Juniper
“Come on in,” I said, opening the door to the shop and waving Levi in.
I was excited to get started and truly hoped I could focus my vision better this time. I’d barely slept the night before because I was so excited to try.
Levi stepped in and fished the silver dollar from his pocket. “Ready?”
“Yeah. Let’s get to it before customers start coming in,” I said, taking his hand and nearly dragging him behind the counter.
Levi held the coin between his thumb and index finger. “Are you ready?”
Reaching up, I touched my necklace to make sure it was there, then put both my hands out.
“Give me your hand,” I said.
Levi took my hand, and the warmth of his palm in mine calmed me. I could almost feel the connection between us.
“Tell me when,” he said, holding the coin an inch above my free hand.
I took a deep breath, doing my best to focus on Elmer Meyers. When I was as focused as I thought I could be, I looked at Levi. “Now.”
He dropped the coin. When it touched my hand, a surge of power flooded through my mind.
The slam of a fist on the front door ripped me from the book I’d been reading. The novel tumbled from my hand, landing on the rug.
“Levi!” a voice outside screamed, shaking with rage. “Get your bloody ass out here. You hear me?”
Something about the man’s tone sent a chill down my spine. Levi came running from upstairs, rage flaring in his eyes.
“This old fucker,” he muttered under his breath as he strode toward the door.
“Who is that?” I asked as another thunderous pounding rattled the door in its frame.
“Elmer Meyers,” Levi growled as he opened the door.
An old man of about seventy stood on our porch, his face blotchy and red with anger, a fist clenched at his side and shaking, the other handheld up and an accusing finger pointing at Levi.
“I don’t give a damn that you’re the alpha, but you don’t get to tell me who I can fuck,” Elmer snarled, and I couldn’t help but suck in a gasp.
Elmer’s eyes snapped over to lock on me, and he barked a humorless laugh. “You get a pretty young thing to warm your bed. Why don’t I?” he said, slamming his fist into his chest.
“You’re free to ask any woman to be your mate, Elmer,” Levi said slowly, crossing his arms over his chest. “But that doesn’t mean I have to approve of it. Mary-lou Abernathy is only fourteen years old.”
Elmer waved a hand around as if trying to swat a fly. “Old enough, ain’t it? Her parents agreed to the pairing.”
Elmer Meyers was known around town to have always had an eye on young ladies.
Most of the time it skewed toward girls who were nineteen or twenty.
But he was known to say inappropriate things to younger women and girls as well.
He was also a rich man, and I wouldn’t have put it past him to have paid the Abernathy family so he could take their daughter as his new mate. The man disgusted me.
“And I’m the alpha. I have final say. I’ve warned you about this, Elmer.
You are really close to getting banished from this pack.
When it was simply young adult ladies, I could turn a blind eye and allow them to make their own decisions, but when it comes to children?
That’s a different story. I. Won’t. Allow it. Understand?”
“I’ll kill you, you son of a bitch,” Elmer crowed, balling up both of his fists.
“That’s enough,” I said, stepping up beside Levi. As much as I disliked Elmer, there was no reason for this to turn violent.
Elmer shot me a glare. “You think you can tell me what to do?”
“Elmer,” I said, keeping my voice calm, “do you really want to start a new life in a new pack? Will another pack even accept you?” Shaking my head, I gave him a sad smile. “Do you know how long a lone wolf your age would last out in the wilderness?”
His anger faded like a match being snuffed out. “I don’t… That’s not what I want.” His face crumpled inward. “I’m just lonely.”
Levi gave a derisive snort, but I ignored it, even though I thought Elmer was lying. The man was a menace, but I’d rather not have bloodshed. Though, if he didn’t listen to Levi and leave the girl alone, then blood would be shed, and I’d be the one doing it, not Levi.
“Why don’t you go home, Elmer?” I said. “Think about things and, hopefully, make the right choice.”
The old man turned from the door, not even bothering to give us a second glance. He stalked away, shoulders slumped and head hanging, the very image of defeat. Sighing, I turned to Levi as I closed the door.
“You know,” I said, “That disgusting old bastard might actually listen.”
Levi smirked and said—
“Did you do it?” He looked at me as I blinked, trying to clear my mind after the vision.
I let out a hoot of excitement and jumped in place. “I did!”
An almost uncontrollable desire to kiss him flooded me.
I wanted to pull him close, feel his hands on me, have his skin grinding against mine.
Sudden heat surged between my legs. It was all I could do to throw the thoughts away.
Was that really me or was it because I’d seen things from Naphele’s point of view again?
“What did you see?” Levi asked.
Shoving away my desire, I took a breath and told him what I’d seen.
“I remember that,” Levi said slowly. “Old fucking asshole.”
“He looked pretty beaten down and defeated when he left. I seriously doubt it was him. Also, even in his wolf form, I doubt he would have been strong enough to kill Naphele.”
I sighed in disgust. “I just wish I could see these visions from another point of view. It would make it much easier to be sure who did this if I could live in their head the night of the murder. I mean, if Elmer is sitting at home drinking a beer when she dies, then that’s pretty cut and dry.”
