Page 13 of Stalk of the Town

Maximus stomped to the counter, then spun around, glaring at everyone. “He’s gonna need to get his ass back here and talk to Leonidis!”

Drew walked back into the room with the lion, who continued to avoid meeting anyone’s gaze. “He left?” Leonidis asked quietly.

“Yes,” I answered when no one else said a word.

“That’s maybe for the best.”

Drew made a noise in the back of his throat that made my chest tighten. “I’ll go talk to him.”

The trembly smile he aimed at me made sure I didn’t retract my words. “Great, can you do it now?”

“Yep,” I mumbled and put my mug down, resigned to doing whatever he wanted.

Chapter Twelve

Drew

Sat in the kitchen, I clutched at Leonidis’s hand as he stared into space. I glanced at Maximus who held the parcel, rocking them, giving him begging eyes.

He shook his head.He needs time to think.

I focused on blocking the parcel and Leonidis.If he does that, then he’ll never accept Butch. Did you see his neck was bleeding? If Leonidis ingested Butch’s blood, then he’ll need Leonidis to complete the mating or he’ll wilt.

Maximus shuddered and paled.Fuck!

He’d had firsthand experience of that, and it was scary. Butch… would he be as stubborn as Leonidis?

Have you found Butch?

I waited a beat for Goliath to answer, when he didn’t I wasn’t sure if I should be happy or worried about that.

“What am I gonna do now?” Leonidis muttered, his fingers icy in mine.

I gave them a squeeze, rubbing them with my other hand. “What do you want to do?”

“Leave.”

“You aren’t going anywhere,” Maximus growled, then lowered his voice when the babies started to fuss. “This is your home.”

He looked at Maximus, and there, in his gaze, I saw defeat. “It was. Now—”

“No,” I snapped in panic. “You said you were done running. That you’re gonna fight.” I gave him a pleading look as I tightened my grip on his hand to bring his attention to me. “It’s time Leonidis. Amell has taken too much from you already. Don’t let him take this too. Please.”

He sagged, tears glistening in his eyes. “He left.”

Maximus came to the table and without preamble placed the parcel into Leonidis’s arms, forcing him, and me, to let go or drop them. They looked up at him and tears fell.

Maximus crouched down and touched Leonidis’s knee. “You lioned out on him. Pinned him to the floor in a show of strength that for an alpha was probably a little…”

“Scary?” I supplied, when Maximus seemed at a loss.

“Yes, that, but more than that, we have two alphas mated to each other. It was a shock to you for different reasons than for him. You don’t want a mate. His name matches his stalk side—butch. I’m sure that he’s right now trying to figure out how that is—”

“He doesn’t need to figure it out, it’s not happening.” Leonidis sniffed and carefully moved the parcel to wipe at his nose, looking at Maximus. “I don’t want him.”

There was something in his words that didn’t hold true, and I didn’t want to call him out when he was so upset, but Maximus had other ideas.

“You do. I feel it. I’m sure he does too once he gets over the shock. You scratched him with your teeth.”

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