Juniper
Deciding to take our time on the return trip, we walked rather than shifting to our wolf forms and running home. Whatever happened with Anders wouldn’t be pleasant, so I welcomed the extra hour of peace and quiet before dealing with it.
“Let’s go this way,” Levi said, pointing to a well-worn path in the forest. “We can skirt Hidden Grove using this path.”
“You don’t want to stop by?” I asked, frowning at him.
He glanced at me, a strangely bashful expression on his face. “The next time I come home, I want my mate by my side. My true mate,” he said, and squeezed my hand. “A mate who isn’t bound to anyone else.”
Giddiness swelled in my chest. “That…that sounds nice.”
Levi suddenly stopped walking, his smile fading.
“What’s wrong?”
“Do you smell that?” he whispered as he looked around us.
When I sniffed the air, I caught a whiff of a masculine scent tinged with hints of charcoal, cedar, and leather.
Turning my widening eyes to him, I said, “Is that—”
“Red Maw,” Levi growled.
A shockwave of fear slammed into me, and I spun in place, glancing around.
“Calm down,” he muttered, putting a hand on my lower back. “They aren’t close. The breeze is bringing the scent toward us. Come on.”
We walked on, more carefully than before, using every sense we possessed to monitor the forest around us. We moved in silence, more cautious now, and unwilling to give our position away.
“Are you worried about Hidden Grove?” I whispered.
He shook his head. “I don’t think that’s where they’re going.” He pointed to his left. “That direction leads to the pack. From where the scents are coming from, it seems like they’re moving away. Come on, let’s speed things up a bit.”
We shifted. Our wolf bodies allowed for quicker, quieter, and more agile movement.
We raced through the forest and up a ridge, making better time than we had before.
Here, we had a good view of the forest below, and what we saw sapped the breath from my lungs.
Shifting back to our human forms, we both sat on our knees, staring down in shock.
A large group of wolves moved through the forest, not fast, all walking slowly, but deliberately. Was this the entirety of the Red Maw pack mobilized for war? If so, this was what we’d been afraid of.
Even as we watched, many of the men shifted to their human forms, and began to make camp.
Levi leaned in close, putting his lips to my ear. “They’re headed straight for Idlewild.”
Sure enough, they were heading directly toward my hometown.
They were still miles out, and moving slow, but they would be there soon.
Regardless of what had happened between me and Anders, he had to know about this.
The other pack alphas in town needed to know. We would be the only warning they got.
Glancing in Levi’s eyes, an unspoken agreement passed between us. Without another word, we shifted, and Levi led me through the forest, circling to the front of the approaching Red Maw men.
Once we’d gotten around them and far enough away, Levi shifted back and turned to me as I did the same.
“That’s not the entirety of their pack,” he said. “It’s likely an expeditionary force.”
“What does that mean?” I asked, glancing back, afraid we might have been followed.
“It means they’re here to set up a base to operate from,” Levi explained.
“It’s what I’d do. They found a spot that’s far enough away from Hidden Grove that they won’t be found by accident, and close enough to Idlewild to launch a surprise attack without any warning.
” Levi hissed a curse and slapped a tree leaf in agitation. “Those fuckers.”
“What? What’s wrong?” I asked, unsure why he’d suddenly gotten angry.
“This was their plan all along,” Levi said.
“That’s why they were probing our defenses at Hidden Grove and leaving tracks we could find so easily.
Desdemona knew I’d order everyone to stay close to town.
No one will be venturing out, which means they won’t need to worry about being found. That bitch played me.”
It was a twisted but brilliant maneuver. Ensure your enemy is too scared to leave the safety of their base, and once they were hunkered down, use the surrounding area to launch your attack. I hadn’t even met the woman, yet I understood how dangerous she was.
“I’d say we only have a few days, maybe a week at best before she launches an attack. Either on Hidden Grove or Idlewild, I don’t know, but Anders needs to know about this. We can sort out his bullshit later.”
Shifting again, we sprinted to Idlewild, heedless of noise now, only wanting to get back as soon as possible.
When we burst from the forest, we headed straight to Anders’s house.
My worry about the Red Maw faded when I realized how quiet the town was.
We were on the outskirts, sure, but it was still the middle of the day.
The sun was still up. People should have been out and about.
Where was everyone? Had something already happened?
I’d only been gone about four hours. Nothing terrible could have happened in that time, could it?
Surely the Red Maw hadn’t sent another force out and already attacked?
If they had, there would be signs. Loud noises, wolves howling, maybe smoke from fires, who the hell knew what else. Where was everyone?
I wanted to stop and ask Levi if he’d noticed, but he was so fast; if I stopped, he’d be gone before I could speak.
As we rounded the corner and sprinted up Anders’s driveway, a new and even more unexpected sight stopped us in our tracks. Beatrice was in the front yard, screaming, cursing, and throwing rocks at Anders’s house.
With each throw, she belted out another curse.
“Prick…motherfucker…bastard…limp dick!”
Shifting back, Levi and I rushed forward.
“Beatrice?” I called, my voice wavering between confused and worried. I’d never seen her so filled with rage.
