Page 106 of Red River

Igor clenched his fists.

"I made all of that up to get his sympathy! I didn’t want to get in trouble. I didn’t want to be suspended, so I spun some story to make my guardian look bad, so the principal would go easier on me!"

Archer and I locked eyes on Igor. I had to admit, I felt a weird kind of shock—but in a good way.

Igor turned, glancing at me and then at Archer, giving him a sad, apologetic smile.

The alpha agent spoke up. "The school contacted us after they learned about your accident yesterday. They’re concernedabout your safety, wondering if this is your way of drawing attention to problems at home."

I gritted my teeth, remembering the disgruntled face of the counselor, he just could not let it go!

"The only problem was how I behaved a month ago, after my father died," Igor said. "He told me I had to step up and be the man of the house, and I was terrified. I didn’t think I could handle it. So I acted out. But I’m really grateful to my dad for bringing us here because now I know—I’m not ready for something like that. I’m not ready to take care of a whole family."

I stared at him, barely believing what I was hearing. Even Archer had his eyebrows raised.

But the omega agent didn’t seem convinced. He tilted his head, frowning slightly, before turning his gaze to me and Archer.

"That’s a pretty drastic change of heart. You have to understand why it’s hard for us to believe your perspective shifted so quickly."

Igor’s lips trembled. "Yeah? If you were being pulled under the water, fighting for every breath, and then you lost it—if you thought you were about to die—you’d see things differently too," he almost yelled, his voice shaking. "If you wanted to live so badly but realized you’d nearly thrown your life away because of your own stupidity… you’d change your perspective for sure."

His voice broke. I quickly stepped forward and wrapped my arms around him.

And that’s when it really hit me—this wasn’t just a small accident to him, or some kind of reckless ‘adventure’, as it might have seemed from the way he posted about it online.

It was something deeper, hidden beneath the superficial likes and comments he got from people. Something had changed inside Igor when he thought he was really going to die.

"Igor, I’m so sorry," I whispered. "I’m sorry you were so scared."

Overcome with guilt, I kept hugging him tightly. I should’ve talked to him about this yesterday. I’d started seeing him as more grown-up than he really was, but he’d been dealing with all of this alone.

Just like before, I avoided the difficult topics, falling into my usual pattern of running away from anything that could heighten my anxiety. I thought back to the day we arrived at Archer’s house—I hadn’t gone to Igor’s room, hadn’t asked how he was feeling. I let his attitude push me away, too caught up in my own stress to… deal with his.

The omega enforcer watched us with that same skeptical expression, like we were just putting on a performance. Meanwhile, his alpha partner pulled out a small blood-testing device.

"In cases like this, we usually recommend a hormone level test," he explained. "It’ll show if Igor is in the early stages ofMusth. That’ll help us determine if this situation could lead to further complications."

Igor lifted his chin.

"I’m not inMusth," he said firmly. "But if it’ll get you guys and your department off our backs, go ahead—take my blood."

That surprised me.

"Igor, are you sure?" I asked. "We have the right to refuse."

"I’m sure," he replied. "I just hope this finally gets them off my case."

I glanced at Archer, and he just nodded. The omega agent pricked Igor’s finger with a small device, similar to a blood sugar monitor.

"How long until we get the results?" Archer asked.

"Just a second," the omega replied. "This is calibrated to detectMusthhormone levels… and—" He paused, glancing atthe screen, almost with disappointment. "Yeah, no problem here. His levels are completely normal for his age."

He turned the device toward me, showing the results, but I had no idea what I was looking at.

"I think that means we’re done here," Archer said, standing up, his entire body language making it clear they were no longer welcome.

The alpha agent looked mildly apologetic. The omega—not so much. He just seemed miffed they came here for nothing.

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