The cage was their first and last defense and no matter how much he hated to put her in it, the change was happening too quickly for either one of them to be able to keep her contained for much longer. With the breath knocked out of him from the shove that he’d taken, Brayden struggled to his feet without hesitating to push her back towards the gate of the truck, anything he could do to keep her moving forward rather than putting more distance between her and the only thing that would contain her. The gun on his hip was a last precaution, the only thing that he’d use against her as his rifles and loaded guns were in the cab of the truck along with her own. The rest of their knives were in there as well other than one in his boot, always in case they would be caught off guard. With the way that she was screaming, Bray could feel cold chills travel down his spine as he thought about anything or anyone out there that would hear her call and come running.

That was why it was in the truck, to make another quick getaway in case of more uninvited guests that could show up for their support to one of their own where he’d be vastly outnumbered despite the fact that it was still Selene. It didn’t matter what she turned into in that cage or the way she stumbled out in the morning, it was still Selene, and he could only see flickers of her in there as the change would continue to draw her away from him. No matter how much he clung to her, she was still slipping away with each passing full moon and Brayden was no closer to finding the cure that would be the only way to save them both from this. The only other option had been found but he hadn’t been able to pull the trigger, not then or any time afterwards. Even in the cab of the truck, hearing her smash against the bars to get closer to him with jaws snapping and the threatening look in her eyes, Bray only ever saw Selene. There was nothing that would stop him from saving her, not even at the cost of his own life as he reached around to hoist her closer to the back to the back of the cage.

It was to no avail, not with the way that her body was shifting and changing beneath his touch and he knew that every pressure that he made would cause her more pain than what she was going through as he would watch her bones break and reset themselves in a new formation while the change would take over and control her body and mind. There was be next to nothing left of her in the coming hours, but he still had to believe that she was in there somewhere. One night he would get through to her, never once giving up that she’d recognize his voice and hear him in there somewhere, but until then - the cage was their only option to keep everyone safe and keep from adding to the pile of guilt that he wore on his shoulders like an old coat. It’d fitted itself to him, resting on there all times of the day when she was awake and barely there or the nights when her body would be exhausted and her mind would continue to race while he’d stay up and watch over her.

The night it all started, the night that brought her to this moment when she felt about as weak as she possibly could, that moment felt like ages ago at this point. It seemed like years had passed since the curse was laid upon her that nearly pushed Selene to the point of no return. Though it had only been months and she knew that to be true, it seemed like longer since they were both caught off guard at the most inopportune time that led to this moment and many before where she struggle to even take that last step towards the only thing that would keep the rest of the world safe from her. She was once the one to do that, the woman to protect those who couldn't protect themselves from the beasts that hunted anything and everything in sight as she hunted them, but now she was becoming that beast once again after the many times before that steered her in the way she never imagined would happen.

Life couldn't be considered simple in a world full of monsters that threatened everything around. It couldn't be a basic place to live when she knew the truth of the beasts that were out there. The things that really went bump in the night that weren't just tales to tell when they were true nightmares were also the same things that Selene knew to hunt better than she knew most other things. The world might not have been simple, but it was her life and the only thing she could consider ordinary in a world that was full of anything but that. It was a steady life, even one that was full of the knowledge that anyone might leave the compound for a hunt and never return because they very well might not make it past the beast that night. It had happened a number of times as she made her way with the very partner beside her, but they always returned the same way the left. There might have been cuts and bruises left behind, yet they always came back as the same people who left — until now.

The moment she felt the curse weighing on her when that mark was left behind, that was when Selene knew there was no returning to the only place she had called home. There was no going back to the place or the people that were still there. As the nights passed with Brayden driving the truck as she sat in the passenger seat, or the even worse nights when he pulled over as she became the monster that took over, she knew there was no going back to something she once had because it was lost. While Selene had never been one to give up and was always the one to push on, even when some considered her to be stubborn for it, that hadn't been the case since the instant she fell to the cold and wet ground and waited for a bullet that had her name written all over it. Even though it never came and still had yet to reach her, the fact still remained that she had given up that night as she felt torn by the weight she only let press down on her more and more with each full moon that came and went.

Selene could feel his hands on her again when Brayden did everything to get her to take those final steps because now he was the one who couldn't give up. It seemed like he couldn't and he also wouldn't let her, but they both knew the point it had gotten to and even more so in this moment when she could barely even push herself towards the back of the truck, let alone actually get in it. They took too long and knew the consequences, even if it hadn't gotten to this point before. More broken bones that soon shifted and set themselves back into a new position for the night that couldn't pass quickly enough. It never could and she knew that, while also knowing that it wouldn't matter soon when the beast had nearly pushed her aside completely. Her body shook less, her hands remained practically steady at her side and that only meant Selene was no longer herself until the moon set and morning came.

