The Last Werewolf (The Weres of Europe) (20 page)

Matias signaled for the Enforcers to let go of Leevi and spoke the ritual words to conclude the ceremony, “Leevi Valo, you now exiled from our clan. You have until midnight tomorrow to remove yourself.” The spokesperson glared at Annukka. “Leevi, if you choose to shelter within our lands, know that immediately you step outside house, any clan member may lawfully kill you according to our laws.”

Crying with relief, Leevi knew this was his way out, his reason for not lingering, his motive for leaving his mates behind and starting a new life—by himself—elsewhere.

“Now go.” Matias raised his arm in the direction of the door and then turned around, his back to Leevi. There was a shuffling sound as everyone else in the room followed suit, some more hesitatingly than others, all except Rik, Summer, Annukka, and the Enforcers who had to make sure he left the building.

Before Rik or Summer could move toward him, Leevi immediately shifted into his wolf, his remaining clothes falling to the floor. However, he hadn’t reckoned on how painful his chest would be. It felt like he was being gashed all over again as his wolf skin split as he changed, to replicate the wounds on his human body, only these slashes appeared instantaneously. He felt like he was being ripped apart, and the howl he let out reverberated loudly around the still room. He saw Rik clasp his hands over his ears. As Leevi gazed a last time at his lovers, he could see Rik responding with an anguished look, and Summer with tears flowing down her face as they started to step forward.

Almost with a leap, Leevi raced out of the hall, fleeing his loves, his pack, and his clan. Forever.

Chapter Eleven

“I have to get to Leevi before he does something stupid.” Rik sprinted down the underground corridor, having pushed through the crowd inside the hall who all seemed destined to thwart his exit, feeling anything but calm. A terrible fear clutched his heart, and he knew that without Leevi in his life that a state of living death would consume him alive.

“He wouldn’t hurt himself. Would he?” Summer asked, slightly breathlessly, running after him, keeping up the pace remarkably well, once again displaying her athletic history.

“No. But he would skulk off into the night believing he has no worth beyond his station as a Prime. I have to get to him.”

“You love him.” Her tone suggested it wasn’t an accusation. It was, however, a statement of fact. There was some concern in her voice, even though Leevi had claimed her before the Council, but there was curiosity too, not to mention wistfulness.

“Yeah, I do love him. I love him with all my heart.” When they were outside again Rik stopped to look at Summer. He could feel the pull of the full moon urging him to shift, to run, to mate, but he squelched the instinct. “And, though we don’t know each other very well yet, I love you with all my heart too. I love you both, and I don’t want to lose either of you.” He ran an anxious hand through his hair. “I have no idea what the hell that means or what I’m going to do about it, or what I can do about it. All I know is I want both of you in my life.” He could hear the anguish in his own voice but couldn’t stop to consider the problem further, or wonder how she was taking it as he turned away, wanting to get to Leevi before he disappeared off the face of the earth.

Summer stopped Rik before he could dash off, holding onto his arm gently, but forcefully. “You think I have nothing invested in this? I met Leevi practically five minutes ago, and he’s already made love to me, with you there too.” She shook her head, as if she couldn’t quite believe she had actually done that. “I have just as much at stake here as you, trying to figure out what this all means. I may have more experience than you about being a werewolf, but you know more about the culture, the practices—”

“No,” Rik firmly said, interrupting her. “Leevi’s the one you should talk to about this, not me. I know so little myself.”

“Then we better hurry up and catch him, eh, partner?” As she nudged him with her elbow, her tone was filled with levity and tenderness, and Rik had never felt as close to her as right now. They were on the same wavelength, and it was a good sign for the success of their mating bond and their relationship. Taking hold of her hand, he took off, leading the way.

****

Back at Leevi’s house fifteen minutes later, cursing the fact that Leevi lived on the other side of town, Rik stormed right in, knowing from experience that Leevi kept the key stashed in a tiny cubbyhole above the door frame. He sniffed the air, smelling the trail of his lover leading up to the second floor, and sprinted up the stairs, leaving Summer to follow in his wake. He found Leevi in the master bedroom packing his sturdy, but shabby, suitcase with his meager belongings.

