“I’ll show you to your room." She motioned me to follow her up the stairs to the second floor, which had at least five bedrooms. She gestured toward the first door. “This one’s mine. We share a bathroom, but you’ll have your own space.”
Stella opened the second door and stepped back to let me go inside. The room was clean and cute, but plain. There were no personal touches to speak of, just a queen bed shoved into the corner, a plain wood dresser in another corner, and an empty desk placed under the window, which looked out over the forest where Kaden had disappeared.
"This was one of our guest rooms, but it's yours now," Stella said. "Feel free to make yourself at home."
I ran my fingers across the dark wood of the desk, feeling something tighten in my throat. For the first time in days, I felt...safe. Here, among the pack I always assumed were monsters. "It's perfect. Thank you."
She nodded and left me alone in the room. After she was gone, it hit me that I didn’t have any way to make myself at home. I didn’t have anything to unpack. All of my belongings had been left behind during the attack. Even the clothes I’d worn at the Convergence were gone, torn apart and abandoned when I'd shifted.
My phone. I patted my pockets uselessly. Of course it wasn’t there. I'd lost it somewhere when I'd fled from Jordan, and it was probably smashed in the forest in the middle of Montana. Or worse—in the hands of the Leos. I shuddered as I pictured Jordan thumbing through my phone, looking at the photos I'd snapped and the texts I'd sent. I was suddenly fiercely glad that my camera had been destroyed before I'd left home. If I’d lost that at the Convergence too, it would have destroyed me.
I checked the small closet, but it was empty. I didn't have any clothes other than the ones I was wearing, and no toothbrush or shampoo either. I grimaced and headed to the bathroom to see if there was anything in there I could use.
The bathroom was modern, done in soft sand tones, and smelled like jasmine. A towel was rolled up on the counter, with shampoo, conditioner, and a new bar of soap set beside them. They weren’t anything fancy, but I sighed in relief when I saw them. Now I could get the blood out of my hair, and stop smelling like a barnyard animal.
I hopped into the shower eagerly, standing under the spray of the warm water for a long time and letting it run from red, to pink, to clear. I took my time, luxuriating in the feeling of cleaning myself off, while I let my thoughts go blissfully blank. When I stepped out, I felt so much better, and a lot more like myself again.
I still didn’t have a change of clothes, but the ones that had been provided to me were relatively fresh. I threw them back on and headed downstairs to investigate. I walked down the stairs slowly, trying to listen for any movement. Someone was shuffling around in the kitchen, making noise, and I hoped it was Stella and not Kaden.
When I entered the kitchen, Stella turned, a sandwich on a plate and a smile on her face. “For you,” she said, handing it to me.
I looked up at her, eyes wide. “Thank you."
I tried to be polite as I dug in, but after the first bite, I couldn’t help myself. I wolfed it down like I hadn’t eaten in days. Stella watched, a slight smile on her face. I froze mid-bite and ducked my head.
“It’s really good." Even though it was just a ham and cheese, it was delicious.
“We’re going to need more food,” Stella said, her smile turning into a grin. She turned and rifled through a cabinet, pulling out a bag of chips. “You must be starving. Here, have this as well. And sit down, you’ll get crumbs on the floor.”
Stella motioned me over to the island, and I sank onto the stool gratefully as I tore into the chips. She didn't even know me, but she was being so nice to me anyway. I spotted the Ophiuchus pack mark on her upper arm as she turned, and wondered if everything I'd been told about them was a lie. Kaden certainly lived up to their dangerous reputation, but his sister was another story entirely.
“I need to go to the store,” Stella said, and I cocked my head at her. “You should come with me. I can show you around the town and you can get whatever you need.”
I shook my head. “I don’t have any money."
She waved my worries away. “Kaden will pay for whatever you need.”
I nearly choked on one of my chips. "I don't want his charity."
“He's the alpha, and he takes care of us,” she said like it was a simple fact. "That includes a visitor like you."
