LEVIATHAN
June crept out of my cabin before the sun came to go back to her room and get ready for the day. We’d both agreed to go on as usual for the time being. I needed to talk to Rainier about it before I introduced her as my mate.
We were scheduled to meet after breakfast, but I found myself pacing around my cabin.
Full of bouncing energy, I tried to calm myself, but I kept going back to the joy I’d felt the night before.
The sensation that had flooded my body when the mating connection had been fully revealed had kept me awake most of the night.
Every few minutes, I’d turned to look at June as she slept beside me.
I hadn’t felt such happiness in a century. Not since the day Naphele had died.
When the knock finally came, I yanked the door open, nearly tearing it off its hinges. Rainier flinched back in surprise.
“Jesus, Levi,” he cursed, eyes wide as I grabbed his shirt and dragged him in, slamming the door behind us.
“We need to talk,” I said, releasing him.
“I can fucking tell,” he said, smoothing out his shirt. “What’s up?”
“Sit,” I said, pointing to the couch.
“Oh good,” Rainier said, grinning at me. “Am I here to give His Majesty a foot rub?”
Taking my seat, I let out a huff of breath. “Sorry. I have a lot on my mind, and I need to get it off my chest. We need to make a plan.”
Rainier sat and eyed me, his face a twisted mask of incomprehension. “Dude, what the hell are you talking about? Is this about figuring out if June is Naphele? I haven’t done the other option yet. I’d planned on making a trip to town tomorrow, and once I’m there—”
“Don’t worry about that anymore.”
“Don’t…what?”
“I already know for sure that June is Naphele’s reincarnation.”
“You do?” he looked less than convinced. “How?”
I told him about the night before, about feeling the mating connection and the way my inner wolf reacted.
“She has to be,” I explained. “She’s my fated mate, the same way Naphele was.
This is not me simply wanting her. I could take anyone as just a mate.
That special connection to a fated mate is different, and you know it.
It’s not a forced pairing some elder has done.
What I feel with June is the real deal. That seals it. I don’t need more proof.”
“What if,” he said, speaking slowly and deliberately, “she’s herself?”
“Huh?” I frowned at him.
“What if June is just June. A new woman you’ve fallen for? It can be that simple, Levi. It doesn’t have to mean Naphele is in there somewhere.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying,” I snapped. “This is real. You didn’t feel what I felt. This was real. This connection means something.”
Rainier let out a long exhale and shook his head. “My man, I think the last hundred years have gotten to your head. Just because you feel something for someone doesn’t mean they are the person you were looking for. Sometimes, it’s as simple as finding someone new.”
“Can we stop, please?” I said, slicing my hand through the air.
I didn’t like the way this conversation was going.
It gave me anxiety. It also made me dwell on things I didn’t want to.
June was her own person, and I’d come to see that.
I was falling for her, not the memory of my long-dead mate, but I’d spent years trying to find her, and anything else felt like some strange betrayal of her memory.
I was sure June was the reincarnation of Naphele, and as much as I didn’t want to think about it, the whole thing had a weird undercurrent.
I desperately wanted Naphele back, but at the same time, I wanted to be with June.
I hadn’t told June what I believed. How would she react?
Rainier was right about part of it all. She might not be happy to think I’d only pursued her because I thought her soul might hold a piece of someone else.
Eventually, I’d have to tell her, but it could wait.
Perhaps I could find some way to bring out the side of her that was Naphele.
Now that the connection has been fully formed, it might be easier.
If I did that, maybe it would make it easier for her to understand it.
“Fine,” Rainier said. “As long as you keep it at the back of your mind.”
“We need to figure out a time to let the pack know I’m taking her as my mate,” I said, doing my best to relax.
“I figured that’s where this was going,” Rainier said.
“What does that mean?” I said, narrowing my eyes at him.
“I’m not trying to be a dick, and I support you in choosing her, but you’ve got to be careful.”
“About what?”
“Everyone has noticed how taken you are with her,” Rainier explained. “Everyone sees her hanging out here; they see you two going into the woods together. And don’t think nobody saw you two sucking faces the other night, either.”
I winced. “I, uh, I thought we were pretty hidden, actually,” I said lamely.
“You weren’t,” Rainier said, giving a dry chuckle. “June is great. I like her a lot, but she’s new to this pack, she can’t shift, and she’s technically not even a full member yet. You know it’s gonna get some pushback.”
I knew what he was really saying. Very few people here would care that she couldn’t shift. Also, nearly the whole village was happy to have new members arrive. They wouldn’t be angry about me taking a woman as my mate who’d only been here a short time. I knew exactly who he was speaking about.
“You mean Eugenia,” I said, a statement rather than a question.
“Bingo. She’s not happy about you chewing her ass out the other day in front of God and everybody at breakfast,” he said. “She’s been huddled up with her buddies ever since. Her main clique isn’t very big, maybe five all told, but those five have their own groups. Her influence is everywhere.
“We’ve talked about this already. She wanted to be your mate. The moment you trot some new woman out there—a woman it appears she hates, no less—things are gonna get tense. Fast.
“I’m not saying you ignore your feelings, but we need to approach this cautiously.”
“This is my pack,” I said, jamming my thumb into my chest. “June is my mate. I want to shout it from the rooftops, I want to scream into the forest. I’m not going to hold back telling everyone just to prevent one woman from getting her feelings hurt.
I won’t do it. Besides, word will spread soon anyway.
June and I aren’t going to stay away from each other.
Not after last night. It’s not going to happen.
“I feel the connection to her. I know she’s Naphele reborn. I’m going to take her up to the overlook and prove it. When she sees that, the old memories will kick in.”
“My man,” Rainier pleaded, holding his hands out.
“Just because you feel drawn to her doesn’t necessarily mean she’s the reincarnation.
Naphele is gone. You’ve lived a lifetime since she died.
Maybe fate has given you a one-in-a-billion chance of having a second fated mate.
That could be June, and that’s okay. Not many people get a second chance.
You can take it. You’re allowed to move on.
I swear, I get the feeling that you’ve got it in your head that if you fall for June without her being Naphele reincarnated, you’re somehow spitting on Naphele’s memory. ”
“That isn’t…I’m not thinking that,” I said, shaking my head in bewilderment.
“I love June. I loved Naphele. I know I can find another fated mate, but I have this deep feeling that Naphele is in her somewhere. When she sees the overlook, it’ll be clear.
Making that connection will probably unleash her inner wolf too.
I know it. Then, I’ll bring her back and make her my mate. The whole pack will get on board.”
Rainier looked pained, but he didn’t speak up again. He nodded, a look of resignation settling on his face.
“This is good news, Rain,” I said, leaning forward to pat his leg. “Once the shock wears off, I think the whole pack will see that. Even Eugenia.”