Page 21 of Strawberry Moon

Sterling had made that asshole, so it followed that a Sterling should have to put up with him.

Only, that didn’t feel quite right, and as I watched him drive away, my heart sank. He wasn’t going to come back, and, my mouth watering, I dragged in a deep breath to try and catch the last wisps of his scent before they disappeared forever.

With a sigh, I pushed my shoulder off the rough barn frame and dragged my feet across the yard up to the house. I needed lunch before Ridge and Mr. Mena got back to it.

The screen door creaked when I pulled it open, and I made a mental note to oil the hinges soon.

Barbara and Henrik were there in the kitchen, him holding an old sci-fi paperback now that he’d finished the morning paper, her, as usual, over at the stove.

“You didn’t invite that boy in for lunch, Ford?” Barbara asked, turning to look out the window over the sink at Archer’s tail lights.

I sighed. “I don’t think he’s all that interested in eating with us.”

I couldn’t imagine him, in all his fancy linen, sitting there at Barbara’s kitchen table like it was nothing. And, truth was, I hadn’t thought they’d want him in there. Archer at their table when Lily never would be again? That was unthinkable.

But then Barbara turned a sharp glare on me, wagging her wooden spoon in my direction.

“Don’t you go giving that poor boy a hard time, Ford McKesson. He’s not responsible for what that company did, or for his grandfather, and lord knows he’s got enough on his shoulders.” Her glare softened after a second, her lips pressing together in a worried purse. “Poor thing, spends his whole life human and now he’s got to contend with all those omega wolf impulses. Doesn’t even have a pack of his own.”

Barbara turned back toward the pot and stuck the spoon in. Hell, it sounded to me like she felt sorry for the guy more than anything, and that—

How could that be?

“You honestly think a guy like that has trouble with anything? Can’t he just pay to make problems disappear?” I asked, frowning.

She turned her glare on me again, and the way she dropped a ladleful of chili in a bowl was downright threatening. “You know better than that, Ford,” she snapped. “There’s plenty money can’t fix.”

Henrik sighed, giving up on his book while the alphas he shared a table with were so out of sorts. It could be a lot for any omega—a room full of growly alpha jerks.

Or one jerk. Just me.

He reached over and patted my hand, and a wave of calm swept over me at his crinkled smile. “Ford, no amount of money buys a wolf a pack, or makes up for bad or missing family. I’ve got a suspicion Archer Sterling’s not handling things half so well as you think he is, so be a decent alpha, all right? Don’t run the kid off before he can find his footing. He’s gonna need this pack.”

A sharp lance of shame returned. That was what I was doing—marking my territory and trying to keep him out. And somehow, even though he was a Sterling, Henrik was right. It wasn’t the right thing to do.

And once again, there I was, messing every damn thing up again.

16

Archer

“So you’ve got an apartment, right?” Anderson James asked, settling himself onto the cheap sofa in my makeshift home.

Yes, yes, my lab break room.

He already knew the answer, because he was eyeing my suitcase in the corner next to the mini fridge.

So I only offered a half-hearted shrug and waved at the stack of papers in front of me. “I don’t really have a lot of time for apartments. I have to find the answer.”

“Archer.”

“Andy.”

“The werewolves have been waiting twenty years for an answer. They can wait long enough for you to take a shower and get a good night’s sleep. And eat something, for fuck’s sake. I thought werewolves were supposed to be the pinnacle of health, but you’re wasting away.” He pushed off the couch, wincing at the pokey springs inside it, and marched over to the fridge.

I turned away and busily read my work.

“Archer.”

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