Page 90 of Harvest Moon

It wasn’t entirely unexpected, Linden socking his brother in the jaw. It was a little more surprising that Aspen didn’t reciprocate. I mean, I knew he was filled with self-loathing for how he’d disappeared, but that didn’t change the fact that he was an alpha. I’ve rarely in my life met an alpha who wouldn’t hit back when hit.

“Okay,” he said, rubbing his jaw. “I probably deserved that. Can we move past it now?”

I flinched. Next to me, Colt flinched. That hadn’t really been a better response than just slugging Linden back.

“Move past it?” Linden spit. “Which part do you want to move past, Asp? The part where you abandoned us, or the part where you were unavailable when Dad was murdered?” His use of the nickname seemed like a good sign, but I suspected Linden was going to need another couple of swings to get the anger out of him.

“I’m sorry, Lin. It was wrong of me. I shouldn’t have left. I should have stayed in contact. I should have been here for you when what happened, happened.” He put his hands up in capitulation, trying to signal that he didn’t want to fight.

Linden’s hands were still curled into fists, and he glared at his brother. I didn’t think Aspen was going to talk his way out of a fight, but he was a charismatic guy, so he was probably used to getting his way in conversations. And as angry as Linden was, he clearly wouldn’t have been so hurt if he didn’t adore his brother. They would figure this out. I was sure.

I reached for Ridge’s arm, to make sure he stayed out of any possible brawl, but then my eye caught on movement across the street.

Okay, well, there was a lot of movement across the street, everyone in various businesses and houses coming out to watch the brothers glaring at each other.

But what caught my eye was Brook, coming out of his garage bay, wiping his hands on a filthy rag. He still looked curious, maybe a little confused by the reaction of everyone around him. I could see the exact moment his eyes found Aspen, because he froze in place, staring like he was looking at the most beautiful, horrible thing he’d ever seen in his life.

I leaned into Ridge, whispering, “I’ll be right back. Don’t get in the middle of this.”

“What?” Ridge asked, his voice an incredulous whisper. “They’re gonna take each other apart.”

“They might need to throw a couple of punches,” I whispered back. “They’re brothers. They’ll be fine.”

I thought about dragging him with me, but no. Brook didn’t need a stranger bearing down on him, not even one who was with me.

I let go of Ridge, hard as it was, checked the street for cars, and jogged toward the garage.

Behind me, Linden was not finished. “You’re damn right you should have been here. Where were you? What was so important you couldn’t show up for your own father’s funeral?”

“I was deployed. I didn’t hear anything until a week afterward. But I’m back. I swear, Lin, I’m back, and I’m not leaving again unless you make me.” There was real pain in his voice, like he expected that Linden would, in fact, make him leave Grovetown.

I wasn’t an authority on the alpha, but I was almost entirely sure Linden wouldn’t make him leave. He hated Aspen right now, sure, but they were brothers. He hated him in part because he loved him so much, and hadn’t wanted him gone at all.

“What about Brook?” Linden hissed, and I froze. It hadn’t been loud, but we were werewolves. Everyone on the street had heard it. I looked at Brook, whose eyes had gone wide and terrified.

Aspen, as seemed to be a special skill of his sometimes, managed to say exactly the wrong thing. “What about Brook?”

Brook dropped the rag on the asphalt in front of him, turned, and bolted. For a second, I considered following, but chasing Brook in his state of mind was an absolutely terrible plan. He had already felt hunted enough; someone giving chase would only make it worse.

I slumped, sighing. What next? Well, breaking up the public spectacle, I supposed. Turning back, I marched over to the brothers, clearing my throat as loudly as I could without injuring myself. “Okay guys. Time to take this private.”

Linden and Aspen both turned to me, bewildered by the interruption. Even Colt raised a brow at me. I gave a meaningful look back at the garage, where Brook was conspicuously absent, then leaned toward him. “Do you have his sister’s number?”

“Brook?” Aspen asked, and for the first time, something other than calm apology laced his voice. Worry. He took a step toward Colt and me, almost running right into his brother. “Dammit, someone tell me what’s happening with Brook.”

Linden turned to snap something back, but Colt laid a firm hand on his shoulder. “Alexis is right. It’s time to take this home. At the very least, we can have enough respect for Brook not to air out his problems on a public street.”

The alpha cringed and nodded, taking a step back to join Colt. Aspen, on the other hand, looked even worse, eyes going from one person to the next, trying to find someone who would give him answers.

I kept Ridge’s hand firmly in mine, but stepped up to Aspen, lowering my voice to a murmur that people would have to focus on to hear. Hopefully they’d have enough respect for the situation not to do that. “For Brook’s sake. Go with Linden and Colt. You’re doing great, but don’t hurt Brook by making this a public discussion.”

The anguish on his face almost broke my heart, but I couldn’t protect him from his own bad decisions, or from the people who had hurt Brook. He was going to have to deal with it himself.

He met my eye, took a deep breath, and nodded, then turned to Linden. “Can we talk at the house?”

It was obvious enough from the steely look in his eye and the hard set of his jaw that Linden wanted to tell him to get lost. But in the end, Linden was Alpha Grove for a reason. He was smart, and calm, and thought about his actions before taking them. He gave a stiff nod. “We’ll meet you back at Grove House.”

Part of me wanted to offer to go along, but... this wasn’t my fight. Linden deserved a fight if that was what he wanted, and Aspen owed him a lot of explanations and probably some groveling. But it was none of my business.

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