Leviathan
My body ached and burned from cuts, tears, and bruises across every inch of me, but that pain was secondary. Primary? The realization that I was once again the alpha of Idlewild. After a hundred years, things had come full circle.
“Hey!” Rainier cried. “Somebody get a nurse or a fucking doctor over to the house Levi’s staying at. Hurry, goddamn it.”
“I’m fine,” I said, though I was a little disconcerted by how swollen my jaw felt.
My enhanced healing was already working, but slowly, too slowly to stop most of the bleeding.
My neck was the worst, where Anders had torn the flesh.
Even an eighth of an inch deeper and he would have shredded an artery, then this would have ended differently.
Shifting while he had jaws clamped on my neck had been a dumb move, one brought on by desperation and fear, but otherwise he would have choked me out.
Something else that irked me was how difficult it had been to defeat him. I hadn’t fought such a strong alpha in a long time. As weak-minded and weak-willed as Anders was, he most assuredly wasn’t weak in body. I needed to remember that.
“You aren’t fine,” June said, her voice a hushed whisper. “Jesus, look at you. You’re a mess.” She reached up to touch my face but hesitated. “Your whole face is covered in blood.”
“Honestly?” Rainier grunted, adjusting my arm on his shoulder. “It’s an improvement. You should think about covering that ugly mug of yours more often, save us all the horror of looking at you every day.”
A laugh burst from my lips, and I winced as pain shot through me. “Shit. That hurts,” I muttered.
They got me to my house and onto the bed, and June was in the process of using washcloths and sponges to clean the blood from my seeping wounds when a doctor arrived.
“Afternoon,” the old man said, absently fiddling with the zipper on a bright orange backpack. “I’m Doctor Haynes. How’s the patient?”
The man had graying hair cut close to his head and a silvery goatee. His skin was dark umber, but he still looked somehow pale, his eyes wide with shock.
“I don’t know, Doc. How do I look?”
He gave me a once-over. “Like twice-baked dog shit, if I’m being honest.”
“Hah,” Rainier barked. “I like this guy.”
The doctor spent a considerable amount of time checking the wound on my neck, as well as the spot on my side that ached like hell. While he did that, June finished cleaning the blood from me.
“Well,” the doctor said, “I’ve seen worse, but not often.
You’ve got a cracked rib, but it looks like your body is already fixing that.
If you were a human, I’d say you’d need around fifty stitches, but most of these lacerations and cuts have already clotted and are mending together.
You’ll have a few new scars, but I don’t see anything that your shifter healing won’t take care of.
” He grinned at me. “We can take a hell of a beating and keep going. How’s the neck? ”
“It’s fine,” I said.
He smirked. “The whole crowd thought we were about to see you get your throat ripped out when you pulled that trick.”
“You’ve got that right,” June grumbled beside me.
“Had to pull out all the stops,” I said, hoping my false bravado hid my exhaustion.
“That you did.” Doctor Haynes patted my leg.
“Between you and me? The whole town is electric with excitement.” He threw an awkward glance at June.
“Anders Burnell wasn’t a…well…he wasn’t beloved.
Not by a long shot. He was respected and honored for his position and the protection he provided, but not many loved him.
Nearly everyone is thrilled for you to be the new alpha. ”
“They aren’t terrified that the Demon Wolf of the Shadow Forest is their new alpha?” Rainier asked, one eyebrow raised in question.
The doctor chuckled. “Well, I suppose I should say most of the town is excited. I’d be lying if I said there aren’t some who are nervous.
You, sir, have been the town boogeyman for years.
” He barked a laugh. “When I was a boy, my mother told me I needed to eat my vegetables or you’d come drag me into the woods and eat me. ”
“Holy shit,” I muttered, rolling my eyes.
“It’s okay,” he said. “You’ve been in town long enough that people have realized most of that was a story and nothing else.
You’ve already gotten a reputation. You’re kind to the servers at the restaurant, pleasant to everyone in the stores…
Plus, how you handled Anders? People are coming around.
Also, change is always exciting,” he added with a shrug.
“As for me? I think you’re going to do great. Welcome home.”
“I appreciate that.” Despite everything, my eyes stung, tears threatening. All these years of living in the wilderness, and now my town had not only welcomed me back, but they were happy I was the alpha. The only thing that was better than that was having June by my side as my mate.
Rainier chewed on his lip as he looked at June, then at me. He stood abruptly. “Hey, Doc, let’s go check on the other guy. We aren’t bastards. Asshole he may be, but he deserves medical treatment. Let’s find out where they took him.”
“Anders is in the drunk tank,” Haynes said, sighing wearily. “I suppose we should check on him, he was pretty beaten up.”
Rainier nodded at me. “See you later, boss. I’ll be back in a while.”
“Thank you, Rainier.”
As soon as I heard the front door close, I turned to June. Our eyes locked, and desire and emotion welled deep in my soul.
The mask of anxiety and worry on her face melted into a surprised grin.
“Seriously?” she chuckled. “Now?”
Sitting up, I reached forward and grabbed her.
“Levi, you’re hurt,” she cried as I pulled her into bed with me. “You can’t.”
Pulling her close, I gazed into her eyes, caressing her cheek with my left hand. “I can’t have what’s mine? I can’t have the woman I love?” I smirked at her. “There’s nothing I want more in the world. You were all I could think about while I fought.”
The tension in her face faded, and she let out a faint sigh as she kissed me. That connection, the softness of her lips, the heat of her, pushed away all the remaining pain in my body, though I still winced as we moved to the center of the bed.
“I was so worried about you,” she whispered, stroking my arm gently. “I can’t remember the last time I was so afraid.”
I brushed her hair out of her face. “Nothing and no one would ever keep me away from you.”
June smiled, though it was sad rather than happy. Resting her head on my chest, she ran a hand across my thigh.
“It made me realize how fragile everything is. Even you,” she said, and tilted her head to look at me. “You’re this monolithic being that’s sort of always been there in the forest, but even you can die. It would only take a second, and you’d be gone. It’s terrifying.”
Putting a finger beneath her chin, I bent toward her, kissing her softly. Again, that touch of her mouth on mine continued to push away the pain and aches in my body, replacing the hurt and agony with something warmer and more pleasant.
“It is scary,” I whispered. “But that’s what makes life so sweet. It can all be taken away in an instant. You have to enjoy the time you’ve been given.” I trailed my fingers down her side. “Every second is a gift, and you need to use it like that. A gift.”
Our eyes locked, and we stayed liked that for a while, simply looking at each other.
She understood what I was saying, and from the pheromones I could smell on her, she was having the same thoughts I was.
She wanted me in the same way I wanted her.
I didn’t care about my injuries or the pain. All I wanted was to be with her.
June smiled and lifted an eyebrow. “You’re hurt,” she said again, as if that could somehow suppress my desire.
“No amount of pain will ever keep me from wanting you.”
She opened her mouth to say something, then laughed and pressed against me.
Cupping my cheek, she pressed her lips to mine.
My body cried out in discomfort, but it wasn’t enough to stop me.
I gathered her into my arms, running my hands over her body.
Within seconds, we were undressing each other.
Me in a frenzy, June in delicate movements so as not to hurt my cuts and bruises.
June climbed off the bed, keeping her eyes on mine as she slowly took off my jeans, then slipped her pants down her legs. My cock stood rigid and throbbing as she kicked off her shoes.
“You’re sure this won’t hurt you?” she said as she tucked her thumbs into her panties.
“I’m sure,” I said.
June winked at me. “Okay then.”