"Visitor?" I snorted. "More like a captive."
She gave a little shrug. "Kaden just wants to make sure you can be trusted. He's not so bad. You'll see."
She’d lived an entirely different life than I had, I realized suddenly. I’d never seen someone look so content with their alpha before. I wished, not for the first time, that I’d been born someone else. I’d had the thought so often as a kid that it was practically a mantra in the back of my head. I’d spent twenty-two years yearning for a pack like this, to the point I'd believed it wasn't possible. But Kaden, despite his growly nature toward me, obviously took good care of his pack. Even Dad had been a sub-par alpha at best, I realized now. I knew many of the Cancer members had been disgruntled with his leadership, but they'd never been able to do anything about it. Wesley had been our only hope for the future of the pack, but he was gone.
A pang of sadness went through me at the thought of Wesley, and of what might have been. Tears threatened to fill my eyes, but I blinked them back, keeping the emotions in check. I would grieve later when I was alone. And someday I would have my revenge.
Stella noticed the look on my face. “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head. “Nothing. Let’s go.”
Stella led me outside. I noticed that the two males Kaden had said were my guards hadn’t moved from where we'd left them on the porch. Stella noticed me eyeing them, despite my attempts to make it subtle.
“Clayton is the beta of the pack,” she said, motioning to the taller of the two. “He and Jack are Kaden’s friends.”
Friends? Hard to believe he had any. And why would he put his friends on guard detail, when he so clearly held me in such low esteem? Surely they had better things to do.
I didn’t have long to dwell on it. We walked into the town, and I found myself occupied with looking around and taking it all in. The buildings were well-maintained, the houses recently painted, and the shops welcoming. It looked like a well-preserved historical town, and my hand itched toward my camera. I didn’t like architecture as much as nature, but there were exceptions.
“This is Coronis,” Stella said, standing in the middle of the road on the main street, and spread her arms like she was presenting it to me. I couldn’t help but smile and shake my head. She and Kaden really were like day and night. She’d offered the information without any prompting, whereas Kaden had withheld it and gotten gruff with me when I’d asked about anything.
“What?” Stella asked.
“Nothing,” I said, shaking my head. “Continue.”
She pointed out various buildings as we passed them. Everything was centered around a big grassy area with a few community buildings on one side, including the school, with the shops on the other. I noticed that everyone we passed was a shifter bearing the Ophiuchus mark somewhere on them. It was still hard for me to believe I was really here, amongst the lost pack.
“You have to try the bakery’s pastries,” Stella said, grinning as she pointed out the coffee shop. “They’re divine. Although what you really need are some new clothes. Follow me.”
Chapter Thirteen
Stella guided us into the town's only women's clothing store. It wasn't large, but it had a pretty decent selection of things, and I hesitated before the racks. With all of the different selections available, it felt overwhelming.
"Is something wrong?" Stella asked. "Don't worry about the prices. As I said, Kaden will cover it."
"It's not that." I ducked my head, feeling foolish. "At home, I just got hand-me-downs or whatever I could find in a thrift store. My Dad...he didn't le
t me buy new things." I tried to keep the bitterness out of my voice but knew I failed. There was so much pent up over the last twenty-two years.
Stella's face softened, and she nodded. “I can help you if you’d like?”
I nodded, relieved. “That would be great."
Stella clapped her hands together, grinning. “This is going to be fun. Let's see. You have gorgeous hair. We should take advantage of the color, really bring it out.”
I winced. My hair had always marked me as something other, something less than. I couldn’t imagine wanting to bring attention to it, but then again, I wasn’t in the Cancer pack anymore. I trailed Stella as she wound around the racks, tossing clothes back to me until we made it to a fitting room.
“In you go,” she said. “Feel free to ditch anything you don’t like.”
I smiled at her and stepped inside. She’d given me way too many clothes. What would I even do with more shirts than days of the week? But as I tried each one on, I found that Stella had an impeccable eye for color. The clothes she chose for me brought out my eyes and made my hair stand out in a way I actually liked. They also somehow made my curves look like something desirable, instead of something I should hide. It was like truly seeing myself in the mirror for the first time in my life.
