Ever Series: My Forever Valentine

Tony awakened again, shivering in the cold cell, and frowned as he rubbed at his eyes. What had woken him up?

Then he heard it again. The slight sound of footsteps, shuffling as if trying to be silent.

If whoever it was was trying for stealth they were failing, because he could hear it even without his wolf hearing.

“Hello? Omega?” A timid voice called out in a whisper.

He slowly stood and leaned against the wall before making his way toward the cell door.

He squinted to try and make out who was there. Just then, the scent of coconut hit his nose and he breathed it in deeply.

“Who’s there?” he managed to croak in a whisper. His voice barely worked anymore, both from an old injury and due to lack of use.

He heard a soft sigh, and a girl moved into his line of sight.

“We must be quiet. It’s shift change for the guards, but we only have a few moments, omega.”

“Tony.”

The she-wolf nodded, hissing as her hand brushed against the silver bars of the cell.

He heard the light clank of keys before his cell door swung open.

“Come. We have to hurry,” she whispered.

Stepping out, he stood, swaying slightly as he waited for her to close the door behind him.

Moving as quickly as his abused body would allow, he managed to stay behind her as she hustled down the hall and toward the door.

Suddenly she stopped and held up her hand, motioning him to stop. Moving slowly, she rose onto her tiptoes and peeked out the window.

With a nod, she slowly opened it, and they walked out into a hallway. Moving swiftly again, they ran down the long hall until they reached what Tony knew was a breakroom for the guards.

She held up her finger in the universal sign of ‘one minute’ and walked inside.

When she came back out a moment later, she held a sandwich and a bottle of water. Handing both to him, she whispered, “Eat. You’ll need your strength.”

Tony was literally starving because he’d had nothing to eat in four or five days. He quickly shoved the sandwich in his mouth and took a big bite.

He managed to finish it in about four bites as they continued to walk. Then he drank the water, throwing the empty bottle in the trash on the way out the door.

The she-wolf led him around the corner of the building to the back, then they continued walking until they reached the dense bushes.

There, she stopped and pulled out a pack from under one of the bushes. Putting it on her back, she reached for another one and opened it.

From the bag, she began pulling clothing out as she whispered, “I brought clothes and shoes for you.

“I’m hoping everything fits, especially the shoes. We need to move quickly and that’s hard to do in shoes that don’t fit.”

She waited for him to dress. When he was done, she asked, “Can you shift?”

Tony shook his head.

“Neither can I. Not until I severe the pack bond completely. My father used his Alpha command on me.”

“Too weak. No wolf for long time now,” Tony whispered.

“Yeah, my wolf is weak, too. I may have trouble when it comes time. But we need to go.”

They set off, moving as quickly as they could through the dense forest. It didn’t seem like they had gone very far before a howl was heard.

The she-wolf stumbled slightly, glancing furtively around. She worried, “They’ve already realized one or both of us are gone. I was hoping for more time.”

Tony tried to pick up his pace, stumbling behind her. Within a few minutes, they finally broke the tree line and started down the side of the road.

The hard surface was easier to walk on, but he still stumbled along because he was getting weaker.

The only thing keeping him going was the fact he didn’t want to get caught. Now that he was free, he wanted to live. He knew his Alpha would kill him if he caught him now.

“Do you know how far we are from town?” the she-wolf asked.

Tony shook his head again.

“Well, hopefully it isn’t too far. Look, car lights!” she suddenly exclaimed as lights came around a curve further up the road.

Tony tensed. What if some of the pack is already in a car looking for us? Would they hunt us that way or only on foot?

He didn’t know the answers to any of his questions, but the thought of them being found had him whimpering in fear.

The she-wolf motioned him to take to the side of the road as they continued to walk. The car pulled up next to them and slowed.

When the window rolled down, he saw an elderly lady peering at them with kind eyes.

Tony relaxed; it wasn’t anyone from the pack.

“You kids headed for town?” the lady asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” the she-wolf answered.

“You’re going the wrong way then. Hop in and I’ll give you a lift.”

The she-wolf hesitated for a moment as if weighing her options. Another howl went out, causing them both to jump and glance around.

“It’s dangerous to be out here at night. We have all kinds of wolves living in those woods.

“Beautiful animals, but wild animals are always hungry, and I wouldn’t want to be their next meal,” the lady commented.

“No, ma’am.” The she-wolf turned and looked at him, saying, “Get in, Tony. She’s right. We don’t want to be a wolf snack.”

Tony quickly crawled in after she opened the door, making sure to keep his head down. She crawled in next to him, shutting the door before the lady drove off.

“So, what are the two of you doing so far from town and walking this time of night?”

“Ah…well, it’s kinda stupid, actually. We’re on a vacation and thought we’d take the scenic route.

“Unfortunately, my GPS went down, and I turned off on a dirt road to turn around.

“I had to go further in than I planned to find a space wide enough to turn around in. I was tired and, well, I may have dozed a bit…” The she-wolf gave a sheepish laugh.

“Oh, dear!” the lady exclaimed.

“When I came to, our car had crashed between two trees with no way to get it out, so we started walking. As luck would have it, we became even more lost.

“When we couldn’t find the car again, we followed a trail which thankfully brought us to this road, and we were hoping it would lead us back to town,” the she-wolf said with a slight sight.

Tony would have believed her tale if he didn’t know better.

The old lady tutted as she drove silently for a moment. “Well, I’ll take you into town. We have a nice motel there and a bus station.”

“We’d appreciate that so much, ma’am,” the she-wolf politely said.

The rest of the ride was silent until they pulled into town.

“I just need to stop and pick up my meal I ordered. That’s why I was headed here. Since my husband passed, I hate to cook,” the woman mentioned as she pulled up in front of Billy’s BBQ.

“I’ll just be a moment.”

While she was gone, the she-wolf said, “We’ll rest tonight, then take the bus as far as it goes. Once we’re far enough away your pack bond will break, and you’ll be free.

“I’ll have to go a bit further to break my bond with my father, since he’s both my Alpha and my father.

“Although, to be honest, I’m not sure it will ever break entirely because he is my father.” She sighed.

“Anyway, I have a bit of money to tide us over until…well, until one or both of us can work.”

Tony nodded, watching the older woman walk back to her car.

Getting in, she turned around to look at them over her seat. “You both look hungry, so I got you each a plate.”

“Thank you,” they both said as the she-wolf took the offered containers.

After handing the food over, the woman drove to a motel and dropped them off.

“Thank you again for the food and the ride,” the she-wolf told the woman as they left the car, meals in hand.

With one last wave, the lady drove off into the darkness.

Tony followed the she-wolf as she headed into the motel and rented a room. After opening the door, she led the way inside, placing the food on the table.

“Eat,” she ordered as they both sat down.

Opening his box of food, Tony breathed in the smell of barbeque beef, causing his stomach to growl loudly.

The she-wolf laughed and opened hers as well. Her laughter stopped as tears filled her eyes.

“What?” Tony croaked out.

“Tony, she gave us money.” She pulled out a bunch of bills and counted them. “Five hundred dollars.”

“If we return, we’ll find her and thank her.”

She gave a quick nod, laying the money aside. Picking up her fork, she began to eat and so did him. They ate in comfortable silence.

When he’d finished eating as much as he could, which was only about half, he felt full for the first time in a long time. He pushed his plate away and yawned.