Page 8 of Strawberry Moon

Pain had put the wolf too close to the surface again. I did my best to shove it back down.

“’S all right. My leg. Not your fault, in any case.”

His head bobbed fast. “I know. I mean, I didn’t— It just sucks, you know? Getting hurt. Injured. Or, like, I was shot. That sucked. When your body doesn’t cooperate, can’t handle as much as normal. Sucks.”

Despite the fact that he was talking himself around in circles, and I didn’t really understand the point he was getting at, a smile tugged at my lips. “Sucks a lot. But I think I’m gonna survive.”

The fucked up thing was, I wasn’t sure that was even a good thing. Crushed by a tractor on the anniversary of my mate’s death? That sounded about like the end I deserved. And then, I’d never take off into the woods. I’d never let my pack down.

I’d just be gone, and with Ridge and the Menas, Barbara and Henrik would make it without me. Lily wouldn’t be able to blame me for leaving them.

I drew in a breath and let it out slow. Still, the guy was watching me, rocking onto the balls of his feet like he might lift off any second.

I wanted to tell him it was a mistake—no interest he had in me would lead anywhere good. But it was nice, lying there under the kind consideration of a gorgeous man. The wolf inside wouldn’t let me snarl and snap this guy away, not when he smelled like omega and want and concern and... joy?

What the fuck was that? It wasn’t like the guy was grinning like the Joker, hopping around trying to convince us all everything was peachy keen. He just smelled good, and for once, I didn’t want to scare him off.

“I’m glad you’ll be okay,” the guy said quietly.

Linden came back in then, and I heard the rumble of Ridge’s truck starting up outside. The guy at the end of my bed stiffened, almost like the alpha had caught him sticking his hand in a cookie jar.

“They’re going back to the farm?” I asked.

Linden nodded. “I told them I could take it from here, and you need your rest. I want you to stay off that leg for at least a week, Ford. I’m serious.” He crossed the room to the side of my bed to look down at me, his jaw set hard. “Before I release you, I want to get it in a cast. The bone should heal quicker than a human’s, but it’s not like a cut. You can’t just power through and ignore this.”

I cocked a brow at him. “Sure, Doc. Whatever you say.”

Satisfied, he turned to the redhead. “Archer, are you planning on staying the night tonight? We’re going on a run.”

The guy’s shoulders tensed up, sneaking toward his ears.

He said something. I saw his lips moving. But I couldn’t hear a damn word. My ears were ringing, the world buzzing and red.

This guy was the same Archer who Skye’d bit—Archer Sterling. He was from the Sterling Corporation.

And before I knew better, a growl was tearing out from my chest.

6

Archer

In this half-year since I’d been bitten, I had never, not once, been growled at by another wolf.

So this alpha growling at me, out of nowhere, after talking to me like I was something... if not attractive, then at least acceptable...

That ball of instinct cringed away as fast as it had surged forward, begging me to hide, to bare my neck for the angry alpha and beg forgiveness for whatever I’d done.

And I’d probably done a lot of shitty things in my life.

I was raised by a racist, trained to be one myself, from childhood. I’d never turned into my grandfather, but I’d given it the old college try. I’d worked hard to emulate the man, only later realizing what a terrible idea it was. How much I didn’t want to be anything at all like him.

But this guy didn’t know me. I’d never spoken to him before. I had never been the kind of guy who made speeches or appearances on the evening news, so I’d never had the opportunity to piss him off.

But the way he was glaring at me, and that near feral growl—

Dante stepped between us, his back to me. He reached one arm out, resting his fingers on my side and using them to guide me behind him as we both backed away from the angry wolf.

Man?

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