Slaved By The Moon God

6

Chapter Three

As we parked, I craned my neck to see over the rest of the cars, my legs aching from the long drive. I was eager to leave the car and escape the oppressive weight that filled it. Outside, there were tents everywhere, covering every spare inch of ground, and I’d never seen this many people before in one place outside of a city. Excitement thrummed through me, mixing with the anxiety that had been building up for weeks. My entire fate rested on what happened at the Convergence.

I got out of the car and stretched the travel strain out of my body, taking in the sights and scents of the Montana forest around the campground. It reminded me a little of Cancer territory, although the trees were different here and there was no smell of saltwater in the air. A couple of wolves bounded past me into the forest, and I caught sight of the Aquarius pack mark on them before they slipped away.

I left my bag behind since it was so heavy, planning to come back for it later, and followed Dad and Jackie through the parking lot with Wesley at my side. I caught his eye as we wound through the cars. He grinned at me, excitement pouring off him. It was infectious enough that it chased away most of the anxiety.

“Lighten up, Ayla,” he said. “We’re here now.”

I nodded and relaxed a little. If he wasn’t nervous, I didn’t have to be, either. He’d been through this, and he’d be sure to pass on any important information to me. Besides, tomorrow I would finally get my wolf, allowing me to become my true self. There was no reason to be worried. Right?

“Don’t do anything stupid,” Jackie tossed over her shoulder. “All eyes will be on the alphas and their families. Especially Wesley, as the alpha heir.”

“Yeah, we wouldn’t want anyone to suspect we’re not the perfect nuclear family,” I said, sarcasm dripping off every word.

Dad spun around and lifted his hand like he was about to hit me, but then checked himself. He glanced around at all the people nearby, before speaking in a low growl. “Watch yourself, Ayla." He infused power into the words, giving me an alpha command that wrapped around my throat like a vice, forcing me to obey. "Or you’ll regret it.”

“Dad, stop,” Wesley said, moving to stand at my shoulder. He couldn’t officially challenge our father, not unless he wanted to fight for the role of alpha. Which would probably leave one of them dead. I touched Wesley’s arm to show everything was okay—I couldn’t bear the thought of possibly losing him. Someday he would be alpha, but until then, I could handle it.

We kept walking, pretending nothing was wrong, but there would be no relaxing as long as I was around my parents. I couldn’t wait to get away from them. It was one of the perks of coming to the Convergence—I didn’t have to always hang around my pack. I’d get a taste of how it would be to live among people who didn’t hate my existence. Surely not every pack had the same toxic views toward half-human shifters. I knew I couldn’t be the only one to exist. The more we mingled with humans, the more likely we were to interbreed with them.

The closer we got, the less like a random jumble the tents became, and a pattern began to emerge. Banners were stuck into the ground with Zodiac symbols on them to represent the different packs. The campground had been divided into quadrants representing the four elements, and we headed to join the other water signs.

Winding in between the tents were hundreds of shifters in both human and wolf forms, all here representing each of the twelve packs. Shifters of all ages mingled with other packs than their own, sharing meals, laughing together, and dancing under the sun like they were at a music festival. I’d never felt such camaraderie between different pack members, even the ones who were on good terms. The Convergence was neutral ground, and no one had to be worried about potential schemes or any attacks. Fighting was prohibited here, and the Sun Witches made sure everyone stayed in line.

Dad pulled aside a Pisces shifter and asked him where we should set up, but I was too focused on trying to take everything in to listen to the details of their conversation. The male pointed toward the northern side of the clearing, all the way to the back. Dad nodded and we began working our way through the Pisces and Scorpio tents to the Cancer area.

I recognized more people than I thought I would. Many of the different alphas had visited our house for as long as I could remember. There was always business to attend to, figuring out land disputes, negotiating alliances, and distributing resources. The Cancer pack was one of the largest ones, and we were allied with the Pisces, Capricorn, and Aquarius packs. We’d had a long-standing rivalry—or worse—with the other largest pack, the Leos, along with their allies, the Aries, Taurus, and Scorpio packs. The remaining Zodiac Wolves—the Gemini, Virgo, Libra, and Sagittarius packs—all remained neutral at the moment, but alliances were constantly shifting and changing. By the end of the Convergence, it might all be different again. We passed by the Aquarius and Pisces alphas deep in conversation, and before I could recall the last time I’d seen them both, Mira came running over. I paused, letting the rest of my family pull forward a little bit to give us the semblance of privacy. It wouldn’t do much, not with so many shifters around. Nonetheless, I’d never turn down an opportunity to distance myself from my parents. “Ayla,” she said, eyes shining as she danced around me, practically jumping out of her skin. “Can you believe how many shifters came this year?”