Page 14 of Harvest Moon

When we got into the place, Claudia was practically bouncing. Well, that was an improvement over not being hungry ever, so maybe she would be okay after all. She was definitely thinner than the last time I’d seen her, and given how she was getting to the point where her pregnancy should be showing, that felt like a bad thing.

I, on the other hand, was a little more pitiful. We walked into the shop, and all I could smell was the floor cleaner or something—alkaline and chemicalish, and not at all appetizing. Not in my head at all, I was sure, glancing back, yet again, in the direction of home. Of Ridge.

Claud ordered some horrific enormous thing with sprinkles and candy bars and so much chocolate that I worried for her. Was it possible to overdose on chocolate? Birch watched her, face a combination of loving and frightened by his wife’s taste. When she was done, he turned to me. “What did you want, Alexis?”

Between the smell, and the way my brain wouldn’t stop fixating on Ridge, ice cream didn’t sound too appealing. All I could see were Ridge’s tense shoulders the day before. Had he been sad I was leaving? Had I misread the cues?

I shook my head. “You know, on second thought, I don’t feel so great.”

Claudia’s face fell, and Birch came over to put a concerned hand on my forehead. It was exactly like Ridge’s mother used to do to him when she was worried he had a fever. “You can lay down in the backseat if you want. Do you want to get a hotel room for the night so we’re not moving as much?”

“What? No, no you don’t have to do that. I was fine in the car.” I motioned back toward it. “I’m sure I’ll be okay, I’m just... not the best company. I’m sorry. This is me, not...” I waved to indicate everything that wasn’t me.

Somehow, suddenly, Birch seemed to get it. He waved Claudia out in front of us with her chocolate monstrosity, and put an arm around my shoulders. “Is there anything I can do? Any, ah, young men or women I can have a talk with about this?”

I shook my head, kicking a stray rock and staring hard at the ground as we walked. “There’s nothing anyone can do. He doesn’t feel the way I do. Genius me, I just didn’t realize it until yesterday.”

Birch squeezed my shoulder. “I know it doesn’t help right now, but if he doesn’t, it’s good you found out now and not years from now.”

“Would’ve been better if I’d realized it five years ago,” I shot back sullenly. I didn’t want to be a jerk to kind, sweet Birch, but I was scraped raw inside, and I didn’t have a buffer to make me stop and think before ranting. “Wouldn’t have waited for him to come home if I knew he’d only ever been humoring me.”

Birch’s eyes narrowed at that. “Did he say that was what he was doing?”

“No. He’s too nice. He’d never say it out loud.” I shook my head, trying to shake my whole self out of it. “It’s fine. I’m fine. This is good. I’m moving on with my life. That’s what you’re supposed to do, right?”

Birch looked like he wanted to say something else for a moment, but instead, he gave me a little smile and nod. “That it is. Always moving forward. You can do anything, Alexis, and you’re worth more than self-doubt.” He hit the little button on his key fob to unlock the car doors. “Now why don’t we get home, and get you checked into your new life? Your dear cousin should be in a sugar-induced sleep by then.”

I chuckled. “She was probably just angling to get out of helping carry my trunk.”

“She’s a clever one, your cousin,” he said agreeably. “That’s why I married her.”

Sure enough, an hour later—after somehow demolishing the entire ice cream concoction—Claudia was asleep in the front seat of the car when we pulled into their driveway.

“Don’t worry about your trunk,” Birch told me as he turned the car off. “I’ll get Claud into bed, then we can take care of it together.”

She barely even stirred as he unbuckled her seatbelt and carried her into the house. I hung back next to the car. Not that I thought something was going to happen to my trunk, or because I didn’t feel welcome in their house, I just... didn’t know what else to do.

It didn’t feel right to simply wander into their home. They had a TV, and cable that I could watch, but I’d never had that before, so what did I need with it? I was a little tempted to do some recording for my podcast.

What was this but another new adventure, after all?

A pretty blond man walking a black-and-white dog came down the sidewalk. At first, he offered a nod, but then he looked up at the house and back at me, head cocked. Then a bright, perfect smile broke over his face, and he looked like a freaking model.

“You must be Claudia’s cousin,” he said, sliding the dog’s leash onto his wrist and heading over. “I’m Colt. I’m, ah, with Linden.”

I blinked in surprise. Linden. That was the Grove alpha. Colt was the alpha’s omega mate. Or did the Grove pack not use those terms? I knew from talking to Claud that they were a little more modern than I was used to, but how modern? Did they not use the word “mate” anymore?

I shook his hand by rote, and after a second, knocked myself out of my mental fugue. It didn’t matter what words they did or didn’t use, because I was being rude. “I’m Alexis. Alexis Mena.”

Colt blinked again, eyes going wide. “You’re Alexis fromOmega and the Great Outdoors. Claudia just said, ‘my cousin Alex is coming to stay;’ she never said you were a celebrity.”

A celebrity? Me?

Something of my incredulity must have shown on my face, because he laughed. “Seriously. My friends back in DC listen to your show. It’s probably the closest most of them will ever get to camping, but your take on politics is so honest. It’s good to hear the things you’ve always thought yourself said out loud by a stranger.”

“I...” I had to take a deep breath, and it was hard. I’d never spoken in real life to anyone who listened to the podcast before. I knew people did, because it got a lot of downloads—so many I had some decent sponsorships—but somehow, that had always felt unreal. Surely the people who listened to the podcast were only on the internet, not living, breathing people? It took me forever to find my voice, but he was patient. “I, um, thank you. I’ve never—never met anyone who listened to the show before.”

Somehow, his grin widened. “Well, I’m honored to be the first. Though honestly, I don’t know how. Every omega I know listens to it.” He turned and looked at the car, then the house. “Is there a reason they left you out here? Going for a walk, or... ?”

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