"Tell me about your parents," I said. Kaden rarely ever talked about them, but the past was looming over us tonight, and I thought I might get a rare chance to get him to open up more.
Kaden didn't respond at first, and just as I opened my mouth to tell him to forget it, he said, "They were great alphas, and even better parents. Honest, fair, and kind, though they had a firm hand when it was needed. I never had to worry about taking any issues or concerns to them, and none of the pack did either.”
He sighed and pushed a hand through his dark hair, the other one on the steering wheel. My eyes tracked the movement until I realized that I was staring at him instead of the road. I snapped my gaze back forward. If only I had the excuse of being at the wheel to make sure I wouldn’t do it again.
Luckily he didn't seem to notice, and to my surprise, he kept talking. “My mom was an artist. She was always painting, drawing, or crafting something. Our house was always full of things she had made, usually with me or Stella."
"She sounds wonderful. Do you still have any of her work?" I didn't remember seeing it in his house.
"Somewhere, yeah. I put it all away after she died. It was too hard to look at it."
"And your dad?"
"He was really good at fixing things. Cars, computers, plumbing, you name it and he could figure out the problem and get it working again. He did the same with people's problems too. He told me that was the real secret to being a good alpha—figuring out what the problem was and trying to find a way to fix it." His face turned grim. "That's what he was trying to do with our pack. He knew our pack would die out if we didn’t rejoin the rest of the Zodiac Wolves. The intermingling of all the packs makes it possible for the bloodlines to remain strong, and for each pack to thrive in numbers without inbreeding, but being exiled cut us off from that. We’ve scraped by with deserters and outcasts, but we could be so much more if we were allowed to return. My parents realized that, and they tried to do what was best for the pack.” His hands clenched around the steering wheel. “But the Leos made sure that never happened."
I wondered what it would be like to grow up with such love all the time, and how awful it would be to have it snatched away from you like that. No wonder Kaden hated the Leos so much. “How did it feel when you got your revenge? When you killed the Leo alpha?”
Kaden’s low growl in his throat was answer enough for me. “It felt like justice. Although I didn't just get revenge for my parents. I did it for you, as payback for him killing your father and your pack."
My heart beat faster at that. But before I could respond, something flashed in front of the car, illuminated by the headlights. A wolf, stepping right into the road directly in front of us, too quickly for either of us to react. Kaden had just enough time to swear before we rammed directly into it. The car crunched, and to my horror, the wolf didn’t budge at all. Like we'd hit a huge boulder instead of an animal.
Then I had the feeling of being weightless, of Kaden’s arm pressing me back by my shoulders, before we were tossed back to the ground, rolling over and over. I heard glass breaking and the high shriek of metal being torn, and someone was screaming. It took me a moment to realize it was me. Everything was chaos and confusion and terror, until the car finally came to a standstill, with Kaden and I suspended upside down.
For a moment, there was silence, filled only by the pounding in my ears. Then sounds began to filter in from outside. Scuffling paws, the sound of noses sniffing nearby, and when I craned my neck over, I saw the shadows of a dozen wolves in the headlights, their bodies elongated and cast at strange angles. A single growl pierced the night, and then it was joined by many others, making the air almost vibrate with the sound.
We were surrounded.
Chapter Fifteen
“Are you okay?” Kaden asked, his voice low.
“I think so,” I said, wiggling my toes and fingers. Everything hurt, but at least I could still move. “Are you?”
“I’ll be able to fight. We need to get out of here fast if we’re going to survive."
No shit. I struggled with my seat belt, frantic to get it off. I would drop to the car roof the moment I was free, which would leave me vulnerable to attack, but I couldn't stay like this either. “Let’s drop on three,” I suggested.
“One,” he said, softly enough that only I could hear. “Two… Three.”
I pressed down, but nothing happened. Kaden fell to the ceiling with a thump. Immediately, the growling outside stopped. I pushed the seat belt button again, but nothing happened. “Fuck! I’m stuck.”
Kaden cursed, just as a gray wolf snapped its jaws through his shattered window. “Try to get out. I’ll hold them off as long as I can."
I nodded and continued fidgeting with the seat belt. Dammit, I thought. Of all the times…
Kaden's door wouldn't open either. He bent the metal out of place, the screech of it loud enough to drown out the remaining growls, and then the moonlight spilled inside. Kaden leaped out, shifting into a huge black wolf halfway, and I heard his growl join the group. His shadow blocked the entrance to the car as he turned back and forth, snarling and snapping at our attackers. I saw them lunge at him, and heard the sounds of fighting.
I yanked at the seat belt one last time, trying to use some of my strength to yank it open. It didn’t do a damn thing, and I let out a whimper, the thought of shifters tearing the car apart to get to me playing out in my mind. Or worse, letting Kaden fight them on his own and getting injured...or killed.
I considered shifting but wasn't sure if that would work to get me out, or if I'd just be a trapped wolf. I looked outside again. The moon. I closed my eyes and tried to calm my mind, to access that part of me that knew how to use my powers, and then I was blinking at the wrecked car from fifty feet away.
I let out a breath. None of the shifters had seen me yet, all of them surrounding Kaden as he fought them off by himself in a flash of fur and fangs. I ran back over, trying to be as quiet as possible, then shifted into wolf form. I wasn't as quick or as smooth as Kaden, but I was able to launch myself onto one of the gray wolves and sink my teeth into its neck, releasing a heavy dose of my Ophiuchus poison from my fangs.
The wolf shook me off, sending me slamming back against the side of the car. He turned and growled at me, snapping his teeth, still very much alive. He didn't even look slightly woozy. What the fuck?
They're Taurus pack, Kaden told me through our pack bond. Immune to poison. Like all the earth signs.