Gray Valley

s i x t y

HIS HEART BEAT WAS WEAKENING BY THE SECOND.

"Weslyn," Blayze whispered, as he followed me through the forest and towards the safe place. "I..."

"Don't speak."

There was silence.

"The full moon..."

I stared up into the darkness to see the full moon shining brightly.

"It's the first time that I've seen it..." I could feel his gaze on me. "And I've never seen something more beautiful."

I felt a tear trickle down my face.

"I told you not to speak," I murmured.

"I'm using a mind link."

I spun around to face him.

"Does that really make a difference?"

"Weslyn..."

"Why did you have to protect me, Blayze? Why... How may times will it be before you and Liam understand? All that you'll ever get in return for protecting me, is pain..."

I lifted my eyes to his abdomen, where his clothes had darkened with the blood from his wound.

"I promise... I'm not in pain, Weslyn."

Liar...

He was in pain.

I could feel it... I could feel his pain more than anything else.

"Promise?" He involuntarily flinched, as I gripped his arm with my hand. "Your promise is a lie, Blayze."

"But-"

"Mary's venom runs through your bloodstream... And that-"

"Would give me a fate worse than death."

"You know..." He knew what Gray Wolf venom would do to him, and yet... "Why? Why did you protect me, knowing that?"

"I told you before... Didn't I, Weslyn? I would rather die in war, than in illness." Blayze smiled softly. "And, besides... I couldn't break the promise that I made."

Promise?

"Earlier today, when Liam and I were waiting for you at the clearing in the forest... He asked me what extent I'd go to, to protect you." My breath hitched in my throat, as he brought his hand up to meet my face. "That's why... I made a promise. I made a promise to Liam... That I'd protect you with my life."

"I-"

"Weslyn, it doesn't matter if I die... Or suffer from a fate worse than death. As long as I don't break my promise, I'll be satisfied."

That feeling... The obligation to not break his promise. It was exactly like...

"The Promise Code."

"Weslyn, I'm a Brown Wolf."

"Are you, though?"

There was silence, as my doubt lingered in the air.

"At times, Blayze, the way you act contradicts Brown Wolves..." My voice trailed off. "When you get angry, your eyes turn black... Like the eyes of a Gray Wolf. And even before the Blood Exchange, you could-"

"There's no way I'm a Gray Wolf, Weslyn."

"You never knew your parents, Blayze... What if you are?"

"Then, how do you explain the shifting?" He gritted out in pain. "If I'm a Gray Wolf, why do I shift at every full moon?"

I couldn't explain it.

"Now's not the time, Blayze," I muttered, as I continued to move through the forest. "You have to get to the Safe Place... So Anna can heal your-"

"Don't you think... I'm beyond saving?"

I froze.

"W-what?"

"Regardless of whether or not I'm a Brown Wolf... My blood is filled with Mary's venom." He winced, moving his hand to his wounded abdomen. "Not even Anna can heal this wound."

As he fell forward, I instinctively pulled him into an embrace.

"Blayze..."

"This is it for me, Weslyn," he murmured. "I know it is."

"It isn't."

I couldn't...

I couldn't lose Blayze.

I wasn't capable of losing Blayze.

The agonising memory of my mother's lifeless body flashed through my mind.

No...

I wasn't capable of losing anyone, anymore.

"Blayze." I supported his body with mine. "Even if you don't want me to... I'm taking you to the Safe Place."

"You know... You can't try to save everyone, Weslyn."

"I'm not trying to," I answered gently. "I'm just trying not to lose anyone else that I love."

"You love me?"

He was so... Unguarded. Vulnerable... And defenceless. He was everything that Liam wasn't.

And even though it wasn't in the same way, I loved them both.

"No one's ever told me that they love me, Weslyn..."

He smiled ever so slightly.

And then... His heart stopped beating.