Forever Mine

TWENTY EIGHT

Students in blue and white uniforms spewed from the school grounds, eager to escape. Engines in the car park were already cranking over and speeding away by the time Roxy and Kayla began walking over. Isaac was leaning against his white Chevrolet Silverado, with his muscular arms folded and cowboy boots crossed at the ankles. There was an intensity in his green eyes as he watched her walk towards him, a look that had her feeling a little breathless.

'Roxy!'

A voice shouted behind them amongst the hustle of the other students. Both girls froze at the familiar, or in recent days, unfamiliar voice. Isaac's face clouded into a look of thunder and from where she stood Roxy could see his large canines pierce his bottom lip.

'Hey, Roxy! Wait!'

Kayla was the first to turn, her teeth gritted. 'He's got some nerve.'

Roxy joined in turning, grimacing at the sight of Levi running towards them clumsily, his curly mop flipping and flopping around his face. 'Do you think he's going to apologise?'

Kayla rolled her eyes up and down the boy distastefully. 'It seems to be a common habit for the lone wolf.' Her head whipped over her shoulder. 'I'd send him the other way if I wore you. Isaac is barrelling over here like a damn sandstorm.'

She followed Kayla's line of sight and felt panic rise within her. She was right. Isaac's hands were curled into tight fists as he stormed towards them. Even from here she could see the white of his knuckles and his muscles twitching. The moment he'd found her and Levi having ice cream flashed through her mind. If he'd been able to hold himself back then no doubt he wasn't going to hold back this time. And she hadn't even told him about the mean things Levi had said to her last week.

'Can you try and hold him back?' Roxy chewed at her lip and looked to Levi who'd quickly skidded to a halt.

Kayla manoeuvred herself so her face popped into Roxy's sight. 'You're seriously considering hearing him out?'

She held her shoulders up in a shrug. 'Abigail has twisted him. I have to believe the Levi I became friends with is still in there.'

Before Kayla could say another word, Roxy sent a pleading look over her shoulder to Isaac before making her way towards Levi. He was standing beneath a large oak tree with his hands shoved in his pockets, kicking at one of the large roots awkwardly with the split toe of his worn sneaker. Behind her she could hear Kayla begging Isaac to leave them be. She looked behind her again, begging her soulmate with her eyes to back off. Isaac seemed to have an internal battle with himself, standing rigid and clenched before letting Kayla usher him back to the truck.

Roxy turned back to Levi, suddenly feeling anxious in his presence. The words he'd said to her had cut deep and she wasn't sure if she'd be able to completely forgive him just yet. And what was with calling her a blueblood? He'd never treated her as someone who looked down at him for being a lone wolf. Did he think that now she was with Isaac, that she was going to one day be the Luna of the renown Moonlight Ridge pack, her beliefs and values would change? She swallowed past a lump of hurt and fidgeted with the bracelet. She'd hoped Levi held a higher opinion of her than that.

'I'm sorry for what I said,' said Levi in a quiet voice, almost innocent compared to the tone he'd used while grilling her about Isaac.

'Can you at least look at me when you apologise?' Roxy was growing more agitated the longer he continued to stare at his kicking foot. 'Or have you been forced to apologise?'

Levi hesitated before looking to her. When he did, she couldn't stop the gasp from escaping her lips. She hadn't noticed his face since they avoided each other like the plague. She eye-boggled the injuries, grimacing at a large bruise which surrounded his left eye and cheek bone and the split on his lip. For a moment she wondered if Isaac had got to him overnight. A cold dread filled her. He'd been gone for hours that night and she'd been sure he hadn't left the territory. Had she been wrong?