Page 23 of Harvest Moon

I was so terrified, I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest before I remembered I wasn’t the only new wolf on their lands.

There I was, sitting in the shadows with Mr. Hill like a damn vagabond, when Linden started talking about Alexis. Some man in the crowd said they ought to keep him here, and I smiled. While I wasn’t sure I wanted to lose Alexis to this place forever, I sure was glad these people seemed to realize what they had.

And I liked that Linden offered him help.

And a canoe.

And I liked evenbetterthat the doctor already had a mate and would, presumably, keep those soft hands and that kind smile well to himself.

I didn’t know much about Alexis’s podcast. Or, well, anything, to be frank about it. He might’ve mentioned it once, but he said it was for omegas, and I’d never wanted to trample in on a space that wasn’t meant for me. Hard enough for omegas to have things of their own where alphas were involved.

Now, I wished I’d listened. Already, I was thinking about Lex taking Linden up on that canoe, finding some nice river or a lake and—and him and me just spending some time together.

I shook myself out of it by the time Linden started talking about me. I’d spent the better part of the day with Mr. Hill, talking terms. He said I’d mostly be helping out their son-in-law, Ford, but he’d never come in from the barn, so he and I hadn’t met yet. Mr. Hill had warned me in a soft tone that Ford could be a little touchy since his mate, the Hills’ daughter, had passed, but he was good with other alphas, just real sad sometimes, and not to take it too personally if he ever barked at me.

Plenty of eyes in the room turned toward me and Mr. Hill after Linden introduced us newcomers, but the only pair that mattered to me were warm and brown and wide as anything as they took me in.

Alexis was right there, across the dining room, and something in me eased to see him safe and whole. This had all gone surprisingly smooth so far, what with all Alpha Grove’s help, but even if it hadn’t, one look at Alexis would’ve made coming here worth it.

Even as he turned away, back to his cousin and his mug—determined to look anywhere but me—I kept my attention on him. He looked good. A little surprised right then, but like this place suited him. Claudia looked my way, leaned over to say something to him, and he smiled at her—beautiful as that first pink sky at sunrise.

God, I hoped he’d find everything he needed—everything hewanted—in Grovetown.

Linden closed out the meeting and invited the wolves to join him and his for a run in the woods outside town. Some people seemed like they were heading home or heading to cars. Some, obviously comfortable in The Cider House, started shedding their jackets right where they were.

I looked at Mr. Hill, and the omega smiled at me. “You gonna stay for a run?”

“If that’d be all right with you, sir.”

He sniffed, nodded, and cleared his throat. “Of course. I think I’d better head on home though. You can manage getting back?”

“I can,” I promised.

He clapped me on the shoulder and left, and before I decided if I was going to try and hitch a ride to the edge of the woods or be one of those alpha showoffs who sprinted on four legs all through town, Alexis got out of his seat. Now, his eyes were on me and didn’t stray, not for one second. I was really in for it this time, and my heart jumped straight into my throat when my nerves ratcheted up.

“Hey, Ridge,” he said when he got close, just out of arm’s reach. I could feel all that space between us vibrating, tempting me to cross it and drag him close.

I nodded. “Lexis.”

Minutely, his eyes narrowed. I wasn’t quite sure what that was about, but I leaned back against a nearby empty table. I was a few inches taller than him, and probably fifty pounds heavier, so there was no sense in summoning up my full height and making him uncomfortable.

“I didn’t know you were coming here.” He said it slow, like he wasn’t entirely sure whether he could trust I was standing right there in front of him.

I frowned. “Well, I’ve got to admit, I didn’t exactly plan the whole thing.”

“But enough to talk to the Hills though. You made time to talk to them.” That bitterness in his tone was unmistakable, but it was like eating licorice—bitter and sweet all at once, because the wolf in my head was preening just to be close to him again.

I took a slow breath. There was a point there he was trying to make, and as much as I didn’t want to hear it, I owed it to him to look right at it. “You’re right. I should’ve called. I’m sorry, I—”

I hadn’t been completely sure he’d want me to come. Maybe I hadn’t been brave enough to reach out to him, but he hadn’t contacted me either. If things weren’t good between us, or I didn’t mean a thing to him, I didn’t want to hear it over the phone.

And I wanted to sort my own business out before I went banging on his door. Bad enough I’d rolled into town with nothing to my name but an old truck and an ornery barn cat. At least now I had an income, some kind of prospect.

“You what?” he demanded, crossing his arms so his biceps bunched up under his T-shirt. For a second, I just stared at his chest, but he made a sound and I looked up to see the frustration in his eyes.

“I heard the Grove pack was having some trouble with an unstable alpha nearby, and that thought buried in my head, like maybe you were in trouble? So I wanted to come see you were safe.”

He spread his arms, his breath rushing out in a wave of defeat. “Okay. I’m... I’m safe though. You’ve seen that now. Doesn’t explain what you’re doing at the Hills’ farm.”

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