I rubbed my Ophiuchus mark absentmindedly, almost as if I could feel it tingling in sympathy. I was determined to find my way back to my pack. They had the answers I needed, and I wanted out of this place with the Leos and the Sun Witches. These weren’t my people, they weren’t my home, and Jordan definitely wasn't the man I wanted to spend my life with, no matter how the mate bond made me feel.
Chapter Four
I blinked awake and felt an overwhelming sense of disappointment. I’d been having the most wonderful dream about running through the forest with my pack by my side, and waking up to confinement within these four walls was getting worse and worse every day that passed. This didn’t feel real, but it was what I kept waking up to, rather than my bed in Kaden’s house.
It had been a few days since my encounter with the Sun Witches, and the boredom was starting to drive me a little insane. All I could do was sleep, eat, train, and scheme, only to repeat the process again and again. No one came to visit me, and I was starting to think they were going to leave me in this prison until the full moon ceremony. The possibility of escape dwindled with every day that passed, while my despair and desperation only increased. I wouldn't even consider how smelly my armpits were at this point.
The sound of someone walking down the hall caught me off guard and I sat upright in bed, feeling the mate bond tug at my gut. I slid the blanket off my legs and put my feet on the floor, trying to shake away the last remnants of sleep so I could face Jordan with a clear head.
Jordan and his annoyingly perfect face appeared in front of my cell. "Good morning, Ayla."
I crossed my arms. “Oh, so you remember I exist now. What do you want?”
Jordan nodded to the guard with the keys, who unlocked the door without question. I expected Jordan to step inside, but instead, he held his hand out as if gesturing for me to follow him. "Let's go for a walk."
Although I desperately wanted to get out of this cage, even for a minute, this smelled like a trap. "Have the Sun Witches convinced you I'm a threat now? Planning to take me out back and kill me?"
“I don’t know how many times I have to tell you this, but that’s not on the agenda anymore,” Jordan said.
“Look,” I said, but I stood up all the same. “The first time we met you hunted me through the forest like prey and broke multiple bones in my body, and now I’m just supposed to take you at face value that you’re not interested in harming me? Especially when the Sun Witches seem more than ready to kill me?"
Jordan cocked his head. "Did you actually see me kill anyone at the Convergence?"
I paused to search my memories and found he was right, but I still scowled at him. "Just because I didn't see it happen, doesn't mean there isn't any blood on your hands. Besides, you wanted to kill me."
"I was acting on my father's alpha command. He made me reject you, and he made me try to kill you. Now that he's gone, things can be different between us."
"He…what?" I fell back on my cot, so shocked my knees gave out. I searched Jordan's eyes, looking for any hint he was lying. Could it be true? That would explain how Jordan went against the mate bond's pull and was able to reject and hurt me. Dixon was a powerful alpha, and his command would have overruled anything else. I knew firsthand how impossible it was to resist an alpha command, thanks to my own father. The only time I'd been able to resist was when Kaden had tried to use one on me—but that must have been a fluke.
"I know I was an asshole to you when we met. But I never wanted to hurt you." He stepped back, giving me space to exit the cell. "Come on. Let's talk outside. I bet you could use some fresh air."
I couldn't deny that. I reluctantly followed him, still waiting for the axe to fall. As I left the cell, I kept an eye on both of the guards, but neither of them made a move. No alarms went off either.
Jordan led me out of the room I'd been trapped inside for days, and I realized mine wasn't the only prison cell. There were maybe a dozen or so identical rooms lined up in a row under soul-sucking lighting and no windows. All the other cells seemed empty, which made sense. I hadn’t heard anyone else during my stay here.
Jordan took me up a dark stairway and then we passed more guards, some sitting at desks and doing paperwork, others chatting over a water cooler. Up here there were a few windows, at least, and sunlight streamed through them. Every person in the building seemed to stop and gawk at me as we walked by, but no one said a word.
Jordan pushed open a door and led me through it. After spending so many days in a dark cell that was climate-controlled to be slightly chilly, stepping outside was a shock. The hot, dry air of the desert hit me and the sun beat down with a particular intensity, intent on driving nails of pain into my skull. I squinted and tried to resist the urge to cover my eyes.