Adam, of course, being the kind Alpha that he was, doted on us both hand and foot. He cooked us meals and ate with us in the bedroom, setting up trays so that we could eat in the comfort of our bed those first few days home. I could tell he was worried about us, his protective Alpha instincts on high alert.
He stayed by our sides, which helped calm my anxious inner-wolf…until he began going back to work. Something about the sudden loss of the Alpha’s energy cause mine to spike, triggering panic as thoughts of nurses’ hands grabbing at me, tearing at my hospital gown, holding me down so they could jab me with needles filled my mind.
I buried my face in the pillows, curling into myself. My breath hitched, coming fast and short. No matter how tightly I squeezed my eyes shut, I could see them—the men in lab coats,walking down pristine white corridors, conversing with each other with clipboards in their hands.
I shook my head fiercely to dislodge the thoughts. Instead, Dr. Thompson’s voice floated into my head, soft and haunting.“It will only hurt for a moment,”before he laughed, and the sharp formaldehyde scent of him was right there?—
No! Anything else! Think of something else!
My thoughts jerked and plummeted to the screeching of wheels and the shatter of glass and white-hot pain as I was forced to live through the wreck all over again. Forced to see Fletcher hanging lifeless and bloody, upside down, and this time, I sobbed out loud.
“Sky?” Fletcher was at my side in an instant. “What’s wrong?” His hand rubbed up and down my back, soothing me. I only shook my head, because what could I even say?
“W-What time will Adam be home?” I asked finally.
Fletcher’s eyes widened a fraction, before they softened. As if he knew exactly what was going on. “He’ll be home before dinner, but I’m right here until then, okay?”
I nodded slowly, my heart still thumping along.
“Here. Let’s watch a movie,” Fletcher grabbed the remote off the nightstand and began to browse. I snuggled down into the blankets beside him, relieved to have something else to occupy my mind for awhile, because my thoughts were like a runaway train off its tracks.
And yet, even as the movie began to play? I couldn’t settle. My palms were itchy and my heart kept racing, anxiety swelling up like a wave to swallow me whole. I tried to deal with it in silence, but Fletcher seemed to notice without me ever saying a word.
He turned to me. “Are you okay? Be honest.”
The corners of my eyes pricked with heat, because I didn’t know. Was I okay? I stared at him, at the bruising along hisbeautiful face. Then I reached out and touched the stitches at his temple. My chest clenched, worry choking me.
Fletcher frowned. “Sky?”
And suddenly, it all came pouring out in a flood of emotions. “I-I thought you were dead,” I whispered, my voice hoarse.
“What?” He blinked.
I sucked in a breath and shook my head. “In the car. After the wreck. I woke up, in pain and scared and I… I saw you hanging there, covered in blood. Lifeless. It scared me,” I admitted. “I think I get something good for once in my life and I… I was terrified that I’d lost it already.” Tears slipped down my cheeks, fiery hot, and Fletcher’s face crumpled.
“Oh, baby…” He pulled me into a gentle hug, and I let myself be folded into his one-armed embrace. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m sorry. I should’ve been more careful?—”
I jerked back, nostrils flaring. “HE BLEW A STOPLIGHT!” I cried out. “You were in the right! It wasn’t your fault, Fletcher, it wasn’t!” My hands flailed out to my sides, my heart in my throat, but Fletcher’s hand gentle at my wrist brought me back down to reality. He drew my palm to his chest, so that I could feel the beat of his heart.
Our eyes met.
“Breathe with me, Sky,” he murmured. “Just breathe. Everything’s okay. We’re both safe, we’re home. That’s all that matters.”
I did as he asked—shakily, jerkily—but after a little while, I was finally able to calm down. I sank into Fletcher’s arms and pressed my nose to his skin so that his scent might comfort me.
I ended up laying in Fletcher’s lap, paying no attention to the movie that droned on in the background. As Fletcher’s fingers trailed through my hair, my fingers played over the obsidian pendant that I’d bought at the oddities shop, just hours before the collision.
“Do you think it protected us,” I asked. “Like the card said it was supposed to? Is that why we survived?”
“I dunno, Sky, but maybe.”
I thought so. Adam had shown us photos of their car after the wreck—utterly totaled. It’d had to be pried open with the jaws of life to get us out. It was a miracle that we’d survived. We shouldn’t have walked away.
Maybe the magic in the crystals had protected us that day, even though the stones that Fletcher had bought for himself and Adam went MIA. Just the chain around my neck remained intact, the gemstone pendant warm against my skin.
That’s what I chose to believe, anyway.
It was nearly two weeks before Fletcher got his cast removed and could use his arm again. Of course, it came with physical therapy to build his strength back up, but shifters were stronger than humans any day of the week. Fletcher would be fine.
