Chapter 6
FLETCHER
I stirred when I felt Adam get up, but I was too cozy, wrapped up in my blanket burrito, to follow him. I nuzzled my face into the sheets and breathed in the citrus-spice of Adam’s scent, content to doze back off…at least until I heard shouting from down the hall. I jerked awake and sat up in bed.
What the hell? Something was wrong. Adam didn’t yell unless something was seriously wrong.
Flinging my legs over the side of the bed, I tugged a pair of PJ pants over my hips and snagged my robe off the hook on the back of the bedroom door. I wrapped it around me as I hurried down the hall.
I paused in the living room, taking in my surroundings. Sky wasn’t on the couch, where we’d left him last night. The blankets remained in a pile. The plastic trash bin sat next to the coffee table, within reach, just in case the drunk Omega needed to vomit throughout the night.
I shook my head and moved towards the kitchen, freezing in place when I saw the scene spread out in front of me—Sky, pinned to the white tile floor, with my mate straddling him, one hand wrapped around Sky’s throat.
My stomach knotted when I saw Sky was in tears. Swallowing back nausea, I rushed to his side. “What the hell? Sky, are you okay? Adam?” My voice pitched high, betraying my panic. What was going on?
Adam growled under his breath, but released the frightened Omega. He let Sky up, but didn’t move to stand, choosing to kneel on the kitchen floor instead, his expression tight.
Sky scrambled away from him, sitting up to hug his knees to his chest. He buried his face in them, sniffling softly. He was a sight, still cloaked in Adam’s fuzzy blue robe from last night’s chaos.
I sank to my knees beside him and gently rubbed his back, but Adam held my complete attention. “Is someone going to tell me what the hell is going on right now? Because I am so lost. Please and thank you.”
Adam dropped his gaze, a flicker of guilt dancing in those wolf-gold eyes. He blew out a quick breath. “There’s something I didn’t tell you last night.”
“Okay?” Why did I have a bad feeling about this...
“Gracie was extremely upset about what happened with her son yesterday. She told me I needed to take Sky someplace far away from Greymercy and leave him there. She wants him gone, yesterday. Says there’s no place left for him here, in our pack.”
It felt like he’d swiped his claws across my stomach and gutted me. “What?” I shrilled. “You can’t do that!”
Adam held up a hand. “I never said I was going to. Calm down, kitten.” He glanced sidelong at Sky, then back at me. “Look. I talked to her. Explained the situation a bit, and we came to an agreement of sorts. Gracie said that Sky could stay in Greymercy—for now—if we vouch for him.”
“Okay?”
“That means accompanying him everywhere, at all times, Fletcher. Never letting him out of our sight. He would need to move in and live with us. Go to therapy, see all the necessary doctors. Take any prescribed medications. Keep going to work. Help around the house.”
His gaze flicked to Sky once more, who was watching us both with wide, worried eyes. Sky chewed on his bottom lip, a nervous habit I’d noticed more than once since he’d begun working for us at Bixby’s.
Still, I couldn’t help but think that it was kind of reminiscent of how I came into Adam’s life. Just a stray off the streets, in need of some TLC. Kind of ironic that it was coming full-circle with Sky.
“Do you think you can do that?” I asked him, my hand gentle on the small of his back.
Sniffling, Sky nodded slowly. “Y-Yeah.”
Adam reached out and placed a hand on his knee. Sky flinched, but he didn’t look away from my Alpha.
“Okay, but if we do this? I need you to promise us you’ll stop trying to hurt yourself. It’s obvious you need help, and we know people who can get you the help you deserve, but you have to work with us, alright?” Adam’s voice was a low rumble, warm and soft, but not without an edge of warning.
Sky’s head bobbed up and down in a quick, jerky motion. “C-Can I go take a shower?” he asked, deflecting. “I feel gross.”
“Of course, sweetheart,” I said, giving him the out he so desperately needed. Adam could be a lot, and Sky was probably still reeling from yesterday. He needed a chance to breathe and collect his thoughts.
I stood and offered a hand. Sky glanced up at me, but took it.
I helped him up, then led him to the bathroom down the hall.
Once he got in the shower, I went and fetched some clean clothing out of Adam’s dresser, stuff that would probably be a bit baggy but would otherwise fit, and left it on the closed toilet lid.
I pulled the bathroom door shut behind me.
I returned to the kitchen to find Adam sweeping up scattered pills with a broom and dustpan.
I frowned. “What happened?”
“He was trying to overdose,” he replied, his tone grim, and anything else I might’ve said fled my mind at the thought of Sky downing a handful of pills.
Damn.
After a long stretch of silence, I finally found my voice. Quiet, I asked, “Are you sure about this, Adam?” When he met my gaze, I continued. “Last night, you wanted nothing to do with helping him, and now…”
“Yeah, well Gracie basically wants him dead, and I can’t fathom dumping him on the side of the road like an unwanted pet. I don’t trust him, Fletcher, but you know I’m not cruel. Abandoning him is cruel. You’re right. He needs help and we can help him, but please…”
He stepped closer, cupping my face in his hands and angling my jaw up, so that I was gazing right into those worried eyes. “Please promise me you’ll be careful,” he uttered. “I can’t lose you. I might break.”
With a soft sigh, I stepped into my mate’s space and wrapped my arms around his middle. Hugging him close, I said, “You won’t lose me. I promise.”