I parted my jaws to refuse, then found I couldn’t. I didn’t want to lie to Red. I ground my teeth together. “Maybe,” I mumbled.
Red chuckled, but since he was a fox, it was akekeksound. “I never took you for the romantic type, kid!”
“Don’t call me that. You’re not even that much older than me.” I paused. “Wait, are you?”
In many ways, Red was a mystery. We still didn’t know the details of his past. Nobody asked since it was his own business, and he also didn’t share of his own volition. He alsosmelledstrange. Not bad or unpleasant, but I could never be sure what his particular scent was—alpha, beta or omega. Despite Red mentioning being an alpha a few times, he didn’t have that particular musky scent. Our pack wouldn’t care either way, but since Red didn’t talk about that either, it was a topic we never addressed. We just took his word for it.
Red waved a black paw. “Don’t worry about it. We’re talking aboutyouright now. By the way, nothing wrong with a little jealousy. Totally natural.”
“I’m not jealous. I’m…” Without a way to finish my sentence, I sighed.
“Wow, that was a particularly heavy sigh.”
“Gee, thanks.”
Red nudged my shoulder. “C’mon, talk to me. We’re both guys without fated mates here.”
As stupid as it was, Red’s encouragement made me feel a little better. If anyone would understand my feelings, it was him.
“It’s not that I’m jealous. I mean, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t, just a little,” I admitted. “But that’s not why I’m so upset.”
I raised my head to stare at the great blue expanse of sky. It was a windless day, warm and dry. A single cloud floated so slowly that it looked like it wasn’t moving at all.
“I feel… stagnant,” I admitted.
“Wow.”
My hackles raised. “What?”
Red looked amused. “Nothing. It’s not what I expected from you.”
“Whatdidyou expect?” I grumbled.
Red gestured vividly as he spoke. “Well, in my little mind fantasy, I thought you’d open up about your deep-seated rivalry with Sage and your determination to one-up him at every given opportunity.” He swept his paw in an arc in front of him. “Two young omegas in constant competition. But now, one has taken the lead. Will the other rise to the occasion, or fall behind forever?”
I stared at Red for a long beat. “What thehellare you talking about?”
“Nevermind. Anyway, it’s a good thing you recognize that about yourself. Stagnation’s bad, y’know?” He shuddered. “Ever drink stagnant water?”
“Shockingly, this conversation isn’t making me feel any better,” I mumbled.
“Sorry,” Red said, smiling sympathetically. “Just trying to lighten the mood.”
“I don’t want the mood to be lightened,” I said bitterly. “I want the mood to suck because that’s how I feel.”
“So what you’re saying is, you want to wallow in your emotions?” Red asked.
“Yes. No… Ugh, I don’t know, okay?” I snapped. I stood up, shaking out my fur as if it’d help the uncomfortable itch in my pelt. “I don’t know what the hell I want.”
Red didn’t seem put off by my sudden outburst. He sat patiently and watched me pace.
“You know,” Red began in a less-snarky voice, “a long time ago, whenIwas a young twenty-something with nothing to lose, I left home. I didn’t just feel stagnant; I felt like I was drowning in a damn quagmire. I needed a change of scenery.”
I stopped pacing and turned to him. “What did you do?” I asked slowly.
“I left.”
Frowning, I gazed at the grove. My ears flattened like a scared pup.
