20. Leviathan
LEVIATHAN
Isprinted back to my cabin, the sun overhead warming the fur on my back.
The last of the snow from the storm two weeks ago had melted off, making the forest look nothing like it had that day when I’d found June.
I’d spent over six hours out running the forest, patrolling for Red Maw members.
Only June, Rainier, and I knew exactly why we had people watching the woods, and why I didn’t want anyone wandering too far.
Rainier was waiting for me on my porch, whittling a piece of wood.
“Are you ready for tonight?” Rainier asked as I strolled up to my cabin.
I frowned. “Ready for what?”
“Holy shit, man.” Rainier shook his head as he tucked his knife back into his pocket. “Pack meeting. We talked about it last month. I scheduled it and everything. The whole pack’s gonna be there.”
“Shit,” I hissed, pressing a hand to my forehead. “I forgot.”
He pointed the piece of carved wood at me. “I figured you might. Hence, why I came by. Been a little preoccupied with Miss June, have we?”
I growled as I stepped onto the porch. “You know damn well I have.”
Rainier smirked and glanced at the building where her room was. “Are you all good after that fight?”
“It wasn’t a fight. It was…I don’t know, a disagreement.”
“A disagreement where you screamed at her?”
He was only joking, but it still sent a stab of shame through me. Each time I thought about it, I felt like a jackass. Every moment since then, I’d been trying to get back on June’s good side.
“Maybe I’ll have her sit with me at the meeting,” I said, taking a seat opposite him.
“Talk about bold. How’s Eugenia gonna react to seeing June sitting right beside the alpha during the meeting?”
A snarl surged out of my throat. “I don’t give a fuck what she thinks.
This is my pack, and I am the alpha. I know she’s got a following, but I’m in charge of her, and she’d do well to remember that.
” I lowered my voice, leaning in close. “And if June is Naphele reborn, then she might be my new mate anyway. Either way, Eugenia can go pound sand.”
Rainier held his hands up in surrender. “Got it, got it. I didn’t mean to poke the bear. I’m on your side here, boss.”
Releasing a breath, I straightened in my chair. “It’s fine. How about you go find June and tell her to meet me at the dining cabin. I need to get cleaned up and eat something.”
“There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Rainier said, and his tone made me uneasy.
“What’s that?” I asked.
Rainier sighed, scuffing his boot against the wood railing. When he looked at me, his eyes were probing, as if trying to peer all the way into my mind.
“I’ve seen the way you look at June. You like her. A lot. What are you gonna do if it all turns out to be wrong? What if she isn’t Naphele’s reincarnation?”
I opened my mouth to retort, but I didn’t have a good answer to his questions. I did like June. The thought of her going back to Idlewild made my stomach clench.
I rubbed my hands over my face. “I don’t know.”
“There is the option of, you know, just going with it. If she’s not her, then maybe you take it as a sign, and move on. She’s beautiful, smart, nice. I mean, you could do much worse.”
Massaging my temples, I tried to push the words out of my mind.
What irritated me most was that he was right.
I was starting to feel a connection to June, one that I couldn’t deny.
But what if she wasn’t Naphele? I’d spent so many years looking for her.
I couldn’t just give up on that dream. Could I?
“Can we not do this right now?” I said. “I just got back from a run, and I’m tired.”
“Speaking of that, I haven’t seen you out running as much lately. Not that long ago, we wouldn’t have seen you for three days at a time.”
“Yeah, well, things change,” I growled. “If things end up working out with June and me, then you’ll end up seeing a lot more of my ugly face.”
“Can’t say we’d be upset about that,” Rainier said, his voice tinged with meaning. “I know you’re hurting, Levi. But sometimes you gotta let things go. Let the pain fade and live your life.”
I grunted at that and rose from my chair. “Stop being a philosopher, and go let June know about the meeting tonight.”
Rainier chuckled ruefully. “You got it, boss man.”
As I sat at the table we’d set up for the meeting that evening, I saw June slipping in among the others. She noticed me, raised her hand in greeting, and hurried to get to me.
“Rainier said I was going to sit with you for this,” she whispered, a mixture of horror and confusion on her face.
I patted the chair beside me. “We have pack meetings three times a year to work out disputes, plan out items that need to be handled in the coming months, and other things. It’s something an alpha has to do, and if you want to be an alpha’s mate, it would be good for you to get some experience.
