Forever Yours

ONE

A lump formed in Roxy's throat. For a good month now they hadn't had sex. Even though he tried to put on a brave façade she could sense Isaac's body weakening. When he'd pepper her with kisses of a morning, his chest would be heaving with laboured breaths and he'd use the excuse of not wanting to hold her up instead of telling the truth that he was simply too exhausted. A week after their sex life had become dormant, she'd noticed his forehead was hot with a burning fever each time she'd press a soft kiss to it. Unlike the days when she'd first arrived at Moonlight Ridge, when Isaac was the one up before the rest of the pack, he was now the last to rise. Sometimes he would sleep for fourteen hours and would come downstairs with pale skin and dark bags under his eyes. This week he'd developed a cough and she'd discovered the bloody tissues stashed at the bottom of the bin in the bathroom.

With a long sigh, Roxy heaved herself to her paws and began hopping down the boulders. It was time to go back to reality, no matter how bleak.

Isaac still weighed on her mind heavily as she began walking across the paddocks, the grass seeds hooking onto the fur of her legs. Would he have opened up to her about his slowly dying body if she hadn't of been the one to continue the transition? It was in Isaac's nature to protect the ones he loved. It's part of an Alpha's duty to take the brunt of what can be a cruel world so the rest of the pack don't see it. Was he keeping it quiet because he knew she already blamed herself deeply? She liked to think that no matter what he would protect her. But guilt continuously rained down on her, leading them to the same tiring argument.

'Isaac, tell me the truth.' Roxy would say as they laid next to each other in bed of a night. 'Do you hate me for doing this to you?'

Isaac's agitated sigh told her he was sick of answering the same question, but she felt that she had to keep pushing until he cracked. She couldn't explain why, but it was as if she wanted him to hate her. She would rather be heartbroken by the truth of his feelings rather than protected with lies.

'Roxy, for the millionth time, I don't hate you. I never have and I never will. You gave me another chance to be with you again.' Isaac would tug her body to his, wrapping his arms around her which she'd noticed were becoming skinnier. 'I love you, mío para siempre. Now get some sleep.'

Only she wouldn't sleep. The same questions which ran rampant in her mind all day would also torment her when the sun had long set. Had she done the right thing in resurrecting Isaac? As painful as it'd been, would she have been better off to let him die an honourable death and his spirit be returned to nature? Now she was watching her soulmate die slowly, his self-respect dwindling with each passing day as his powerful figure slowly shrivelled into one of a dying man. With the curse of a blood wolf he would no longer return to nature when he died, his spirit to join his parents', but he'd be stuck in an afterlife limbo with his spirit unable to rest anywhere. A creature divided by good and bad.

Out of the corner of her eye, moving in the distance, Roxy caught sight of the patrol group making their way back to the houses. They were the nightshift, going home to change over with the day shift.

'Anything to report from patrol?' Roxy asked them.

She recognised the large black wolf to be Paul, his voice filling her head. 'No, Luna. Not even a deer dropping.'

Roxy sighed, the familiar nervousness which had plagued her since the battle bubbling up inside. Every single werewolf of the world was on the lookout for the two fugitives who'd escaped. Isaac had been sure that without Abaddon's influence and protection, that Levi was too spineless to create another blood wolf Armageddon. Roxy however wasn't. It was strange that they'd swapped their views on the lone wolf. Normally Isaac was the one to assume the worst in wolves, especially Levi, and Roxy would be the one to encourage him to see past their flaws, just like she'd done with the blood wolf they'd imprisoned. But she'd seen the curse of the blood wolf consume him during her kidnapping, proving at just how good of an act he'd kept up in befriending her. And now he had Abigail under a spell. What if they were lying low, creating an army with their offspring, just like Abaddon had?