Juniper
People kept coming up to congratulate me.
It was weird, to say the least. Even the women who’d been friends with Eugenia patted me on the back and apologized half-heartedly.
They didn’t look happy about what had gone down, but I think Eugenia’s reaction to losing might have shown them exactly what kind of person she was.
That was fine. Everyone had a fresh start now.
“Susan,” Linnea called out, beckoning a woman at the far side of the dining hall. “Can you take a look at June’s wounds?”
The woman had been a nurse prior to coming to Hidden Grove. She hurried over to inspect the bites on my ankle and arm, as well as the other scratches.
“These are all mostly superficial,” she said, eyeing the ankle. “Though, the ones on your ankle are a bit deep. I don’t think anything needs stitches. I’m gonna go grab some bandages. Come see me if they get red or inflamed. We’ve got a supply of antibiotics and things if you need them.”
“Thank you,” I said, smiling gratefully at her. “I appreciate that.”
Within five minutes, my wounds were cleaned and bandaged. When Susan was done, Linnea set a heaping bowl of stew down before me, along with a giant chunk of steaming sourdough with a knob of butter melting into the nooks and crannies.
“Here. You deserve a hearty meal,” she said as she took her seat beside me.
“Good lord, you gave me enough to feed a horse,” I said, though that didn’t stop me from digging in. I’d been so stressed about the fight, my stomach had been twisted in anxious knots. I’d barely eaten anything since the big meal the night before.
“Things looked a bit awkward with you and Levi earlier.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not exactly happy with him right now.”
“Maybe he left before the fight because he was scared. Worried about how things would work out?”
I laughed bitterly. “That’s fine, but there’s no way he was more scared than I was.” My appetite vanished, and I shoved the food away. “I’m gonna go hit the hay. I’m wiped.”
Linnea looked disappointed. “Are you sure? I was gonna sneak some wine out of the pantry. I thought we could get hammered and talk about what a badass you were.”
I squeezed her shoulder as I stood. “Maybe another time. Thanks though. I appreciate you being there for me. Even if Levi wasn’t.”
She looked a little sad when I left, but thankfully, she didn’t try to stop me or follow me. I wasn’t in the mood for conversation.
Back in my room, I lay down and stared at the ceiling. The exhaustion and fading adrenaline sent me into a dreamless sleep in less than five minutes.
When I woke the next morning, I lay there for a few minutes, trying to figure out if what had happened the day before had been real or a fantasy.
It took a few seconds, but then reality sunk in.
I had beaten Eugenia. I could stay here and be Levi’s mate.
The problem was, I didn’t know if I really wanted to be his mate anymore.
I cared deeply for him—I wanted him—but could those feelings override the other stuff that had sprung up lately?
A new, more worrisome idea occurred to me.
What if Levi didn’t really want me? What if he wanted someone like Naphele?
God, what if he was hoping I was her reincarnation?
That was highly unlikely, but it was known to happen with shifters from time to time.
I’d never met anyone who’d been reincarnated, but perhaps Levi was placing all his hopes on that.
The thought made my stomach turn, sending a faint wave of nausea through me. If either of those ideas were correct, then everything between us was in question.
Suddenly, my room felt overly hot and small.
I needed to get some fresh air. I got out of bed and threw on my clothes.
When I got outside, I realized I’d slept late.
The sun was well in the sky. I’d probably missed breakfast, but that didn’t matter.
I was not in the mood to talk to anyone, not even to Linnea.
I looked toward the distant mountain, where a gray finger of rock jutted out.
The overlook Levi had taken me too. His old mate’s favorite place.
At the back of my mind, deep in my subconscious, a whispering voice urged me to go there.
It might be a good place to contemplate things.
To decide whether I wanted to forgive Levi, or if I’d need to make different plans.
I decided to go for it, heading straight for the forest before anyone—especially Levi—saw me.
Once I was in the forest and a good distance away from town, I slowed to a walk, enjoying the silence and nature.
I listened for any noises that might indicate the Red Maw pack was around.
It was dangerous to be out here alone, but the tracks had been found closer to Hidden Grove, not around here.
Either way, I didn’t care. All I wanted was to get to that overlook, far away from anyone and anything, so I could think.
The hike took much longer than it had when I’d ridden on Levi’s back.
Nearly two hours later, I finally walked out of the trees toward the massive, jutting rock.
The day was quite warm, and a slight sheen of sweat coated my forehead as I took a seat, though further back than I had the last time. Heights really did creep me out.
Huge, fluffy clouds drifted across the cobalt sky.
As a kid, I’d always thought of clouds as massive, floating puffs of cotton candy.
The thought brought a smile to my face, but it faded quickly as I wondered how many times Naphele had sat here and looked at this same sky.
How many times had she sat right here with Levi?
The woman had been dead for a century, yet she still felt like the third member of this relationship.
Another woman in the shadows, orchestrating what happened between me and Levi.
I could picture her tugging strings like Levi was a puppet.
I shook my head. That wasn’t fair. Levi was his own person, making his own decisions.
But I couldn’t help what I was feeling. He was still completely wrapped up in her, and I wasn’t sure he could ever truly let her go.
And if he couldn’t, then what future did we have together?
What future did I have anywhere at this point?
It seemed like I wasn’t good enough for anyone.
“June?”
I screamed. My heart leapt to my throat as I spun to face whatever attacker had cornered me here. Red Maw, Eugenia coming for revenge, maybe even Levi pissed off that I’d run into the woods alone. Any of those would have made more sense than the person standing there.
“Anders?” I gasped, putting a hand to my chest, feeling the thundering beat of my heart as it slammed against my sternum.
“Did I scare you?” he said, looking more sheepish than I’d ever seen him in his life. “Sorry.”
