Wesley inclined his head. “Thank you."
I could hardly believe it. After everything Pierce had said, I'd expected the Capricorns to walk away from this meeting without pledging their support. That only left the Libra alpha undecided.
"Where does the Libra pack stand?" Kaden asked.
Ethan tapped his fingers against his lip as he considered. "I'm not sure yet. I think we're being too hasty in making this decision. There’s still a chance for diplomacy. If we could only sit down and talk with the Leos—"
The Pisces alpha shook his head. "That's not going to work. I know your pack likes to mediate, but now isn't the time for that."
The debate continued in the background, but suddenly I couldn’t focus on it. The mate bond tugged at my gut hard, making my mouth fall open in a silent gasp. It had been dormant for weeks while I'd been with the Ophiuchus and I’d almost forgotten what it felt like, or how persistent it could be. Especially when my mate was close.
Jordan was here, and the goddamned mate bond was still pulling me toward him.
No—pulling him toward me.
Chapter Thirty-One
I jumped up and grabbed Kaden's arm. “The Leos. They’re here.”
“What?” Kaden asked, gaze sharpening. “How do you know?”
“The damn mating bond,” I grumbled. “Which means that Jordan knows where I am too. I’m like a fucking homing beacon for him.”
"Shit," Wesley said, his eyes going wide. "I guess we'll be putting those alliances to test now."
"The Leos are on their way," Kaden announced to the others. "We must prepare for an attack."
The other shifters scurried to their feet, springing into action. Kaden ordered those who weren't fighters inside the cabin, while everyone else would fight outside of it. I saw Eileen hand Devin a long bow and some arrows, then give him a long kiss before heading into the cabin. I shooed Mira and Aiden after her, along with the Pisces alpha. Jack rushed over and confirmed that the scent of the Leos was in the woods, along with the smell of others—Sun Witches.
Kaden glanced up at the sky, where the sun had completely emerged from the eclipse, and then swore under his breath. We'd spent too long deliberating, and now the Sun Witches would be back at full strength.
He turned to me and pulled me against him. "I don't suppose I can convince you to get inside too."
"No way. This is my fight too. And don't even try to use an alpha command on me again. We both know that didn't work last time."
"Of course it didn't." Kaden's fingers tightened around my chin. "Because you're my alpha female. The only one who is my equal in this world." His mouth crashed down on me and he kissed me hard. I gripped his face and kissed him back with the same vigor, in case this was the last time.
He pressed his forehead against mine. "I know you'll fight, and there's nothing I can do to stop you. Just know that I'll be fighting alongside you the entire time, and I'll be damned if I let them take you again."
"I'm not getting captured this time," I said and ran my thumb across his lips. "Just don't die on me, all right?"
He gave me a wry grin. "I'm not going anywhere."
Snarls came from outside the clearing, the crack of twigs and the scuff of feet against the forest floor coming from all sides. We were surrounded, so suddenly and completely. A rush of fear went through me, along with anticipation for the thrill of the battle to come. I was ready to face the Leos again, and get my revenge on them for everything they'd done to me and my family. Bring it on, I thought.
We just had enough time to settle into a makeshift battle formation before shifters emerged from the trees. Leo, Aries, and Taurus all melted from the forest, followed by orange-cloaked Sun Witches. They surrounded us instantly, pressing us into a circle. Kaden stood to my right, with Wesley on the left—the two men I cared about most and would fight to defend. Pierce and Devin stood behind me, with some of their shifters surrounding them, and to my surprise, the Libra alpha Ethan was there too. He'd ripped his button-down shirt off, revealing more tattoos, and I wondered what he thought of his precious diplomacy now.
"Attack!" Kaden yelled.
We raced out to meet the approaching attackers, many of us shifting as we ran. I settled into my wolf form with surprising ease as I loped toward the fight. The clash of fur against fur was punctuated with brilliant blasts of light from the Sun Witches as our two forces collided. The Leos let out their lion roar, causing the shifters near them to either flee or freeze in terror, but then the Libras raised their arms and used their own power to neutralize it. The affected shifters stopped and shook off their fear, then got back into the fight. Sagittarius warriors shot arrows into the enemy lines, using their archer's sight power so they hit every target. The Capricorns used their pack power, goat leap, to launch themselves across the clearing, soaring as if they were flying, until they landed on top of some of the other wolves and tore them apart.