“I don’t see how you can possibly say this is a little problem,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. “Hugo Boucher is dangerous, Levi. You can’t go up against him. I don’t want you to.”
Levi’s face went red with indignation, and he thumped his fist on his chest.
“That bastard wants to run the whole goddamn area, Naphele. I’m not letting him do that. His own pack might be happy with how he treats his people, but I’m not going to let that happen here. I don’t give a damn.”
Rubbing at my temples, I sighed. “I didn’t say not to fight him at all. I said I didn’t want you going against him alone. The way that man is, he might have a trap set.”
Levi let out a disgusted snort. “What do I do? Ask other alphas to help? How often has that happened? Seriously.”
“Never,” I admitted, then despite myself, grinned at him. “But they’ve never been asked by someone like you, have they?”
He rolled his eyes. “Right. Like I’m some waymaker, and all the alphas would listen to me. Why should they believe Hugo wants to do what he’s trying to do? Right now, he’s only probing our territory.” He waved a hand toward the window. “Why would they listen to me? Why would they help us stop him?”
“Because,” I said, moving toward him and putting my hands on his chest. “I believe in you. You’re the strongest alpha I’ve ever known. If anyone can convince the other alphas that Hugo is a threat, you can.” I poked him in the ribs.
Laughing, Levi flinched away. “Damn, don’t do that.”
Before he could recover, I reached forward and grabbed his cheeks. “I love you, even though you can be hard-headed.”
With that, I pulled his face close, and kissed him?—
Levi grabbed my shirt,pulling me close, his breath mixed with mine. I was confused, a surreal sense of confusion washing across me. After a moment, I realized we were kissing, my hands on his cheeks, and our bodies pressed into each other.
Sinking into him, I wrapped my arms around his body, relishing the feel of his muscles pressing into me, the sensation of his tongue as it glided in and out of my mouth. A sigh escaped me as intense pulses of heat radiated out between my legs. I wanted him. I wanted him to spin me around, bend me over the counter, drag my pants and panties down before sliding his?—
“Stop,” I cried, ripping my lips from his and pushing him away. “We can’t.” I’d been so close to losing control. What the fuck was wrong with me?
Levi stumbled as I pushed him away, and his face was awash in confusion, hurt, and anger. “June,youkissedme.”
The sound of a clearing throat tore our attention away from each other. Turning, I found Gran staring at us, eyes wide in surprise.
“Uhm…I’m sorry for interrupting,” she mumbled, but stayed rooted in place.
Levi shook his head and ran a hand through his hair in frustration.
“I’m leaving.” He stormed out, shoving the door open and stalking down the street before shifting and sprinting from sight.
Gran walked forward slowly and put down the box she’d been carrying. Shame washed over me, and I couldn’t force myself to look at her. All I could think of was how what I’d done had to have given Levi the most awful mixed signals in history.
“Young lady, I think you have a problem.”
“Pardon my language, Gran, but no shit,” I said, and turned to rest my elbows on the counter, guilt weighing heavily on me.
“You need to be very careful,” she said. “What if it had been Anders who walked in, or one of his friends had passed outside and looked in to see that? Not good.”
“I know,” I said, forcing myself to not snap at her. I wanted to, but that was only because I was pissed off at myself. I’d been desperate for a vision, but I hadn’t anticipatedthathappening. It was too powerful.
Absently, I reached up and fingered the necklace, then paused. A thought occurred to me. It had been days since I’d seen Levi. Today he appeared, surprising me, and he did it while I was wearing the necklace. Perhaps all that together caused such a powerful vision that I did things I normally wouldn’t have?
Slowly, I reached behind my neck and undid the clasp, letting the necklace pool in my palm. I needed the visions, but not if they were that strong. I had to find a happy medium. Maybe taking this off would help.
Gran was right that I needed to be careful. I didn’t know what had come over me, or why I’d allowed that kiss with Levi to go on so long, but I couldn’t risk alienating Anders. As rough around the edges as he was, he was still my only chance to stay in Idlewild. There was still an ache in my chest for Levi. Each time I saw him something tugged at my heart, but he could never love me the way we both wanted him to. Not until he could let go of Naphele’s memory, and I wasn’t sure that would happen.
If Levi and I were going to work together, then I needed to make sure my actual mate was in the loop. He’d been fairly blasé about the murder investigation the other night, but maybe if I told him about my gift, he’d understand better. He was the alpha of the pack; he might be able to help. If nothing else, the soonerwe discovered who killed Naphele, the sooner all three of us could move on with our lives.
“Gran, I need to make a phone call.” I pulled my phone out and headed for the door.
Outside, I dialed Anders, and while it rang, I gazed around, my eyes following the path Levi had taken.