The ways of the shifter community still confused Rik, who couldn’t understand how a person could be forced to leave their own home forever. It was the wolf way, unforgiving and unyielding, an animal instinct to turn on those who had once been close. But that still didn’t explain why and how Leevi thought he could part with him, with them.

Rik practically had steam coming out of his ears. This was exactly what he had feared. “You’re just going to tuck your tail between your legs and run, is that it? Jesus, I thought that was my way of solving problems.” Rik heard how his own tone rose with every word until he was all but shouting, but Leevi just continued to pack as though he wasn’t even listening, as though there was no one else in the room. Rik grabbed his arm and yanked the man around until they were facing each other. And he wasn’t mindful of Leevi’s wounds either, ignoring the slight wince on his face as his body tensed. “You selfish bastard. Don’t you think I have a say in this? Or Summer? How dare you do this to us? You’re not alone in this.”

Leevi pushed Rik hard on the chest, shoving him back a few steps. His eyes that Rik adored, the color of summer sky, burned like blue flames, and his face was dark, like an impending gale, about to erupt. For a single heartbeat Rik thought Leevi might actually hit him.

But suddenly Leevi let out a long sigh, deflated like a limp party balloon, and the light went out in his eyes. Leevi had dressed in raggedy, torn jeans and a long-sleeved light-blue shirt, and since they didn’t taint or grow wet with blood, Rik surmised that his wounds had closed and were beginning to heal already. Still, to Rik he looked worn and weary, and his heart melted.

“Go away, Rik,” Leevi muttered, clearly dejected as he turned around and resuming his packing. “I don’t want you here.”

“Well, tough,” Rik growled, angrier than he’d ever been. A part of the blame for this mess they found themselves in was his fault, and feeling the weight of responsibility and guilt made him lash out with the truth in his heart. “You may not want me here, but whether you admit it or not you need me here. You. Need. Me. I’m your mate, for fuck’s sake.”

Leevi spun around about to respond, his expression hard again, when Summer’s anxious voice cut through all the emotional interference. “Guys, in English, please. You lost me.” Embarrassed, Rik hadn’t even realized he had gone back to Finnish with Leevi, and he was even more ashamed of the fact that for a moment he had forgotten her entirely.
Fuck
.

“Sorry, Summer,” Rik murmured apologetically, looking away briefly, unwilling to face her even though he was certain there would be no recriminations in her expression.

Taking a steadying breath, Leevi closed his eyes for a second. “Look, I appreciate you both coming to see me off, but—”

“Jesus, you think that’s why we’re here?” Rik was nearly beside himself. He was worried about Leevi’s injuries, he was scared of losing the man again, and he was angry that Leevi thought so little of their chances together that he was willing to run to the ends of the earth to get away. He clenched his fists at his sides to prevent himself from launching at his irritating man. “You fucking asshole. I’m here ’cause I love you. We’re both here because we love you. How can you just stand there and claim anything else when you know the truth—?”

“Rik!” Leevi took a fierce hold of Rik’s shoulders and shook him to stop his outburst. His eyes were pleading, his voice begging. “Please, Rik. Please, just leave me. I’m no good anymore. I’m not the Prime anymore. I don’t have anything to offer either of you now—no home, no job, no money, no pack, no stability or future of any kind. I’m not good enough to be your mate—”

“Don’t you think that’s up to us?” Summer interjected, walking closer to both men. “Or did you forget that you have already mated with both Rik and me? My father didn’t tell me much about matings, but I do know they are partnerships of equals. Democracy, you know. You may have been a Prime, but that is not why either of us had sex with you, and you should be ashamed for thinking so little of us. Yeah, you could believe that about me, since we don’t know each other real well, but Rik? He adores you. We’re not here out of charity. We’re here to support and care for you because we’re your mates.”

Summer’s voice was quiet, but firm. She put into words all those things Rik was too angry to say properly, and again he felt a surge of pride, possessiveness, and companionship for their beautiful, intelligent woman who seemed one step ahead of them, at least in the peacemaker department. And what she said was true. A mating was a bonding of equal partners.