Sheepish and apologizing? I had to be dreaming. I was still asleep in my bed back in the bunkhouse, and all this was some mental fantasy playing out. What else could possibly be the reason for this?
He stepped forward, then held his hands up in surrender. “Can I come over there? Is that okay?”
“Uh…” I looked around helplessly. “Uhm, I guess. Sure.”
He sat down and stared off into the void beyond the outlook rock. “It’s really nice up here,” he said. “Great view.”
“Anders, don’t take this the wrong way, but what the fuck are you doing here?” I said, wrapping my arms around my knees and pulling them close to my chest. “And no offense, why are you being nice and polite? That’s not your typical attitude.”
He winced, and then chuckled, nodding his head ruefully. “Yeah. Okay, I deserve that. A woman showed up in Idlewild last night. She was raging and pissed off as all hell. Demanded to see the alpha,” Anders explained, and I already had a good idea of who he was talking about.
“Was her name Eugenia?” I said, shock and confusion fighting for dominance in my head.
“That’s the one,” he said with a slight bow of his head.
“She told us this crazy story about Juniper Hollis not being dead, which we all assumed you were. I can’t even tell you how distraught your grandparents were when they brought me that letter you left.
If I’m being honest, we did sort of a half-assed search for you, because we all assumed the Demon Wolf had taken you, and you were as good as dead. I’m a little ashamed of that.”
“Wait,” I said, holding a hand up. “You all thought I was dead, and Eugenia showed up saying I wasn’t. I get that, but why and how are you here? Now?”
“Once I managed to get her calmed down, she gave me this,” he said, and dug his hand into his jeans pocket.
He extracted the silver necklace Eugenia had torn off me in the fight and taken when she fled. All the air in my lungs left me. He was telling the truth. Eugenia really had gone to Idlewild. There was no way he could have that necklace otherwise.
Anders held it up, letting the afternoon sun glint off the silver.
“This necklace is part of a matching set. It belonged to the Thornton family—my family on my mother’s side—along with a pair of matching earrings.
This necklace was stolen over a hundred years ago.
The story says it was stolen by a bastard son and given to his mate, and that it was the Demon Wolf, Leviathan Cross.
He gave his mate this, and not long after, he killed her before fleeing into the forest.”
I gasped in surprise.
Anders nodded at my reaction. “Her name was, uh, Naphele, I think,” he said, dropping the necklace into my hand. “Anyway, after I finally got away from Eugenia, I headed off into the forest to try and find you. I caught your scent about an hour ago and followed it here.”
I stared at the piece of jewelry in my hand.
This had belonged to Naphele. Of course it had.
Of course Levi had given it to me. I didn’t believe for an instant that he’d killed her.
Just another story to go along with the legend of the Demon Wolf.
He’d already told me he’d been framed for the murder, and I believed him.
That didn’t bother me as much as it bothered me that he’d given me this gift without telling me where it had come from and who it had belonged to.
It was a bit like giving your new fiancée your dead wife’s engagement ring.
He should have told me. Of course, I probably wouldn’t have accepted it, but he still should have told me.
“Come home, June,” Anders said, forcing me to tear my gaze from the necklace.
“What?” I asked, my brow furrowing.
“Come back. I want you to be my mate.”
Nothing could have surprised me more than those words. In fact, hearing him say that made me dizzy.
“What are you talking about?” I said at last. “You already rejected me, and I still can’t shift. I’m still not what you wanted.”
“I know, I know,” he said, still speaking with that uncharacteristic conciliatory tone.
“But I can see how much you’ve changed. Eugenia told me how you beat her in a fight, which, I have to say, is amazing.
She kept yammering on about how you must have cheated, but I could tell she was angry you’d beaten her.
Anyone who can beat a shifter without even changing their form is more than worthy to be an alpha’s mate.
“Plus,” he added, “I don’t want you to be with someone else. She said you were going to be Leviathan Cross’s mate, and I don’t want that. You shouldn’t be with that…that freak. You should be home, with me, and your family and friends. I can change too, I can—”
“You need to leave, Anders,” I said as I stood. My whole world seemed to have been turned on its head. I couldn’t even fathom what was going on. I wanted to pinch myself to really find out if I really was dreaming. Anders scrambled up to his own feet.
“Wait,” he said, almost begging. “Don’t send me away. I promise, I’m telling the truth.” He pointed at the necklace. “I’ll give you the rest of that set, I’ll tell the entire pack I was wrong, I’ll grovel, I’ll do whatever you want me to do. Just say the word. I’m sorry for what I did. Please?”
What is this? In all the years I’d known him, I had never seen him act like this.
It was like meeting a whole new person. Part of my subconscious wanted to believe him.
It would be easier and less stressful to simply go back home.
All the things I’d hoped and wished for could come true.
I could stay in Idlewild, help my grandparents, and be the alpha’s mate.
Not only that, but if Anders really had turned over a new leaf, I could be his mate and not be miserable the whole time.
The other part of my mind rebelled against all those thoughts. I loved Levi. How could I leave him?
“I…I need some time,” I said, barely managing the words. “I can’t, uh, I can’t make this decision right now.”
He nodded quickly. “Okay, sure. Yeah. Take your time. I’ll come back. I’ll wait on the far outskirts of Idlewild until sundown the day after tomorrow. I’ll be there to hear your answer, and I promise, whatever you choose, I’ll accept that.”
“You will?” I asked, looking at him dubiously.
“You have my word.” He took a couple steps back.
With that, he turned, shifted into his wolf, and bounded into the forest. I stared at the spot, still not sure I hadn’t imagined all of that.
“What the hell was that all about?” I asked the trees.