Carter and Archer were still standing in the kitchen, staring blankly at the fridge as they heard footsteps walking towards the kitchen.
"I found something," Alex told them, strolling into the kitchen.
"Yeah, we did too," Archer pointed towards the fridge.
Alex walked past them both to the fridge, reading the small note.
"Well, that was obviously a lie, but I think I might have found something at least. It was on the ground next to the bin in her room," Alex told them, and it was then that Carter saw the piece of paper in Alex's hand. Alex handed over the paper which had an address scribbled messily on it and the words 'Sam's' written at the top. The address had a line through it, making it too messy to make out, and Carter figured that she must have made a mistake and re-written the address on another piece of paper.
Archer looked just as confused as the other two. "Sam's? What is that? A restaurant?" he asked, looking at Alex.
Alex shrugged. "I don't know, if it is, I haven't heard of it."
"I don't think it's a restaurant," Carter told them, suddenly getting an idea. "Sam is her older brother's name, he just finished college and got some job that takes him around the world, Roxy talks about him all the time."
"Why would she need her brothers address?" Archer asked.
"That's the thing, she wouldn't. Her brother moved a few days before he had to go overseas last week, and so she never got to go the new place."
"Do you think she got the address from Sam is his new apartment? Was she and Cole going to stay there last night?" Alex asked.
"Well, I think they were going to do more than stay there." Archer winked with a laugh.
"What?" Alex asked, clueless. Carter rolled his eyes at his ex.
Archer laughed. "Well, let's just say that I saw him grab some protection from the bathroom last night."
"But the full moon...." Alex prompted.
Archer nodded. "I reminded him about the full moon and he said that he wasn't leaving the apartment until eleven, so by the time they were, you know, the full moon would have lost its affect."
"Oh," Alex mumbled before changing the subject to the more pressing issue. "Do you have Sam's number?"
"Yeah." Carter pulled out his phone and searched for Sam in his contacts, finding his number quickly.
The four rings that sounded before he answered were the longest in Carter's life. "Hello?"
"Sam? It's Carter."
"Oh hey Carter, what's up?" Sam's deep voice sounded through the phone.
"I was just wondering, did you tell Roxy she could stay at your new place last night?"
"Yeah, she said she wanted to use my internet to work on her homework, and the internet at our parents place was down. Why? Is everything alright?"
"Everything's fine, could you tell me that address?" he asked, and Sam told him the address straight away and told Carter that he left a key under the mat. Carter made a quick goodbye before hanging up.
"You got it?" Alex asked the moment that Carter slid the phone into his back pocket.
"Yeah, now I'm just wondering why they are still there," Carter muttered and both Alex and Carter then looked at Archer, who was looking surprisingly guilty.
Alex took a threatening step towards Archer and Carter figured that he must have come to the same conclusion that he himself had, Archer looked like he knew something.
"You know something that you aren't telling us," Alex stated, and it definitely was a statement compared to a question.
"Don't look at me like I'm holding a smoking gun, gosh little one, calm down," Archer teased.
"Archer.." Carter drew his name out, exasperatedly, knowing that sarcasm wasn't going to calm Alex down one bit.
"Okay, okay," Archer threaded a hand through his hair nervously, "so I might have talked to Cole on the phone last night."
"And?" Alex prompted.
"I told him about what happened, with the full moon and the almost bite and all that, and I told him that you," he pointed to Alex, "might be willing to leave town as soon as possible."
"Are you?" Carter asked Alex, slight worry escaping into his voice.
Alex ignored his question, instead keeping his focus on Archer. "Did you call him before or after midnight?"
"Just after."
"Good," Alex mumbled, "but still, he thought that last night might be the last time he saw Roxy, ever. Cole doesn't seem to me like the kind of guy to do anything irrational, especially after the effects of the full moon were dimmed," Alex told them, and Cater had to agree, whatever they were referring to, Cole always seemed so serious and mature, the least likely to make stupid or rash decisions.
"You haven't seen him in a relationship, he's a bit, clingy, to say the least," Archer corrected, shaking his head slightly at the thought.
Alex shook his head, growling slightly in the back of his throat for a moments before looking straight at Archer. "Could he have done it? Alpha forbids it, but would he have gone against Alpha' rules?"
Carter looked between the two of them, confusion practically radiating off of him. It looked like Alex and Archer were having some secret telepathic meeting, of which, Carter was not invited to, "What are you guys talking about? What would Cole have done?"
Alex only growled again in response, and Carter could tell that the idea of whatever Cole might have done was filling Alex with anger, he could see it in the way he stood, in the way he breathed in sharply and irregularly and the way he clenched his fists at the side.
