Leviathan
Exhausted, sore, and in poor moods, Rainier and I finally crested the last hill leading back home. From the top, I should see the thin streams of smoke from the chimneys of Hidden Grove. The sun was nearly down, turning the sky a peculiar milky white, and the air had grown frigid once more.
“There it is,” Rainier said. “Home sweet home.”
“Yeah. For now,” I grumbled.
“What are the odds Desdemona really tries something?”
I stared out at Hidden Grove, contemplating his question as we walked.
We’d spent almost a full day running halfway around the forest because I didn’t want one of her people following us, but that only served to keep us safe on the trip back.
There was no way to stop the Red Maw from creeping closer and closer.
What was to stop her? Rainier and I had seen her pack.
All hardened men. At least a dozen of them, if not more, had the alpha scent on them.
Men who had been defeated for leadership of their own packs and went into hiding, maybe?
It didn’t matter. Those numbers would overwhelm us in a day if Desdemona truly wanted to push the issue.
“I don’t know,” I finally said.
Rainier tugged a stick of beef jerky from his jeans pocket and tore a hunk off.
“What do you think her plan is? I don’t mean for us, I mean for everything,” he said, chewing his small bit of food. “I don’t believe for a second all she wants is to create some utopia here in the forest. You saw her. That look in her eyes? She’s hungry for power.”
“Right,” I grunted. “She wants our numbers. If I had to guess, the endgame is maybe a hostile takeover of an established pack. One with an actual town and connections to the outside world, trade with other shifters and humans, all of that. We have infrastructure, they don’t.
We’re closer to the rest of shifter civilization too.
They want to legitimize themselves by taking what we have.
” I hesitated, then added, “It’s what I would do. ”
“Damn,” Rainier said, shaking his head. “This is some bullshit.”
“I know. I’ve got to think about it and figure out what to do. But the pack needs to know.”
Rainier almost stumbled to a stop as he turned and looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “You’re gonna tell everyone that the Red Maw pack wants to take us over? That will cause panic, man.”
I shook my head. “I trust my people. I’ll make sure they understand the situation, and the dangers. If nothing else, it’ll make everyone even more cautious, and they’ll all keep their eyes and ears open. It’s gonna be fine. There will be fear and questions, but I have no doubt we’ll pull together.”
Rainier whistled appreciatively. “I guess this is why you’re the alpha. Better you than me. Shit stresses me out thinking about it. Jerky?” he said, offering me another piece from his pocket.
I shook my head. “Not hungry. Have you had that in your pocket this whole time?” I grimaced, thinking about how many miles we’d traveled in the last two days.
“Yeah. Why?”
“No reason.” I pushed aside a fan of thin tree limbs, stepping out into the narrow clearing that marked the edge of the north side of Hidden Grove. With a sigh of relief, I took in my home.
“I’m going to head to my place and sleep for about four days,” Rainier said. “Unless you need me for something else?”
“Can you speak to the people who’ve been patrolling? Make sure they’re even more locked in than before? I want patrols happening constantly. Make sure they know we found tracks right outside town.”
“Okay. I’ll find them and let them know. Then I’m sleeping for four days.”
“Deal,” I said, chuckling despite myself.
Rainier shifted and padded off to find our men, and I turned to walk to my cabin. As I walked, I wondered what I’d tell June. That question grew more pressing and urgent when I rounded a corner and found her sitting on my front porch looking more pissed off than I’d ever seen her before.
At the sight of her face—angry or not—I breathed a sigh of relief and happiness. A warm ache filled my chest, pushing out the cold that had begun to seep into me. When June looked up, her eyes went wide.
“Levi?” She leaped up, sprinting to meet me.
I wrapped her in an embrace, sinking into her, and for a few seconds, all the road-weariness and stress vanished. Her scent drove me wild. The heat of her body pressed to mine, and her hair tickling my neck was wonderful.
“Where the hell have you been?” she said. “I thought you’d be back sooner.”
I took her hand. “A lot happened.”
I led her inside and closed the door.
“Why don’t you tell me why you looked so pissed off,” I said as I knelt to start a fire.
“Oh god,” she muttered. “Do you really want to hear it?”
After tossing the lit match in and watching the kindling roar into a tiny fire, I closed the grate and turned back to her.
“I think I do,” I said, grinning at her.
“It’s Eugenia,” she said. “I’ve been planning the celebration like you asked, and Linnea told me Eugenia is the best hunter. I wanted something special for everyone.”
