LEVIATHAN
The sky was still dark outside, which didn’t come as a surprise since the clock in the small kitchen said it was only a few minutes past four in the morning. I’d already been awake for over an hour. My mind wouldn’t slow down, wouldn’t stop flying through everything that had happened. I’d left Idlewild a disgraced alpha and alleged criminal; now I’d returned a century later as a legend, a monster people warned their kids about to get them to behave. Not only that, but after all that time living in the forest, the world had sped forward with a rapidity that was mind boggling.
I’d left with Model-Ts and Studebakers rumbling up and down gravel and dirt roads, and many houses were still not fully electric. Now? God, it was like the future I’d read about in books by H.G. Wells and Jules Verne. It wasn’tfullysurprising. As I brought people into Hidden Grove, word trickled in of changes in the outside world. I knew what cell phones and the internet were, even though I’d never used them. The same was true for television, solar power, and electric cars. Now that I was in it, I had the weird sensation of being a time traveler, stepping out of his magic machine to find a wholly changed planet.
A low growl rumbled through my chest. There was no going back to bed tonight. I might as well go burn off the ill feelings I had. Out on the porch, I took a deep breath and leaped off the porch, shifting in mid-air. The sharpness of the cold wind dulled as my fur insulated me. My paws hit the ground, and I took off for the tree line, desperate to get into nature.
The thin forests that surrounded this side of Idlewild were less wild and dark, with more new growth than old, like my lands, but it didn’t matter. Simply being in the wilderness helped alleviate some of the stress that had been building in me since seeing June at Anders’ place.
A fuming and hissing anger roiled inside me as I thought about her with that prick. Try as I might, I had a hard time not wondering if they’d already had sex. Anders said the mating ceremony, which meant they were still courting, but times had changed. Perhaps that old tradition had fallen by the wayside?
Unbidden, an image flashed across my mind. June bent over and screaming in delight, with Anders behind her, thrusting and slapping her ass.
Skidding to a halt, leaves and dirt slipping under my paws, I threw my head back and howled at the sky in disgust, rage, and pain. My inner wolf blind with fury, I snapped and bit at the thin tree limbs hanging near me, my teeth shattering the wood.
My temper and mood weren’t helped by how difficult it had been to find Naphele. When I’d first begun this quest through time, I’d assumed I’d find her in one, maybe two, generations. When that had passed, it made me question the whole thing. It also seemed that the old stories of your closest love returning in an almost exact copy of themselves in a new body reallywasnothing more than a legend. Rainier was right, I’d have to look deeper to find that spark that told me Naphele was inside someone. Even then, it was harder than anticipated. So far, none of the women I’d spoken to hadanyspark. The only spark I’dhad in a century was with June. Based on the ritual we’d done and her own assertion, she wasnotNaphele, and she had left me for what appeared to be a narcissist asshole.
Life was really looking up,I thought bitterly.
My self-pity vanished when I got the sudden sensation of being watched. Freezing in place, I looked around and sniffed at the air. Could the Red Maw have ventured this close? Was Anders thinking of going back on his word and attacking me here? There was no scent, but the faint breeze blew against my face. I was obviously downwind of whoever was following me.
Suppressing a growl of anger and challenge, I ran, sprinting into the foliage. The sound of crackling leaves and breaking twigs erupted behind me, signaling that I was right, and a pursuer was chasing me. I unleashed the growl.
Whoever this was, they were about to have the worst fucking time of their life. Part of me hoped it reallywasAnders, then I could take out my rage on the man who now had the woman I loved.
I ran in a large circle, making my way to flank my pursuer. Whoever they were, they’d obviously never attacked someone before. Already, I could hear them following my exact route, unsure or confused why I was going in the direction I was. Cutting sharply to the left, I made a beeline for them, leaping over an evergreen shrub and tackling them.
My shoulder clipped theirs, sending them tumbling across the ground. Landing hard and rolling, I quickly righted myself, lips peeled back, ready to bite their throat out before they could jump me.
“Levi, it’s me!”
I nearly collapsed in shock. Before me, instead of an attacking and murderous assassin, was June. She’d reverted to her human form. There were leaves and twigs stuck in her hair.
Shifting back, I rushed over to help her up.
“Jesus Christ, June, I almost killed you,” I growled. “Why did you sneak up on me and chase me like that?”
June allowed me to help her up, then brushed off her pants before plucking all the debris from her hair. When she looked up, we were only a few inches apart. Our eyes locked, and I wanted to reach out and touch her, to run my hands across her body and pull her even closer before kissing those soft lips.
June also had a look in her eye that made me think she might be picturing the same thing. Her hand drifted forward, brushing my stomach. The contact sent a jolt of excitement through me.
Then, as if snapping out of a dream, she pulled her hand back and took a step away from me.
“Uh…” She shook her head. “What did you say?”
I let out a small sigh of frustration and disappointment.
“I said, what were you thinking sneaking up on me and chasing me? I thought you were some asshole coming to attack me.”
“I didn’t know you were runningfromme. I thought you’d decided to run for fun, you know? When you weren’t at the rental house, I followed your scent.”
Letting out a sigh of frustration, I said, “But you still haven’t saidwhy. Why are you following me into the woods, June?” Then, simply to be spiteful, I added, “Don’t you have amatewho’ll be worried about you?”
Even in the gray light of predawn, I could read her face easily. She looked hurt and sad. My wolf whined, pissed off at me for making her upset. Sending a mental wave of irritation to him, I begged him to shut up and let me deal with this my way.
“I need to talk to you, okay?” June said at last, visibly straightening and trying to meet my eyes with what I could only describe as determination.
“About what, June?” I said, unable to hold back my anger. “Itriedto talk to you when I saw you at Anders’s house, but you didn’t want to. What’s different now?”
