Forever Mine

THIRTY EIGHT

It was nearing right on six o'clock when Roxy walked along the doors of the hallway. Isaac had text her their room number – 135. Around the corner and at the opposite end of the building from the Saltwater Woods' hierarchy's room. Of course. It'd been hard to tear herself away from her sister, but she had to get ready for this fancy dinner which would hopefully lead to some answers about Crystal and Isaac.

Passing a maid in the hallway who nodded at her, Roxy smiled warmly back. It wasn't until the maid had bustled into a room with freshly folded towels that Roxy let her confident façade slip. If she was nervous about having four sets of eyes gawp at her in the lobby, then how would she handle having dinner with all Alphas, Lunas, Betas and their soulmates? Then there was the fact that her and Isaac were faking their togetherness so shame wasn't once again brought to Moonlight Ridge.

A sickening nervousness churned in her stomach when she came to the Moonlight Ridge hotel room and forced herself to knock to alert her arrival when she wanted to sprint back to Cleo. Due to being exhausted at growing her "Alpha baby", she was staying in the hotel with popcorn and a movie marathon. Roxy had begged for her older sister to let her stay with her but Cleo had been firm in making her keep up appearances.

Roxy sighed as she continued down the hallway, looking down at the leather of her stomping boots. Her head was an utter mess about having to keep a façade. At Moonlight Ridge the pack members didn't seem to be questioning their Alpha and Luna's strange and distant relationship, so she'd never worried about how they were perceived. Until now. Here, she had to put on an act, only she wasn't acting. In fact, she was secretly enjoying having to sidle up to Isaac each time a pair of eyes fell onto them. Her wolf wasn't minding at all either. But she knew it was a dangerous game for her mind, for when they returned back to Moonlight Ridge Isaac would ice her out as he'd always done. She had to remind herself that while she may not be acting, Isaac was.

The brass numbers on the corridor of doors began dropping. 138, 137, 136... Just as Roxy placed her hand on the doorknob to turn it, it swung open, leaving her to ungracefully stumble into a warm, hard and well-dressed figure. Roxy's skin burnt in the most euphoric way as Isaac steadied her by the shoulders. Then they dropped away as if he really had been scolded. Roxy looked up to Isaac, finding herself staring with a slightly parted mouth, her wolf purring in pure seduction at what could only be described as a feast before them. While she loved him in his usual tight-fitting shirt, jeans and cowboy boots any day, the Alpha standing in front of her was definitely nothing shy of downright sexy. Wearing a black suit, his dark hair tamed with some spritz of water and cleanshaven, he radiated the appearance of a powerful Alpha.

'Hey.' Isaac finished his tie's knot. Roxy could imagine a hundred different things she could do with the silky fabric.

'H-Hi.' She shook herself and stepped into their room. 'You look very fancy for a dinner.'

Their room was just like the Saltwater Woods' room only with slightly different furniture. The couches and pillows still had gold trim and stitching – of course. Behind one of the sets of doors she could smell Tobias and Kayla but there were no sounds.

Isaac frowned at her, his hands tucked into his pockets. 'I told you it was black-tie, remember?'

Roxy's face dropped and she could feel her skin blanching. 'You never told me anything was black-tie!' Her voice had taken on a panicked squeak. 'Isaac, you didn't even tell me how fancy this weekend was!'

'Relax, Roxy. I figured with everything going on it might slip your mind so I got Kayla to organise your dress.'

She gave him a flat look. 'The last time Kayla organised my clothes, my butt cheeks nearly got a tan and my boobs were like prisoners breaking from their cells, remember?'