Then I saw something out of the corner of my eye, something peeking out from under my pink pillow, now faded almost to white from too many washings. I lifted it up, surprised to see a photograph sitting there. I picked it up with shaking fingers as I took in Wesley’s smiling face, drinking in the familiar features greedily. I had no pictures of him anymore, and even though there were other photos of him in the house, this was the only one I was in too.
In the photo we were on the beach of Nereus Island, which was an hour's boat ride away from here. We’d visited almost every year for vacation until Wesley went to college, and I guessed I was about fourteen here, which put Wesley at eighteen. He had his arm slung around my shoulders and grinned at the camera broadly. I looked a little subdued, but even I was smiling wide. He’d just told me a joke before Jackie snapped the picture, to be sure that my smile would be broader than usual.
Tears pricked at the back of my eyes as I remembered the moment. I could hear the scream of seagulls overhead and taste the salt in the air as if I were there now. It was the last vacation we’d taken together as a family, and one of my happiest memories of my brother.
“I miss him so much,” I whispered. I’d thought about his death all the time, but admitting it out loud unlocked some part of me that I tried to keep under wraps. Tears poured down my cheeks, and Kaden’s arms wrapped around me from behind. I turned and pressed my face against him, letting the grief wash over me. Kaden didn’t say anything, but his presence was enough.
I pulled back and wiped at my eyes, opening my mouth to apologize to Kaden for using him as my personal tissue, but then I frowned down at the photograph. “I didn’t leave this here."
"What do you mean?" Kaden asked.
"I haven't seen this photo in years. Wesley had it at his apartment." I flipped it over, and nearly dropped the photo in shock when I saw the writing scrawled on the back in blue ballpoint pen. Two simple words: find us.
I looked up at Kaden, as my heart began to pound even faster. “I know where they are."
The Cancer pack made most of their income by selling fish and crabs to restaurants and markets, so it was no surprise they had a lot of boats in the harbor. Big ones, small ones, with everything from sailboats to pontoons to jet skis. Dad personally owned a large sailboat that he could take a big group out on the water with, but it required at least two people to manage, and I had a feeling Kaden wouldn't be much help there. Dad had often used me as his crew because I would do the grunt work without complaint, while the rest of the shifters drank wine and ate cheese. But Dad also had a bowrider for when he wanted to speed across the waves, and that was the one I headed for now.
As we walked down the dock, I fidgeted with the ignition key I'd grabbed from the house. I hadn’t been allowed to drive the speed boat when we’d gone out as a family, but Wesley had taught me whenever we got the chance to go alone. Of course, that was years ago now, but hopefully, it would all come back to me, like driving.
When we got to the boat, Kaden looked over the water with a grimace as I climbed inside and began checking things out. “I don’t like this plan," he said. "Do you even know how to drive a boat?”
"First you question my driving, now you question my boating skills?" I patted the side in a come on motion. “I can get us to the island. I think."
“You think?” Kaden asked, eyebrows shooting up. He hadn’t come any closer to the boat, and he was far enough away that I couldn’t yank him into it either.
“Well, I haven’t exactly had time to practice after being kidnapped twice. Being landlocked and held in a cell multiple times kind of puts a damper on that.” I shoved the key in the ignition and was pleased when it started without a problem. "If there's one thing any Cancer knows, it's how to handle a boat. Even an outcast like me. I'm an excellent sailor too." Although Wesley was better, I thought with a pang.
I flipped a few switches and checked the gauges, wondering if I was forgetting something. It felt like forever since Wesley had shown this to me, but I closed my eyes and imagined he was beside me, guiding my hands to the right places, grinning at me when I got things right. I could do this.
Navigation. That was what I was missing. The boat had an onboard electronic navigation system with the location of the island already saved to it, so all I had to do was turn it on and the GPS would show me exactly where to go.
“Come on,” I called to Kaden, who was still standing on the dock, looking entirely uncomfortable with the idea of being on a boat. “I thought snakes liked water.”
"No, they like eating things that like water," Kaden mumbled. With a scowl on his lips, he stepped into the boat and sat down on one of the seats behind me.
"Finally," I said, rolling my eyes. I'd never expected the big bad alpha to be such a baby when it came to boats.
I slowly backed the boat up out of the slip and turned it around to point toward Nereus Island. Even though it was dark out, my wolf senses gave me an advantage, and everything Wesley had taught me was coming back now.
When I gunned the boat, Kaden’s hands gripped the seat on either side of him, and he swallowed hard. I couldn’t help but smile. He looked up at me, so undeniably grumpy that I had to cover my laugh with my hand.
“I’ve never been on a boat,” he admitted finally, and still wouldn’t look anywhere but at the horizon.
“Don’t worry,” I called to him as the boat started to pick up speed, slicing through the waves faster and faster until we were almost flying. “Even though I can't breathe underwater like a real Cancer, I’m a strong swimmer. If we do capsize, I can save you."
"I know how to swim," Kaden muttered. "I just don't want to have to do it in the middle of the ocean."
I rolled my eyes, but then I had a sudden thought. The Cancer pack, along with the Pisces and Scorpio packs, could breathe underwater because they were water signs. The other packs all aligned with the other elements, except for one. "What element is the Ophiuchus pack?"
"We don't have one. The packs got those powers after we were exiled, probably from the Sun Witches. But our Moon Witch blood makes up for it."
"True, although I bet you'd feel a lot better if we could both breathe underwater right now."
Kaden clenched his jaw at that but didn’t say anything else. I turned back toward the front, steering the boat a bit south to compensate for the wind. Even though I’d never felt like I belonged in my pack, I'd always loved this, with the wind blowing my hair back from my face and the smell of salt in my nose. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed the ocean until I’d set eyes on it again. Maybe there was a little bit of Cancer in me after all.
It took a little over an hour for us to reach the island. I saw the Nereus lighthouse peeking up from the waves long before anything else appeared. I pointed it out to Kaden and he finally came to stand beside me, more relaxed now that he realized I wasn't going to drown us.