Zodiac Aligned

8

One step at a time, I told myself. First, I would test out the truth spell to see how it worked and what its limitations were. I trusted Larkin's magic, but I didn't know the extent of it, and I wanted to make sure it was really working. I wouldn’t put it past Roxandra to try to do something deceitful, if such a thing was possible.

I dragged a chair over so I could sit in front of Roxandra, while still leaving a clear line of sight for the camera to capture her answers and expressions. As I crossed my legs, the whole thing felt more like an interview than an interrogation. Maybe I'd lean into that feeling and see if it loosened her up a bit. Even if it just made her angry, that might get her to let something extra slip.

“Hello, Roxandra," I said, never dropping the smile. "Do you mind if I call you Roxie?"

“I’d rather you didn’t,” she said through gritted teeth, almost as if the words were being dragged out of her.

"Too bad. Let's try a few questions to test out how the spell is working." I leaned forward, never dropping eye contact. "What is your greatest fear?"

She squeezed her mouth tight as if trying to keep the answer inside, but the spell eventually made her blurt out the words. "Disappointing my mother and being replaced as her heir."

I sat back, absorbing her answer. "Interesting."

Roxandra’s unnaturally pale eyes flashed as she watched me, but she kept her lips sealed shut, confirming that she didn’t have to respond to comments, only questions. But what about commands?

I decided to do another test, remembering the first time I'd felt those strange eyes on me. "Describe what you felt when you first saw me at the summer Convergence."

Roxandra shifted around a bit in her chair, as if the questioning made her physically uncomfortable. “I felt disgust and jealousy that a half-breed like you would be mated to Jordan, along with excitement knowing that the Leos were about to wipe out your pack."

Jealousy? I glanced back at Jordan, surprised by the words she'd used. He had his arms crossed, but his face was hard as he stared at Roxandra without blinking.

“Did you know Jordan was my brother?” I asked.

"No."

I nodded as she confirmed my suspicions. “How did I end up mated to him?"

Roxandra’s answer was quicker this time, and her lips twitched a bit in a faint smile. “Your father made a deal with us. He wanted to send you to the Leos. He knew it would infuriate Dixon to have his son mated to a mutt."

I already knew the answer, but it still made my heart twist, just a tiny bit. "Looks like the truth spell is doing a good job. That little girl Moon Witch overpowered you after all, didn't she?” I grinned at the way Roxandra's face strained. “That was a rhetorical question, by the way. You don’t have to answer it.”

"Just wait until I'm free," she practically spat at me. "I'll enjoy making you suffer."

"I'm sure you will." I rubbed my hands together, eager to continue now that I knew how the truth spell worked. "Are you ready for the real questions now, Roxie?”

“No,” Roxandra ground out.

A wicked smile touched my lips. "Too bad."

CHAPTER FIVE

I leaned forward as I prepared to ask Roxandra my next set of questions. I couldn't wait to finally get the answers I needed. “Since you confirmed that the mate bond with Jordan was fake, tell me... Are all the mate bonds fake?”

Roxandra panted as she resisted the truth spell, her shoulders shaking from the effort. Her face twisted with pain as if the spell was physically causing her distress.

“Really, it would be easier if you’d just give in,” I said. “I promise I won’t tell mommy that you were a bad girl.”

“Screw you,” Roxandra hissed out, which was a mistake. Once her mouth was open, the truth came pouring out. “Yes, most of them are fake."

It was chilling to hear the words directly from the source, even though I'd already known the answer. As the weight of the truth hung heavily in the room, I thought of Mira, heavily pregnant with her mate's child. She didn't want to know if her mate bond was fake, and I suspected other shifters would feel the same. But if we didn't know the truth, we could never be free.

“Why do you create fake mate bonds?” I asked, my smile gone. All the false levity had left me once we'd started this line of questioning.

"We do it to control you and to reshape the packs into what we want. We ensure you keep fighting with each other, which keeps you weak, and stops you from turning against us." She looked behind me as she spoke the next words. "And we do it to create alphas who will fall in line."

Multiple people growled behind me at that, and I glanced back to see Kaden clenching his hands. Even Ethan looked pissed off.

"How's that working out for you now?" I asked, shaking my head. Maybe the previous alphas had been willing to follow the Sun Witches, but more and more were standing up to them now. I had a feeling that after this video, we'd get everyone to turn against them. "Ignore that question. What I want to know is...why? Why can't you just let us be free?"

“We created the Zodiac Wolves. We are your masters. Like dogs, you can be bred and trained as we please." A cruel smile touched her lips. "And we can put you down if you disobey." This time, there was only silence behind me. The Moon Witches had told me this was how the Sun Witches thought of us, but it made me sick hearing Roxandra speak the words out loud, as calmly as if she was talking about the weather. They really did believe they had every right to use us like pawns in whatever game they were playing.

I swallowed hard and tried to focus. I wasn’t sure how long Larkin’s truth spell would hold, and I needed to get as much information out of Roxandra as I could before then.