Chapter 59
ADAM
The first few days after Sky’s rescue were emotional, to say the least. He clung to us, following me around the house like a lost puppy.
We, of course, got a doctor to come out and check him over. He wasn’t happy about it, but Fletcher held his hand the entire time, insisting it was for the best for both him and the baby.
Thankfully, besides the stitched-up gash on his arm, Sky got a clean bill of health.
Somehow, despite all the trauma he’d gone through—being kidnapped and held against his will, then forced to lure River into a trap to placate Dr. Thompson into not harming our unborn child—Sky was safe and sound, and so was the baby.
Yet, I worried about him, about what kind of toll it had taken on his mental health.
The arrest at the facility had made headline news—the Shifter Police Department had detained over twenty individuals working for Dr. Louis Thompson. A few had fled, but the police had issued warrants for their arrests.
Of course, Dr. Thompson was dead, but it didn’t keep news-anchors from flashing his picture across the screen. Every time they did, Sky flinched. And every time he flinched, I kissed his temple and squeezed his fingers in mine.
“He can’t hurt you anymore,” I promised him.
They’d rescued eleven pairs of Alpha-Omega twins from the facility that night, Gracie told me later. Twenty-two lives were upended, possibly ruined, by one man’s cruelty. Who knows how many babies had been born, only to be killed for Thompson’s sick experiments.
But they were free now, and I hoped they could find help and, in time, peace.
Sky jerked awake with a cry, his voice pitching into a soft wail. Another nightmare. Immediately, I wrapped my arms around him and cradled him close, whispering promises in his ear.
“It’s okay, baby. You’re safe, you’re home. I’ve got you. You’re safe.”
Sky struggled for only a moment before, breathlessly, “A-Adam?”
“Yes, love, it’s me. Relax, shh…”
He cried a little, snuffling against my chest. I ran my hand through his hair.
Fletcher snuggled in behind us, trailing his fingers up and down Sky’s arm, lightly touching to draw his attention to the tickling sensation.
I knew, because Fletcher had done it to me often after what had happened with Tank.
“I’m thirsty,” Sky mumbled, sitting up in bed between us and rubbing his eyes. I was pretty sure that was code for: I can’t sleep because of my bad dreams, but I didn’t question it.
“Let’s go make some cocoa,” I said, and the three of us padded barefoot to the kitchen.
Fletcher had a pot of homemade hot cocoa on the stove in just a matter of minutes, and soon, we were sitting on the couch with mugs of the sweet drink steaming between our cupped hands.
Soft sips and sniffles filled the silence between us. Since I was sitting cross-legged, my knee pressed against Sky’s thigh just enough for there to be a connection. Fletcher rested his free hand on Sky’s leg from the other side.
We’d done this before—anchor him in the present and coax him back to sleep with a warm tummy—but tonight was different.
Sky looked at me for a long time before turning his head to study Fletcher as well. My heart made an unsteady beat in my chest.
I didn’t know what was going on up there in that beautiful head, but thoughts were definitely forming. I could see the questions behind his two-toned eyes.
“Did you really kill someone?” Sky asked, his voice soft and hesitant.
The bomb dropped, but it didn’t detonate. Time seemed to stand still as both Fletcher and I froze. I swallowed the lump growing in my throat, my thoughts yanked back to that night.
Tank’s sneer and the knife in his hand. The white-hot pain as he’d slashed my throat, the blood that choked me, the air that I couldn’t breathe in as I suffocated.
And all I could think was that I wasn’t strong enough to protect my mate. That I was too weak to keep Fletcher safe from Tank.
It was Fletcher who finally spoke. “I did.” His voice was soft and low, and filled with something that wasn’t quite remorse.
“But I acted in self-defense. The Alpha had hurt Adam, possibly killed him, and was trying to kidnap me. I just…lost it. I panicked, and when he grabbed me, I wrestled the knife away from him, then stabbed him until he stopped moving.”
He shook his head slowly. “I don’t regret it. Tank was a dangerous Alpha, one who preyed on Omegas like us. He tried to kill my mate. I reacted accordingly. The courts agreed with my decision and ruled in self-defense, and I walked free. We moved to Greymercy shortly after that.”
“Who was he?” Sky asked, turning to me.
I tilted my head so he could get a better look at the scar that was now a pale slash across my throat. Sky reached out, tentative, his fingers brushing over the ridge of flesh.
“His name was Tank. He was our boyfriend for awhile, and the last partner we shared. The last partner we vowed to ever share.”
“Until you,” Fletcher said, running his fingers through Sky’s hair. “He doesn’t matter. What matters is that he’s gone, just like Dr. Thompson. They can’t hurt us anymore. We’re safe now.” He smiled gently.
“Safe…” Sky repeated before nodding. He drew a deep breath, then slowly let it out. “I don’t…feel safe yet, to be honest.”
“It will take time,” I told him. “I didn’t feel safe for months afterwards, even though I knew he was gone. And even then, my foundation was shaken, because there was always that chance I could lose Fletcher to prison.”
“But everything worked out the way it was meant to,” Fletcher said.
“We moved to Greymercy and joined Gracie’s pack…
and then we met you. The rest is history.
I love you, Sky DuPree. When I heard that voicemail, I thought my entire world was falling apart.
I blamed myself, because maybe if I’d had my phone on me, maybe if I’d answered that call… ”
I shook my head. “We would have never gotten there in time, Fletcher. You know that. And without that voicemail, we wouldn’t have even known where to turn. You did well, Sky. You left us a trail.”
Sky sort of laughed. “I… I didn’t even mean to. I didn’t know the phone was still recording. I locked up the moment he came out of the woods. It was like everything I’d ever feared came back to haunt me, and I knew I couldn’t run away.”
“No more running,” I murmured, kissing the bend of his neck. “For any of us. Let’s lay the past to rest for our future. For our baby’s future. Just a couple more months and she’ll be here.”
I touched the swell of his stomach, rubbing in gentle circles. Sky’s hand came to cover mine, and Fletcher’s hand joined it. “Our little miracle,” he whispered.
Sky bit his lip and tried to sniff back tears, but they were already falling. “I-I love you guys so much.” He wrapped one arm around Fletcher’s neck and the other around mine, and drew us both in. Then he let out a breath, as if he’d been holding it a long, long time.
“Let’s go back to sleep. All of a sudden, my nightmares feel a little farther away.”
I leaned in and kissed his temple. “You know we’ll be here to chase them away again, if they come back.”
Sky smiled. “I know.”