Forever Mine

THIRTY THREE

Roxy wasn't sure what time it was when she awoke in a haze. There was a dull throb in her head, and she was relieved to see that her bedside lamp illuminated a glass of water and pills. Shuffling herself into an upright position, she swallowed the pills in a big gulp, as well as the entire glass of water. The inside of her room was reflected back to her in the balcony windows. It was still dark outside, like someone had poured a bottle of ink on the world, but she knew the pink and orange hues of sunrise would soon appear.

Needing to move her body, she slipped out of bed. The carpet was soft against her bare feet as she walked to her wardrobe. After pulling on a jacket and zipping it up, she slipped her feet into a pair of thongs and trekked down the hallway. The kitchen was cast in darkness, but the remnants of Kayla baking something remained from the night before. As she clipped the door behind her quietly, the morning air brushed against Roxy's bare legs. In the distance, she could already see the sun beginning to make its ascent. Closing her eyes, she inhaled the warm morning air, relishing in feeling of being completely alone.

It was the pull of Isaac's wolf to her own from deep within the surrounding forest that had Roxy walking across the back lawn and through the pack cottages. Roxy halted in her tracks when a shirtless boy dove out a cottage window and fell into the garden bed below. With her hands shoved deep into her jacket pockets, she didn't know where to look or what to do as a young girl wearing a lacey nightgown rushed to the window.

'Shh! My parents will hear you, idiot!'

The boy climbed out of the garden to kiss her. Roxy took the opportunity of them being lip-locked to try make her escape, but a twig snapping beneath her thong had the girl's eyes springing open and shoving the boy back into the garden below.

'Good morning, Luna!' The girl tucked a dark tendril of her behind her ear, her cheeks burning furiously as she crossed her arms to hide her exposed cleavage. 'What a lovely morning for a walk!'

'That it is.' Roxy couldn't fight the smirk which filled her face. 'Have a nice day!'

Leaving the forbidden lovers behind, she continued following Isaac's pull to the forest edge, unable to stop herself from hesitating before continuing forward. As she moved through the forest, stepping over logs and tugging her long hair from branches, her wolf was on high alert for any repeats of last night. A frown filled her face when she was led her into a deep part of the forest she'd never found before. The air was cool, making clouds of steam billow in front of her face as she puffed.

'Isaac?' She called.

It's happening again.

When she was met with silence, she broke into a jog. Panic filled her as she ran blind, desperate to get out of the deep forest. She was glancing over her shoulder, checking for the umpteenth time for a wolf watching her, when she collided with something cold and hard. With a gasp, she was knocked off her feet and landed on her back. Rolling her shoulder which had taken the brunt of the impact, she looked up to where a mausoleum towered above her. Frightened, she kicked her feet in a frenzied scurry back, her eyes looking over the large white bricks which had almost been consumed by moss. At the front of the small building at the top of three steps, stood a column either side and on the steeple where she expected to see a cross, was a concrete wolf's head moulded to gaze down at her. Slowly, she stood up and brushed the pine needles from her clothes. Gulping, she inched closer.

Isaac's presence could be felt below her feet. With a trembling hand, she reached for the jade doors, having to throw her entire weight against them for them to open, unleashing a spine-chilling groan as they did so. Instead of seeing the Winters' family tombs she looked down to a staircase illuminated by the flickering flames of torches.