What I didn’t tell him was that I liked being in Naphele’s head.
It was comfortable, easy, and welcoming.
Though, that may have simply been the fact that she was a woman.
With every vision I had through her eyes, I could see why Levi had loved her so much.
She was fierce, kind, strong, beautiful, and smart.
She hadn’t deserved to die like that. It pushed me even harder to figure out exactly what had happened and why.
“Do you want to try another person?” Levi said. “Maybe if you meditate or something, it could bring about a vision. Try to put Naphele out of your mind and focus only on the person the item belongs to.”
He took my hands and gazed into my eyes. “I have faith in you. Come on. Let’s try.”
My knees nearly buckled at the touch, the heat of him melting into my fingers. All thoughts of Anders and Naphele vanished in that instant while I looked at him.
“Okay.” Squeezing his hands, I closed my eyes.
I did my best to think of Elmer Meyer and focus on the coin sandwiched between our hands, but all I could really think about was—
Levi, dressed in his best suit, stood silhouetted against the noon sun. He smiled at me as I walked forward to join him in the circle of our friends, family, and pack mates, I couldn’t help but smile back.
Rafe stood beside Levi and patted his friend on the back as I approached. Once I was beside him, he took my hand in his, and we turned to face the pack.
“I, Leviathan Cross, have taken Naphele Talbot as my mate. From now and for eternity, she will be mine, and I will be hers,” Levi said, his bold, powerful voice ringing through the clearing.
“May no man or woman break what fate has brought together. May no enemy or friend ever be more important than the love we share.” He turned to face me again.
“Naphele, I ask that you be my mate, and in return you shall have my soul forever and always. Do you accept?”
“I do,” I murmured.
Taking a breath, I raised my voice to be heard by all. I repeated the words Levi had spoken. “Do you accept?”
“I do,” Levi said, and smiled at me.
The head elder stood and raised his hands toward the sky, looking toward Levi and me. “As head elder of Idlewild, and with the power vested in me by the pack and by fate, I present to you Leviathan and Naphele Cross.”
“I swear to fuck! I am done with this bullshit!”
“June, wake up,” Levi hissed.
Unable to tell what was real and what was only in my mind, I smiled dreamily at Levi as love for him filled my heart. All that slipped away as I realized who’d spoken. Anders.
He stalked forward, fury blazing in his eyes. Then I realized I was still holding Levi’s hands. I jerked away quickly.
“Anders, this isn’t what it looks like,” I said. “We were—”
He shook his head and snarled. “Every goddamn time I come in here, I find you two together.”
“Anders, it was just—”
“Shut the fuck up!”
“Watch your damned mouth, you little fuck,” Levi said, pulling his shoulders back and glaring at Anders. Levi stood a good three inches taller and outweighed him by at least twenty pounds. Regardless of the disparity, Anders looked shocked that Levi would dare say anything.
Looking at Levi like he was something nasty on the bottom of his shoe, Anders chuckled ruefully. “What? Did you say something, Leviathan? I couldn’t hear you over the sound of you trying to get your dick wet in my mate.”
“You need to think long and hard about the way you talk to me, son,” Levi said, his voice low and threatening.
The tone sent a chill up my spine, and panic flooded my mind.
“June,” Anders barked. “Get outside. You sit on the curb like a good little girl and wait for me. Got it?”
I sighed and reached for him. “Anders, please, let me explain—”
Anders grabbed my wrist and yanked me forward as hard as he could, making me stumble and nearly fall.
“I said get the fuck outside!” he screamed, eyes wide with fury.
Seeing Anders manhandle me did something to Levi that terrified me nearly as much as the anger Anders was showing. Levi lunged forward, growling loud and deep enough that it rattled my own chest and reverberated through the room. He slammed his hand down, knocking Anders’s hand away from me.
Moving with a speed and grace I hadn’t known he possessed, Levi shoved Anders in the chest, his eyes shimmering with barely contained rage.
“You don’t fucking touch her,” Levi said, his voice low and shaking with seething hatred. “No one touches her. If I see you lay a finger on her again, I will end you.”
Anders flinched back from Levi’s fury, but he quickly recovered and glared up at Levi.
“Oh, I’m gonna like kicking your ass,” Anders said, and I could see the wheels turning in his mind, thinking of the best way to attack. They were going to fight. Right here and now, and I wasn’t sure if either of them would make it out alive.
“Stop!” I shoved myself between them, pushing Anders away with my back, and Levi with my hands. “I’ll go, okay?” I yelled, turning to Anders. “Let’s go.”
Anders’s body hummed with tension, vibrating with desire to fight, but he didn’t try to push around me and attack Levi. He took a few steps back and nodded slowly to himself.
“Okay. Sure. Yeah,” he muttered. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.” He sneered at Levi. “It smells like shit here anyway.”
Levi made to go after Anders, but I held up a warning hand as I guided Anders toward the door. “No. You stay here. It’s fine,” I said, ignoring the longing, anger, and sadness written on his face.