Alpha and Omega magic clashed for a moment, like blades striking and sending sparks off into the darkness. I focused my power on Sky, imagining wrapping him in a cocoon of warmth and safety.
Sky dropped his head with a soft, petering whine. He shuffled over and I gently pulled him into my arms, the way I’d seen Fletcher do so many times in the past, and held him in a firm embrace. He had said Sky was touch-starved, after all.
At first, Sky went stiff all over, but when he realized I wasn’t letting him go, he relaxed and sank into my arms.
A moment later, I realized he was crying.
“Hey. What’s wrong, sweetheart?” I murmured.
“Just… Everything.” Sky let out a shuddering breath, but he didn’t pull away. “I feel like I’ve fucked up my whole life and I don’t deserve to exist, because what if Gracie’s right and I’ll always be a wild card? What if I’m always going to be that loose cannon, just waiting to explode and destroy someone else’s life? What if it’s yours? Or Fletcher’s?”
He sniffled through the tears, shaking his head. “I’m so broken, Adam. I don’t know if the pieces will ever be able to be put back together. Some might be missing completely and maybe it’s just b-better if you drop me off at a tr-truck stop somewhere and I… I…”
He buried his face in my chest and sobbed harder. I said nothing, because what was there to say? Obviously, this man was hurting at his very core.
I stroked my hand over his hair, breathing in his scent, before releasing a soft growl of an exhale. “That’s not going to happen, Sky,” I said firmly. “I know it feels hopeless right now, but you’ve only just started getting help. It’s going to feel like this for a while, I’m afraid, but I promise it won’t be forever. You aren’tbroken. You’re merely bruised. Your shell is cracked, but it will heal. You just have to give it time.” I hugged him gently.
“Yeah. Maybe…”
Headlights flashed as a car came up the drive. Sky twisted out of my arms and backed away as if he’d just been caught doing something bad. He ran both hands over his face.
“Sorry. Your shirt…”
I looked down at my shirt, now damp with tears. I waved it off. “It’ll dry. Why don’t you go take a hot shower and unwind? I’ll be starting dinner once Fletcher brings in the groceries.” I offered a smile.
Sky smiled back, tentative. “Okay.” He shuffled off down the hall.
I had no sooner made it to the front door than Fletcher came bustling in, his arms full of bags. “Hey, babe! Everything good?”
I smiled. “Yeah, everything’s okay. Want some help?”
“Nah, I got it, but you can help me put it all away.”
I leaned down and pecked him on the cheek. “Your wish is my command.”
12
SKY
The longer Iwas in therapy, the deeper the sessions delved into my past. The deeper we went, the more uncomfortable it became. I left my appointments wrung out and exhausted, my eyes swollen and my cheeks tear-stained. Utterly exhausted.
But it was helping. At least I was pretty sure it was, anyway.
So I continued to go.
I sat down on the couch and grabbed the fluffy cloud pillow, clamping it to my chest, as I always did. Madeline took her spot in the opposite seat, her notepad in hand and a smile on her face.
I knew today’s session was going to be rough. I just wasn’t sure how rough until Madeline started off with: “Do you remember your first heat? Can you tell me a little about that experience?”
I choked on my next breath. “I?—”
She offered a sympathetic smile. “I know it’s hard, I’m sorry.”
“Yeah.” Inhaling deeply, I thought about the past that I’d shoved deep down, amidst the skeletons in my closet. Hell, my pastwasthe skeletons in my closet. Where did I begin? All of it was awful, just…filthy, shameful moments of my life I never wanted to relive.
“Take your time,” she reassured me.
“The memories of my first heat are hazy…but they aren’t happy memories,” I finally said, after a lot of thought-searching. “Dr. Thompson injected me with something, I think, to make the heat stronger or make me weaker. I don’t know.”
