Page 57 of Red River

"I don’t know."

Too much. Too much.

"I’m not ready to talk about this now, Archer. Please… can we change the topic?" My voice sounded like a wailing plea.

"Sure. I understand how complicated this is," he said, his voice softer. "I haven’t seen my own dad in seventeen years. I don’t even know if he’s still alive."

We sat in silence for a moment before he murmured,

"These are the kinds of things that need to… ripen inside of us. We need to be ready for them. I just wanted to mention that Igor looks so much like Skye—and even a bit like Storm, too."

I raised my head at that name. "Storm? He was the only one of my brothers who was a purple alpha."

Archer smiled slightly. "Yeah, I saw him once during graduation. He’s huge—taller than me, probably around seven foot two. But I didn’t approach them then. There was a big crowd, and Skye was really down over some breakup with a beta guy."

My heart pounded so hard that the rush of blood in my ears made it difficult to hear.

"When I left home, Skye was barely three years old, and Storm was four and a half. He was a very adventurous kid. My other brothers… they—" I cut off.

My thoughts were incoherent. I couldn’t focus.

One thing kept bothering me—my dad had eight children in total. I was the oldest. Sun was the youngest. It looked like a whole lot of things happened there. I stopped being part of their family—they lost one son, then got another.

Maybe they didn’t even think about me.

Perhaps I was just a distant, unpleasant memory? A shameful secret from the past, the ungrateful son who ran away.

Just to say anything, to throw out some of the dense, painful energy choking my throat, I blurted out, "Are you still in touch with Skye?"

"No, we lost contact after graduation. He was super into some beta guy—a total wildcard with tattoos and piercings—who treated him like crap. I know they broke up after graduation, but I don’t know what happened later."

My emotions were in turmoil. I could only squeak out, "I really don’t want to talk about this any longer, Archer. It’s killing me… I can’t. Not now."

Archer studied me carefully, then slowly nodded.

These unwelcome waves of nerves swirled over my body, and I instinctively began to rub my neck glands. My other hand wandered to the edge of my nest and tugged at the fabric in a frantic gesture.

In one quick motion, Archer reached out and grabbed my hand, holding it still. Just like yesterday, a strong shiver ran through my body—almost like a jolt of electricity.

"Everything’s going to be okay, River. I promise. Just give it time."

I stared at his hand, big and strong around mine. That shiver still buzzed under my skin, and I couldn’t tear my eyes away from our hands clasped together.

Some quiet ambiance settled in the room. My eyelids fell shut, as if I wanted to block out the world. I sank deeper into Archer’s energy, flowing through our joined fingers.

At first, it was just calming—soothing, pushing the stress away. But then, it became something more—strangely sweet, enticing, like a slow, teasing stroke. I could swear I felt his emotions. Which, of course, wasn’t possible, right?

But for a split second, I saw myself in his eyes—a trembling, small body, my lips red and my eyes closed.

Then I realized my throat had made an AO sound—a low, calling sound, a rare sound from what I knew.

It meant, ‘Help me’, and no modern omega used it too eagerly. But the energy it evoked was therapeutic in itself. Asking for help may have been very challenging and shameful for most people. But for me, it was simply liberating.

And Archer answered my call—with a deep, long, soothing sound that just drew me closer to him.

I opened my eyes and worked up the courage to do even more. My fingers brushed against Archer’s thumb, sparks almost jumping between our skin. My breath caught in my chest.

His energy enveloped me in a cocoon, making me forget the stress, leaving only… hunger.

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