88. Juniper #2
“I’m here to talk with Rafe, Monica. This can go one of two ways.
You let me in and I talk to him calmly and quietly, or…
” I thought up a quick but convincing lie.
“I go to the edge of town and bring back two of the other pack alphas I brought with me. We force our way in, and the conversation is much more aggressive. Up to you.”
Her gaze darted behind me. “You brought friends?” she hissed the word like it was some dirty, filthy thing she didn’t want to say.
“I did,” I lied. “What will it be?”
She muttered something that sounded like bitch, but undid the chain, and opened the door. I stepped in, careful to keep her in sight the whole time. The last thing I needed was this woman stabbing me in the neck with a steak knife for ruining her poor-sweet-angel-boy’s life.
“Where is he?” I asked.
“Why do you need to talk to my grandfather?” Monica whispered.
“He’s done nothing to you. Why can’t you let an old man slip away peacefully?
” Her voice rose, growing more strident with each word.
“This is the whole reason he didn’t want anyone to know he was still alive. He only wanted peace and quiet.”
“Where is he?”
Monica bared her teeth at me, but she flung a hand toward the back of the house. “His bedroom is down there. Make it quick.”
“Thank you,” I said, and moved down the hallway, but stopped, and turned back to her. “Was he here the night I came and saw you?”
“Of course, you stupid little girl. I gave him his meds before you got here. He slept through the whole thing.”
Holy shit. He’d been less than twenty feet away from me, and I hadn’t known.
Why hadn’t I smelled him? That was when I realized what was different about this visit.
The awful cloying floral stench was no longer present in her home.
Now I did smell something. A faint, yet distinct smell.
The baby powder scent of the elderly, the sweet smell of decay.
Monica had hidden his scent that night. I shook my head, chastising myself for being gullible.
As I approached the door, the smell grew stronger, and I glanced back at the door once more. Monica was still there, but a shell of herself. She’d slid down to sit on the floor, her face in her hands.
I opened the door and stepped in. The first thing I noticed was the surreality of the room.
It was like I’d stepped through some teleportation gateway and was standing in a hospital room somewhere rather than a guest bedroom.
Machines hummed, and tubes and wires connected to an emaciated and almost mummified man on the bed.
Rafe Thornton. He looked nothing like the virile and strong man I’d seen in the photo. This was a shell of the person who had been Levi’s best friend all those years ago.
“Who are you?” he asked, his voice raspy and low. He gazed at me with rheumy eyes. “Does my granddaughter know you’re here?”
I stepped in and closed the door behind me. I nodded once. “She does, Rafe. My name is Juniper Hollis.”
“Hollis?” he said, his voice lilting with recognition. “You…you’re Anders’s—”
“I was Anders’ mate,” I said as I approached the bed. “That’s over. Now I’m Leviathan Cross’s mate.”
The old man’s eyes snapped wide, terror filling his gaze.
He no longer looked at me like an unexpected guest but like an unchained and dangerous animal.
That look triggered something within me.
A deep and almost overwhelming anger. I didn’t know where it had come from, and it was all I could do to hold back from lashing out at him.
A metal stool stood beside his bed. I sat down and stared at him.
“What happened the night Naphele Cross died?”
From beside the bed, one of the monitors beeped urgently.
“Naphele?” He frowned. “Levi killed her. That’s what happened. Murdered his own mate. If I hadn’t come across him a few seconds after he’d finished his dirty work, he might have gotten away with it.”
A fine sheen of sweat had erupted along the man’s forehead. I could see he wasn’t used to talking this much. The simple act of conversation was taking a toll on him.
I glanced down at his withered, liver-spotted hand.
It was a shriveled thing that looked like it might snap if I squeezed hard.
Perhaps it was intuition or instinct, some whispery push from the gift that resided in my mind.
Either way, I went with it, allowing the sight and my inner wolf to guide me. Reaching out, I grabbed his hand and—
Wrenched my hand free of his.
“Rafe, what is wrong with you?” I shouted.
He took a step toward me, hands outstretched, pleading. “Please, Naphele. You have to see it. Don’t you?”
I backed away, confused and afraid. “What are you talking about? Why are you doing this?”
“I’ve always loved you. We should have been mates, not you and Levi. I tried to get the elders to put us together before you got with him, but they wouldn’t listen,” he said, balling his hands into fists. “They don’t understand how good we’d be together.”
He had to be joking. He was Levi’s best friend, his beta. He couldn’t be saying he had feelings for me. I didn’t even know how to respond.
“Listen to me,” he said, a feral look on his face. “We can run away from here. We can be together. Forever.” He stepped forward, holding his hand out to me.
I slapped his hand away, the sound of it like a small gunshot. Rafe yelped in surprise and pulled his hand protectively to his chest.
“I am Levi’s mate, and he is mine,” I snarled, jabbing my finger into his chest. “You of all people should know that. You’re his best friend.”
“I’m only his friend because I wanted to be close to you!” he screamed at me, his face a mask of rage and madness.
For the first time ever, I was afraid of Rafe. Something had changed, like a costume falling away, revealing the true man beneath.
“You need to leave,” I said, backing toward the door of our house. “Levi will be back soon. We…we can forget this happened, but only if you drop it. I can keep your secret, but you need to get a grip. This?” I gestured to both of us. “It’s never happening.”
Before he could respond, I slipped inside, slamming and locking the door. Rafe let out a heartrending wail of despair that sent a chill down my spine—
Gasping, I yanked my hand away. The old man looked like he’d seen a ghost. Had he seen what I’d seen?”
His lips twisted into an angry snarl, something I didn’t think possible with how weak he looked.
“Levi never deserved her,” he croaked. “She was mine.” The machines around the room emitted more beeps and alarms.
The door crashed open, Monica rushing in, the alarms having alerted her.
“What did you do, you little bitch?”
“Nothing.” I stood. “I only found out his dirty little secret,” I added, leveling a finger at the mummified-looking thing on the bed.
“If I couldn’t have her,” Rafe snarled, “then no one could. I killed her, so Levi couldn’t have her.
I took his pack as well. It’s what he deserved for stealing her away from me to begin with.
Soon? She and I will be together again. You’ll see…
” His body sagged, and the monitor beside the bed flatlined.
Monica shrieked and fell to her knees by the bed. Looking on in horror, I backed out of the room. I ran out of the house, not wanting to be here when Monica came to her senses and perhaps tried to take out her grief and frustrations on me.
Outside, away from the oppressive and horrifying scene inside, I breathed in the cool crisp air, wiping away the smell of decay that had permeated my nose.
I gave the house one last look before shifting and heading for the forest and Hidden Grove.
The revelation was bittersweet. Naphele had her justice and her release.
It meant she might finally be free to reincarnate, but I wished I could have done this with Levi at my side.
He deserved to confront his mate’s killer.
It should have been him there seeing and hearing what happened all those years ago.
When I plunged into the trees, I wondered what he was doing right then.
Had they reached the Red Maw? Was he fighting as I ran?
Was he perhaps dying while I sped through the forest?
The thought sickened me and also made my heart ache with longing.
Had I made a mistake? Should I give him one last chance?
The thought actually filled me with hope, and my wolf growled her agreement, but what if it was too late?
There was a chance I might never see him again. What would I do then?