Anders stumbled a few feet, then collapsed to the ground, crimson liquid spurting from the wound. Shifting, Eugenia screamed and fell to her knees beside her mate. She had no more fight left in her. All she could do was sob and scream as she cradled the dying body of her lover.
June shifted and rose to her full height. Her eyes locked on mine, and in that moment, even as small battles still raged around us, we both knew it was over. Our alliance had defeated the Red Maw, we’d both survived, and we were going to make it home again.
She made a sound that was something between a laugh and a sob as she ran toward me. I embraced her, holding her tight.
“I’m so sorry, June,” I whispered.
“For what?” she said, pulling away to look into my eyes.
“For how I’ve treated you, for always comparing you to someone else.” I cupped her cheek. “I don’t deserve you, and I’m sorry for everything. Can you forgive me? Please. I wantyou. I don’t want anyone else, justyou.”
She smiled back at me, her eyes glistening with tears. “Levi…I need to tell you some?—”
I didn’t let her finish. I pulled her close and kissed her. Our lips connected as the last sounds of fighting faded.
“Will you forgive me?” I said when we broke apart, looking deep into her eyes to see the truth. “Will you be my mate? Now and forever?”
She nodded twice, tears slipping down her cheeks. “I will. I love you.”
“I love you too,” I said, and kissed her again.
93
LEVIATHAN
“Get your ass over there,” Rainier growled as he shoved a man who had his wrists bound behind him.
Hand in hand, June and I moved toward him. Our uninjured men moved about the ruins of the battlefield, rounding up the last remnants of the Red Maw pack members and moving them into isolated groups so they couldn’t try to overwhelm our forces now that the fighting was over. That didn’t seem like a possibility, though. From what I saw in these men’s eyes, there was no fight left in them. They looked aghast at the sight of Desdemona’s body, which had been dragged out of the forest and now rested beside the rest of their dead.
“How are we doing?” I asked Rainier as we approached.
Grunting, he wiped the back of his wrist across his forehead, smearing blood from a cut. “Fine. But, we’ll need to figure out what to do with all these assholes.”
“I think a rope and a tree sounds like a good end to me,” Hakeem said as he dragged a half-conscious Red Maw man to the group of POWs. “What do you think, Levi?”
The other alphas had gathered around us now that the final Red Maw had been rounded up, each man looking toward me,their eyes asking what they should do. They were leaders of their own packs, but I had helped bring them together to do this. Now, they wanted my input on how best to deal with these dangerous men.
Flicking my gaze over the assembled prisoners, I wondered what would be best. Execution was the easiest and quickest way to ensure we never had any issues with them again, but even now, after all the fighting and death, that seemed too cruel.
“What should we do?” I asked June.
She blinked in surprise. “Why are you asking me?”
“You’re my mate. You lead these two packs with me.” I squeezed her hand. “We do this together. Your opinion matters as much as mine.”
She stared back at me, almost dumbfounded, but then a radiant smile broke over her face.
“Okay,” she said with a nod. “Okay, I think we let them choose their fate. Either they rejoin their original packs under strict probation, or they…” she trailed off, and shrugged helplessly. “Well…you know.”
“Death,” Patrick said from behind me.
I turned toward the other alpha. “Would theyreallychoose that? Surely not.”
Patrick lifted an eyebrow and nodded to the group of men nearest us. “Look at them. Look at the way some are staring at that psycho’s body.”
Many of the Red Maw were openly weeping as they looked at Desdemona’s body. There was a very real chance that many of these men had absolutely nothing in the world to live for now that their leader was gone. She’d brought them together, stroked their egos, brainwashed them. She and the Red Maw were the closest thing they had to a family. I pitied them. A leader like Desdemona used her followers’ fears and desires against them,twisting their minds until they believed she cared for them rather than the power she was trying to gain.
“Okay. Spread the word. Anyone who wants to return to their packs will do so under a very strict probationary period, rules to be put in place by their alpha. Any who choose… something else, will be given that option.”
