Page 89 of Harvest Moon

He was a big guy, broader and more muscular than his doctor brother, with a little gray around his temples. And still, when Greta Hagen laid into him, he hunched his shoulders and nodded and let the lady jam her finger into the center of his chest without complaint.

A petty part of me wished she’d run him out of town, because I thought Lex might’ve liked him for a minute there, or Aspen might’ve liked Lex. Or—well, they were both good looking, I guess. Aspen wasn’t my type, but he was one of those alphas you could just tellgot it. I’d never gotten anything, except Alexis on my arm.

And Aspen—well, he’d have had to be crazy not to fall head over heels for Alexis at first sight. My boyfriend was gorgeous—most handsome man I’d ever seen. All that hiking made his legs thick and firm, his ass perfectly round, his shoulders broad. He wasn’t the type of guy I was worried about breaking, and that just made him more beautiful.

So yeah, when we walked over to save Aspen, I kept my hand around Alexis’s waist, my fingers curled around his far hip in a move that was purely possessive.

I’d apologize later, surely, but the instinct was there, and I couldn’t deny it.

“Ms. Greta, ma’am,” I interrupted, shooting her a broad smile. “Could we maybe borrow Aspen for just a second?”

She scowled, but ladies of a certain age really went in for the southern-boy charm in these parts. She scowled, huffed through her nose at him once more, then nodded at me. “Maybe you boys can knock some sense into the fool.”

Lex gave a little flinch at the harsh word, but that was a conversation for another time, when she wouldn’t feel like we were condescending to her in front of Aspen. Still, everybody could learn how to make sure their language didn’t hurt people, even when they’d seen more winters than they had left.

“Who are you?” Aspen asked with slightly narrowed eyes once Greta turned away.

“Ridge Paterson. Alexis’s boyfriend. Nice to meet you. Lex here tells me you’re looking to make amends to the town.”

He grunted, crossing his arms, but he wasn’t looking at Lex any special kind of way. He was looking at me, like he didn’t like being put on the spot by a stranger.

And, well, that was fair enough. But I’d left my pack behind too—my Alexis. I’d done it, and I’d gone to school, and we’d come out the other side okay, but it was hard. Now, I had to work on making things better.

“There’s something coming down the pipeline,” I said. “Something that might mean trouble for the pack, and I’m sure Alpha Grove could use your help with it sooner than later. Needs wolves who can have his back.”

Some of his bitterness disappeared from Aspen’s face. “What do you mean?”

I flinched, looking at Lex, not quite sure how to explain without raising too many warnings.

He jumped in when the words didn’t come to me quick enough.

“We think we might’ve figured out one of the causes of the Condition. Claudia’s sick with it now, but if we’re right, there will be some kind of fall out.”

I nodded. That was about as much as I wanted to say in the middle of the street with the sun going down.

Aspen Grove would want to know more, I figured—but he’d stopped looking at us right then. Instead, he was staring past Alexis’s shoulder and I heard the sharp, demanding voice of Colt Doherty, the alpha’s mate.

“One drink,” he was insisting. A car door shut hard. “Just one. Doesn’t even have to be alcoholic, but you’ve had a hell of a fucking day, Lin, and we both need to unwind with the pack. Linden?”

I turned, and Alpha Grove was standing right behind my shoulder, his eyes wide with fury, his pupils dilated. His irises shone like a wolf’s in the dark—it was a damn wonder he didn’t start sprouting fur.

“Hey, little bro,” Aspen said.

It turned out to be exactly the wrong thing to say, because Linden swept past me so fast I had to grab Alexis and pull him out of the way.

Alpha Grove’s arm rose, cocked back, and his fist smashed into the side of Aspen’s face so hard I swear I heard his teeth clatter.

“You absolute fucking bastard,” Alpha Grove spat, chest heaving, his dark blond hair flopped over his forehead.

Colt crossed his arms and wandered up beside Lexis. “Prodigal brother returned, huh? Je-sus.”

While Aspen stood there rubbing his jaw, I looked at Alexis. Nobody’d expect an omega to get between two alpha brothers going at it on the sidewalk, but if this fight needed breaking up, it was down to me.

And fuck did I ever hate fighting.

55

Alexis

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