A huge hog had been smoking all day and was being carted out along with various sides. Honestly, I was impressed at how choreographed everything was. The meeting had only just ended, and everything was already almost ready.
“Did you have people setting this up during the meeting?” I asked, nudging Levi.
He nodded. “Not everyone has issues to discuss, and some folks would prefer to work than listen to some of the boring stuff we talk about when—Oh! Hey there, little one!”
Levi bent and picked up a small girl of about five who’d run up to him.
“Mister Levi, throw me. Throw me,” the girl cried, giggling as Levi lifted her.
Levi, a man who tended to be stoic and iron hard, let out a booming laugh and tossed the young child high into the air—high enough that my heart lurched into my throat. The girlgiggled like mad as she flew upward, then dropped back down into the big alpha’s arms.
“Play tag?” she asked him, pointing to some of the other children running in circles. She put a hand to her mouth as though to hide her words. “I’ll make sure no one tags you, okay?”
“I can play for a few minutes,” he said, looking at me over his shoulder. “Are you okay if I go?”
“Yeah. Of course,” I said, unable to keep the goofy smile off my face as he allowed the small girl to lead to the other kids.
The looks on the faces of the parents as they watched their alpha play with their children showed me how much his pack loved him. He was gone for long stretches, and remained fairly reserved with them, but they all looked at him with that glimmer of hope and thankfulness that came from being saved. It wasexactlyhow an alpha should be looked at.
Anders was respected, but he had a habit of playing favorites. His chosen few gained more prestige and say within the pack, while people he didn’t care for—like me—were somewhat ostracized. His inner circle and those he deemedworthyof his respect gave him more love than most of the town. He was accepted as the best option for alpha due to his ability to fight and the fact that he was too strong for anyone else to defeat. He provided strength and safety, but not much else, other than the glad-handing he did in group settings to get everyone to think he was a good guy.
The more I thought about him, the less I wanted to be with him. Anders wasnotthe kind of person I’d want to spend my life with. I really was in an awful situation, having to mate with someone I didn’t love just to stay close to the people Ididlove.
I wanted happiness. I deserved happiness, but I wasn’t sure how to get it at this point. Time was slipping away, and I’d need to get home soon. Each day that passed was another day closerto when my grandparents would be on their own. I’d only made arrangements with Beatrice for a month.
I had two choices.
I could go back to Idlewild and try to win Anders over. I could be his mate and live a life devoid of love, passion, and friendship, but a life where I could be around the people I did love. Or—and this realization came as a surprise—I could make a home here in Hidden Grove. Perhaps, if I wasn’t misreading things, I could make a home here with Levi. That thought made my heart flutter and my stomach swirl. That choice, however, would lead to me being forever separated from my grandparents and friends.
How could I choose?
Music began playing in earnest, tearing me from my inner turmoil. Three men and two women stood on a small platform with guitars, drums, and a fiddle, playing an upbeat tune. The music, the laughter, the smell of the food and the pleasant heat radiating from the bonfires had that nostalgic feel of Christmas or Thanksgiving. There was nothing like this back in Idlewild. Even the arrangement ceremony was more like a formality than a celebration.
“Would you like to dance?”
I whirled around to see Levi, cheeks red and breathing heavily from playing with the kids.
“Uh…” Several people were spinning around, swaying, and dancing. I’d never been asked to dance before. Not byanyone. It would be impolite to decline, wouldn’t it?
“Sure. Why not?”
Levi took my hand and led me out to join the others. Most of the streets and paths in Hidden Grove were dirt or gravel, but the village square had been paved with concrete, and now it was a dance floor. Levi pulled me close to his chest, and thoughts of his naked skin against mine filled my head.
“I don’t know how to dance,” I blurted before we could get moving.
“Seriously?” Levi said, looking taken aback.
“I’ve…uh…never danced before.” I gave a half-hearted shrug. “No one back home ever wanted to dance with the half-breed.”
Something flashed in his eyes, but it was gone before I could figure out what it was. He smiled quickly and pulled me even closer. “I’ll show you. Follow my lead.”
Over the next few minutes, he taught me what he called a box step, and I quickly got the hang of it after he’d showed me the foot movements. By the third song I was laughing. It really was fun. Yet another thing Hidden Grove had given me that I’d missed out on by living in Idlewild. That was becoming a pattern.
We kept dancing until Rainier leapt onto a table and put his hands to his mouth to call to the crowd.
“Food!”
Everyone rushed to the buffet line. Children and women went first, but I stayed with Levi, not wanting to leave his side. When it was our turn, he piled heaps of food onto his plate and encouraged me to do the same.
