He stepped forward, then held his hands up in surrender. “Can I come over there? Is that okay?”
“Uh…” I looked around helplessly. “Uhm, I guess. Sure.”
He sat down and stared off into the void beyond the outlook rock. “It’s really nice up here,” he said. “Great view.”
“Anders, don’t take this the wrong way, but what the fuck are you doing here?” I said, wrapping my arms around my knees and pulling them close to my chest. “And no offense, why are you being nice and polite? That’s not your typical attitude.”
He winced, and then chuckled, nodding his head ruefully. “Yeah. Okay, I deserve that. A woman showed up in Idlewild last night. She was raging and pissed off as all hell. Demanded to see the alpha,” Anders explained, and I already had a good idea of who he was talking about.
“Was her name Eugenia?” I said, shock and confusion fighting for dominance in my head.
“That’s the one,” he said with a slight bow of his head. “She told us this crazy story about Juniper Hollis not being dead, which weallassumed you were. I can’t even tell you how distraught your grandparents were when they brought me that letter you left. If I’m being honest, we did sort of a half-assed search for you, because we all assumed the Demon Wolf had taken you, and you were as good as dead. I’m a little ashamed of that.”
“Wait,” I said, holding a hand up. “You all thought I was dead, and Eugenia showed up saying I wasn’t. I get that, but why andhoware you here? Now?”
“Once I managed to get her calmed down, she gave me this,” he said, and dug his hand into his jeans pocket.
He extracted the silver necklace Eugenia had torn off me in the fight and taken when she fled. All the air in my lungs left me. He was telling the truth. Eugenia reallyhadgone to Idlewild. There was no way he could have that necklace otherwise.
Anders held it up, letting the afternoon sun glint off the silver. “This necklace is part of a matching set. It belonged to the Thornton family—my family on my mother’s side—along with a pair of matching earrings. This necklace was stolen over a hundred years ago. The story says it was stolen by a bastard son and given to his mate, and that it was the Demon Wolf, Leviathan Cross. He gave his mate this, and not long after, he killed her before fleeing into the forest.”
I gasped in surprise.
Anders nodded at my reaction. “Her name was, uh, Naphele, I think,” he said, dropping the necklace into my hand. “Anyway, after I finally got away from Eugenia, I headed off into the forest to try and find you. I caught your scent about an hour ago and followed it here.”
I stared at the piece of jewelry in my hand. This had belonged to Naphele. Of course it had. Of course Levi had given it to me. I didn’t believe for an instant that he’d killed her. Just another story to go along with the legend of the Demon Wolf. He’d already told me he’d been framed for the murder, and I believed him. That didn’t bother me as much as it bothered me that he’d given me this gift without telling me where it had come from and who it had belonged to. It was a bit like giving your new fiancée your dead wife’s engagement ring. He should have told me. Of course, I probably wouldn’t have accepted it, but he still should have told me.
“Come home, June,” Anders said, forcing me to tear my gaze from the necklace.
“What?” I asked, my brow furrowing.
“Come back. I want you to be my mate.”
Nothing could have surprised me more than those words. In fact, hearing him say that made me dizzy.
“What are you talking about?” I said at last. “You already rejected me, and I still can’t shift. I’m still not what you wanted.”
“I know, I know,” he said, still speaking with that uncharacteristic conciliatory tone. “But I can see how much you’ve changed. Eugenia told me how you beat her in a fight, which, I have to say, is amazing. She kept yammering on about how you must have cheated, but I could tell she was angry you’d beaten her. Anyone who can beat a shifter without even changing their form is more than worthy to be an alpha’s mate.
“Plus,” he added, “I don’t want you to be with someone else. She said you were going to be Leviathan Cross’s mate, and I don’t want that. You shouldn’t be with that…thatfreak. You should be home, with me, and your family and friends. I can change too, I can?—”
“You need to leave, Anders,” I said as I stood. My whole world seemed to have been turned on its head. I couldn’t even fathom what was going on. I wanted to pinch myself to really find out if I really was dreaming. Anders scrambled up to his own feet.
“Wait,” he said, almost begging. “Don’t send me away. I promise, I’m telling the truth.” He pointed at the necklace. “I’ll give you the rest of that set, I’ll tell the entire pack I was wrong, I’ll grovel, I’ll do whatever you want me to do. Just say the word. I’m sorry for what I did.Please?”
What is this? In all the years I’d known him, I had never seen him act like this. It was like meeting a whole new person. Part of my subconscious wanted to believe him. It would be easier and less stressful to simply go back home. All the things I’d hoped and wished for could come true. I could stay in Idlewild, helpmy grandparents, and be the alpha’s mate. Not only that, but if Anders really had turned over a new leaf, I could be his mate andnotbe miserable the whole time. The other part of my mind rebelled against all those thoughts. I loved Levi. How could I leave him?
“I…I need some time,” I said, barely managing the words. “I can’t, uh, I can’t make this decision right now.”
He nodded quickly. “Okay, sure. Yeah. Take your time. I’ll come back. I’ll wait on the far outskirts of Idlewild until sundown the day after tomorrow. I’ll be there to hear your answer, and I promise, whatever you choose, I’ll accept that.”
“You will?” I asked, looking at him dubiously.
“You have my word.” He took a couple steps back.
With that, he turned, shifted into his wolf, and bounded into the forest. I stared at the spot, still not sure I hadn’t imagined all of that.
“What the hell was that all about?” I asked the trees.
