82. Juniper
JUNIPER
The elders, the visiting alphas, and almost everyone in Idlewild stood at the edge of town as Levi and I arrived.
On their knees in front of them, hands and feet bound, were Anders and Eugenia.
Both looked like they hadn’t slept a minute the night before.
Eugenia’s gaze darted around, probably looking for a friendly or sympathetic face.
Anders, face beaten and bruised, only gazed down at the road in front of him.
The group parted as we walked forward. I couldn’t look at them, instead choosing to avert my eyes as we stopped fifteen feet from them.
Four town members held them in place in case one of them tried anything.
I did spot Anders’s mother standing toward the outer edge of the crowd, tears streaming down her face as she sobbed for her son.
“Anders Burnell? Eugenia Compton? Stand up,” Levi said.
The guards knelt and cut the binding on their legs, then pulled them to their feet. Eugenia stifled a sob and tears seeped from her eyes as she looked at Levi.
“Levi, please, you can’t banish us, you—”
“You have both proven yourself to be enemies of Idlewild,” Levi said, cutting her off.
“You have lied, you have schemed, and you have been dishonorable. You’ve shit on tradition with your secret relationship and the horrendous way you treated the woman Anders was betrothed to.
Because of that and your refusal to accept the outcome of the alpha fight, you are no longer welcome within Idlewild.
As of today, you are banished from the pack and the town.
Do you have anything to say for yourselves? ”
I winced inwardly as Eugenia sobbed. Not so long ago, I’d wanted to see her so broken, beaten down, and contrite. Now? It made me sick. Apparently, I didn’t enjoy retribution and revenge as much as I thought I did.
Anders finally raised his eyes to meet Levi’s.
“You all really want this freak to be your alpha?” Anders cried out, casting his eyes around the crowd. “Some old ass piece of shit? I almost beat him. I should have beaten him. I’m your alpha. Let him hear it! Call out to me.”
A vein throbbed in Anders’s neck as he shouted, his eyes blazing with fervor.
God, he really thought he was the star of his own little movie.
I imagined he thought the town would start chanting his name and attacking Levi.
A perfect end. Credits would roll, and the screen would fade to black as he kissed his woman.
Instead, he was met with silence. His face slowly went slack, and he continued glancing around for help.
“Brock? Mom? Do something! You can’t let this happen to me. Please.”
Turning, I found Brock standing awkwardly a few feet from Anders’s mom. He looked horrified that Anders had called his name out. He gave his best friend an awkward shrug.
“Bro, I just bought a house,” Brock muttered, then slipped deeper into the crowd.
Anders bared his teeth like a mad dog. “Fuckers,” he hissed. “Bastards. You’ll fucking pay. You’ll all pay.”
His words made me uneasy. It was like my worries were playing out in real time.
Levi ignored his words and spoke.
“You will be taken from town and dropped off ten miles away,” he said.
“You’ll both be given a backpack with enough food and water to last a week.
Also…” He sighed wearily. “Against my better judgment, you will also be given enough money to get you started on whatever life you choose to pursue after this. A couple thousand dollars each. If I were you, I would take this as the gift it is and never attempt to return.” He raised his voice so no one could be mistaken about what he said.
“You are not welcome back here. If anyone, and I mean anyone”—he glanced at Anders’s mom and Brock—“should see you again, they are required to apprehend you, and you will face a fate much worse than banishment. Do you understand?”
Eugenia, openly sobbing now, nodded wordlessly.
Anders spat on the ground toward Levi’s feet. “Go fuck yourself.”
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Levi said, waving at the guards. “Take them.”
Eugenia turned quietly and allowed her two guards to lead her away. Anders, however, glared at Levi for several seconds as the men tugged at him. Finally, they forcibly turned him away and pushed him into a van. The men piled in after them, then drove off.
As I watched the van become smaller until it vanished around a corner, a hollow feeling sat low in my stomach. I had a horrible feeling about this, and all I could do was hope that Levi was right and I was wrong.
The crowd dispersed, everyone moving in subdued silence. It was a heavy thing to banish someone. It was especially strange to be banishing a former pack alpha.
The group of visiting alphas and their mates approached us.
Blaise spoke first. “Glad that’s over with.”
“Right,” Hakeem said. “Now we can get down to business. Speaking of, we wondered if you wanted to join us? We’re all going to grab a bite to eat. We thought we could discuss the Red Maw, then maybe have an early lunch. You down?”
“Sure.” Levi put his arm around my shoulders. “Want to come?”
The last thing I wanted was to be around a bunch of alphas while they talked war. I didn’t have the stomach for it. Not after what we’d had to do.
"Uh…actually, I thought I’d go spend the day with my grandparents. Is that okay?”
Levi’s smile flickered, but then he nodded. “Sure. I’ll see you later?”
After a few minutes of small talk, Levi departed with the Alphas, glancing back at me a few times. The look in his eyes was one of worry and longing. Seeing that expression on his face was like a hand squeezing my heart.
Once they were out of sight, I shifted and ran straight home.
When I arrived, I found the shop closed.
Not surprising. The last twenty-four hours had been pretty dramatic.
They probably didn’t have the energy to deal with any customers.
Heading upstairs, I unlocked the door and found my grandparents sitting at the table, drinking coffee.
“I thought you’d be with Levi,” Grandpa said, sounding surprised.
“Yes, me too,” Gran said. She looked at me, eyes scanning my face, reading something only a grandmother could. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”
“I haven’t had a good day,” I said.
“All right then,” Grandpa said, getting another mug and pouring coffee into it. “Out with it. Let’s see how bad things are.”
Sliding the cup toward myself, I dumped several heaping spoons of sugar into it, then topped it off with cream. Grandpa eyed me with disapproval.
“Lord, girl, your coffee always looks more like dessert than a coffee.”
Ignoring his comment, I took a sip. I’d always been able to tell them anything.
It had been one of the great things about growing up with them.
They never judged and always loved me no matter what.
I’d never known my parents, but my grandparents had done a fantastic job raising me.
They’d given me an open home to talk about my problems.
I told them about my worries about banishing Anders and Eugenia, about Levi deciding to send them away, about how it made me nervous, and how I thought it might come back to bite us.
“I wish I’d been able to verbalize my worries better,” I said at last. “Maybe if I had, Levi could have seen it from my point of view.”
“You can’t beat yourself up, dear,” Gran said, patting my shoulder.
I could, actually. Was I being silly? Were my worries unfounded?
“Have you talked to him?” Grandpa asked. “Since the banishment?”
“Not yet,” I said. “We didn’t really have time. He had to go meet with the other alphas.”
“Well,” Gran said, “I’ve always said it’s better to get things out than to hold them in. You should have a nice, long talk with him. You don’t want something like this to fester.”
“She’s right,” Grandpa added. “Talk to the man. Get on the same page. If nothing else, you can try to plan for what you’re worrying about.”
They were making sense. I did need to speak with Levi. Maybe if I explained it better, he’d see my worries were well-founded. I just had to hope we weren’t too late to prepare. The Red Maw were coming, whether we were ready or not.