Forever Mine

THIRTY FIVE

For the hundredth time that night Roxy woke from her fitful sleep. With an agitated huff she rolled from her side onto her back, staring up at the dark ceiling.

A creaking downstairs made Roxy's skin hum with nervousness. The wolf inside her was on full alert, ready to pounce at a threat – something which now happened more than ever. Roxy waited with baited breath, trying to tell herself that it was just the large house moving in the cool night. Although the way her wolf was beginning to growl told her differently. She could smell Isaac in his office. Moon Goddess knows what he was working on at this time of night. But no matter how much she tried to convince herself that it was just Isaac making the noises and if something were wrong, he'd be the first to know before anyone, her wolf wouldn't relax.

There was the creaking sound again, sending her heart into a skittering frenzy.

The floorboards were groaning under weight in the hallway. Downstairs, Isaac turned a piece of paper.

Footsteps.

Perhaps it was Tobias sneaking up to Kayla's room, but she couldn't smell the aftershave he always wore for her best friend.

Despite her fear, like a zombie, she swung her legs from the bed and slowly rose to her feet. Her eyes were trained on the doorknob as she crept across the room, her head cocking at the sounds on the other side. Sniffing the air, she waited for the repulsive scent of rogue. The smell which now inhabited the cells of the mausoleum. There was nothing.

No one knew they were there.

Had their prisoner escaped? Maybe she'd been idiotic to believe he was different to the others. Roxy's knees began to knock, her hands trembling as she reached for the door handle. With gritted teeth she tried to fight her arm back to her side but it was as if she'd lost control of her body. Someone else was at the helm. Possessing her. Tears began streaming down her face and she begged for her controller to have mercy. But they didn't listen. The doorknob squeaked as her sweating hand turned it. For a few seconds she sobbed. Beneath the crack of the door there were simultaneous puffs of air. Breaths blowing onto her bare toes. The smell of rot and blood billowed into the room in invisible clouds.

Ever so slowly, as if taunting her, her arm pulled the door open. Pinching her eyes shut she listened as the door swung open, banging into the wall on the other side. It'd been what she'd done when she was frightened as a child. If she closed her eyes, she couldn't see whatever was frightening her and she liked to believe they hadn't been able to seen her either. But she was no longer a child and the creature in front of her wasn't the imaginative monster which lived beneath her bed.

The breaths ruffled her pyjamas. Hot and heavy. But despite the warmth, goosebumps coated her entire body, her hairs standing on end so much that it was painful. Then, like super glue being peeled from skin, her eyes were forced to open. She tried to fight it, Moon Goddess knew she tried, but soon enough her eyes were fully open.

Staring at her biggest fear.

The black wolf which had visited her last time stood in front of her. No longer in the strange dark and damp place, she could get a better look at it. There was a claw mark slashed across the right side of its face, a gaping hole where its other yellow eye would be. The one that remained was locked onto her, its pupils expanding into a deep black, so black that it blended in with the rest of it. It licked its lips with a rough tongue and gave a sinister wolfish grin. Like a horribly twisted version of the Cheshire Cat.

A scream tore from Roxy as the wolf lunged. Curling into a ball, she dropped to the ground. She knew it was fruitless, but was else was she to do? There was no time to fight back. Her body which had been frozen by fear had left no chance. Another deep scream tore from her throat when she peaked through her fingers at the rogue coming down to her. Its claws were fully extended, razor sharp and glistening in the moonlight which poured through the window.

Then it all ended.

Roxy was still expelling short and terrified screams when the rogue disappeared into thin air. The lights of the room were on. Isaac was on the floor in front of her, shaking her, his green eyes widened with panic. Slowly, the terror of the nightmare freed her from its shackles as she forced herself to look into Isaac's face. His mouth was moving but she couldn't hear a thing. Then as if someone had hit the unmute button his terrified voice filled her ears.

'Roxy? Look at me! Hey! Dammit, Roxy! Snap out of it!' Relief ironed out his creased brow when she gave an incoherent mumble. Before she knew it, she was being crushed to him, her cheek pressed against his smooth pec while her body remained limp like a rag doll. 'It's okay. I'm here. It was all just a dream.'

Roxy pinched her eyes closed and buried herself into him. His skin was smooth and warm against her body. His heartbeat was like a custom-made lullaby, eventually sending her into some form of relaxation. She focused on his fingertips, travelling up and down her bare arms. Their wolves nestled against each other.

'I don't understand,' Roxy murmured. 'The bracelet – it's gone.'

Isaac's voice was a rumble against her ear as he spoke. 'With everything going on, it wouldn't be uncommon for you to have nightmares – real nightmares.' He heaved a sigh. 'I had them for months after my parents died. Sometimes they felt so real I questioned when I was awake or asleep. In the world we live in sometimes we forget normal things can happen to us.'

'I'm sorry I'll never get to meet them,' whispered Roxy.

Isaac's arms hesitantly tightened around her. 'Me too.' They fell into a comfortable silence until Isaac spoke again. 'The Alpha meeting is next week... I'd like you to come with me – for protection reasons, of course.'

Roxy couldn't help the small smile slip onto her lips. 'There's plenty of wolves here that can protect me, Isaac.'

'I know...' she could hear the nervousness in his voice. 'But there's also the matter of people talking if I don't bring my Luna – well, you know what I mean.'

'We wouldn't want gossips causing trouble,' murmured Roxy. 'Plus it'll be good for me to see my sister.'

'Exactly. That's exactly what I was thinking...'

Roxy smiled, wrapping her arms around him tighter and nestling her face deeper into his chest. She heard Isaac's heart give a nervous skitter and she braced herself to be thrown off his lap like a hot potato. Instead though, she felt a blanket drape over them both followed by Isaac's fingers combing her long hair gently. Roxy knew that their relationship was anything but perfect and that when the sun rose she would awake on the floor alone, making her question if this moment was all a dream. Roxy felt herself be tugged into the realm of sleep and in the distance she felt Isaac's body relax beneath her, his chest rising and falling slowly. If it was a dream or reality, Roxy didn't care. She would hold it tightly with both hands and never let go.