Page 20 of Harvest Moon

I felt awful letting people down like this, but what those women had said that afternoon had twisted me up bad inside. Maybe I was no kind of alpha, not the man Alexis needed, but I needed to know he was safe and cared for. After that, I’d—I’d figure things out, but the buzzing anxiety in my head wasn’t going anywhere till I laid eyes on him, whole and sound and safe.

When I got back to the apartment, Banjo was sunning in a spot on the floor, stretched out in front of the couch, where Patrick was scrolling his phone.

“Good day at work?” he asked without looking up.

“It was okay.” There was a heaviness in my tone that caught his attention, and he looked up at me. I fought the urge to grimace. “There’s no real good way to do this except have out with it, but I, um, I need to move out. I don’t want my rent for this month back or anything, but I’m hitting the road on Saturday.”

“Okay.” That was all he said, and my stomach dropped. Surely that meant I’d fucked up bad. Nobody just let things go that easy.

“I’m sorry if this puts you in the lurch, but I’ve got to go. I heard some news today and—I just—I gotta check up on a friend.”

Patrick frowned at me for a sec. “It’s fine, man. You’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do. Honestly, after you’ve been gone so long, and your parents moved away and everything, I don’t think anyone really expected you to stay here long.”

And that was the kicker, right? I had no more roots here, nothing to tie me to the place where I’d lived most of my life.

I’d driven by the farm earlier in the week. They’d already torn down the house I’d grown up in, were installing all kinds of industrial pesticide sprayers so they wouldn’t have to hire too many local hands.

And with all that gone, there wasn’t a single reason in the whole damn world that I should stay here when Alexis might be out there in Grovetown, in danger.

“Yeah,” I said with a decisive nod. “This is definitely what I’ve gotta do.”

“Then I’ll see you around, ’kay? No hard feelings.”

This was all too easy, and there I was with the heavy realization that nobody in this place gave a damn if I stayed or left. My home was gone, and the only person who might’ve cared had packed up and moved to Grovetown.

Just like that, this place I’d thought about digging down roots when I got back from school was letting me go. I wasn’t sure whether I was excited, or terrified.

11

Alexis

On a Sunday afternoon a few weeks after I’d arrived, Claudia and Birch took me to the local bar. They didn’t explain and I didn’t ask; they just said we were going out, and then drove us down to the four-way stop that made up most of town.

The corners contained the grocery store, a garage and gas station, a restaurant, and this place: The Cider House.

I knew it was a bar because Claudia had told me so when I’d asked, but obviously, I hadn’t been inside.

Not that I didn’t drink, but... well actually, I didn’t much. Alcohol was expensive, and I’d never had that much money to burn, so I’d never started. I didn’t eat at restaurants often either.

The inside was a lot like any restaurant I’d been in, but maybe a little dimmer, a little rougher. But also, I could smell food, so clearly they sold that as well.

Why did a pack of about a hundred wolves need a restaurant, a grocery store,anda bar that served food, you ask? Well, werewolves eat a lot, basically. A hundred wolves could easily keep all three places in business. And of course, every pack had humans, so the whole Grove pack was probably closer to two or three hundred people. I hadn’t asked, but it varied from pack to pack, how many humans were around.

At the moment, though, I didn’t smell any humans. Only wolves.

There were about thirty people in the bar, and there wasn’t a human among them. Something familiar tickled my nose and I lifted it in the air, trying to get a closer whiff, but Claudia stepped in front of me, motioning toward the bar. “Come on, let’s grab a drink and find a seat before everyone gets started.”

I cocked my head at her and glanced at her stomach then back up.

She rolled her eyes at me. “Yes, Mom, I know. I meant cider.”

“A cider?” the young woman behind the bar asked, turning to look at us.

“For him and Birch,” Claudia agreed, shooting me a frown. “I guess I’ll take one of Linden’s kiddie drinks.”

The woman lifted a brow, but before she could say anything, I leaned against the bar. “Actually, I’ll take a kiddie drink too.”

Claudia sighed. “You don’t have to forego booze just because I’m being whiny. The cider is good.”

---