She bobbed her head—the wolf version of a nod—as if she could read my thoughts and took a step forward. I mirrored her motion, approaching her slowly and cautiously. When we were mere inches apart, she put her face toward mine, sniffing the air. As our noses touched, a burst of light blinded me.
The floor beneath my feet seemed to give way, and I tumbled into emptiness. Instead of being afraid, I experienced joy. Unadulterated and expounding joy. Something that was missing had been found. I hadn’t even known Iwasmissing something, yet now, I was whole and complete.
Colorful, moving pictures erupted around me. Memories. Levi’s face was in many of them, others as well. A beautiful woman with raven black hair, who I instinctively knew was Naphele’s grandmother. Rafe Thornton’s angry, mad face. More appeared, faster and faster, my mind filling with all these ancient memories. Memories of…my past life. I had been Naphele. That was what I’d been missing. The connection to my old life.
As I fell faster, images of Naphele fighting enemies flooded my view, and with each vision, the skills she’d had filtered into me. Her ability to fight and defend became my ability.
Instinct told me I was reaching the bottom of this well, or pit, or whatever it was. I looked down, and instead of a pool of water or a rocky bottom, I saw another image. Levi, on his knees, bleeding and hurt, hands tied behind his back. A woman with short hair standing above him. Her lips parted with a devious smile and three words echoing from her mouth.
“I am Naphele.”
A howl of untold rage burst from my lungs. Lies. I wanted to tear her limb from limb, shred her body until nothing remained but a pile of bones. She’d hurt my mate, she’d said she was me, and that would not stand. Closing my limbs around my body, and pointing my head forward, I picked up speed as I fell, and opened my jaws as the image of the hateful woman came closer. When I struck her?—
“June! Wake up!”
My eyes snapped open, and I found myself being held by both my grandparents, my body thrashing against them as I tried to rush for the door. For a moment, I didn’t have any clue where I was. I scanned the room for the woman who had said she was Naphele, but it was just me and my grandparents.
I sagged back against them, unclenching my fists. The two stones thudded to the carpet. The red stone, smeared with blood, lay dark and unchanged. The white stone shone with a brilliant light that shimmered like a miniature sun. The three of us stared down at it in shock, watching it slowly fade.
“White means yes,” Gran whispered.
“Naphele is within me,” I said, holding my hands up to look at them as if never seeing them before. “I was her in a past life.”
Strangely, I didn’t feel any different. Not really. I assumed I wouldfeelher inside me, and in a way I did. I recalled many more memories, skills, and thoughts, but I was still completelyme. The only real difference was that I felt more complete, more whole. My sadness and irritation at being compared to her vanished. Rather than a rival, she’d become part of me.
I opened my mouth to say exactly that, but a panicked pounding at the door interrupted me. Grandpa went to the door and opened it, revealing a terrified, sweaty young man. He stood gasping, bent over, hands on his knees.
He looked past my grandfather to me, and the moment I looked into his eyes, I knew that what I’d seen in the vision wasn’t a fantasy, but reality.
“Levi?” I said, scrambling to my feet.
“Taken,” the man said. “Ambush. The rest of the alphas fought off the Red Maw and are gathering to launch a counterattack to get him back. Rainier sent me to tell you.”
A low growl rumbled in my chest. They were out of their mind if they thought they would try to rescue my mate without me. Love for Levi surged through my chest. I would get him back, and I would destroy that bitch and her pack.
I hugged and kissed my grandparents, then stepped outside.
“Take me to them.”
91
JUNIPER
Hakeem and Blaise saw me coming before the others did. Our entire fighting force were huddled at the peak of a ridge, overlooking a forest valley below. Even at a distance, I could see some of them were injured and bloody. Not many, but enough. The Red Maw ambush hadn’t been big enough to truly damage our forces. Theonlyreason they’d done it was to kidnap Levi. It made the rage inside me—fueled by my newly made connection to Naphele—storm into a wildfire.
“June,” Hakeem said. “I hoped you’d come.”
Shifting to my human form, I stepped forward, glancing around at the men who either sat on the ground or knelt.
“Why are you sitting,” I snapped, glaring at them. “We need to prepare.”
The men glanced around at each other nervously, surprised. Honestly, I was surprised too. I would have never spoken like that toanyone, especially not a group of alphas. Some of Naphele’s fire and leadership had seeped into me. She wasn’t a powerful force, not like my inner wolf. I didn’t hear her whispering in my mind, which was good. One of the things I’d been afraid of when I first thought I might be her reincarnationwas that I would vanish beneath a sea of Naphele’s memories. Instead, it was more like I was truly whole. I was more confident than I’d ever been before, bolstered by her presence deep in my soul.
Standing, the alphas leveled their eyes on me, and I was happy to see no anger or hurt feelings. They looked as ready to fight as I did.
“Where’s Levi?” I asked. “Do we know where they took him?”
Devon lifted a tattooed arm and pointed north. “Scouts came back and said the full Red Maw force are in a big open clearing that way. Looks like it was used for clear cutting back in the day.” He shook his head and spat on the ground angrily. “One of the scouts didn’t make it back, though. Caught and killed from what the other said. Kid was only twenty years old. I want fucking blood!”
