Her voice betrayed no hidden meaning or lie. She reallydidlike this place.
“Why areyouhere, though?” Linnea asked. “What happened?”
I groaned. I’d probably have to tell the story another hundred times. Might as well get started. “The elders tried to pair me with Anders Burnell,” I said.
“Is that bad?” she asked. “When I left, he seemed all right. I heard he was made alpha not that long ago.”
“Let’s just say, he’s not my biggest fan. I still can’t shift, and he looks down on me for that.”
“Ugh. I’m sorry. Was it awful?”
“He rejected meatthe ceremony, in front of the whole town. I don’t blame him. He’s the alpha. He’d want a mate who could shift.”
She gave a resigned sigh. “Yeah, true, but holy shit, though. He couldn’t even wait to do it in private?”
“It definitely could have gone better.” Linnea seemed sweet, but I still wasn’t comfortable explaining that the reason I wasreallyhere was to get help winning Anders over. I decided to keep that fact to myself.
“You’ll be okay,” Linnea said. “Levi will help you get back on your feet, I’m sure. He’s done so much for all of us.”
Help. That was exactly what I was looking for. I decided to probe a bit and see if I could truly trust Levi to do what he said he would.
“Is he good at that? Helping people, I mean?” I gave a slight chuckle. “All the stories say he’s a monster.”
“I heard the same stories growing up,” Linnea said, smiling back. “No, he’s nothing like that. Brooding? Yes. A slavering monster? No. If someone comes to him with a need, he always comes through. A couple of years back, a human woman lost her child on a hike. She wandered into Levi’s territory and stumbled upon him. She asked him—well, I think begged is a better term—to help find the boy. Levi found the kid in a gully with a broken leg. He carried him back to his mom, then disappeared into the forest like it was nothing. Rainier told us the whole story. That’s who Levi is. He’ll help, even if that’s just giving you a place to live like he did for me.”
That put some of my fears to rest. If Levi would do that for a stranger, a human no less, then maybe he’d do it for me.
Linnea patted my thigh. “Let me get you some food and fresh clothes. We were finishing lunch when you guys arrived. I think there should be some leftovers. Do you like stew with potatoes?”
My stomach gave a painful twist at the mention of food. “That sounds amazing.”
“I’ll be back,” she said as she stood, then pointed at a small dresser on the far wall. “There should be fresh linens in there, and there’s a shared bathroom at the end of the hall. You’ll find a couple towels in that dresser as well.”
“Thank you,” I said, and I meant it. I needed a little kindness after the way that Eugenia woman had glared at me.
“No problem. We can chat some more when I come back. You can give me all the dirty details about life back in Idlewild.”
I grinned. “Sure.”
With a wink, Linnea hurried out the door. Relaxing, I glanced around my new room. If nothing else, I had a friend here. That thought comforted me more than I thought it would.
Out the lone window, I spotted Levi and Rainier on the front porch of another cabin. Chairs turned toward each other, heads bent in low, urgent conversation. I watched them, chewing my lower lip anxiously.CouldLevi show me how to be a real shifter? And if I did manage to shift,wouldAnders take me back? I had to pray that would happen.
As if noticing my eyes on him, Levi turned his head in my direction. I yelped in surprise, turning my gaze away. No, he wasn’t a demon, but he was intense.
10
LEVIATHAN
“Found a wayward soul, did you?” Rainier said with a smile, glancing over his shoulder at June as we walked toward my cabin.
I grabbed his arm and dragged him along with me. “Come on.”
“Damn, man, what gives?” Rainier tugged his arm free of my grip but kept my pace.
“We need to talk. About her.”
Rainier cast another curious glance at June as Linnea led her away from the group. “Her? What happened?” he asked, now sounding even more intrigued than before.
