Page 80 of Harvest Moon

His smile got sympathetic then, and I figured he hadn’t meant any harm. I was just on edge, and plain sick of trying to convince people I could do the only thing I’d ever wantedtodo.

“Yeah. Lex’s ma doesn’t like me much.”

“’Cause he had his feelings hurt?”

Jesus H. “I was never trying to—”

The alpha put his palm on my neck. It wasn’t an overbearing or threatening gesture. No, it was actually kind of nice. Steadying. Pa’d never been a touchy-feely kind of alpha, but Linden offered that comfort to his pack without hesitation. Weirdly, that consideration stretched to me too.

“I know. I didn’t mean to imply you’d ever hurt Alexis’s feelings on purpose. It’s just... my mate’s a journalist. Tends to know what’s going on. I’m very glad that whatever trouble there was between you, the pair of you figured it out.”

Every word he said was calm and patient. His gray eyes were steady as he looked right at me.

Somehow, Linden Grove really did give a damn that we were happy. He moved his hand, leaving a warm spot on the side of my neck.

“Anyway,” he said, “the best mates know how to work through their troubles together, not expect to never have trouble at all.”

He turned toward the porch, walking on, leaving me standing there completely dumbfounded. I’d wanted to make life not just better for Alexis, but perfect. I’d figured if I caused him even a lick of trouble, I wasn’t worth the effort, because he deserved the whole world.

But Linden Grove, more than a decade older than me and alpha to a whole damn pack, had just laid it out plain—I wasn’t supposed to come without trouble. All I had to do was be willing to fix it, to work together with Lex to sort it out.

And in coming all the way here, that was what he was doing for me. It wasn’t just the troubles between us that we needed to figure out how to navigate. It was all troubles everywhere. We were partners, and we’d have each other’s backs.

Sure, I was coming around to the idea, but somehow, hearing it spoken so simply from an alpha I respected made it feel that much more concrete.

An alpha I respected, who’d agreed to come all the way out here at a word from Alexis, and who was willing to give me a chance to make my case for the farm.

I hefted the pie up in my arms and stepped up on the front porch just in time for the door to swing open.

Mr. Mena stood on the other side, and he beamed at seeing Alexis, wasting no time at all dragging his son into his arms and squeezing him tight.

“Look at you!” he said, grabbing Claudia by the arms. “You look beautiful, sweetheart. Just glowing.”

Claudia rolled her eyes when he kissed her cheeks, but I didn’t think I was imagining the faint blush there.

“Laura, come see,” he called back into the house, opening the door to lead us in.

The house had always been plain, but cozy. Wooden boards underfoot. The paint was flecking on the exterior a little.

Alexis’s ma came out of the kitchen with a smile on her face.

That smile faded the second she caught sight of me.

“So,” she said. “This one’s back.”

47

Alexis

This one?

Oh hell no. After what Ridge and I had been through to get where we were, that wasn’t okay. “Sorry you’re not happy to see me, Mom.”

She turned and looked at me in surprise, like I was an afterthought to her disdain for Ridge.

“Laura,” my father said, his tone slightly chiding. He stepped forward and put a hand on Ridge’s shoulder. “Ridge is a good boy. I know I’ve missed having him around. We always knew where Alexis was when he was home, yes?”

If anything, my mother’s face went even more sour.

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