“That’s right, babe,” Rik affirmed quickly. “You don’t get to unilaterally decide what happens to us. Me and Summer, we get a vote too.” Lifting his chin in defiance, Rik shivered with trepidation of losing everything yet again. “And I vote we stick together. So you’re not the Prime anymore. Who cares? So we can’t live here in your place. That doesn’t mean there’s nowhere we can go, just like Annukka said. Besides, your parents are still in
Portugal
if we need somewhere to go. So we’re dirt poor, and shit has really hit the fan. We can do anything as long as we stay true to ourselves and to each other.” He gripped hold of Leevi’s waist, his fingers clenched in his shirt only just avoiding the desire to prod him in the chest as he spoke each sentence.

“What he said.” Summer asserted as she closed the gap between them until she stood next to the two men, unconsciously completing the triangle. “I vote we stay together too. Leevi, I don’t know you very well yet. But even though I was born a wolf, my mother died before she could impart any of her wisdom to me. I need your help. Before I met you and Rik I thought I was the last werewolf on earth. I don’t want to be alone anymore.” Her voice cracked a little at the end.

Rik saw that it had the desired effect as he witnessed Leevi’s features softening, his resistance waning, his shoulders squaring. The tempest of depression had crested and was moving off, like the inevitable low tide, and Rik’s heart finally began to ease, and he relaxed his hold to gently stroke Leevi’s flank.

“Besides,” she added tenderly, with a quirky smile. “You’re hurt, and Rik is right. You do need us.” Her hand landed gently on Leevi’s arm, while his hands were still clutching Rik’s shoulders, and she squeezed sympathetically. “You’ve taken care of everyone for so long. We’re your mates. Let us take care of you for once, okay?”

Blinking, Leevi looked uncertain, but then he glanced at Rik, and in his eyes were lit the fires of love. Leevi was his and Summer’s. Grinning, Rik bowed his head slightly to indicate his submission to both his lovers, and his heart leaped as Leevi suddenly wrapped an arm around his shoulders in a tight hug before doing the same to Summer.

The initial fears confronted and dealt with, Summer then pulled back and inquired as she clearly recalled the events of the evening, “How are you?” He could hear the concern in her voice as she inspected Leevi’s visible wounds with a frown. The cuts showed only on his cheek and neck as the rest was covered behind the loose fabric of his shirt.

Shaking his head dismissively, Leevi replied, “Primes are the strongest shifters. Our ability to heal is legendary. I will be fine in a few hours. See.” He carefully lifted the hem of his long-sleeved shirt, and true enough the deep gashes were barely worse than cuts or abrasions. Covering himself again, he added, “The ceremony is not about pain so much as degradation and humiliation, learning to accept the punishment of society for one’s transgressions. The pain is a bonus, but the wounds heal. Other shifters aren’t so lucky, as you might’ve observed with Jaakko’s men. It’ll take them days, or weeks, to heal. By tomorrow I’ll be as good as new.”

“Amazing,” Summer spoke slowly, gasping in wonder, her hand inching closer to him almost instinctively, but then retreating again. She looked up, studying him. “Listen, when you and I, you know, back at the fort, the impulse to mate, are you okay with it? With me, I mean?”

Leevi’s eyes widened in shock, and then narrowed dangerously. “Of course I am okay with it. Before we met, your scent, the sense of you, all of it called out to me, alluring and potent. And even before that when Rik spoke of you as catnip I felt a connection to you, that you were a woman strong enough for a Prime, and—”

“Wait,” Summer cut in, waving her hand between them. “Back up. What do you mean ‘Rik called me catnip’?”

Blushing, Rik glanced at Leevi who smiled back. With a chuckle, Leevi explained, “He meant no offense. It’s just that when the two of you met at the airport, what happened was beyond his control because of, among other things, your scent. You’re a very beautiful wolf, Summer, and your scent is, ah, so delicious.” To emphasize his point Leevi inhaled her smell, clearly relishing it with every cell in his body. This, Rik knew, because his reaction was identical.