A rush of relief went through me, and I was pleased he'd changed his mind because of me.
“The Cancer pack is small now.” Wesley sighed and he suddenly looked tired, and much older than his twenty-six years. “Nearly powerless. I don’t know how much help we’ll be. We don't have the numbers to stand up to the Leos. Hell, right now I'm just trying to keep us alive."
"It must have been difficult when you became alpha," I said, my voice softening as I imagined what Wesley must have gone through. While grieving the loss of our parents and me at the Convergence, and recovering from his own near death, he'd had to become a leader to what remained of the Cancer pack and make sure they were safe. My respect for my brother grew ten-fold, and it was no wonder he looked a lot older now.
"It was no picnic, that's for damn sure," Wesley admitted. "I'd always wanted to be alpha, just not like this."
“I went through the same thing,” Kaden said. “I had to become alpha and keep my pack safe when my parents were killed by the Leos. It was before I was ready, but I managed to make do as best I could. If you’re anything like Ayla, you'll be fine."
Wesley nodded at him. "Thanks. I'm trying my best."
I made a little sandwich of cheese, crackers, and salami as I considered my next words. "The attack on the Cancers was only the beginning. Jordan plans to take over all of the Zodiac Wolf packs. They have the Sun Witches on their side, and they’re nearly unstoppable already."
Kaden finished his beer and set it down. "If you join forces with the Ophiuchus, we can fight the Leos together. You know they'll come after you again at some point. You can hide on this island all you like, but someday they'll find you."
"What are the other packs doing?" Wesley asked. "We haven't reached out to any of them yet, in case they were working with the Leos."
I handed Kaden another beer as I spoke. "Most of them seem to be watching and waiting at the moment, but if you join us, the other packs might as well. No one wants to be ruled by the Leos, or have their pack nearly wiped out like the Cancers."
Wesley stared out at the waves as he considered our words. "Even before I was alpha, I swore I'd do things differently than Dad. Better. Yet here I am, planning a war with the Leos, just like he did for decades."
"This is different," I said. "They struck the first blow, and this is much bigger than a feud between two packs. This is about the fate of all the Zodiac Wolves."
"That's true." Wesley tapped his fingers on the side of his beer. "I want to keep my pack safe, but I fear you may be right. We won't ever be truly safe until the Leos are stopped."
"Then you'll join us?" Kaden asked.
"Yes, I'll form an alliance with you," Wesley said, his face grim.
I let out a breath. “Good. Mira is talking to the Pisces alpha too, so hopefully, we get his support. But we'll need more packs to join us."
"I can try contacting some of them, but it would be better if we spoke in person to their alphas," Wesley said. "Especially since I'm a new alpha, and you two..." He spread his hands and shrugged.
I nodded slowly as I considered this. The different packs lived all over the US and Canada—it would take time to visit them all. A phone call would be a lot easier, but Wesley was probably right that they might not listen to us that way, if they even took the call.
“We need to call another Convergence,” Kaden said.
"Good idea," I said. "And this time the Sun Witches are not invited."
"That could work." Wesley sat up a little straighter. "We'll invite only the Cancer allies and the neutral packs, although I don’t know if anyone will listen to me, or if anyone will come. None of them helped us during the Convergence, after all."
I looked over at Kaden, determination sliding through my veins. This was the most progress we’d made in a long time, and if this went according to plan, we might have a fighting chance against the Leos for once. “We have to try."
Chapter Twenty-One
We went to my old room not long after that, once it became clear I could barely keep my eyes open any longer. I had so much more to discuss with Wesley, like the fact that Jordan was my brother, but that would have to wait.
My room was all white and sea green, and one of my favorite parts about it was that this room looked just like Wesley's, unlike the one in our other house. It was the same size and had the same old white furniture, passed down from my grandparents' time. I fell asleep the second my head hit the pillow, not even waiting for Kaden to crawl into bed with me.
In the morning, I woke to the sound of waves and felt more at peace than I had in a long time. Kaden was beside me, Wesley was alive, and I was safe. I squeezed my eyes shut, savoring this moment, fearing it couldn't possibly last.
I showered and dressed first, then headed downstairs while Kaden got ready. When I got there, Wesley was already in alpha mode. He paced back and forth across the kitchen floor as he fried eggs and bacon for breakfast. Whereas last night he'd been hesitant about going after the Leos, now he seemed eager to take them on.
“You said that Mira was talking to the Pisces alpha?” he asked, pausing to lean against the counter. "I'm glad she's all right. Her parents weren't so lucky, unfortunately."
I nodded around a swig of coffee. I'd always suspected Mira had a crush on Wesley, and I'd wondered if Wesley felt the same. Then again, my brother had always had taken full advantage of his mate-less status with all sorts of women. That was before the Convergence though. We'd all changed a lot since that night.
“She’ll get back to me as soon as she has any news." I grabbed some plates from the cabinet. “What about the Virgo pack? You said one of them healed you."
Wesley began serving the food. "I can ask, though they're usually pretty hesitant to get involved in any conflict."
We sat down to eat, just as Kaden joined us, his hair wet from his shower. Wesley caught me checking him out and made fake gagging sounds. I rolled my eyes. Maybe things hadn't changed that much.
"I've been thinking," Kaden said, as he accepted his plate of food. "There’s going to be a solar eclipse in about a little over a month—when the new moon blocks the sun's rays from Earth. That would be the perfect time for all of us to meet. The Sun Witches will be weaker then, or at least that’s what I’d assume. I don’t know much about the power of Sun Witches, but those of us with Moon Witch blood always get stronger then, so it stands to reason they would be weaker."
Wesley paused with his fork raised in the air. "So your pack does have Moon Witch blood?"
"Yes, some of us do." Kaden glanced at me pointedly, and I realized this was the time to tell Wesley about my powers. I'd left that part out last night since I wasn't sure how he would react. Most of the Zodiac Wolves saw the Moon Witches as the enemy, after all.
“Do you know anything about my mother?” I asked after taking a deep breath.
Wesley shook his head. “No, I never met her. Why?"