Riley's Downfall [Brac Pack 29] by Lynn Hagen Page A

hand the pig over, Iam extending his arms, reaching for Bacon. “That would be so nice. He needs some milk.”
“Milk?” Iam asked slowly, looking a bit shocked as his hands slowly lowered.
“Yes,” Sterling said with a nod and a smile. “He has to eat every few hours. He’s just a baby.”
Riley skidded to a stop and tucked his lips in when Iam sent him a confused look. Don’t say it, don’t say it, he prayed, hoping Iam would keep his mouth shut. Sterling would go ballistic.
“I am confused,” Iam said.
He was gonna say it.
“If he is to be prepared for dinner, why would we feed him milk?”
Damn! He said it.
Sterling inhaled sharply and tucked Bacon against his chest, looking at Iam as if he was the devil himself. “I would never eat Bacon. He’s just a baby. You are barbaric. Why would you eat a baby? You should be locked up!”
Riley’s mouth dropped as Sterling kicked Iam right in the shin and then spun around and stalked off. Yep, Sterling had gone ballistic. He was just surprised that Iam was still standing, even if he was hopping around, rubbing his shin.
“He is insane.”
Riley narrowed his eyes at the man. He might think Sterling was a little strange, but no one had the right to call his mate names. “His name is Sterling, and he is not insane.” Riley couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of his mouth, but he was helpless to stop them. “He loves Bacon, and the first person that even thinks about cooking that little pig will have to answer to me.”
“Just who the hell are you anyway?” Iam snapped as he lowered his leg to the ground. “We do not need outsiders here. You should leave.”
“Yeah, not an option, elf boy.” Wow, he wasn’t going to win friends that way. “Maverick sent me to bring your backwoods asses into the current century. He would like it if it was done without bloodshed. I’m not so picky.”
* * * *
    Sterling sat on the tailgate of the truck, cradling Bacon to his chest. He kept his face hidden in the pig’s sparse hair so no one would see the tears welling up in his eyes. He didn’t know what made him angrier—that someone wanted to eat his precious pig or that Riley knew they were mates and never said anything.
    Sterling wasn ’t stupid. He knew what mates were. He had seen the men around the Lakeland house, including his own brother. He saw how things were between mates—the closeness, the love they shared. He wanted that for himself. And he wanted it with Riley.
    In the beginning, Sterling had pushed Riley ’s gruff nature to the side, knowing that the man wasn’t used to someone like him. Not many people were. Darcy always said that Sterling was an acquired taste. Some people liked him, and some people didn’t.
    There were little things that Riley did, like giving him Bacon, that made Sterling believe that Riley liked him. Now, he wasn’t so sure.
The man hadn’t said anything about them being mates.
Sterling sniffled as pain filled him up like a cup. There wasn’t an inch of his body that didn’t ache. Sterling had to wonder just how much agony a single person could take before he folded.
He lifted his head and stared over to where Riley was talking with Iam. His mate. His big, beautiful, stinking, lying mate. Well, Sterling supposed that Riley hadn’t really lied. He just hadn’t told the truth. A lie by omission was still a lie.
But at least the truth had finally come out and Sterling knew that the things he had wanted, had dreamed of, were never going to be. Riley clearly didn’t want him like a mate wanted another mate.
Fine.
Sterling got the picture loud and clear. He’d leave the village and go back to the ranch at the first opportunity. And from there, who knew. Maybe he’d find a place in town. Maybe Cody would let him rent the room over the diner. And that was assuming Cody took pets.
Sterling hugged Bacon to him, needing to feel like someone wanted him. Riley sure as shit didn’t. Sterling wondered why the guy even