“I know you’re going through a lot right now,” I told him. “But I want you to promise me, if it ever gets to be too much, with therapy and work and everything, please tell us and we’ll schedule you for fewer hours. We don’t want to overwhelm you. We want what’s best for you and your mental health, and if that means you only work ten hours a week, that’s what it means.”
I rubbed Sky’s back gently, and the Omega sank into it, his lashes fluttering over freckled cheeks. Relaxed. It was so obvious that he was touch-starved for so long, but he was becoming more and more comfortable around me and Adam.
“Get closer, sweetheart,” I said softly, maneuvering so the blanket enveloped us both. Sky lay beside me, my arm encircling him. He stiffened at first, but I hushed him by stroking my fingers through his hair. “It’s okay.”
And just like that, Sky nuzzled in, and we watched TV together while Adam took a shower, the pipes making their usual hissing noise. I’d grown used to this house and its sounds.
It wasn’t long before Sky’s breathing softened and turned deep with sleep. I relaxed and rested my cheek atop his head, closing my eyes and listening to my mate move around in the house beyond.
Adam joined us a while later, wearing just a pair of red flannel PJ pants, the drawstrings loose and the waistband hanging slightly off one hip.
Where I’d gained a bit of weight these past few years, he’d lost some, but he was still as handsome as ever. Water trickled down his bare chest, soaking into the fabric and darkening it.
I raised a finger to my lips. “Shh.”
Adam made a face, a look that was torn some place between tenderness and…jealousy? A smile quirked up the corner of my mouth.
“Are you jealous, Adam Rose?” I teased him, keeping my tone light and playful, not wanting to hurt his ego. “Of a pup?”
“No.” Adam huffed. “Why should I be? You’re wearingmymark andmyring. You’remymate.”
But there was an edge there, a sharpness beneath his words that told me that yes, I was poking a wound. An insecurity.
I softened. “Help me get Sky to bed?” I shifted him around, and Adam scooped him up in his arms as if he weighed nothing at all.
Sky whimpered and curled inward, but didn’t wake. Adam carried him to his room, where we laid him down in bed and tucked him in.
Closing the door behind us, we retreated quietly to our own bedroom. I curled up with my mate in the night’s silence.
“I love you, Adam. Forever and always. Nothing’s gonna change that, you know,” I murmured.
“Mmm…”
“Sky needs tenderness right now. He needs touch and reassurance and kindness from a world that’s given him none of that. I want to be that person for him. Don’t be jealous, okay? I love you.”
I kissed him, relieved when Adam kissed me back. He sighed against my lips, his forehead pressed to mine.
“I love you too, kitten. I just…worry,” he whispered.
“Worry?”
“That things are going to change.”
I smiled up at him. “What if it’s a good change, though? Have you thought about that? What if it’s a good change?”
I snuggled in and closed my eyes. Fields full of flowers filled my dreams, with a lynx and two wolves running through them, joyous and happy. Free to live, free to love.
Just free.
11
ADAM
What if it’sa good change?
Fletcher’s words stuck with me for days after that, haunting the moments when life was quiet.What if it’s a good change?
What if it was?
