Page 13 of Strawberry Moon

“I’m here trying to help Cliff. With Linden’s permission. I talked to Rowan, and—and”—his eyes flicked to Cliff for one split second—“I know he and Cliff have a hard time without an omega. So I’m—I’m working on a synthetic pheromone. To help alphas without mates.”

“Because you went and killed so many omegas?” I demanded.

Archer flinched, his shoulders working up. Pitifully, my wolf whined. We’d upset the omega.

“Ford, he didn’t do that. He’s trying to help,” Cliff protested, a heavy scowl on his face.

With a huff, I uncrossed my arms. “Sure. Help by poisoning a bunch of alphas? Bringing the population back in balance?”

“No!” Archer’s face had gone bright red.

Clearly, I was upsetting him, and good. Good. I wanted him upset. I wanted somebody as frustrated and pissed off as I was.

He jerked his chin up, eyes flashing my way. “You can be mad at me all you want, but I’m not going to let you keep me from trying to help,” Archer snapped. He set his shoulders back, giving me a full few of his tense neck. His copper beard was well trimmed, framing his full lips and his bright blue eyes. His skin was clear and soft, no hint of razor burn from hasty shaving or a lack of care.

Or maybe he could just afford expensive products, his wealth built on a pile of dead omegas.

As my heart pounded harder, my breathing deepened.

All those dead omegas, he was like them. One of them, now.

Perhaps he hadn’t always been, but it tore me apart, to breathe in all that omega sweetness and balance longing with my anger. How the fuck did I want to snarl at the guy and lick the spots of blush high in his cheeks, disappearing beneath the edge of his shirt along the lines of his collarbones?

“Fine. You want to help us, you can prove that. But you’re not testing out Sterling chemicals on Cliff. He’s young. He has people.”

I stepped forward, and even with his chin up, Archer edged back. His ass hit the counter, jostling the vials between him and Cliff.

Rowan Grove relied on Cliff. So did his daddy. Cliff was part of this pack, a whole future ahead of him. Maybe he’d figure things out with Ro, maybe he wouldn’t, but he had choices.

And me?

I didn’t have a goddamn thing. Wasn’t even trusted to drive a tractor anymore. I could die, I could poison myself, and no doubt there were some Grove wolves who’d breathe a sigh of relief that it was finally over. I was gone.

“You want a guinea pig? Use me. Try that shit on me, and leave Cliff out of it.”

10

Archer

As he’d been speaking, Ford had been coming closer to me, one step at a time. By the time he was finished with his angry tirade, he was all the way to the counter.

So I’d started sliding back and away.

You weren’t supposed to do that, though, were you? Don’t run away from predators, something, something, they’ll chase and eat you.

I didn’t think Ford wanted to eat me, necessarily.

If you think he does, you should let him chase you, my brain pointed out, oh so helpfully.

That was not the kind of eating we were talking about.

At the counter, Ford snatched up the scent vials, much to Cliff’s annoyance. “How am I going to help if you won’t let me smell them, Ford? What if you don’t like the same things as me?”

And that... was an excellent point.

Neither Dante nor Linden had liked any of the samples, particularly, but their opinions on which ones had been the worst had differed. Dante had disliked the floral scents less, and Linden had thought they were the worst of the bunch. It had felt a little like trying out perfumes, even though the purpose had been the underlying pheromones of the things.

But if we couldn’t get the alphas to stop glaring at the samples, they were no good as anything at all.

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