Leviathan
As I lay with June in my arms, I wondered how life could ever get better. The sun shone down on us, warming our bodies and the moss beneath us. The cool air had a hint of spring to it, making the moment all that more perfect. I kissed her shoulder and sighed contentedly.
After a few minutes of silent relaxation and bonding, June shifted, the muscles in her back and shoulders tensing.
“What’s wrong?”
She lay there, a pensive look on her face. Then she huffed out a breath and tilted her eyes to look into mine.
“Is it really different this time?”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean, Levi.”
I did. It was evident in the look she gave me—a combination of worry, hope, and fear. She was still thinking about Naphele.
“How can we truly be together if you’ll have all these thoughts about Naphele at the back of your mind?”
I opened my mouth to reply, but she started speaking again before I could.
“You said you’ve given up on finding her, at least you did until I left, and I get why you’d go back to looking.
There’s nothing upsetting about that. You’d been left by the woman you thought loved you.
I’m talking about now. In the future. Even if it’s only subconsciously, how can you fully love me with that always stewing in your head?
“I want you,” she said, putting a hand to my cheek, “but I can’t come second, and I can’t make you choose. You’ve got to do that on your own, and I don’t know if you can.”
I put my hand over hers. “Will I always love Naphele? Yes. She was my mate, and I had a whole life with her,” I said.
“Will she be on my mind sometimes? Of course, but you are the one I want to be with. I’m not looking for her anymore,” I said, and the truth in my words surprised me.
“Maybe Naphele is coming back, maybe she’s not.
Hell, maybe she doesn’t even want to. We’ll figure out who killed her, and maybe then her spirit can be at peace.
If nothing else, that will give me closure.
“What I know is that I have you. I have you here, right now, and I don’t want to lose you again. You have no idea how awful it was without you. It was like someone had hollowed out a piece of me. I wasn’t whole, and now, with you, I am.”
Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. I couldn’t let her go again, could never let her think she was anything less than my first priority.
“You mean it,” she said, a statement, not a question.
“I do,” I whispered. “I’ve seen what hell life is without you, and I never want to go back to that again.”
She wiped her eyes. “Okay,” she said and a sound—half laugh, half sob—fell from her lips as she pulled me close and kissed me.
This kiss was gentle, a brushing of lips and a mixing of breath, a binding and unspoken agreement that we belonged to each other. When she finally pulled away, she gave a tiny shiver.
“Can we get dressed?” she asked.
“Uh, yeah.” I looked over at the shirt I’d ripped off her. “Sorry about that,” I said, nodding to it.
She laughed, rolling her eyes as she tugged her pants up. “It was worth it. It was so fucking hot.”
I still wore my flannel shirt, and since I had a T-shirt on underneath it, I gave it to June. It engulfed her, the sleeves hanging three inches past her fingertips, but she didn’t seem to mind.
“Oh, it’s so warm.” She wrapped her arms around herself, the sleeves flapping slightly.
We sat back down, and I wrapped my arms around her as we gazed out at the valley below.
“What do we do now?” June asked. “About Anders and Eugenia?”
I snorted in disgust. “They can have each other, for all I care. Enjoy being miserable shits together for the rest of their lives.”
“Not that,” June said. “I’m still technically his mate. Paired mate, sure, at least until the ceremony tomorrow anyway. I’ll need to officially reject him.”
“Then that’s what you do,” I said with a shrug. “I’ll be with you.”
“Okay,” she said, nodding to herself, but I could hear the hesitation in her voice.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“The same thing that’s always wrong.” She sighed. “I’m worried about what happens after. Will Anders banish me? What about my grandparents, and my friend Beatrice? I don’t want to lose them forever because that douchebag wants to have his cake and eat it too. I’m right back to where I started.”
There was a chance things could go badly.
His pack would be scandalized at the revelation that he’d cheated on his chosen mate, sure, but he was the alpha.
They’d fall in line unless he did something even worse.
In my time in town, I hadn’t really run across anyone who seemed the type to challenge him for leadership.
I also worried that he might make things tough for June or her family.
Anders was vindictive, and that made me a little uneasy.
I’d do everything in my power to make sure that didn’t happen. I had faith we could figure it all out.
“It’ll be fine,” I said. “I’ll make sure of it.”
“What if Anders does something stupid, though? Something dangerous?” June sounded worried, as though these thoughts had been festering in her head the whole time, growing into a more monstrous and terrifying nightmare.
“I’m not worried about him,” I said. “I handled him pretty well. If he wants to do something, I’ll kick his ass again.”
June shook her head. “That was because we caught him, er, literally with his pants down. Anders became alpha for good reason. He may be a spoiled brat and a pompous asshole, but he’s a fighter.
A dirty one. He’s dangerous if he has a plan.
He’ll take all this as a personal slight.
I’m really worried about what he might try to do. ”
This was true. If there was anything I’d learned about that asshole in my time back in Idlewild, it was that Anders was a snake that would stab anyone in the back if it gained him some power or respect.
She was right that he might want to do something to get back at us, but I’d happily bloody my knuckles on his face again if he saw the need to push things.
Until it was all sorted, I’d have to keep my head on a swivel and be ready for that little asshole to do something.
“I love you, June, and I’ll do anything for you. Anders can try whatever he wants. We can talk it out like gentlemen, or we can slug it out like men, either way, I promise you’ll get the respect you deserve and the ability to still see everyone you love.”
June rested her head on my chest. “Say it again.”
“Say what?” I frowned at her.
“That you love me,” she whispered.
“I love you,” I said, and kissed the top of her head. “I love you more than life itself. I’ll always take care of you.”
She pressed herself into me again. My wolf sent waves of delight through my brain, happy to have our mate back, to have the woman we both loved in our arms.
“When do you want to head back?” I asked.
“Not now,” she said, putting a hand on my thigh. “I don’t want to face it all yet, is that okay?”
“Sure. I’m happy here.”
For almost two hours we sat there, enjoying each other’s company, talking about silly things and important things.
Simply existing with her was enough for me, and when we finally stood to make the hour trek back to Idlewild, I felt renewed, rejuvenated, and ready for anything.
June had the look of a new woman, or maybe a woman finally waking up from a dream to find that the real world wasn’t so bad after all.
Taking my hand, she twined her fingers into mine. “Ready?”
“I am. Are you?” I said, smiling down at her.
She swallowed hard and nodded. “I think so. Yeah.”
“Then let’s get going. No time like the present to tell an asshole to fuck off, right?”
She laughed, shaking her head as we made our way into the forest. “You really have a way with words, Leviathan Cross.”