That made sense. My wolf had been locked away for the first twenty-two years of my life, and I’d never exhibited this sort of magic before. I’d been called to the moon, but I’d just thought that was how it was for every Cancer shifter. It was only on the night of the Convergence when I'd first tapped into my power.
Roxandra looked over at me, a slight frown on her face, and in her eyes, I saw fear. She was afraid of me, or afraid of my powers at least. “She needs to be controlled, or killed before her powers become stronger.”
Killed? I glanced wildly at Jordan. Would he listen to the Sun Witches on this?
"Killing her is not an option," Jordan growled. "She's my mate."
"She's more dangerous than you know," Roxandra hissed.
"She's. My. Mate." His voice was so ferocious that even Roxandra stepped back from it. "I've got it under control."
“As you say,” Roxandra said, though she didn’t sound too happy about it.
"After the full moon ceremony, she'll be completely bound to me," Jordan said. "Then we'll be able to use her magic to our advantage. She could be a valuable asset."
"Very well. I strongly urge you to keep her locked up until then." She cast me one last look, lip curling in distaste, and nodded to the other two witches. They couldn’t seem to let go of me fast enough, nearly tossing me away from both of them, like they thought I might hurt them. Right. Me going against three fully trained Sun Witches? I hardly understood my own powers, let alone how to use them against others.
The three Sun Witches left without casting a backward glance. Jordan lingered, watching me as I sat on the floor as I tried to get a hold of myself to return to my cot again. The spell they'd used had taken all my energy with that burst of unexpected magic, and now I could barely move.
Jordan took my arm and lifted me up, helping me to my cot. Desire swirled in me at his touch, and I so wanted to lean against him and let him take care of me. Give in, the mate bond whispered. Why fight it?
"I won't let them hurt you," Jordan said as he set me down on the cot. Then he lightly touched my hair, smoothing it down almost tenderly. The mate bond purred inside me, wanting more.
"No, you just want to use me." I jerked away with the last of my strength and he dropped his hand with a scowl.
"Everyone is a pawn in this game," he said in a cold voice. "Even me. But together, we could be king and queen instead."
He left without saying anything else, and I breathed a sigh of relief when he was gone. It was too hard to think when he was around. The mate bond clouded my mind, making me doubt my instincts and twisting my emotions into knots.
I sagged back against the wall. I couldn’t deny it any longer. I was part Moon Witch, which meant that my mother hadn’t been human, and Kaden’s theory had been correct. That didn’t give me any answers though, and Dad wasn’t alive for me to ask him any questions. He probably wouldn’t have answered them anyway. Had he even known my mother was a Moon Witch? I had no way of knowing.
It didn’t matter that I’d just woken up about an hour ago, I felt the intense urge to nap. That bolt of energy that had hit the Sun Witches had taken most of my strength with it. I collapsed onto my cot, not even bothering to pull the thin blanket up over myself. I just curled in on myself and closed my eyes.
I wished, with an intensity that caught me off guard, that I could talk to Kaden and Stella. They both had Moon Witch blood, and they might be able to help me understand what was happening. Could they create silvery light like that? I wasn't sure. I knew they could both go invisible, and Kaden had somehow made magical wards to protect the pack lands, but that was it. I was woefully ignorant when it came to anything about the Moon Witches or their magic, and I desperately needed to know more.
I rubbed my Ophiuchus mark absentmindedly, almost as if I could feel it tingling in sympathy. I was determined to find my way back to my pack. They had the answers I needed, and I wanted out of this place with the Leos and the Sun Witches. These weren’t my people, they weren’t my home, and Jordan definitely wasn't the man I wanted to spend my life with, no matter how the mate bond made me feel.
Chapter Four
I blinked awake and felt an overwhelming sense of disappointment. I’d been having the most wonderful dream about running through the forest with my pack by my side, and waking up to confinement within these four walls was getting worse and worse every day that passed. This didn’t feel real, but it was what I kept waking up to, rather than my bed in Kaden’s house.
It had been a few days since my encounter with the Sun Witches, and the boredom was starting to drive me a little insane. All I could do was sleep, eat, train, and scheme, only to repeat the process again and again. No one came to visit me, and I was starting to think they were going to leave me in this prison until the full moon ceremony. The possibility of escape dwindled with every day that passed, while my despair and desperation only increased. I wouldn't even consider how smelly my armpits were at this point.
The sound of someone walking down the hall caught me off guard and I sat upright in bed, feeling the mate bond tug at my gut. I slid the blanket off my legs and put my feet on the floor, trying to shake away the last remnants of sleep so I could face Jordan with a clear head.
Jordan and his annoyingly perfect face appeared in front of my cell. "Good morning, Ayla."
I crossed my arms. “Oh, so you remember I exist now. What do you want?”
Jordan nodded to the guard with the keys, who unlocked the door without question. I expected Jordan to step inside, but instead, he held his hand out as if gesturing for me to follow him. "Let's go for a walk."
Although I desperately wanted to get out of this cage, even for a minute, this smelled like a trap. "Have the Sun Witches convinced you I'm a threat now? Planning to take me out back and kill me?"
“I don’t know how many times I have to tell you this, but that’s not on the agenda anymore,” Jordan said.
“Look,” I said, but I stood up all the same. “The first time we met you hunted me through the forest like prey and broke multiple bones in my body, and now I’m just supposed to take you at face value that you’re not interested in harming me? Especially when the Sun Witches seem more than ready to kill me?"
Jordan cocked his head. "Did you actually see me kill anyone at the Convergence?"
I paused to search my memories and found he was right, but I still scowled at him. "Just because I didn't see it happen, doesn't mean there isn't any blood on your hands. Besides, you wanted to kill me."