She launched one more rock that crashed through his living room window. Up close, I could see that most of the windows were already broken. She turned to me, her eyes red and swollen from crying. When she saw me, her jaw fell open.
“Oh, god. June,” she cried. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry about what?”
“About what he did to you,” she said, and wiped at her nose with a sleeve. “He told us all to be there, and when I found out why, I left. Fuck him and that cunt he’s got with him.”
“I need you to give us the story,” Levi said, his voice low but stern. “What are you talking about?”
“Anders! He put out a town-wide message. Said the mating ceremony was taking place a day early, and that everyone needed to be at the square for it.”
“What?” My eyes widened, and from the look on Levi’s face, he understood the same thing I did, but I needed to hear it first.
“He’s mating with the creepy bitch Eugenia. He says he rejected you again, and that she’s his fated mate. June, your grandparents looked heartbroken.”
“Is the ceremony over?” I asked.
She shrugged helplessly. “Not sure. Maybe? It hadn’t started yet when I left.”
“Let’s go,” Levi said, grabbing my hand. “We need to talk to this motherfucker.”
“Are you going to kick his ass again?” Beatrice looked hopefully at Levi. “We all saw his face. Rumor is, you did it.”
“Come on,” he said to me.
“I’ll see you later,” I told Beatrice, then shifted and followed Levi.
Leaving my friend behind to continue vandalizing Anders’s house, I hurried along to get to the town square as quickly as possible.
The tents that had been set up for the reception after the ceremony were filled with people.
The flowers were in place, and the music I’d chosen was playing.
It was as if I’d somehow traveled twenty-four hours into the future.
Shifting back, I strode forward. Everyone gathered looked uncomfortable and confused. Hakeem and his mate Tamara sat with the other alphas, looking on with disdainful expressions on their faces. At the front, Anders and Eugenia sat at the raised table, holding hands and smiling at each other.
There were signs of how rushed all this was.
There was no food—the caterer wouldn’t have had time to get everything done a day before it was due—and the band was missing two members.
All this in less than four hours? Anders and Eugenia must have jumped into action the moment Levi and I left.
If this was the reception, then the ceremony itself was already over.
Anders and Eugenia were officially mated now.
Instead of heading toward the raised table, Levi led me over to the other alphas. Rainier was seated with them, staring daggers up at Anders.
“Levi,” Hakeem said. “Is Idlewild always this fucked up?”
“Wasn’t when I was in charge,” he grumbled, casting a disgusted look in Anders’s direction. Anders’s eyes widened slightly when he noticed us in the crowd.
Rainier gestured at Anders. “That prick started marching around like Napoleon, telling us what to do, where to go, and how to do it. All his little fucking football buddies were helping too. Fucker was actually dragging people out of their houses to come watch this bullshit. I told our people to get out and head home. I stayed because I thought you might come back soon.”
“Anders can wait,” I said. “We need to have a meeting. All the alphas together. We need to discuss—”
“Discuss what?”
Turning, I found Anders glowering at us. He’d pushed his way through the crowd. His eyes were still swollen and black, but his healing had taken care of his split lip. Eugenia stood a few paces behind him. The crowd, already subdued, went completely silent as they turned to watch us.
“We need to get everyone together,” I said. “We’re in danger, and all the alphas and their mates need to discuss how to—”
“Shut the fuck up,” Anders snapped. “Even if there was going to be a meeting, you aren’t an alpha’s mate anymore, so you’re not welcome.”
“You may want to think about that again,” Levi said, stepping between us. “June is my mate, and I’m a pack alpha. She’ll go wherever I say she can go.”
“No she’s not.” Anders straightened, a self-satisfied smirk on his face. “I’m her alpha, and I forbid her from taking anyone as her mate, especially some flea-bitten forest wolf with a fucking cavemen pack.”
“Excuse me?” I shouted, pushing forward again. “You forbid me?”
“You heard what he said,” Eugenia snapped, her tone waspish and victorious. “He’s your alpha.” She stepped forward until she was nearly touching me, all her earlier shame gone. “Obey.”
The crowd was dead quiet, every single eye homed in on us. In my peripheral vision, I spotted my grandparents, but I kept my gaze locked on Eugenia. I opened my mouth to respond, but Levi spoke first, his voice booming out in an angry shout.
“I challenge you for leadership of Idlewild.” Stepping forward, he pressed his chest to Anders’s, glaring at the other man. “An official challenge to become the new alpha of Idlewild.”
An eruption of whispered conversation, gasps, and curses flooded through the tent.
Anders looked nervous and happy about the challenge.
My heart lurched in terror. They couldn’t do this.
Not now. Not with the Red Maw at our doorstep.
Also, Levi didn’t understand the kind of fighter Anders was.
He was the alpha for a reason. He was strong and fast, and he never fought fair.
He wasn’t the same kind of person Levi was.
He’d do anything to win, and he very well might kill Levi.
“Accepted,” he said with a smirk. “We’ll see how good the Demon Wolf is when he’s not jumping someone from behind.
Half an hour,” he cried, raising his fist. “In half an hour, Idlewild will watch their alpha defeat the legendary Leviathan Cross.” He stepped back, joining Eugenia and his friends. “See you soon.”
Levi growled low in his throat. “That’s right, you will.”