“Isn’t one hundred percent accurate. You heard what Rainier said. There’s a chance it was wrong.”
“Averylow chance,” June said. “It’s probably one in a million.”
I smiled at her, but I knew it didn’t reach my eyes. “That’s still a chance. Maybe it’s an even better chance now that you’re a full shifter?”
She shook her head. “Will you help me find out who killed her and why? I’m afraid that these visions are going to keep happening until we do. I don’t know for sure that it will work, but I have to do something.” She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. “I don’t want to keep seeing that.”
After all these years, I’d been granted access to Idlewild. Not only was I in the town where Naphele and I had lived, where she’d died, but I could go about my business without worrying about some vigilante killing me. I’d been wrongfully accused of her murder, but time had glossed over that crime. With June helping me, I might be able to dig into the mystery of whyNaphele had been brutally murdered a century before. How could I say no?
I growled low in my chest and nodded once. “Okay. Deal. Let’s find the fucker.”
58
JUNIPER
With my second espresso of the day clutched firmly in hand, I pushed through the door, stepping into the lobby of a local catering company. After waking early, and then running through the forest to catch Levi, I would have been running on fumes regardless. Couple that with the hours I’d spent planning the mating ceremony, and I was dragging hard.
“Good afternoon! How can we help you?” the receptionist said as I stepped up and leaned on the counter.
“Hi,” I said, doing my best to give her a winning smile. “I’m Juniper Hollis.”
The woman’s eyes widened with recognition. “Oh. Right, the alpha’s mate. Congratulations.”
“Yeah. Anyway, I’m planning our mating ceremony, and I was hoping you all could help with the menu.”
“It would be anhonor,” she gasped, putting a hand to her chest. “Were you looking for plated service? Buffet or family style? Or maybe passed canapes and a dessert bar?”
I sighed. I was too tired to deal with this. “Is there, like, a brochure or menu or something?”
“Of course.” She handed me a three-ring binder that had laminated pages of both printed menus, as well as pictures of the food.
With Anders being the alpha in the relationship, tradition saidheand his family would pay for the mating ceremony, which was a reversal of typical human tradition. A small, petty part of me recalled how Anders had been acting, and I decided to give him a little payback. Something simple that might be the first step in humbling him and getting him to fully turn that leaf he was already trying to flip.
“Let’s do plated service,” I said with a smile, and perused the menu. “I think some passed appetizers too. For those, let’s do the caviar with accompaniments, and these lobster bites. A shaved brussels sprout salad for the first course, entrée should be the…uh…what’s more expensive? The Chateaubriandor the seared Wagyu fillet?”
She blinked at me in surprise. “Umm, the Wagyu.”
“Good, we’ll do that.” I continued reading and chuckled. “I see here you can add shaved truffles for an additional price? I’d like that as well. For the dessert, I like this five-tiered cake I see here.” I pointed at a picture of what looked like the most opulent cake I’d ever seen in my life.
Scribbling notes down, the woman quickly added the cake, looking both excited and harried. “Anything else?”
“Why not,” I said with a shrug, feeling better than I had all morning. “Let’s add a bread service for each table, and an open bar.”
“Open bar?” Her eyebrows shot up. “Um, I assume you understand the cost associated?”
“Sure do,” I said as I slid the pack credit card across the counter to her. “You can put the deposit on this.”
When I told the receptionist how many people we were anticipating, I thought she might actually pass out, but she assured me that her team would have everything ready by the date I gave.
When I left, I was re-energized. I’d spent the entire morning bouncing around town talking to rental companies, calling bands and DJs, and even speaking with a valet company to help park cars for many of the humans who would attend. Deciding I’d done enough for the day, I headed to the store to see if my grandparents needed help.
I downed the rest of my espresso, then tossed the cup in a trash can and shifted. As I ran along the sidewalks, my nails clicked on the concrete, and I breathed in the scents of the day. The smells still nearly overloaded my mind, but in a good way. I even thought I could smell the faint wisp of flower buds coming out on trees. The last few days had been markedly warmer than before, and there was a hint of spring in the air. By the time the mating ceremony rolled around, we should have some beautiful, flowery scenery behind us. That would make the day pleasant, at least, especially if I was still as hung up about mating with Anders by then.
On the surface, my life wasexactlywhat I’d always wanted. I was paired with the pack alpha, able to see my grandparents any day I wanted. I had a new respect from the townsfolk, yet I still didn’tfeelgood. Seeing Levi that morning hadn’t helped. I’d left him for what I thought was a good reason, but that didn’t make it any easier to see him. Every time I saw his face, all I could think of was how I’d hurt him, and how I’d hurt myself by leaving. It had gouged out a hole in my heart, and I understood it had done something equally devastating to him.
Shifting back to my human form at the door, I stepped inside and froze at the sound of Levi’s voice.
“Do you have any more photo albums?” he called from the opposite end of the store.
