Chapter 15
ADAM
The next couple of days were rough for Sky. His energy spiked and dipped in strange patterns as he went from low and depressed, to angry and upset at the drop of a hat. I couldn’t blame him for being mad, though. After the shit he’d been through? I’d be upset too.
I was concerned, though, and I kept a close eye on him and his interactions with Fletcher. Fletcher was so damn trusting, bless him, that he probably wouldn’t even see a swipe coming. Not the Sky would lash out, but you never knew about these things.
Sky spent his time either in his room with angry screamo music blasting and seeping out from around the cracks of the door, or he was on the couch, scribbling furiously in his notebook, his brows furrowed in a look of pure concentration.
I wanted to break that pattern. I thought perhaps a game day might be fun, so after talking it over with Fletcher, I sent Jem Murphy a text to see if he’d want to come over and play board games with us. Maybe seeing him would do Sky some good.
Jem showed up at our door at 1:00 PM with cupcakes and a big smile. “How’s he doing?” he asked
I held out a hand, tilting it back and forth. “Not so great right now. I’m hoping this will cheer him up a little. Tread lightly.”
“Got it.” He gave me a thumb’s up, and we went inside. Jem went into the living room to talk to Sky, while Fletcher and I brought out a pile of different board and card games.
After a little while, the four of us gathered around the kitchen table, cans of soda sitting at our sides. We started off with Uno, then moved into Skip-Bo, before clearing the table off for board games.
We were in the middle of playing Sorry! when I felt the spike. Sky’s nostrils flared, his hands fisted tightly over the table. Like he was two seconds away from a total meltdown.
Jem seemed oblivious to the storm brewing beneath the surface, and hell, maybe that was why they didn’t make it as roommates before. Sky was a kettle on the boil, getting ready to shriek.
Jem made his move and sent Sky’s red piece back to home. “Sorry!” he singsonged, and Sky just snapped. He lashed out, his arm sweeping the pieces off the table, sending them scattering onto the floor as he leapt to his feet.
“JUST STOP!”
I was standing in an instant, already approaching the tempestuous Omega. “Sky, everything’s okay—”
“NOTHING IS OKAY!” he screamed back, his voice raw and spittle flying from his lips. “My LIFE is not okay! I can’t just…sit here and play games and pretend to be HAPPY when I feel like I’m dying inside! When I feel like I’ve lost a limb and no one FUCKING CARES!”
“Sky, we care,” Fletcher said gently, but Sky snarled at him, his fangs bared.
I was at his side instantly, one hand wrapped around his wrist. Tethering the furious wolf to me so that he could do no harm.
Sky turned on me instead, shoving at my chest, raking his claws across my pecs. So I grabbed his other wrist. That pissed him off even more.
“LET ME GO!”
“Sky. Stop. We understand you’re upset, and you have every right to be, but you don’t have to take it out on Jem or Fletcher.”
Jem sat there in a state of shock, his jaw hanging agape; it was obvious he’d never seen this side of Sky before. “It’s just a game…”
“IT’S NOT ABOUT THE GAME!” Sky spat back. “NO ONE SAYS SORRY TO ME! NO ONE, AND IT’S NOT FAIR!”
He burst into sobs. I pulled him to my chest, crushing him in a fierce hug. Sky wrapped his arms around me and cried into my neck. I rubbed his back.
“I’m sorry, Sky,” I murmured. “I’m so sorry. You’re going through so much and it’s not fair, you’re right.”
“Shh. We got you.” Fletcher appeared by my side, gently stroking Sky’s hair.
Somewhere in the next hour, Jem snuck out but left the cupcakes behind, and Fletcher had put all the games away, like game day had never even happened.
Sky sat at the table, nibbling at some chocolate frosting, his face red and his gaze mournful. “I’m sorry…”
“It’s okay,” Fletcher told him. “No harm done, but these feelings are something you need to bring up with Madeline tomorrow.”
Sky nodded. “Yeah.”
I walked past and gave his shoulder a squeeze. “That’s a problem for tomorrow,” I said. “Today we have cupcakes and The Walking Dead.”
The corner of Sky’s lip twitched in a barely-there smile, but I saw it, so it counted. “You act like zombies and chocolate can fix everything.”
I chuckled. “Well, it’s a start.”