Page 9 of Another Damned Storm
“I found a volcano,” Never answered.
Leo blinked at her. “Did they not teach you how islands are formed in the human realm?”
She huffed out a breath. “An active volcano, ass.”
“Is she messing with me?”
“Unfortunately, she is not,” I said. “The crater on the main island is filled with lava.”
“That’s not good.” His tone was casual, almost flippant, but from the set of his jaw, he was taking the development seriously.
The volcano that created Nusthena had gone cold long before I’d been cursed to patrol the Nassa. The fact that it was coming alive again, after remaining dormant for so long, meant something. I just wasn’t ready to admit what.
“Have you noticed any oddities on your island or with your people?” I asked, pinning my gaze on Leo.
“Actually, yeah.” He sat forward and propped his elbows on his knees. “People are more agitated than usual, which has led to an uptick in fighting within the pack. I thought maybe I’d just been out of pack life for so long that I’d forgotten what it was like, but Luther and the elders discussed it at the meeting last week.”
“What about the other packs? Have you heard anything about them?”
He raked his hand through his unruly hair. “No, but I haven’t exactly been keeping up with things.”
That didn’t sound like the Leo I knew. His pack—family and friends included—were everything to him. “Is all well between you and Luther?” That was the only thing I could think of that would keep him from being involved with his community.
“Luther told him he has to choose a mate,” Never chimed in, managing to sound amused and outraged on Leo’s behalf at the same time.
“Ah.” That would do it. Leo had never taken hisresponsibilities lightly, and while he would never admit it aloud, the man was a romantic at heart. I imagined the prospect of giving up on finding his one true mate would grate. “And if you refuse to choose?”
Leo ground his teeth so hard a muscle in his neck jumped. “He’ll choose for me.”
“Is there some reason in particular he feels the need to rush such a hefty commitment?” He hadn’t been back with his pack for very long. At least, not compared to the decades he’d spent earning Petra’s trust. It would make more sense to give everyone time to get to know him again, and for him to get back into the rhythm of pack life.
He leaned back in the chair, but the tension in his shoulders remained. “Since I failed to bring Lily back, that makes me next in line for alpha if anything happens to him.”
“Is that what you want?” Never asked. “To lead the pack?”
Leo shook his head.
“Did you tell him that?” She adjusted in her chair, turning her body a little more toward him. “Do you want me to tell him? I can be very persuasive.”
A hint of a smile smoothed away some of his scowl. “He knows.”
It likely didn’t matter. Luther was alpha, and every member of the pack was obligated to follow his orders. There were maybe one or two who were strong enough to resist his command if it came down to a battle of wills, but a good leader should know better than to let a disagreement get that far.
Unless the future of the Shere line depended on it.
Leo was one with enough innate power to refuse Luther’s orders. He’d done just that when he’d left Nidus to work for Petra. His uncle had forgiven him for that refusal because his intention had been to find Lily, but if he kept up his rebellion for too long, Luther would be forced to banish him from thepack. It was that or risk being seen as weak for not standing up to his own nephew.
A weakness like that would open the door for any member of the pack to challenge Luther outright.
Of course, that was assuming the world we knew didn’t implode first. “Have you noticed anything else that struck you as unusual?” I asked, bringing us all back around to the issue at hand.
He turned his attention to the ceiling, seeming to study the beams, rocking slightly with the gentle sway of the ship before shaking his head. “Nothing I can think of, other than these storms. Do you think it’s all related?”
“Possibly,” I admitted.
“I wonder if it has anything to do with why you’ve been so tired,” Never said, studying me. “And don’t tell me you haven’t been. I don’t think I’ve seen you sleep for more than a few minutes since...” She looked down at herself, then back at me, masking only some of the vulnerability in her expression.
She was worried sharing my power was what was draining my energy, but she couldn’t be more wrong. Having her in my life, in my space, in my bed... that was the single best thing that had ever happened to me.
