Forever Mine

THIRTY ONE

Suddenly, her wolf was on alert, causing her human feet to come to a skittering halt. Roxy listened intently; a snap of a twig, panting, a rustle of bushes. Her eyes zeroed in on a shadow rolling amongst the cover of the forest. She willed her human body to transition into the one of her wolf, but her mind was groggy and she struggled to remember how. She could feel her wolf, rumbling beneath her skin but dammit, she just couldn't get her out. Her heartrate accelerated when her body felt as though it was in quicksand, like being stuck on a railway with a train barrelling towards her. Only instead of a single light from a freightliner, two glowing eyes appeared.

The wolf she'd seen in the paddocks.

As it had done previously, the wolf calmly sat a sensible distance from her. It panted lazily, it's eyes were relaxed. It wasn't acting like a rogue which had just trespassed, it was acting like a wolf which had all the time in the world.

It's like they came out of nowhere. Ghosts.

Roxy's heart done a nervous skitter, like a deer darting into the woods. No one knew it was here. No one knew she was here.

'Roxy.'

Roxy let out a cry of pain as a sharp pain pierced through her head. With her teeth gritted and eyes pinched shut, she held her head in both hands and keeled forward. The wolf watched her, emotionless, and she expected it to pull out a nail file and start trimming down its unruly claws. Her heart hammered with panic. Her wolf was howling in agony. Had she ran too hard? Had she pushed herself so hard running she was beginning to see things, feel things that weren't real? No, surely not. She was a werewolf for Moon Goddess sake, and if being a supernatural creature wasn't enough, then Isaac's boot camp had whipped her into shape. The wolf in front of her was real and the pain of what she could only compare to a knife being twisted into the side of her mind was definitely real.

'Roxy.'

Her eyes involuntarily shut, showing her a familiar black wolf. Peace descended upon her body when the pain inside of her head vanished. She could still feel her boots on the forest floor and smell the pines, feel the rogue wolf nearby, but her mind was somewhere else. Somewhere pitch black, cold and damp. The wolf stood in front of her, its single eye glowing brightly. It was only the two of them.

'You're the one hunting me, aren't you?' Roxy's nails dug into her palms. 'You want my sister and I. Why?'

The wolf only continued gazing at her, cocking its head ever so slightly.

'Roxy.'

'How are you doing this to me? Tell me! Tell me what you want right now!' She began marching towards the wolf, her feet crunching across the forest floor but her steps fell into puddles.

'Roxy!'

'Tell me, right now! You psychopath! Tell me!'

It gave a wolfish grin.

Strong arms wrapped around her, tugging her away. She fought against the vice-like grip. 'No, let go of me! I need answers!'

The wolf turned around and began walking away.

'Get back here, you coward!'

The wolf gave one glance over its shoulder before continuing on its way, its black form being swallowed in the darkness. As the wolf disappeared completely, Roxy felt her body go slack. But instead of hitting the pine needles below, something – no, someone – caught her. There was a flash of silver. Tobias? Her head continued to throb. She felt nauseous. Something warm was dribbling from her nose. There was a deep rumble against her ear. A voice.

'Get me Maria, right fucking now.' The voice was angry – desperate. 'And for fuck sake, get that lone wolf off my territory before I throw him out in pieces. Now!'