“I’m going to bring you wateranyway.”
Adrian left. When he did, Gabriel checked over his shoulder to make sure he wasn’t being watched, then sidled up to the couch and gingerly selected one of the blankets left on top of it. Guiltily, he wrapped himself up in it like a silkworm spinning his cocoon, then sank down and curled up to stare at theceiling.
There had to be a way to get to Garrison. All he had to do was consider his circumstances and reflect on what he knew so far. The last he’d heard, Garrison had been arrested after the police had stormed their brothel and had been found guilty of crimes Gabriel couldn’t hope to understand. Lucian—one of the boys Garrison had brought into their brothel—had a new alpha, and that alpha had worked to make sure Garrison was behind bars for good. For a while, Gabriel had been furious that Lucian had allowed something like that to happen to the man who’d given everything to take care of them, but the longer he sat and thought about it, the more he appreciated what Lucian’s alpha had done. Behind bars, he knew exactly where Garrison was. If he could do something bad enough that he could get arrested, too, then he’d be sent to jail just like Garrison. In jail together, he wouldn’t have to feel so lonely anymore. Neither of themwould.
As he pondered his next steps, Adrian came back from the kitchen with a glass of water and a frosted martini glass with a single olive. Gabriel sat up and let the blankets fall so he could accept the water Adrian offered. Adrian stepped up onto the couch and lowered himself gracefully so he sat cross-legged atGabriel’sfeet.
“What are you drinking?” Gabriel asked. It occurred to him that he’d had a birthday in Stonecrest, and he was now legally able to drink. Another unwelcome change. He wished he could shrink farther into the blankets and hide his nose behind the fabric, but his new position made thatimpossible.
“Vodka martini. Sterling drives me up the wall with his gin and tonics.” Adrian plucked the tiny plastic skewer with the olive and waved it at Gabriel. “You’re old enough to drink now. We should go out sometime. You want theolive?”
“Yes,” Gabriel mumbled. The olive traded hands, then found its way between his lips. When it was gone, he frowned and let his gaze come to rest on Adrian’s shoulder, right by the crook of his neck. It was less intimidating than looking him in the eye. “But that’s not what you wanted to talk to me about,isit?”
“No. It’s not.” Adrian cradled the martini glass in one hand, its stem dipping down between his middle and ring fingers. Slowly, he tilted the glass this way and that, but never enough so that the clear liquid inside spilled over the rim. “We need to talk about what you’re going to do to getbetter.”
More than ever, Gabriel wanted to burrow under the blankets and never come out. Getting better meant that Adrian thought he was broken, but that wasn’t the case at all. Gabriel wasn’t broken—he was lovesick and stuck in a situation he didn’t want to be in. There was adifference.
“It’s okay that Stonecrest didn’t work out.” Adrian took a sip of his drink, then frowned and lowered it to his lap. The rounded bottom dangled by his thigh, not quite brushing it, but close. “Not everyone heals in the same way. That’s fine. I’m not angry at you for that. If anything, I should have pulled you out sooner. Six months without results is a long time, but nine months? That’s my fault, and you have my sincereapologies.”
“You shouldn’t have to feel sorry.” Gabriel looked away from Adrian to watch as he tapped his tiny plastic skewer against the rim of his glass. The delicate bell-like noise was a kind distraction, and it allowed him to focus on something other than his brother’s body language. Adrian said one thing, but the tension in his posture screamed disappointment, and Gabriel didn’t want to think about it. The truth was, he’d fought against his therapists with everything he had. He’d actively resisted treatment and done everything in his power to shut down his therapysessions.
He wasn’t broken. All he needed was to get back toGarrison.
“Well, I do… but not for anything you did. The thing is, I have a solution… I just need you totrustme.”
The tone of Adrian’s voice wasn’t right, like he was reluctant to share his master plan. Gabriel glanced up from his glass and dared to look at Adrian’s face, but what he saw only confused him further. There was concern there, yes, but there was disinclination as well. It stretched his lips thin and turned his face more serious than itshouldhave.
“Adrian?” Gabriel askeduncertainly.
Adrian took another drink, deeper this time, then set the glass down and ran the back of his arm across his lips. He sat up straighter, furrowed his brow, then tightened his shoulders in a way that convinced Gabriel that what he had to say next would bedifficult.
Itwas.
Adrian closed his eyes, let his shoulders drop, then spoke the words that would shape the rest of Gabriel’s life. “We want to give you to someone, Gabriel—someone who can help you in a way that Stonecrest never could. If therapy isn’t helping, we have no choice but to trysomethingelse.”
“Who?” Gabriel asked as his lungs shrank and every muscle in his body wound tense withapprehension.
Adrian closed his eyes and shook his head. “We’re entrusting you to analpha.”
3
Gabriel
The bottom droppedout of Gabriel’s stomach, and the abyss he found waiting beyond it stretched into infinity. The glass in his hand was suddenly too cold, its weeping condensation too wet. A chill ran down his spine, and for a second, it felt like the same clammy beads of water that clung to the glass had adhered to his body. “You…what?”
“We want to give you a new alpha.” Adrian tightened one of his hands into a fist, then relaxed it. The movement drew Gabriel’s attention, but it did nothing to yank him out of his free fall. The world spun, and the first pangs of nausea tightened his throat and flooded his mouth withsaliva.
A newalpha?
No.
Hecouldn’t.
“You’re sad Garrison is gone, aren’t you?” Adrian was looking at him—Gabriel felt the intensity of his stare—but he couldn’t bring himself to meet his gaze. “You can’t mourn forever, Gabriel. Garrison isn’t coming back. It’s time tomoveon.”
No.
Gabriel squeezed his eyes shut, as if blackening out the world might make Adrian and his awful statement disappear, too. It didn’t, and it wasn’t until cold water from his glass splashed over Gabriel’s trembling hand that he realized that closing his eyes was making things worse. Desperate to find relief, he opened his eyes and thrust the glass at the tiny end table set up beside the couch. Water spilled over the rim and soaked the table, but he didn’t care. In that moment, his world was falling apart—ruining the finish of his brother’s furniture came second to his own wellingdespair.
