Zodiac Aligned

22

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Ethan decided to call a meeting outside, even though temperatures had dropped below freezing and it threatened to snow at any moment. None of us wanted to be in a conference room again anytime soon though. Instead, we sat at a long wooden table with heat lamps all around us and tried to figure out what to do next.

"We lost too many of our own in that attack," said Kaden, his eyes dark with anger. "We need to come up with a plan to prevent something like this from happening again."

"The vampires caught us off guard," Ethan said, his tone sharp. He'd taken it personally that they'd attacked his territory, and that we'd never seen them coming. "It won't happen again."

Jordan leaned back and crossed his arms. "We need to increase patrols and set up better warning systems, especially since the wards failed."

Larkin bristled at that. "They didn't fail. They were set up to block any Sun Witches from entering the hotel. But everyone else—shifters, humans, and even vampires it seems—can come and go. We can't do much else, since we're in the middle of Toronto."

"That sounds like a fail to me," Jordan said.

I shot him a look. Everyone's nerves were on edge, but he wasn't making this any easier. It had been a couple of days since the vampire attack, and we'd all had a hard time recovering from it.

"Maybe it's time we move the Ophiuchus pack again," Clayton said, though he sounded hesitant to suggest it. I wasn't sure why Kaden had asked him to join the meeting this time, but perhaps he still didn't trust himself and wanted his beta's opinion too.

"But where?" I asked, my stomach twisting at the thought of the Ophiuchus leaving. Would they go before the full moon? I couldn't imagine Kaden would abandon me. Or maybe he expected me to go with them?

"I could ask if the Moon Witches would allow you to hide in Lunatera for a while," Larkin said.

"No. We're done hiding." Kaden rubbed his beard as he considered. "I think you're right, Clayton. We've stayed with the Libras for too long. We need to prepare to head back to Coronis soon."

My eyes widened at the idea of them returning to the Ophiuchus pack lands in Manitoba. "Is that safe?"

Kaden's eyes met mine. "Nowhere is safe, but at least we would be home."

Home. The word hit me hard, and I looked away. Where exactly was my home now?

"You're welcome to stay as long as you need," Ethan said. "All of you."

I thought he was speaking directly to me, but then I noticed he was looking at Jordan. If the Ophiuchus left this hotel, Jordan would be on his own too.

"Have we gotten any leads on where the Leos are now?" I asked.

"Not yet," Ethan said, his brow furrowed. "And nothing on the vampires or Sun Witches either."

Larkin sighed. "The Sun Witches are likely in their realm, which we won't be able to get to. They might have the vampires with them too."

"Another dead end," Jordan muttered.

"What about the other alphas?" I asked. "Have you received any responses to the latest video yet?"

"Yes, there was an outpour of shock, horror, and disbelief," Ethan said. "We'll need to call another Zoom meeting soon with all of them to discuss our next steps."

That was something at least. Ethan had asked Kaden if he wanted the part about his mind control removed from the recording, but Kaden had told him to leave it in. He wanted the other alphas to know everything, even if it painted him in a bad light.

"I'm going to head back to Lunatera," Larkin said, as she slowly rose to her feet. "I'll try to get some more moonstone necklaces made, and I'll ask my vampire friend if he knows anything that will help us, although I'm not sure how much help he will be. He's been living in Lunatera for a long time."

"Any help you can give us would be appreciated," Ethan said.

I stood up and gave her a hug. "Tell my mother I miss her."

"I will."

She headed back inside, just as a Libra woman I'd seen in the lobby came toward us. She had dark skin, short brown hair, and wore a suit. "Pardon me for interrupting, but we received something I think you might want to see."

"We're almost done here anyway," Ethan said. "What is it?"

She handed him a red envelope. "It looks like a Christmas card."

Ethan frowned down at it, while the woman disappeared back into the hotel. "It's addressed to Jordan."

Jordan grabbed the envelope from Ethan's hand and began tearing it open. "And everyone knows that's suspicious because no one in their right mind would send me a card." The card had a picture of a wolf with a Santa hat on the front. Jordan quickly scanned the inside. "It's from the Scorpio alpha. He says the Leos are staying in their pack lands in New Mexico. They want to join us as allies, but need some help ousting the Leo pack first."

"Do you think it's a trick?" Kaden asked.

"No, I think it's real." Jordan passed Kaden the card so he could look it over himself. "The Leo beta is mated to a Scorpio, and they've been our allies for many years. Now that he's pretending to be alpha, he probably thought he could hide with them for a while." "Sounds like they're not too happy about it," I said. If we could find the Leos, there was a chance we could find Jordan’s mother. Maybe even in time for the full moon. Of course, once we found her there was no guarantee she'd be able to break the spells on us.

"How would you like to handle this?” Ethan asked Jordan.

“Get me inside the Scorpio pack lands, and I'll challenge the beta for the position of alpha—and I won't lose."

"And if you win?" Kaden asked.