I sat beside her on the couch, already wary. Eugenia was one of our best hunters, if not the best. She had also become a major headache as of late.
“Go on,” I urged.
“She went off on me, said I was trying to seduce you into being with me. She said that if you announced me as your mate, she will challenge me for the spot in front of the whole pack.”
It was like a bomb went off inside me. I leapt back to my feet, eyes wide. “She said what?” I growled.
“Yeah, it was a pretty shitty conversation,” she admitted.
I paced around the room, fists clenching and unclenching as I went.
I’d known Eugenia was set on being my mate.
Rainier had warned me about it, but I never in a million years would have believed she’d do something as blatant as going against me publicly.
To oppose a mate pairing was even more rare than being rejected outright.
“I’ll banish her,” I said through gritted teeth, turning back to June. “She’s done. I’ve let her shit go on too long as it is. I’ll go and kick her ass out now.”
I was almost to the door when June jumped up, putting herself between me and the exit.
“No. Don’t do that,” she said, putting her hands on my chest.
“What do you mean?” I asked. “She can’t stay here, not after what she said to you.”
“I know,” June said. “But I want to handle this myself.”
My mouth was open before I could stop it, ready to argue and tell her that I was the alpha and knew best, but then I remembered how upset she’d been when I’d interfered before. I didn’t want a repeat of that.
“Eugenia has a large following in town. Tons of people respect her,” June said, shaking her head sadly.
“If you toss her out on her ass, how will I ever get their respect? They’ll look at me like some outsider who got someone they all liked banished.
That’s the best-case scenario. Worst? They all get pissed and half the town decides to leave with her. Do you want that to happen?”
I wanted to say I didn’t care, but that would be a lie.
These people were all here because of me.
I’d brought them in and protected them. If they left, they’d all still be outcasts, rejects, and lost souls.
Hell, ninety percent of them were assumed dead in their old packs.
Their lives beyond this refuge would be difficult if not impossible.
I couldn’t allow that. Plus, there was the looming threat of Desdemona and her Red Maw.
If our numbers were decreased at all, there wouldn’t even be a fight, only surrender. I took a deep breath and nodded.
“Okay,” I said, holding up my hands in surrender. “What do you suggest?”
“Let me handle it,” she said.
“How? You have no idea what might happen,” I said, terror overwhelming me at the possibility of June fighting Eugenia.
She put her hand on my chest. “I’ll figure it out. Trust me. We’ll make it work.”
I knew she was right, but how could she possibly hope to defeat someone like Eugenia? I couldn’t step in again. I had to trust that June would find another way to get the other woman to back down or change her mind, because the other option was most likely a fight that June couldn’t hope to win.
“Tell me what you and Rainier found,” she said.
Memories of Desdemona and the hundreds of eyes staring me down as I spoke to her flooded my mind.
“Honestly, compared to that, the thing with Eugenia feels small,” I muttered, backing away from the door.
Her eyes widened. “It’s that bad?”
Nodding, I told her about finding their encampment, how many more of them there were than we’d realized, and the revelation of a female alpha leading them, along with her demand.
“You have to be joking,” June said in irritation when I was done. “So, I’m not only competing against Eugenia, but this Desdemona woman as well?”
“There is no competition,” I said, reaching over and taking her hand. “There is only you.”
She stared into the crackling flames. “You need to hold off on announcing me as your mate.”
“What? Why? I thought we agreed—”
“I know, but it’s not safe right now. We can’t allow anything to happen that might split the pack up. It needs to be at full strength if the Red Maw attacks.”
“Fine,” I said, though I wasn’t sure I meant that. I wanted to shout from the rooftops that we were together. That June was mine and I was hers. Anything that delayed that felt like a betrayal to both of us. Plus, if Eugenia had worked it out, then others in town would soon too.
“Are you hungry? I can go grab you something,” June said. “I think dinner just started.”
I wanted to tell her no, but my stomach growled loud enough for her to hear it.
“I’ll take that as a yes. I’ll be back in a bit,” she said.
I watched her go. Could I really keep what we had a secret any longer?
Whether she truly was Naphele reincarnated or not, I couldn’t ignore my feelings for her.
I couldn’t push away my need to be near and love the woman she was.
As badly as I wanted to find Naphele again, did I really think I could give up a new life, even if it meant leaving an old one behind? I didn’t think I could.