2. Back Home (Kaya Pov)

Kaya POV

I stared at Cade. He was so handsome, even after all these years. “I can feel you staring love.” He said over the mind link. I signed, “It isn’t my fault you look nice while you are concentrating.” I saw the sides of his mouth turn up. “I hate to say it love but it is good Sol has gone back to school.” He signed from his desk.

My chest fell; I hated that my daughter was gone once again. At least she took Quientin with her. I missed her when she was gone. “Why?” I signed. I knew Cade loved having Sol home too, so why would he say he was happy she had gone back to school. Cade was staring at me. I knew the situation with other packs was tense. Our pack kept growing every year.

We had more northerns join every year and not just our size, but the strength of the pack was much greater than the other. It put them on edge. It had been causing problems for a while now. I could see Cade didn’t want to divulge what was truly on his mind. The last few years he had been keeping a lot of stuff in, and I was grateful. He had taken on dealing with conflicts himself as well as giving me tons of other stuff to manage, mostly integrating the south and north, and not just within our pack.

“War is a real prospect at this point.” He signed to me. A chill ran up my spine. I didn’t want another one for as long as I lived. A few fights here and there I could handle but another war. I couldn’t and wouldn’t handle that well. The last one had marred not just my body but mind. I still had nightmares about it sometimes, 19 years later. For Cade to bring it up, meant he was sure it was coming.

“Why, we only want peace.” I shouted down the mind link. “We are a threat, just like we were when I was a kid. Several Alphas gave us an option to avoid the inevitable.” He mind linked me and my eyebrows rose. “What is this option?” He clearly didn’t want to tell me, because he began to chew on his bottom lip. Something he began to do out of nerves. The last few years as the tensions began to rise to all new heights.

“An arranged marriage for Sol with one of their sons, she would become their Luna to her husband's pack and only be a luna. Then they ask we break our pack into two. Maven would be one alpha and Ben for the other pack.” My mouth dropped open when he signed. “No, not happening, I refuse.” I signed frantically to my mate. He mind linked the same sentiments. “Kaya, I mean no offense, but you can’t fight, you will need to go someplace safe, as well as the northerns with PTSD similar to yours.”

“I won’t, my place is here.” I signed. Cade began to rub his temples. “When did they send this info over, maybe we just talk to them come to another solution.” I suggested with my hands. Cade looked guilty and mind linked “Kaya they sent this three months ago, I have tried reasoning.” I can’t believe he waited so long to tell me this. I was about to rip into him for his idiocy for hiding things from me when mind links where being shouted. “We are under attack.” Cade looked at me and I to him. “Kaya pray to the goddess to help us like last time, she responds to you.” Cade said down our link and I dropped to my knees to beg before I would join him to fight.

When I prayed something was wrong. I had always felt her presence, but it was so faint, almost like she was hardly there. I sent up my desire for aid and rushed from Cade’s office. I had to help. I stepped outside and it was chaos. Everything was everywhere. But nothing like I expected, it wasn’t just other packs attacking it was ours. Some of our wolves were killing others from the pack. The sky cracked up, oh good the goddess was going to help us, I thought.

I spotted Cade’s wolf, and he turned to me, just as I was shifting bright light sprang up and then I was back in that white place I had been so long ago, right after I had given birth to Sol.  I saw Cade as his wolf, and he ran to me, and I went back from my half shift to my human form. The two of us were looking around and then we saw her off in the distance. The goddess was there; her pure white dress and skin had been covered in blood. Cade and I rushed to her. How was the goddess herself bleeding, it was impossible?

She looked at me, blood pouring from her abdomen. I didn’t even know what to sign to talk to her. I read her lips instead. “My sister, she did this.” What I didn’t think she had a sister and if she did why would she do this? I continued to read her lips “Replace me Kaya, Cade help her, please, until I can be safe, again.” What did that mean. “Replace her?” How would we replace the goddess?

Her perfect porcelain hand touched my tan one and I felt a surge of bright power leaching into my hands. “Your daughter can hear you if she prays, my sister did this, or her followers.” I read her lips again. I looked at Cade who shrugged at me then I watched his lips move as he asked “Who is your sister? Who are her followers?” He was on the right path we needed to know who Sol would be up against, because it was clear that we apparently would not be back with her until the goddess came back, if she did. “Witches”

That was the last thing I could make out and then she vanished in front of us, and I was alone with Cade. He mind linked me “Did she give you, her power?” My brows came together. I had seen and felt her white light flow from her hand into mine. Was that what it was? I gave a nod not knowing if that really happened. Then I heard over the mind link with Cade. “Are you now the Goddess?”

I had no idea. I tried to feel around for the bond we had with the pack, the one we had with Sol. I felt it but it wasn’t the same. I felt more, like an overflowing of people on the link. I tried to figure out which one was our daughter, but it was too many to sort through. “Kaya I can’t talk to the pack.” He said to me over our link, and I responded down our bond. “We need to figure this out because I am pretty sure I am now the replacement until the goddess is healed or comes back. I just don’t know.”