Then I looked at the vast quantity of clothes. There was no way I’d need all of these, but when I brought them out, Stella wouldn't let me put anything back.
“It’s a good basic wardrobe," she said. "You’ll need more eventually, but this will do for now.”
More? “I thought we spent most of our time nude."
Stella grinned over at me. "That doesn't mean we can't look hot the rest of the time."
She also made sure I had some underwear, bras, and socks, then handed the clerk her credit card. I shoved aside any guilt I felt. It was Kaden’s money, and for locking me up and his bad attitude, I should make him buy me this whole store.
I reached out to pick up the bags, but Stella tutted at me, shooing me away. She jerked her head toward Clayton and Jack, who had followed us into the store. They exchanged a glance but came forward anyway.
“Make yourselves useful,” Stella said, shoving the bags toward them. I opened my mouth to protest but stopped at the grimaces on their faces.
I hid a smile. The exchange reminded me of how Mira would interact with the Cancer pack. Stella was a lot like Mira, at least in character. Physically, they looked nothing alike, but something made me feel at home with Stella.
Thinking of Mira brought a pang of loneliness. I wondered if there was a way to get word to her that I was safe, and that I hadn’t been brutally murdered by Jordan or the Leos. She must be worried sick, even as she adjusted to her new life in the Pisces pack. I imagined her reaction to me telling her I'd been taken in by the lost pack—she'd never believe it.
“Ayla?” Stella said, and when I glanced over at her, the look on her face said it wasn’t the first time she’d tried to get my attention.
“Sorry.”
“It’s all right, you looked a million miles away. What were you thinking about?”
“Just someone I knew,” I said. "A friend in the Pisces pack. She last saw me half-dead at the Convergence and I'm sure she's worried sick about me. Is there any chance I could send her a message?"
"No, sorry." Stella's face was somehow both sympathetic and unwavering. "We can't let you contact anyone outside the pack. For our own safety, you understand."
Damn. I'd suspected that would be the case, but I had to try. "So I guess a new phone is out of the question too?"
"After you join the pack, you can have one. Until then, we can't risk it."
Back outside, a small bundle of motion ran past my feet, and I jumped out of the way automatically. Then I gaped as several wolf pups ran past and tumbled over one another in the grass, growling and nipping playfully at each other. Wolf pups? How was it possible?
“Boys!” Stella said, almost sternly, as if this was completely commonplace to see young wolves running around. “They’re some of my students,” she added, noting my look and misunderstanding it completely. “I’m the kindergarten teacher in Coronis.”
I couldn't seem to pick my jaw up off the floor as I watched them play. “It’s not that. How did they get their wolves so early? I’ve never seen shifter wolf pups before.”
"Oh, right. I forgot you grew up in the Zodiac Wolves." Stella gave me a slightly pitying look. “We don’t need the Convergence to get our wolf forms. Or our mates, for that matter."
“How do you get them?”
“It happens naturally,” she said with a shrug. As if it was just that easy, as if I hadn’t been hoping and praying for it ever since I knew what it meant to have a wolf. “Most of us shift the first time when we’re toddlers.”
“That’s incredible. The years of training you must have…” I trailed off. “And mates? How do you find one without the Sun Witch spell?”
“When we become adults, we can sense if someone is our mate when they're nearby, as long as we're both shifted. Or so I'm told, anyway. I don't have a mate yet."
I couldn't believe it. I'd wondered how the Ophiuchus pack found their mates, but I'd never imagined it was all so...simple. What made them so different from the rest of the Zodiac Wolves, that they didn't need the help of the Sun Witches?
That train of thought led me to another. "What about the Moon Curse?”
“The what?” Stella asked.
For a moment I thought she must be messing with me, and I looked at her face, trying to find a hint of humor or any indication that she wasn’t being truthful. All I saw was vague confusion.
