Forever Yours

THIRTEEN

One.

One, two.

One, two, three.

In the corner of the garage which acted as the pack's gym, sharp breaths hissed through Isaac's teeth as his bandaged hands continued pummelling the punching bag. His body was hot, almost to the point of overheating. Sweat made his dark hair stick to his forehead. The droplets dribbled down the back of his neck, following the groove of his spine before soaking into the band of his gym shorts. The muscles in his arms ached with each punch, along with his calves which were constantly taught to hold his stance. But he wouldn't give in.

He could do this all day.

He was sick of being weak.

Sick of being someone he no longer knew.

Tobias' grey eyes watched him warily from where he stood holding the punching bag in place. Sensing the pity from his Beta only made Isaac angrier, motivating him to deliver a string of fast punches into the cushioned bag. Normally he found no better way than to blow off steam than to go for a long run in his wolf's form. But despite being blinded with rage, even he knew doing such a thing with his heightened emotions was dangerous. His wolf could take over, going on a killing spree if the bloodlust took control. So when Isaac had returned home earlier whilst Kayla and Roxy had escorted Cordelia to the cabin, the gym had been the thing to take his wrath.

Especially the punching bag.

Isaac hopped about, continuing to send punches into the bag. Beneath the wraps, he could feel blood from his knuckles beginning to soak into the fabric but the humiliation he'd felt from Roxy pushed him further down the path of anger. How could she do that to him? In front of the Omegas and their Beta? In front of their prisoner? He knew she'd done a lot for him. He knew she'd been the one handling Alpha matters whilst his mind and body slowly turned to mush. But he was still the Alpha. He'd been the one to continue the pack's strong legacy from the age of sixteen, to protect them from the scandals of his parents' deaths and cover up his rejection of Roxy. Moonlight Ridge was his pack. And damned if he was going to allow a witch to fuck it all up.

After everything they'd done with Abaddon, how could Roxy be so stupid to entrust a witch with something as fragile as Kayla falling pregnant? Then as if that wasn't dangerous enough she'd offered her a shower, food and clean clothes. She'd offered their mortal enemy kindness, when they'd done nothing to be worthy of such a thing. They'd aided a blood wolf in kidnapping Roxy and Cleo and they were remaining annoyingly tight-lipped about a cure for his curse, feigning ignorance when he bloody well knew they had all the answers swimming around in those conniving brains of theirs.

Isaac's punches slowed when the guilt of feeling such anger towards his soulmate invaded him. Roxy's kindness was one of the features he loved most about her. How despite everything she'd been though, she still managed to find the good in the world and those who walked its earth. How she continued to have the strength to do such a thing, when becoming bitter and withdrawn like himself was so much easier. No, it wasn't Roxy he was mad at. Or Cordelia. Or even fucking Evanora.

It was himself.

A fresh wave of anger with the realisation made Isaac wind his arm back and plough it into the bag, even making Tobias slightly stagger. He didn't stop with one punch though, he kept going, delivering blow after blow. Each punch representing everything he'd lost the past year and a half. The Alpha title. The respect. The incomparable strength. Being the Alpha everyone feared. Everything he'd known for his entire life. Hot tears of frustration mingled with his salty sweat. Using the back of his wrists, he angrily swiped them away and continued laying into the punching bag.