, with the help of the Sun Witches. We're here to discuss how we can stop them."
A ripple of unease went through the gathered shifters. Wesley moved to stand beside Kaden, an obvious show of support. “You all saw what happened to the Cancer pack at the Convergence,” Wesley said. “The Sun Witches stood by and did nothing while my entire pack was slaughtered, including my parents. It was only by sheer luck that I survived to be able to make it back to my pack and take us into hiding.” He looked around the gathered shifters, pausing for a moment as a few of them whispered. “We recently got news that the Aquarius pack have bowed to the Leos' rule. The Aries, Taurus, and Scorpio packs are already lost, and we don’t know about the Gemini and Virgo packs. They might also be under the control of the Leos for all we know.”
“Of everyone here, who will be next?” Kaden asked as he looked in turn between all the various packs. “You’ve seen how the Leos operate. They want absolute subjugation, and I don’t know about you, but I’m not willing to take that lying down. We have to stand up to the Leos and the Sun Witches if we want to retain our autonomy and freedom.”
"How do you know all this for sure?" asked the Libra alpha, who had called himself Ethan earlier.
"The Leos captured me, and their alpha told me his plans," I said, rising to my feet.
“Aren’t you Jordan’s mate?" the Capricorn beta, Pierce, sneered. "Oh, wait, no. He rejected you. What are you even doing here, half-breed?”
The word twisted something in my gut. It had been ages since I’d heard it, and I’d forgotten how much it hurt.
Kaden stepped in front of me and growled, low in his throat. “Ayla is the Ophiuchus alpha female, and you will treat her with respect, beta.”
I cleared my throat, shoving my shame and anger down so I could keep my voice level. "Yes, Jordan is my mate, which is how I know all of this is true. The Leos are working with the Sun Witches, and together they want to unite the Zodiac Wolves—under their rule."
"The Sun Witches have always been neutral allies," Pierce said, sitting back and crossing his arms. "Why would they help the Leos do this?"
"The Sun Witches have been lying to you for years," Kaden snapped. "They lock up your wolves until adulthood, spew you lies about a bullshit Moon Curse, and create fake mate bonds when it suits them."
"Why would they do all that?" Ethan asked.
"To control you," Kaden said. "It's just one part in their plan to take over all of the Zodiac Wolves."
"For what purpose though?" Ethan tilted his head, his face thoughtful. "I'm willing to believe that the Leos want to rule us and that the Sun Witches are helping them, but how do we know anything else you say is true? Like about the mate bonds?"
Wesley spoke up at that. "I found evidence that my father paid the Sun Witches to create a mate bond between Ayla and Jordan. If they created that bond, they could have faked other ones too over the years."
The other alphas and betas looked surprised at that, but I was even more surprised to see Eileen stand up and speak. "Though I am the Sagittarius beta now, I grew up as an Ophiuchus. I can confirm that we gain our wolves as children, and we do not suffer from any full moon curse, nor do we need a spell to find our mates."
The other alphas and betas argued back and forth about the Sun Witches for some time, and I tuned them out and looked up at the eclipse through my glasses. The totality had ended, and the sun was growing larger behind the shadow of the moon. Our time was running out.