Archer was the one who replied, speaking low, as if saying it out loud made it real. "He thinks he is losing Roxy, so he might try to do something that makes sure that she comes back with us and that way he won't lose her."
"And what would that be?"
Alex spoke this time, dark and grave. "He's going to bite her. He's going to change her into a werewolf."
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When Cole had been sat next to her on that first day, she had blushed a bright red and enthusiastically spoken to the sexy, foreign guy who seemed to actually taken an interest in her. She had smiled when he spoke in that thick, foreign accent of his and when he looked at her, she could almost imaging that they were the only people in the world. There had been a statement in the back of her mind, just the smallest of whispers, and it said, "It's too good to be true," she had pushed it back, she had ignored it and focused her attention on the adorable boy who sat next to her.
When they went on their first date, sitting across from each other, a flickering candle between them, she had felt that connection, that spark of instant chemistry and attraction that, from the looks of it, he had felt as well. Yet, there was that voice again, just the smallest of whispers, that said, 'It's too good to be true.', and she had pushed that away too, focusing on way he reached for her hand across the table and smiled at her with that toothy grin that made him look like the kindest, most beautiful person in the world, and he was all hers, for one night he was hers, so she pushed it back, to the smallest corners of her mind until she couldn't hear that whisper anymore, and yet, she knew it was there, locked away, pushed to the deepest corners.
When she had kissed him in her brother's apartment, knowing that they were going to go all the way, she had heard it again, and this time it wasn't just a whisper it was something more, more like a voice, strong and stressed, it was practically begging to be listened to, "It's too good to be true," it said, and she had pulled away from Cole, she had pushed herself back from him, breathing deeply and fighting against her mind. It is true, he loves me, we are meant to be, she told herself, fighting against her instinct, fighting for her heart, yet the voice was at it again, but then Cole had pressed his lips against hers and she fell into the kiss, and with every willing kiss, the voice faded, the words slurred together until they were once again pushed back into the corners of her mind, and thoughts of him, lust, kiss, touch and most importantly love pushed their way into the foreground, the only things that she was thinking about, the only things that had stayed in her mind for the next few hours.
When she had woken up the next morning, the sunlight streaming into the bedroom, illuminating the room, the voice had been at it again, but she had just pushed the thoughts away as they had come, well used to it now, too entranced by the fact that she had been with another the night before, that someone loved her, and not just loved her in words, but had shown it with every gentle touch, with every press of his lips to her skin, he loved her and that knowledge was more powerful than the smallest of whispers in her mind.
She opened her eye's slowly, the bed was pushed up against the side of the wall, an odd place to put a bed, but her brother had probably never even spent a night in it. She was on the side of the wall, her back facing the room, and she turned over slowly, stretching sore and tired muscles, and she surveyed the room. The first thing she noticed was that Cole wasn't next to her, she assumed that he was probably in the shower and sighed, knowing that she would probably have to get up soon too, and get ready for school.
The room was a rectangle, the walls painted a white that was almost clinical and sickly, she mentally noted to ask her brother if he wanted help adding some colour to this room. The rest of the room wasn't any better, a few brown boxes, probably packed with clothes sat in a pile against the wall, her duffle bag was leaning against one of the boxes, filled with her clothes for school for the day and her makeup and phone, she hoped that no one had tried to contact her, since she hadn't touched the phone since early last night.
Two golden candle sticks were sticking out of the top of one of the boxes, the light reflecting on them. Roxy wondered when her brother would even use candlesticks, and she shrugged slightly, acknowledging that they would probably stay in those boxes forever, never really serving a use.
One of the only furniture pieces in the room was the black framed bed, the mattress simple dark blue sheets which were soft and silky against Roxy's exposed skin. She wore only a bra and underwear, the sheets covering the rest of her body and with every move, it felt like she was sliding along the softest materials she had ever had the pleasure of touching. The only other piece of furniture in the room, beside the bed, was a small white table with a simple clock resting against it.
She closed her eyes against, stretching her arms out above her head and arching her back. She opened her eyes again a few moments later and she took a quick glance at the clock, gasping when she saw that it read that the time was just after eleven in the morning.
"Cole," she groaned out, severely annoyed at him for not waking her up much, much earlier. She wondered how worried Carter would have been to not see her at school. Roxy prided herself on her punctuality and assiduousness when it came to school. Being hours late without so much as a text message would have probably caused her best friend to have a heart attack by now, and god help her if they had called her parents. That would have led to a nightmare come to life.
"Cole?" she called out, but her voice was soft, she wasn't sure if he was in the next room or in the other side of the apartment, the bedroom door was closed and she couldn't see any signs of him in the room, even the clothing on the ground was all hers, her black dress, her blue heels, no boxers, no dark jeans, no black button up.
