“Fletcher.” Adam’s voice was soft as velvet, and tender. He leaned in until our noses brushed, our foreheads pressed together. “You do belong here,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “You make me happy. Happier than I’ve been in myentire life. If that doesn’t count for something, then I don’t know what does.”
“But your family?—”
“Fuck my family,” he growled against my lips before kissing them, stealing my words away. “They don’t care about what I want, and I wantyou,Fletcher Rose. Please. Don’t run away from me.”
I hated the crack in his voice right then, the way he held me a little bit tighter, like he truly feared I might turn and leave. And where would I go? Tears slid down my cheeks, but Adam brushed them away with the pads of his thumbs.
“Don’t cry, baby,” he pleaded. “This is just a hiccup. Whatever you think you need to be to make me happy, you’re wrong. I’m happy just sharing the same space as you.”
I swallowed and nodded. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize,” he assured me. “Come here.” Pulling me in, he wrapped me in a hug so fierce, I thought I might break into a thousand jagged pieces, but I hugged him back just as tightly.
For several long minutes, we just clung to each other in the kitchen, gently rocking back and forth, before Adam finally let go. He took me by the hand.
“Let’s go lay together on the couch and watch a movie,” he murmured. “I think a low-key veg day is what we both need.”
I smiled and wiped at my salt-stained cheeks. “That sounds nice.”
I followed him into the living room and we curled up together, with me being the little spoon, a blanket draped over the top of us. I nestled in, my heartbeat settling as Adam’s scent surrounded me.
I wanted to be here. I wanted to be wanted, to be loved and adored by this man, this calm and capable Alpha who’d shown me such kindness. I wanted, more than anything, to bethe Omega he chose to spend the rest of his life with, his family demands be damned.
But I couldn’t quite shake the feeling that this was only a rumble of thunder, a warning of the true storm ahead.
26
ADAM
My phone went off.
Again.
It buzzed across the dining room table, vibrating my silverware enough to make it rattle. I drew in a deep breath and held it until the phone went silent and still. I waited for the call to go to voicemail, and then I exhaled slowly.
I looked over at Fletcher, who was holding his toast halfway to his mouth, watching me with concern in his green eyes. “Maybe you should?—”
“It’s fine,” I bit out. “I’ll call him back after breakfast. He should know better than to call this early.” I grumbled under my breath, but when I risked a glance at the clock, I realized that “this early” wasn’t quite that early at all.
It was half-past ten AM.
Before Fletcher came into my life, I was quite the early riser. My father no doubt thought I fell off the face of the planet, since I hadn’t so much as texted my family in weeks, let alone gone over and spent any time over there.
I couldn’t help it, though. I’d had my head in the clouds…and now it was time to be yanked back down to earth.
“Ugh.” I pushed my plate away, half finished but no longer hungry.
Fletcher nibbled at his toast, his red hair tousled from sweat and sleep, a reminder of last night’s romp. He looked at me soulfully. “Adam. What if it’s important?”
“With my father, everything is important, but it’s never important enough to matter,” I told him, matter-of-fact.
“Well, what if someone died?” he asked, just as my phone went off again. I gritted my teeth in annoyance, my inner-wolf growling and stalking along the inside of my soul. Fletcher shot me a look and then mouthed the words, “Answer it.”
Cursing, I stood up fast enough to knock my chair back with a clatter. I snatched my cell and swiped across the screen, before answering my father’s call as calmly and collectedly as I could. Which was a feat, when I wanted to rip into him about leaving me the fuck alone.
Instead, he was the one tearing me a new asshole.
“Where the hell have you been?” my father demanded, a razor’s edge to his tone. “I’ve been calling you for days now, and nothing! Not even a single text in response! I know I raised you better than that.”