” I suppressed the urge to growl. “This Anders guy will need your help when and if the time comes.”
She nodded, her eyes flashing in surprise when I mentioned the other man. Perhaps she was beginning to forget about him? Or was I looking for something I wanted to see? Maybe, but I’d take it as a good sign.
The rest of the pack trickled in. The crowd was overwhelmingly female.
The entire pack was probably eighty percent women.
The other twenty percent were roughly ten percent men and ten percent kids.
Unfortunately, women drew the short end of the stick when it came to mating pairings.
The sheer number of women I’d found sobbing or lost in the forest over the years was astounding.
Eugenia and her large clique of followers strolled in, fashionably late as always, slipping in only seconds before Rainier closed the doors.
When she spotted June sitting beside me at the alpha table, she blanched.
The look she sent me as she hurried her group to the open seats was full of anger and hurt.
I still didn’t understand what she wanted from me.
I’d never given her even a hint that I wanted anything more than to be her friend and alpha.
She and her group bent their heads together and whispered furiously.
Rainier was right. I’d need to take a mate soon.
I felt no draw to Eugenia. She was a lovely woman, but I dreaded the thought of ending up with her simply to keep the pack together.
It would be similar to what everyone had run from in the first place.
My stomach twisted with worry. So many looked to her for guidance.
Had I caused this with my extended absences?
Without the alpha always present, a power vacuum had formed, which Eugenia had filled.
Rainier was my beta, my second-in-command, but that wasn’t the same as an alpha.
Cracks were forming in the foundation, and I needed to fix them. Soon.
“Good afternoon, everyone,” I said once everyone was settled.
“You’ll notice June is up here with me.” A murmur ran through the crowd, and in the back a baby let out a muffled cry.
“She’s here to learn how to run a pack meeting.
Let’s get started with the plans for the spring planting schedule.
David,” I said, gesturing to the man in charge of the gardens.
It went on like that for over an hour: David talking about beans and squash, Mary-anne asking for an addition to the small schoolhouse, Savannah giving an update on the quilts she and her small team made to sell, and a bunch of other things that needed attention. June sat beside me, taking notes.
“All right,” I said. “That takes care of most of our most pressing business. I’ll open up the floor to any disputes that need attention.”
Several hands shot up. I pointed to a man named Sherman Milner.
“Sherman?” I asked.
The man, around thirty with a clean-shaven face and cropped blond hair, stood.
“Leviathan, I been having some trouble with Michael and Andrea’s dogs getting at my chickens. Had two killed in the last month.”
Michael Branson stood, pointing a finger at Sherman. “Sherm, now, damn it, I told you, Bones and Ruffus didn’t kill your damn chickens.”
Michael and Andrea had been brought here separately ten years before, and had met, fallen in love, then mated not long after.
Each member of the pack was allowed to have their own small garden and a tiny paddock for animals if they liked, to go along with the community gardens and animal yards.
It gave many of them something to do and helped ensure there was plenty of food to go around as well as a surplus to sell.
“Hang on,” I said, raising a hand to calm them down before anymore shouting happened. “Sherman, how do you know Micheal and Andrea’s dogs killed your chicken?”
Sherman turned away from Michael to look at me. “Found ’em both torn up the same night I heard their two dogs barking. Sounded close, but I didn’t go check since it was dark out and—”
“So, you never saw my dogs at your place,” Michael interrupted. He shut up when I sent a warning glare in his direction.
“Mike,” I said, still staring at Michael. “Are your dogs tied up at night?”
Michael blinked in surprise. “Uh, well, no. They like to roam. I let them.”
“Right. You have no idea whether or not they’ve been heading over to Sherman’s place, do you?”
Michael twisted his baseball cap between his hands. Andrea patted his leg reassuringly. “No, sir. I don’t know for sure, but my dogs are good boys.”
“I have no doubt,” I said, then turned back to Sherman. “Sherm, with no eyewitnesses, I can’t cast blame on Michael and his dogs.”
“But—”
“Though,” I said, cutting him off, “of everyone here in Hidden Grove, only Michael and Andrea have dogs. There is a chance a fox or a stray dog from one of the nearby packs could have attacked your chickens. We can’t say for certain.
” I turned my gaze back to Michael and Andrea.
“But you two have left yourself open for accusation by not properly containing your animals at night. Correct?”
The couple nodded, looking chastised.