All the stories about killing the beast that’d bit the person that turned, that was another route that they’d have to take eventually but it wasn’t one that they’d come across lightly as they travelled towards what he knew had to be out there. They’d been fighting this war for decades, probably longer than that, and Bray wanted to believe that not every hunter that got bit was killed. He wanted to believe that there was more out there just needing to be found out by those with the drive and determination to make it happen. If anything, he had that determination. He had to for her sake. Leaving her like this, watching as it tore through her time and time again and sitting in the cab while the beast threw itself at the cage and tried to escape throughtout the course of the night only to find her in there again, Bray couldn’t keep it up forever. One day they’d hit their limit and he feared that they might have been closer to it than he wanted to admit as he felt her shove him away and the blood curdling scream reach her lips.

Hands on his ears, Brayden stumbled backwards but it was only a minute as he grabbed at her, trying to find a semblance of control over the wayward limbs that weren’t cooperating to put her in the cage whether she liked it or not. Neither one of them liked it but it was the only way they could ensure that she’d make it through the night without anything else on her conscience. To wake up after turning and find out that she’d become fully the monsters that they hunted, Bray wanted to do everything in his power to make sure that it didn’t happen to her. If there was anything that he could do, it was that with the last breath in his lungs. He’d already failed to put her out of her misery, knowing that this was all that she had to look forward to for as long as they made an attempt to keep her alive as he couldn’t let her go. He couldn’t do it. He wasn’t cut out to be the hunter that so many others had become in short years, watching them come and go and return down a partner or a limb, but he was always one that watched more than he did anything else.

Now wasn’t the time to watch as he shoved her up onto the back of the truck and nearly had her in the cage before another arm hit him square in the chest and sent him flying backwards onto the ground and his back. The wind knocked out of his lungs, Bray struggled to breathe and push himself off the ground as his vision blinked in and out of darkness - he could only watch her as his fingers clasped around the edge of the gun that was in his holster. She might have told him no before but now she was losing control over herself and he knew that it wouldn’t be long before she’d change completely if they didn’t get her in the cage. “Selene,” he yelled, trying to make his voice heard over the screams that he could feel crawl under his skin as a painful reminder that it was all his fault. “Selene, you’ve got to fight this and get in the cage. You have to do it.”

It was only moments ago when everything inside her screamed for Selene to get in that cage. The beast that began to slowly take over was now taking over quicker than she could have imagined. She was losing herself completely and there was no denying it when these nights came and she felt herself shifting into one of the monsters she used to hunted. All the moments in her life led up to this very second and they all pushed her in a different direction than where she found herself. She was pushed to train, to fight, to hunt, to protect. It was one day after the next of her sticking with something that only caused her to ache during the night and even more the following morning. Selene pushed herself to be all that she could be as a hunter while protecting those who couldn't protect themselves, but it only ended with her becoming the one thing she couldn't protect anyone from.

Everything inside her that shouted to get in the cage now faded away with each blood curdling scream that passed her lips and echoed around them. It was deafening enough to cause a splitting headache that was only amplified by the one she already had from the pain surging through her. One jolt after the next and she wasn't so sure it would ever stop, but knew that eventually it would and another pain would follow after. The shift would come, causing her bones to snap while her limps would bend in the most uncomfortable of ways when the beast finally took over completely and Selene was pushed aside in a mind that was barely even her own. That was only the start of the pain that she would feel and she knew that to be true when she had felt it enough times with each full moon that passed. It was always the same and they had a routine down well enough to know what would come next.

Except for now when that routine was being broken with the passing moments that had Selene outside of the cage. She should have been inside of it by now with a door locked until the morning when Bray would finally release her and she could deal with the pain that followed after nights like this one. There was always more pain to follow when the aching of a shift stuck with her after a night of the beast that took over and thrashed against the cage as a way of getting out. It did everything in its power to get out and be free, yet it was only ever Selene that was actually free when she could finally take those steps in the morning on her own two feet as the throbbing settled into her skin and bones. But even that wasn't the last of the pain that she had to endure when she still had to think about it and how this was what had become of her — a once hunter turned monster with no way out.

That was beginning to be the only way she could see things as she hunched over the back of the truck while gripping onto it as if her life depended on it. Another few short moments and she would become that monster she always hunted before this moment. The beast would take over completely as it slowly had been when she once protected the world from them with the man who had been by her side this entire time. Even when she got cursed and expected the bullet, even as she shoved him aside once more, even when it was obvious that she had nearly given up — he stuck by her and shouted for her to go on because he still believed and knew there was no other way. She also knew there was no other way, but what she knew didn't matter as the beast began to take over more while she pushed herself just a little further, doing everything in her power to take those last few steps.

“You have to,” he told her with another press of his shoulder against her side as he started to push her up into the bed of the truck with the strength that was quickly weakening as he felt her body start to shake and shiver from something other than the cold. “You have to do this Selene, because I can’t.. I can’t do this without you.” Each words was a grunt and mutter as he pushed through the last of his courage until he felt like nothing more than the cracks that’d formed throughout him and left him gasping for air beneath her. “I need you climb in there like the last time and hold onto the fact that we’ll find the cure.. that we’re going to fix this. I’m not going to let you give up on me, not… not yet. Not ever.” Not after the number of times she’d never been the one to give up on him, Bray knew that she needed him then more than she’d ever voice, more than either one of them would, as he held onto her shivering body with his hands.

