“Come on,” Adam said instead. “Let’s all go out for a run.”
Sky’s expression immediately darkened, his two-toned eyes shadowed with uncertainty. “I’d rather not.”
Adam sighed. “You haven’t let your wolf out since February, and that’s not good for either of you. You can’t keep him caged in there forever. He needs to be able to stretch his legs.”
“He’s not unhappy,” Sky argued, mumbling into his knees as he drew them to his chest. “We’re not unhappy here. I just… I don’t feel safe shifting. I don’t wanna do anything I’ll regret.”
“You won’t,” I insisted, rubbing his arm. “Adam will make sure you’re in control.”
But Sky just shook his head, looking more miserable than he’d been in quite a while. “Can I skip this time? Please? I promise I’ll go next time.”
Adam hesitated, then sighed. “Alright, but I’m going to hold you to that. One of these days, we’re going to go for a run so that I can prove to you that you’re not a monster beneath your skin. We’ll be back in a little while.”
“Okay,” Sky said softly. “Be careful.”
“Always. Fletcher?”
I nodded and hopped to my feet, trailing after my mate. I heard the TV click back on, the drone of sound coming from behind us.
Adam looked back at me, his brow furrowed, but I simply shook my head. We needed to give him time. He’d come a long way. No need to push it.
Outside, the two of us traded flesh for fur and ran through the woods that surrounded our idyllic little property. He took off running, and I bolted after him, dancing around like a pair of wood sprites.
Out here, surrounded by the smells of pine sap and loam, my heart beat with the thrill of the run. Although I was concernedabout Sky, I felt free with Adam. Safe in my Alpha’s presence, knowing he would let nothing happen to me.
If only Sky believed that too.
The summer sun beat down on our backs, warming our fur as we trotted lazily back home. About a quarter of the way back, Adam shifted back to man. I paused, then did the same.
Hand in hand, we walked through the woods, our pace slow and easygoing.
“Our life’s changed a lot, hasn’t it?” I spoke my thoughts aloud. “Since Sky came into it?”
Adam hummed. “That it has.”
“You don’t have any regrets, do you?”
He tilted his head toward me and gently squeezed my hand. “No, kitten. He needs us. He’s pack now. A part of us, as strange as that sounds.”
My heart fluttered like butterfly wings in my chest. Did Adam feel the same way about Sky that I did? This soul-bound connection? Like Sky was the missing piece to our puzzle?
“I feel that way too,” I murmured. “Like he’s meant to be in our lives. Maybe he was sent to us for a reason.”
“Maybe,” Adam mused.
“Are you still jealous of him?” I teased, poking him lightly in the ribs and smiling when he let out a soft laugh.
“Not as much anymore. I have to admit, I’m fond of him,” he said. “I want him to be happy. I want to see him smile, yearn to hear him laugh. My wolf is strangely protective over him, as he is you.”
I leaned into my mate’s side and smiled to myself. Yeah. Adam was feeling it too. He just hadn’t come to terms with it yet, but I’d been entertaining the idea for a little while now. Of the possibility of keeping Sky to ourselves, courting him as our third instead of finding him a suitable Alpha.
Because who else could be more suitable than Adam? Because Sky fit so well in our little pack of three. Because Sky’s sweet scent made my inner-feline purr…and because the thought of Sky leaving us made me ache in the strangest of ways.
“I’m fond of him too,” I said instead, keeping my feelings locked away for right now.
When we got back to the house, I helped Adam make up some tuna salad with boiled eggs. We sat in the living room to eat while watching a renovation show.
Sky scarfed his sandwich down, then made a grab for the remote, but Adam just laughed and held it out of his reach.