“The curse that makes shifters go mad at the full moon?” I asked slowly. “The Sun Witches have to bless us at birth to make sure that won’t happen.”
The confusion became a full-on frown. “That sounds like some sort of fairy-tale. Who’s telling you these sorts of things?”
"It's what we're taught our entire lives," I said, my voice a little shaky. "The Sun Witches bless us as babies, and then they unlock our wolves and help us find our mates when we turn twenty-two."
Stella spread her hands. "I'm sorry. I don't know about any of that. Maybe all of that happened after our pack was kicked out of the Zodiac Wolves."
I nodded, wondering if that was all there was to it. Or maybe it had something to do with the rumors I'd heard that the Ophiuchus pack had bred with the Moon Witches long ago. I glanced over at Stella, trying to see some physical sign that she was more than shifter, but saw nothing unusual. If not for her Ophiuchus pack symbol, she could have been in any of the twelve Zodiac packs.
Before I knew it, we’d stopped in front of the grocery store, like my feet had simply followed wherever Stella had led me. I'd been so wrapped up in my thoughts, she could have led me right into the forest to the edge of a cliff, and I wouldn’t even have noticed. Everything I’d known my entire life was slowly being uprooted in front of me. The lost pack was treating me more kindly than my own birth pack had, and apparently, they had access to their wolf powers and mates without the aid of the Sun Witches. What kind of alternate world was I living in?
“Here’s the store,” Stella said. She was either oblivious to my sudden turmoil or was doing her best to counteract it. “I’ll get us some food, and I know you need some toiletries. Feel free to grab whatever you need, and meet me at the checkout.” She motioned me over to the ‘personal care’ section and flounced off with a cart.
The guards stayed with me as I picked out what I needed, and I observed them out of the corners of my eyes. Even when Stella was nearby, they never seemed to stray far behind. In fact, the only time they weren’t within eyesight seemed to be inside of Kaden and Stella’s house. What did they think I’d try to do? Run? As I glanced back at them once again, the shorter one—Jack—stared at me intently. I whipped back around and picked up a random tube of toothpaste.
I met Stella back at the checkout and she handed me some cold compress packs.
"Here, you'll need these for tomorrow."
I took the packs and eyed them. They were the kind you threw in the freezer and used on injuries. "For what?"
"You’re going to start your training tomorrow,” Stella said. "Trust me, you'll need those for all your sore muscles. Even shifter healing won't help with that."
"Right, Kaden mentioning some training..."
Stella paid for our items at the checkout with a warm smile to the clerk working there, then turned back to me. "It's part of your trials to see if you can join the pack. You'll have both combat training and wolf training."
My heart rate quickened as I thought about being in wolf form again. This time I wouldn’t be in mortal danger, and I could bask in the strength it gave me and learn how to use my new abilities. And combat training? I'd never been allowed to partake in that before with my pack. Dad hadn't wanted me to know how to fight back. “That sounds...fun."
Stella snorted. “Tell me that again tomorrow when you’re done.”
We headed outside with our groceries and my two guards followed us, close enough that it was just this side of uncomfortable. I lowered my voice, though I knew they'd still hear me. “Why did your brother assign these guards to me? I’m not going to run. Even if I wanted to, there's nowhere for me to go. I don’t even know what part of the country we’re in—or which country, for that matter. Are they just waiting for me to slip up and make a mistake so they can kill me?"
“Of course not. Kaden wouldn’t have let you out of that cell if he wanted you dead.” She looked over at me with a smile. “Kaden just wants to make sure you're not a threat to the pack. He's been burned too many times in his life to trust easily.”
"I can understand that," I muttered as we kept walking. "But he captured me and brought me here against my will, to live with a pack I didn't even know was real a few days ago, then told me I can't leave and set guards to watch my every move. It's hard not to feel like a prisoner."
Moon Touched (Zodiac Wolves: The Lost Pack Book 1) Page 10