“Mira?” I asked, my heart leaping into my throat.
“Ayla!” She launched herself at me, and I found myself running forward to meet her halfway. I hadn’t seen her since the Convergence when Mira had left with the Pisces pack. She'd been practically dragged away by her new mate after the Pisces alpha had refused to help me for fear of retribution from the Leo pack. It seemed like a lifetime had passed since we'd seen each other.
I wrapped Mira up in a tight hug, nearly sobbing with relief at seeing her unharmed and in front of me, especially after what I'd been through the last few days. I'd been surrounded by the enemy for so long, unable to trust anyone, and it was exhausting. Even in the Ophiuchus pack, I'd felt some of that, though they hadn't been as hostile. They’d all been together for years, or since birth, and I’d been an interloper. Even after joining the pack, I would have had to build years of trust with the pack members before being truly accepted. But with Mira, it wasn't like that. She'd been my one true friend for my entire life, and I’d known her for so long that I couldn’t remember a time when I hadn’t trusted her.
“I was so worried,” Mira said, the moment we pulled away from each other. Her nose wrinkled at the sight—or maybe the scent—of me, but her eyes were full of warmth. “I had no idea if you were dead or alive, or what had happened to you after we left the Convergence. I'm so happy you're okay."
"I'm sorry. I wanted to send you a message to let you know I was alive, but I couldn't." While with the Ophiuchus pack I'd been told I couldn't have a phone or any contact with the outside world until I became a pack member. They wouldn’t have let me risk the location of the pack just to send word to my friend. Then once I finally became a pack member, everything with the Leos had happened so quickly, I hadn't had a chance to get her a message.
Jordan moved to my side, flashing me a charming smile. "I thought you could use a friendly face here. And as a show of good faith, I'm going to let you both stay together in this house, instead of sending you back to the prison."
"Really?" I was so excited to see Mira and to know I wasn't going back to my prison cell that I almost hugged him. I'd never expected something like this, especially after the Sun Witches had told him to keep me locked up. Perhaps their grip on Jordan wasn't as strong as I'd thought.
He nodded. "Consider this a trial. You'll have to stay inside the house for now, but as long as you don't try anything, you'll be given more privileges."
He sound gracious, but his words made me realize there was an underlying threat beneath them. Despite my happiness at seeing Mira, her being here gave Jordan something to hurt me with. If I stepped out of line he could threaten her life, knowing I'd do whatever he wanted to keep her alive. His so-called gift was really just another way of controlling me.
I forced a smile and muttered, "Thank you."
“I’ll give you two some time to catch up,” he said, as he reached up to touch my cheek. I tensed, not knowing what to expect, but then he kissed me on the forehead. A ripple of need went through me at his touch, making me sigh, and he smiled at me like he knew how I felt. Then he left, closing the door behind him. I almost expected to hear the click of a lock, but nothing came. We weren't locked inside, but we couldn't leave either. No matter how generous Jordan was being, I couldn't allow myself to forget that this house was still a prison surrounded by guards—though it sure beat being in a dark cell with nothing but a cot.
I looked back over at Mira and pushed those worries away. I had so much to tell her, things that she would never believe. But there was something else I needed to do first. “I can't wait to sit down and tell you everything, but I desperately need a shower."
“Good idea. You reek." She laughed. "Go on, I need to unpack anyway.”
She shooed me away, and I smiled at her before I went upstairs. It was a nice four-bedroom house, clean and modern and very beige, but it looked like no one lived here. There weren’t any personal touches, nothing to indicate that this had been someone else’s home before Mira and I had been brought to it. It reminded me of one of the houses the Cancer pack had kept for important visitors, like other pack alphas and their families. It didn't surprise me that the Leo pack had something similar.
I picked an empty bedroom, realizing I had absolutely nothing to mark the place as mine. No clothes, no keepsakes, nothing. Once again, I was in a place without any worldly possessions. This was getting repetitive to the point of ridiculousness. The thought made me remember the last time this had happened, and I was filled with sadness. I’d only lived in Kaden and Stella’s house for a while, but I had a sudden, very strong pang of homesickness. Their home was full of life, and they'd allowed me to become a part of it like I was family. This place was soulless in comparison.
At least there was a shower kit in the attached bathroom. I quickly stripped my days’ old clothes off and hopped into the shower. It was amazing to wash the dirt, grime, and sweat off my body, and I lingered in the shower past the point of necessity, grateful to have the hot water pounding down on my skin.
A knock sounded on the door, and I instantly went on high alert.
“I just realized you probably don’t have any clothes,” Mira said, voice muffled by the door.
I relaxed. "No, I don't."
The door creaked open. “I’ll leave them on the counter."
“Thank you so much,” I responded, eternally grateful for Mira and her consideration. She was always thinking of others, and I was so glad to have her with me here when everyone else around me was an enemy. I just wished it didn't put her in danger too.
I finished my shower, my mood dampened somewhat by the remembrance of where I was. For a while, under the hot water, I'd been able to let my mind go blank, but now it was back to reality.
I dried off with one of the provided towels and dressed in Mira’s clothes. Mira and I were roughly the same size, and we’d shared clothes before many times. When Dad couldn't be bothered to get me new clothes for school, Mira had always given me some of her own. Today she'd left me a gray t-shirt and jeans that weren’t the most comfortable, but I would make do until I could figure out where to get my own clothes. Still, they fit a bit differently than I remembered, and I realized that I’d changed since the last time I’d seen her. I’d put on muscle, shed the last bit of baby fat clinging to my body. I glanced at myself in the mirror, and the female that looked back had a stubborn set to her jaw and a hardness in her eyes that I couldn’t remember associating with myself before.
Feeling much better, I went back out. I followed the sound of Mira, finding her in a bedroom down the hall, surrounded by many pieces of opened luggage. It looked like she'd packed as if she expected to be here for a long time.