Juniper
Scuffing my shoe through the dirt, I tried to tell myself Levi had made the right decision, but I was having a hard time.
Some instinctual part of me told me that we were making a mistake.
I wasn’t angry, but I was worried. If I was right, then banishing Anders could have terrible consequences that we hadn’t even thought of yet.
“June?”
I turned to Levi. From the look on his face, I could see he wasn’t pleased with how things had gone. That made two of us.
“Was it that obvious?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yeah. At least to me. I’m sorry. I just can’t, in good conscience, allow them to stay in town.”
“I get that,” I said. “I really do. It makes sense, but I still think it’s the wrong choice.”
Levi blew out a breath and looked up at the sky. “I doubt we’ll ever agree on this. I heard what you said. I didn’t make this decision unilaterally. I really did take what you said to heart, but in the end, I’m the alpha. I’ve got to do what I think is right.”
“I respect that, but you know what happens if you banish them, right?” I finally said.
“Yup. We might have to deal with the blowback. His friends and family might take issue with it,” Levi said.
“He could also try to join the Red Maw,” I said. “He knows enough that he could be a huge asset for them.”
“That is a very remote possibility. I doubt they’d take him in. I especially doubt they’d take in Eugenia. Those two seem like a package deal.”
“They might if it meant they got some insider information,” I said.
“Anders would never follow anyone. He’s too much of a dick. Desdemona requires absolute obedience. Even if he tried to join, he’d never make it serving under a female alpha.”
“Desperation does a lot of things to people,” I said. “It sent me off into the woods to search for you, didn’t it?”
“Fair point,” Levi said. “But I’ve already made my decision. I can’t go back on it now. We have to push forward.”
“I know,” I said. “I just hope you’re right.”
“Are we good?” Levi said, holding his hand out to me.
“We are,” I said, taking his hand.
“Okay.” He kissed my cheek. “I’m going back inside. I need to talk to Rainier.”
I nodded, squeezing his hand once.
As he walked back in, I couldn’t help but dwell on my worries. I really hoped he was right, but my instincts told me things wouldn’t go as smoothly as he hoped.