Page 64 of Red River

"Sorry to bother you—I know you wanted to get to work, but there’s something important I need to talk about."

Archer gestured toward his bed.

I glanced at it. Most nights, that’s where I’d spread my legs, present him my hole, and… climax. But this wasn’t going to be one of those moments.

"I wanted to bring up something Milo told me—"

"About Igor having trouble at school? I already know. Milo told me a few days ago."

I stared at him, genuinely shocked. He really seemed invested in what was happening with my kids—he knew what was going on before I did?

"Do you think it’s serious?"

Archer took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair, resting one elbow on his desk as he drummed his fingers against the surface.

"I talked to Milo and Oliver about the kids giving him a hard time. It’s Philip Glen and Josef Hanson. They live in downtown Darton, come from rich families—spoiled brats, really. They’re bored and think picking on the ‘new kid’ is fun."

"I’d rather this not escalate. Igor’s unhappy and withdrawn right now, and that makes him an easy target for bullies. That kind of energy just draws them in—they see it as weakness."

Archer tilted his head slightly.

"Yes. There are three ways we can handle this. We could leave it alone and see how it plays out—maybe Igor will stand up for himself and earn their respect. We could also report it to the school. Or we could prepare Igor in case things ever escalate physically."

"I like the idea of reporting it to the school, but on the other hand, kids hate snitches. It can turn into real hatred against him."

"I think we should wait a few more days."

"And what if it keeps going?"

"It’s too early to predict how this will play out. Some comments are just silly jokes, while others are explicit remarks about his looks. They may drop it, or he might stand up to them and make them leave him alone, which would be the idealoutcome. But on the other hand, if those boys keep pushing him, he may be more willing to cooperate with me."

"Cooperate with you? How?"

"I could train him in self-defense."

I almost jumped in place. "You want him to fight them?"

A strange mood settled over the room. Archer was watching me intently.

I cleared my throat, feeling my head spin. "Thomas always taught him to let things go in situations like this. To walk away, avoid arguments and fights."

"River, you can’t walk away from everything. Not when you’re an alpha. Otherwise, one day you might end up walking away from taking care of your own family."

Boom.

There it was. The jab at Thomas couldn’t have been more obvious, just like the fact that Archer’s approach to guiding Igor was almost the exact opposite of my late husband’s.

Silence stretched between us. Archer’s face remained calm and unreadable.

"The problem is, you’ve been training for years, but Igor has no idea what he’s doing. I bet those boys are more experienced than him, and that makes this risky," I blurted out.

Archer didn’t say a word.

Our eyes met, and I knew exactly what he was thinking.

Suddenly, it all made sense—why he said I wasn’t ready to be truly submissive to him.

He was right. I wasn’t. Not because I didn’t want to be, but because I was so overwhelmed by everything happening—so all over the place, so lost—that I couldn’t trust other people’s judgment or let myself relax. Subconsciously, I still couldn’t give Archer the benefit of the doubt, even though I’d promised I would.

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