They walked me all the way outside to the garden where the gazebo sat. Hundreds of Leo shifters were there, as well as at least a dozen Sun Witches. The garden was overflowing with shifters, packed so tightly I could hardly see the ground, and there was a long stone altar positioned in the middle of the gazebo. Jordan stood at one end of it, wearing only a pair of black slacks, his muscular chest gleaming under the moonlight. I felt a roil of desire and disgust go through me, equally as strong on both counts.
I looked up at the night sky one last time before they dragged me under the gazebo, fixing my eyes on the full moon. At least I’m not packless, I thought, trying to find something, anything, good about this situation. I’d be well into the mating frenzy if that was the case.
The thought didn’t bring as much comfort as I’d hoped. Instead, it made me think of Kaden, about how I should be with him tonight instead of my asshole mate. But fate had never been kind to me, and it wasn't about to start now.
As the Sun Witches parted, I realized the stone altar was human-sized, and the way Jordan stood over it meant he planned to mate with me right there in front of everyone. I almost threw up at the thought, but below my disgust, the ever-present burn of desire made itself known too. I tried to shove it down, so horrified by my base animal reaction I could hardly stand it, but it wouldn’t go away. I hated how helpless both my mind and body were against the fucking mate bond.
It didn’t help that Jordan was standing there, his perfect body on display. I found myself tracing the planes of his muscles before jerking my eyes back up to his face. He smirked, as if he knew what I was thinking about, and motioned for the guards to bring me up to the altar.
The Sun Witches moved closest to the altar as well, a sea of warm-hued colors in the pale moonlight. I struggled as I was brought forward, but I was still hurting, and as I looked wildly around, I saw a half-conscious Mira slumped between two other guards. She was back in human form, but that didn’t seem to be helping her any. She looked pale and listless, hardly able to keep her eyes open. Whatever the Sun Witches had done to her had stuck, and I wondered if they’d used the same spell on her that they had on me to keep her wounds from healing. If I fought back, Jordan would have her killed. There would be no escape for me tonight.
The guards forced me to sit on the altar, and I slumped, unable to find the will to fight with all these odds against me. I didn’t help them as they shoved me down on it, and when one of them reached for my ankle, I jumped. I tried to tear it out of his grasp, but the shifter held on tight and yanked my leg out to the side.
A wash of shame went through me as I realized they were tying me to the alter, my legs spread apart like a fucking offering, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Jordan loomed over me, the hunger in his eyes turning his face sharp. My arms were tied by the guards next, and then they stepped back, leaving me bared for all the world to see. And in this skimpy dress, they saw everything.
"It's time for the Leo pack to gain its new alpha female," Jordan's voice boomed out.
The Sun Witches closed in tighter and began chanting, quietly at first, but growing louder with each verse in some language I didn't know. Once the other shifters heard the chanting they began to whistle and yell, the ones in their wolf forms howling. It was a cacophony, and it twisted something in my gut, making the nerves and desire flare up in equal measures.
“Please,” I said, pleading at Jordan with my eyes while tugging on my restraints. “If you feel a single thing for me, don’t do this.”
Jordan ignored my words, and to my horror, he began undoing his pants. I watched, that awful part inside of me howling along with the rest of the Leo pack, screaming finally! I swallowed and tried to push the lust down, but it was harder on the full moon. Even if I wasn't in heat, it made all shifters a little wild, as if we still had a trace of the Moon Curse in our veins we couldn't fully remove.
Roxandra stepped forward and looked down at me, face expressionless. “Her pack mark will change from Ophiuchus to Leo when you mate with her."
“Good,” Jordan said. “I don’t want any trace of the snakes on her.”
“Please,” I said again, louder. “Jordan, you're better than this. I know you are.”
Jordan’s eyes flicked up to my face, and for a second I saw something flash like hesitation. He paused, and I glimpsed the part of him that wasn't a monster. Then Roxandra put her hand on his shoulder and his face grew grim and determined again. He loomed closer, hand in his pants, and I squeezed my eyes shut, unable to watch what was about to happen.
There wasn’t going to be any way out of this. I was well and truly fucked—and about to be well and truly fucked. Everything I’d done over the past few months had been for nothing, and if Kaden ever saw me again, he’d believe that I’d allowed myself to be mated to the Leo alpha. That I wanted it.
A sudden commotion broke through the chanting and howling, and my eyes popped open. Jordan’s mom pushed through the crowd, and when she got to the gazebo, she shoved aside a Sun Witch as if she didn’t care who she was. I had to give the woman credit, she was fierce as hell.
“Stop!” Debra shouted, and her voice carried over the rest of the noise. “You can’t do this!”
Jordan growled at her, obviously annoyed by the interruption. “This is our destiny. The stars have chosen Ayla as my mate. I don’t care if she’s half witch, or from the Cancer pack. She’s mine.” He looked back at me with such possessiveness that my pussy clenched in excitement, while my chest tightened with fear.
“You don’t understand,” Debra said, her voice urgent. “You cannot mate with her."
"Why not?" Jordan asked.
"She’s your sister.”
My heart stopped. So did everything else. The whole garden fell silent. Even Jordan froze, his mouth hanging open.
His... WHAT?
“What the hell are you talking about?” Jordan asked.
For once, he and I had the exact same thought. Horror filled my chest as I stared at Debra. Her words didn't make any sense. It shouldn't be possible. Unless... Oh shit. “Are you my mother?”
She gave me a condescending look. "Don't be ridiculous."
Thank the goddess. But if she wasn’t my mother, that meant…
"How can she be my sister?" Jordan asked. "Are you saying we have the same father?"
Debra dipped her head and lowered her voice. “Yes. I had an affair with Harrison, the Cancer alpha.”
Several gasps went up around the shifters gathered there. Cheating on your mate was not only rare and unusual but considered blasphemous. The fact that she'd done it with the Cancer alpha, their pack's worst enemy, only made it more scandalous.
My head was spinning, trying to take in this new revelation, but I felt like a computer that had frozen and couldn't reboot. Jordan was my brother. No. Just...no. It wasn't possible. How?
HOW?
I wasn’t the only one who was dumbstruck. Jordan gaped at his mom, and I watched emotions flash over his face in quick succession. Shock and horror. Anger. Pain. He looked like he'd been betrayed in the worst possible way.
And that's when I saw his eyes. Blue, just like mine.
Dixon's had been brown. Debra's were brown too. But not Jordan's.
He wasn’t the Leo alpha’s son. He was the Cancer alpha’s son.