Mira leaned forward, meeting my eyes. "I know this sounds crazy, but hear me out. Are you sure you should resist it? Even when everything was terrible, the mate bond was the only thing that made sense to me."
"I can't be with Jordan. I hate him." I frowned as I said the words. Did I still hate him? I couldn't trust my own feelings anymore. "And even if I didn't, something about our mate bond is wrong. I can't explain it, but you have to believe me." I sat up straighter and held my hands out to Mira, who took them, even though she looked a bit confused. “I just need to escape and get back to the Ophiuchus pack. Then I can figure this out.”
Mira squeezed my hands. “I’ll help you however I can.”
“No." As nice as it would be to have Mira backing me, I couldn’t risk it. “That will put you and Aiden in danger. I can’t ask you to do that.”
She let out a huff. “No matter what happens with Aiden, you’re my sister. We’ve known each other since birth and I’ve always been there for you. I’m not going to stop now, just because it’s getting a bit scary.”
A swell of gratitude went through me. Of course she wouldn’t let me do this alone. She never had before. “There might be a way. I recently learned I have Moon Witch magic from my mom. It’s the only thing that saved me at the Convergence. I can teleport in the moonlight, and I used it to get away from Jordan. Maybe I can use it to help us escape.”
Mira nodded, not doubting me at all. “I know you’ll figure something out. I’m right there with you, the moment you decide you want to go.”
I squeezed her hands tight again and sent a silent prayer up to the moon goddess Selene, or anyone who would listen. Please, let us escape from this place. Before it's too late.
Chapter Six
I spent the next hour searching the house for any cameras or microphones—I wanted to make sure Jordan couldn't listen in on our conversations or watch me in the shower like some creepy perv. I found nothing, which made me feel a little better, although every time I looked out the window I saw one of the ever-present guards on patrol, reminding me I was still in a prison, even if this one was a lot nicer.
That afternoon, a woman arrived with all sorts of clothes in my size, plus shoes, underwear, bras, nightgowns, and even a few hats. When I asked where they came from, she simply smiled and said they were a gift from Jordan. About fifteen minutes after that, another female shifter showed up and filled our fridge and pantry with every food I could possibly think of, ranging from frozen pizzas to watermelon to wine. She told us if we needed anything else to let one of the guards know, and she'd get it for us as soon as she could. Mira was delighted—she loved to bake and immediately began making a list of things she wanted.
That night we ate one of the frozen pizzas since we were both too tired to cook, and settled in with some popcorn to watch a movie. The big TV in the living room had Netflix, Disney+, and every other streaming service I knew of, all thanks to Jordan. I had to admit, the guy was winning some major points, especially after I'd had none of this with the Ophiuchus pack. Kaden had banned me from anything involving the internet during my time there like he'd expected me to send out our coordinates through Hulu or some shit.
I found a Marvel movie that had come out right after the Convergence and put it on. Mira and I watched and chomped popcorn, and it felt almost...normal. For a few minutes, I forgot where I was, and about everything else, and just enjoyed being with my friend and getting lost in someone else's story.
"Pause it," Mira said when we were about halfway through. "I need more wine."
I chuckled and hit pause, then got up myself. "Good idea. I like the idea of drinking all of Jordan's wine and making him buy more. I need to pee anyway." I started to head toward the bathroom, but Mira let out a little noise of surprise. I turned around and saw her face. "What is it?"
"Oh, Ayla. Your pants." She gestured toward me, and I looked down at my pale jeans and spotted blood between my thighs.
"Oh shit." Panic filled me as I stared down there. "Why am I bleeding?"
Mira's face turned sympathetic. "You got your period. That's all."
"I...how?" I thought periods were something only humans got. I'd lived my entire life without one, as had Mira, as far as I'd known.
"Did you go into heat at the last full moon?"
My cheeks turned red at the memory. "I did, yeah."
"Now that you're mated, you'll get your period after your heat, if you don't get pregnant during it." She cocked her head, her eyes filled with pity. "Didn't your stepmom tell you about this?"
"No, we didn't exactly have that kind of relationship," I muttered, my head swirling with this new knowledge—something I should have known all along, it seemed. I'd never thought I could actually get pregnant from all the sex I had with Kaden, but now that I knew for certain I wasn't, I felt the loss deep in my chest.
Mira stood and walked toward me, sensing my turmoil. "Are you okay? I get the feeling you're upset about more than just a little blood."
"I had sex with Kaden during the full moon. A lot of sex. And I guess a part of me hoped I was pregnant, and that I carried a bit of him with me still." I shook my head, blinking back tears. "It's stupid, I know. He's not my mate."
She wrapped her arms around me. "Oh, Ayla. I'm sorry. But you know that even if he was your mate, it's still rare for shifters to get pregnant when we go into heat."
I sniffed, leaning against her. Most shifters only had one child, or if they were really lucky, they'd be blessed with two. The one exception was the Gemini pack, of course, since they always had twins. "Really, it's better this way. I'm way too young to be a mother, and being pregnant here among the Leos would be a nightmare. Can you imagine?"
Mira rubbed my back. "It'll happen someday when you're ready for it. Come on, let's get you cleaned up. I have some pads you can use."
I gripped her arm, a new, horrible thought occurring to me. "Mira, I don't want to have Jordan's baby."
"You won't," she said. "We'll be long gone before the Leo heat comes on in the fall."
I swallowed and hoped she was right—but summer was already flying by, and my window for escape was growing shorter by the minute.
The next few days passed in relative bliss compared to the ones before. I didn’t wake up in a cell, no Sun Witches came to squeeze magic out of me, and the best part of all was that I had Mira in my life again. It didn't even matter that we weren't allowed to leave the house, because we spent the days catching up and trading stories of how our time apart had gone.