“She was a Moon Witch, not a human like Dad always said."
Wesley dropped his fork, his eyes going wide. "She...what? How do you know?"
“When I was at the Convergence, the only way I got away from Jordan was because I unlocked some sort of…power inside of me. I can teleport from patches of moonlight. Kaden suspected I had Moon Witch blood, and the Sun Witches confirmed it while I was in captivity. They performed some sort of spell on me.”
Wesley stared at me like I'd grown a second head and I tensed, but then he cracked a grin. "That sounds pretty sweet. You'll have to show me later."
I relaxed immediately and mentally scolded myself for ever doubting my brother. He always loved and accepted me no matter what. "I will."
Wesley grabbed some more bacon and sat back down again. "I'll go through Dad's files and see if there's anything on your mom. I’ve already started looking through them, trying to find anything to help me as alpha. I already found something in his email about you.”
“How did you pull that off?” I asked, blinking in surprise.
“His password was really easy." Wesley snorted. “King Crab.”
“How very like him,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Really, it was almost like he wanted you to crack it. What did you find?"
"Correspondence between the Sun Witches and Dad. They were working together.”
“What?” My brain ground to a halt at those words. No, that didn’t make any sense. Why would the Sun Witches betray the Cancer pack at the Convergence if they were working with Dad?
Wesley's face turned grim. “There’s no easy way to say this, but it looks like Dad paid the Sun Witches to use their magic to create a mate bond between you and Jordan."
I fell back against my chair, all the air escaping my lungs from the force of those words. Dad was responsible for all of this mess—and it confirmed that the Sun Witches could create fake mate bonds. Kaden took my hand, subtly letting me know I’m here with you, and I squeezed it tight. “Why would he do that?”
“I think he was trying to end the war with the Leos,” Wesley said. "He wanted to create a connection with the Leos, to bridge the gap between our two packs so we could stop fighting.”
Another thought struck me, and I swallowed. “That, or he hated me so much he wanted to send me to live with our mortal enemies."
Wesley’s uncomfortable silence let me know he’d thought of the possibility as well.
I stared at my food, this new revelation changing everything. Had Dad really wanted to end the conflict with the Leos? That alone surprised me, but he might have thought he'd kill two birds with one stone by sending me to them. Shit. No wonder the Sun Witches had acted so strange with me at the Convergence. I'd kept thinking they were giving me odd looks or staring at me more than anyone else and now it made sense. Then I suddenly remembered Evanora's words just before I'd been mated to Jordan. "The gods? Not even they can save you from what's coming."
“That explains a lot,” Kaden said. "About why you were mated to Jordan."
“What do you mean?” Wesley asked, frowning.
“Jordan is my half-brother,” I said, gritting my teeth around the words. I hated speaking them out loud, but Wesley had a right to know, as well.
“You must be joking," Wesley said, looking between the two of us. His eyebrows shot up as we didn't answer. “You’re not joking?"
“Trust me, it’s the last thing I’d want to joke about." I took a long sip of coffee, but couldn't suppress the shudder that went through me.
“How?” Wesley asked, his voice incredulous.
“Our Dad is also his father,” I said. “Jordan has the Cancer alpha’s blood in him. That makes him your half-brother, as well.”
Disgust and horror flickered over Wesley's face in quick succession. “I can’t believe it. You're telling me that the Sun Witches mated you to your own brother?"
"Yes, although I don't think they knew he was my brother at the time." I cocked my head as I considered. They'd seemed pretty surprised when Debra had announced it at the altar, I realized. She must have kept the secret close to her chest all these years. Then a horrible thought struck me. “Oh god. Do you think Dad knew we were related?"
"I don't think so," Wesley said, shaking his head. "Dad was a monster in many ways, but he wouldn't have done that to you."
I nodded. Even that seemed a bit too cruel for our father. I didn’t think he’d take it quite that far, just to torment me. "I wouldn't be surprised if the Leo alpha female never told him. And since they weren't mates, it never would have occurred to him that he could get her pregnant."
Wesley slid a hand over his face. “Damn, he really slept around a lot. What an asshole. I hope we don't have any other half-siblings running around out there."
A startled laugh burst out of me at the thought. “Oh god, let's hope not. Damn, I never thought I’d feel sorry for Jackie, but I do. Sort of."
Now it was Wesley’s turn to laugh. “And I never thought I’d hear you say anything positive about her." He bumped his shoulder against mine. "Hey, when all these brothers and sisters show up, just remember we were the original pair, all right?"
I bumped him back, grinning. "Don't worry, Jordan is not going to replace you as my favorite brother anytime soon."
We finished eating, and even though this new revelation was horrible in so many ways, it felt like a weight had been lifted off my chest. Now I knew for sure that the mate bond was a complete lie, an elaborate scheme created by my dear old Dad. Even beyond the grave, he’s fucking my life up, I thought. Of course, he'd paid the price for it. Whatever he’d been trying to do obviously hadn’t worked, since the Leos had rejected me and then used it as an excuse to kill everyone.
Once we were done eating, I went to wash the dishes, while Wesley began asking Kaden more questions about the Ophiuchus pack. I half-listened as they talked, and then Wesley went to make a few phone calls to the other packs' alphas.
When he was gone, Kaden grabbed me and dragged me into his lap. "You're brother is a good man. He will be a great alpha.”
“He’s the only thing that made living here bearable. Finding out he’s alive is…everything.” I leaned against Kaden and then had a new thought. "If the mate bond was a spell cast by the Sun Witches, do you think it can be broken with magic too?"
Kaden played with my hair, his eyes thoughtful. “I’m not sure. The only spells my parents taught me were basic things to protect the pack, like setting up wards. For complex magic, we'd probably need a real witch."
Damn. There was no way one of the Sun Witches would be willing to help us. That only left one option: the Moon Witches. But no shifter had seen them in decades, not even the Ophiuchus pack. I wanted to find them, but I didn't even know where to begin looking.