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1000 Words
I scoffed. I would have believed that before my time in Lunatera, but now I knew that the Sun Witches did everything for a purpose. We were just pawns to them, and they wouldn't care about two shifters' feelings if it meant that they could further their own game. “No, they did it to spark a war. Don't you see that the Sun Witches are manipulating the packs? They have us tearing each other apart in an attempt to enslave us once more.”
Now it was Jordan's turn to scoff. “That's ridiculous. The Sun Witches aren't strong enough to enslave all of us.” He so blindly followed them. It was almost sad. Jordan's eyes sharpened on mine again. “If you would have just gone with me at the meeting, I would have protected you. I would have—”
“There's no way you can protect me when you're part of the threat,” I snapped at him, anger rising once more and washing over me in a sudden wave. “I stupidly thought you weren't as bad as I believed. I tried to put aside my pack's prejudice and hoped there was some good in that black heart of yours, but I was wrong."
I pushed myself up and stormed out of the room, and Jordan didn't say a word as I slammed the door behind me. As I turned away from the door, I ran right into a solid body, and I stumbled back. I looked up to find Kaden standing with Jack and the other guard, watching me with suspicion.
“What are you doing with Jordan?” Kaden asked. The suspicion didn't leave his gaze, and I gave him a wild look. Surely, he couldn't think that I was doing anything bad? Did he not trust me? There was a line of tension running through him, half jealous and possessive, and half resigned.
The anger toward Jordan found a new target: Kaden. “I'm trying to get information out of him."
“You're wasting your time."
“I am not,” I said, drawing myself up. “I learned a bit.” I shot a poisonous look over at Jack. He'd probably said something to Kaden, and I wasn't in the mood to be questioned like this right now.
“Anything useful?” Kaden asked, folding his arms over his chest.
I stopped and considered. What Jordan had told me wasn't new information. He trusted the Sun Witches, almost to a fault. That was already common knowledge, and Kaden would just be annoyed if I parroted information at him that he already knew. “Not yet, but I will."
Kaden stepped forward, every inch the alpha male I'd met in the forest a lifetime ago, convinced that he was going to kill me on the spot. “The mate bond is clouding your mind. You need to stay away from Jordan until it's broken."
I glared at Kaden rather than backing down. “It's not the f*****g mate bond. I don't feel that way at all for him, and I haven't for ages. Or do I need to remind you that he's my brother?”
“That doesn't mean that it'll affect you any less,” Kaden said. “A mate bond is still a mate bond.”
“Dammit, Kaden, I just want to stop the Sun Witches, like you and everyone else here. You should know that by now—” I broke off and shook my head. “Forget it. Just get out of my way."
When Kaden didn't move, I shoved past him, slamming my shoulder into his as he moved to block me. I loved Kaden, but during my time in Lunatera, I'd forgotten how infuriating he could be. After everything we'd been through, I couldn't believe that he wouldn't take me at my word. How many times did I have to prove to him that the mate bond between Jordan and I meant less than nothing?
"Ayla, wait," Kaden called, as he came barreling after me down the hallway and around the corner.
I spun to face him. "How can you still not trust me after everything I've done for you?"
"I do trust you. I don't trust him. He's a snake in wolf's clothing."
"That's funny coming from an Ophiuchus," I muttered. "I don't trust Jordan either, but I'm the only one who might be able to get any info out of him."
"Leave me alone with him for thirty minutes and I'll get something out of him," Kaden said with a low growl.
Selene save me from the arrogance of alphas. "No, you won't. Torture won't work on him."
Kaden huffed. "Fine. Just be careful. And I want to know everything he says to you."
I rolled my eyes. "Anything else, alpha?"
"Yeah." He pinned me back against the wall, taking my chin in his hand. His lips crashed down on me roughly, demanding I accept his hard kiss, the swipe of his tongue in my mouth, and his body pressed against mine. "Don't ever forget you're my mate. Not his."
As if I could forget.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Days passed, and slowly the pack settled into their new home. I avoided both Kaden and Jordan, feeling far too sick of alpha male energy to deal with either of them. I did manage to convince some of the shifters to meet with Larkin for training one evening though. The more people we had using magic against the Sun Witches, the better. The night air was brisk as I walked to the park with Stella, the streetlights creating pools of warm light in between the cooler puddles of moonlight filtering through the trees. A few of the other Ophiuchus pack shifters trailed after us to where Larkin told us to meet her. I was excited to see how the other shifters fared, and Stella was practically vibrating with excitement next to me as we walked.
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