Forever Mine

FORTY

Tobias leant against the gold banister of the elevator with Isaac the following morning. Clenching and unclenching his hands, he tried to relieve the tension flowing through his body. The all-night hunt hadn't relieved much of it, even when he'd brought down two well-grown bucks and ate until his belly had been on the brink of exploding. When he'd returned to the Moonlight Ridge room, naked and bloody from his meals, he'd discovered a neatly made bed which was yet to be slept in. Panic had begun to rise inside of him until he found a note at the foot of the bed, written in Roxy's loopy handwriting.

I wanted nothing more than to have you worry sick about me, but considering the circumstances I figured that was too cruel. I'm with Cleo and Trent. I'll see you when I'm ready. – R

The note was now crumpled at the bottom of the bin.

'You look like hell,' muttered Tobias. 'Good.'

Isaac closed his eyes and threw his head against the mirrored wall of the elevator. 'I know I fucked up. No one knows it more than me.'

'Oh, I know. I'm just making sure you feel worse about it.'

The elevator doors pinged open and before Isaac could even step foot into the hallway, a fist was flying into his face. Isaac stumbled back into the elevator, blood spurting against the mirrors. A vicious growl tore from him, his canines shooting past his bottom lip, his eyes turning wild and claws piercing through skin. Trent was in front of him, a reflection of himself but with blonde hair. Tobias gave a casual whistle and stepped out of the elevator.

'You're a fucking prick, you know,' growled Trent.

Isaac cocked his head. 'I'm getting a little tired of being told things I already know.'

Trent ploughed into Isaac, sending the mirror behind him clattering to the floor in shards. Isaac was swift in yanking on the front of Trent's shirt, bringing him down across his knee so he could deliver a blow to his chest. The Saltwater Woods Alpha gave a large wheeze, but managed to land three sucker punches to Isaac's stomach. White rage filled Isaac as he flung Trent off him, causing the control panel to light up like a Christmas tree as he hit every button.

'I should never have entrusted her with you.' Trent swung a fast fist up into Isaac's jaw.

'No, you shouldn't have.' Isaac swung a fist into his eye socket, making him stumble back a step.

'You're her fucking soulmate!' roared Trent, grabbing Isaac's shirt tightly. Isaac went to attack, but he could see his opponent had lost the fight in him. He gave him a small shove. 'You're her fucking soulmate, Winters. I sent her to you because I trusted you – because despite what you'd done I had an ounce of respect for you.'

'Well you were both wrong.' Isaac spat a mouthful of blood from his mouth, the dark red glob landing amongst the broken glass.

Trent spat his own mouthful of blood and saliva at Isaac's feet before storming out of the elevator. Tobias began walking alongside Isaac as they made their way along the corridor.

'You deserved that. I'm glad someone took the job off my hands.'

'You're a fucking prick, you know that?' Isaac snapped.

Tobias only grinned.

Isaac tried to bring his thoughts to the Alpha meeting as he continued walking with Tobias, now stripping off his shirt so he could soak the blood oozing from his face. Over the years of his reign, he'd been to his fair share of quarterly meetings, usually dreading the boredom of sitting around the long table listening to the politics. The most excitement there would be was a lone wolf trespassing onto a territory. Today's meeting, however, was different. Today he would reveal knowledge of witches and rogues no other werewolf had and try hatch a plan of attack to protect the soulmate who now hated his guts and her sister which would probably have beaten him too if she wasn't pregnant.