She wondered if he had left, and there it was again, the quietest of whispers in the back of her mind, and she pushed it away again. He must be here somewhere, he wouldn't have just left, she told herself, sitting up in the bed, letting the soft sheets fall away from the top half of her body and land in a heap at her waist, revealing her skin to the cool morning air. The window above the bed was open, and the air that surrounded her seemed to be much cooler than the warmth that she had been encased in only moments before.
She was going to swing her legs over the bed and collect her clothes from the floor, but something stopped her. She then felt the weight and cold steel that was locked around her ankle. She gasped in surprise, and pulled her leg, but it wouldn't budge, whatever was around it seemed to be locking her there.
She threw the sheets off of her, landing in a heap on the floor, and her eyes widened in panic as she recognised instantly that it was in fact handcuffs that were locked around her right ankle. The other cuff was clasped around the frame at the base of the bed.
Confusion and panic filled her body, and Roxy screamed out, "Cole!" hoping that he was alright and could come help her. She moved to the edge of the bed, her fingers pulling and attempting to twist the hard silver which was clasped around her delicate ankle, but it wouldn't budge.
"Cole! Help!" she cried out, pulling and pulling on the chain and when that didn't budge, she tried to pull against the horizontal post of the frame but that too wouldn't move an inch, let alone give way, and she cursed the bed that she had be praising only moments ago.
The door to the bedroom suddenly opened, and Cole stepped through it, wearing the jeans and black button up from last night, but he looked like a mess, his hair full of tangles and dark circles under his eyes that made him look like he had a bad mishap with some black eyeliner.
Even though he looked like a mess, relief flooded Roxy's body at the sight of him. "Cole, help!" she said, almost desperately, tuning her attention back to the cuffs which were painfully tight against her ankle.
However, Cole didn't make a move to help her, he just stood at the door. The realisation dawned on Roxy that maybe he was the one who was to blame for this.
She turned her wide, worried eyes onto Cole. "Cole, what's going on?"
He raked a hand through his hair. "I didn't know what to do, I couldn't just let you leave, I would never see you again."
Roxy was so confused, she wondered why he was doing this, how on earth last night had led to this mess. "What are you talking about?" Roxy asked. "Unlock me, please."
"I can't," Cole said exasperated, coming over to the edge of the bed, and sitting just far enough that Roxy couldn't reach him.
She suddenly felt extremely vulnerable on the bed, and she wished that she could reach the sheets that were now on the floor. "Cole, you are scaring me, please unlock them," she pled in a broken voice.
Cole shook his head, a guilty look covering his features. "I can't, I haven't decided yet."
Roxy pulled again on the cuff as she questioned him. "Decided what?"
Cole ignored the question, meeting her gaze. "Do you love me?"
Ten minutes ago she would have said yes, she would have smiled a bright, true smile and said yes I love you, of course I do, but now, looking into his tired eyes, knowing that he was the one to chain her to the bed, her mind couldn't decide.
"Why am I chained to the bed Cole?" She asked desperately, her eyes flickering from his gaze to the tight silver around her pale skin.
"I have to ask you something," Cole said, leaning forward, "I have to leave soon, will you come with me?"
Roxy nodded hesitantly, not sure what he would do if she didn't. Cole would never hurt her though, right? Although, only a few minutes ago, Roxy wouldn't believe in a million years that Cole would handcuff her to a bed.
"Where are we going?" she asked nervously.
"Somewhere far away from here, and you'll have to trust me, but I will take care of you and we can be happy, we can spend the rest of our lives together," he smiled at her, and she could see it in his eyes, the vision of this apparent future that they could share, but it wasn't the future she wanted.
Roxy wanted to finish school with her friends, she wanted to go to college, she wanted to one day settle down, she wasn't ready to run away with Cole, even if a part of her heart was in love with him.
"Okay, we can do that, can you please unlock these?" she pointed towards her ankle.
"Yeah, I'll go get the key, but we need to talk more before I unlock them, I need to you to understand everything and have time to process it before...." Cole let the word drag out, biting his lip as he finished speaking.
"Before what?" she asked, her voice laced with fear.
Cole ignored her and walked back out the door which led to the living room and kitchen.
She was once again alone in the room, and fear and adrenaline coursed through her veins. She didn't know what Cole was planning, but there was no possible outcome that looked promising. She was so confused and felt the weight of betrayal on her heart. Cole had been the first boyfriend that she had really opened up to, the first guy who she thought that she could really see herself being in a long term relationship with.
Cole was supposed to be different, Cole was supposed to love her.
She felt hot tears fall down her cheeks then, and she covered her face in her hands for just a moment, trying to get a hold of herself. That's when the whisper came back, loud in her ears in the quiet of the room, and she mumbled out in a broken voice, "It really was too good to be true."
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