But every push of his body against her own wasn’t enough to push her up and over the lip of the tailgate and into the cage that he’d made specifically for this reason. He needed her in there before it was too late and she was loose when she changed. They both knew what would happen then to anyone that ran across her path, watching the way the light went out of her eyes just before she changed into something both of them were familiar with, him more so than she even knew. But he pushed that out of his head, to think for a moment that there was something else inside of the beast when it wasn’t Selene, it went against everything they’d been taught. But so was this. He’d been raised and trained to kill the things that hunted the innocent but instead of doing just that, he’d been weak and selfish and forced them both into this situation that he knew was hurting her more than it was him as he could only watch helplessly until the cure was in his hand.

“Think of what will happen if you don’t get in there, Selene, think about the people,” he swallowed thickly as his throat started to dry up despite the glean of sweat on his brow as he moved to her side and pressed his hands on either side of her face, forcing her eyes on him as he pleaded with her to climb for more than just him. “Think about everything that could happen if you don’t get in there. Please, try. If there’s anything that you can hold onto right now, any thought or memory or person, do that, and think about them right now because I need you. I need you to do this because if not, I won’t do this without you.” He knew that long before this night, that there was no chance of him outside the compound’s walls as he’d be reduced to domestic chores back there for the rest of his life and he would have settled for that. But she’d brought him out of his shell, forced him to become a better man, and he wasn’t going to give up on her or them, not yet. Not now.

Except she hadn't felt like herself once again and that hadn't been because of the first change. The change had her giving up more than she ever thought possible, but the curse that was left upon her was what had her feeling as if she could never be the same person again. It weighted heavy on her shoulders, pressed down upon her chest until she felt as if she could no longer breathe when that's exactly how she felt as the full moon approached on nights that were the same as this one. Selene felt the jolts of pain that surged through her entire body and left her unable to feel anything other than just that — pain. It was nothing more than agony as bones shattered and she shifted into the monster she once hunted but no longer could when she became one of them. She couldn't be who she once was any longer and felt that more and more with each night that had her turning into a beast.

A woman who was braver than most; a woman who pushed herself and those around her; a woman who never gave up. Selene was strength, stubborn, and stalwart all wrapped into one.

Or so that had once been the case until now as she was forced to look at a man who still stuck with her, even when she couldn't be the partner he deserved. Selene begged him to put that bullet where it belonged and he couldn't do it, only bringing them to this point where the pain within her began reaching a new level and the only thing keeping her up where the hands pressed to either side of her face. He couldn't end her life and she couldn't blame him for it, but now she couldn't take that last couple steps they both needed and she was only to blame for that as her eyes shut for a brief moment while her hands remained at her sides, balled up into fists that felt wrong when they were weak and still shaking from anything other than the cold that wrapped around them. The weather she could handle, but not what was to come as the shaking slowed only in the slightest as she felt it beginning to take over. With her eyes still closed, Selene wanted to beg him once more to put that bullet were it belonged, but that never reached the tip of her tongue the same as how she knew that the tranquilizer was needed when those words couldn't even travel up her throat.

“I...” Any words were cut off as the shaking came to a halt while her arm bent back in the most uncomfortable way and all she could do was let out a scream that sounded nothing like her own. It sounded foreign and as if it was off in the distance, only echoing throughout the woods around them instead of right before them. They both needed that tranquilizer more than ever right now, but she couldn't speak the words when the only thing passing her lips was another earth-shattering scream as she pushed away the hands that were pressed against her while the beast inside started to take over.

That was how it’d always been for as long as he’d known her. She was always the strong one, the resilant one, the one that everyone wanted to partner up with because they knew with her they had the best chance of survival. So many other hunters had come and gone in the time that he’d known her but she always came out without a scratch, until now. Now it was his mistake that cost them both dearly as he thought about the possible outcomes of that night and the fact that he’d disobeyed his training. He hadn’t taken the shot and put her out of her misery before she turned but he also hadn’t let her go either. It was a mixedbag of bittersweet emotions that choked him every day and night when his gaze landed on her quiet frame that was no longer the partner that he knew, but someone else entirely. Someone that he’d broken and remade with whatever pieces he had left and it was slowly but surely killing them both to know that he hadn’t been strong enough to do the right thing in the first place. But how could he? How could he let her go?

Bray shook uit off, knowing that now wasn’t the time to think things over in his head, at least not until she was in the cage, safe and secure, without a chance to escape and be like the creatures they hunted. So many times they’d come for a wolf and it turned out to be a family member or a friend of the deceased that it could have been prevented if only someone had taken it out before it turned completely into the wolf with no chance of turning back. She still had a chance. As long as they kept up hope and moved forward, there was still a chance that he’d bee able to reverse the change that was coursing through her veins as they struggled to stay upright and into the back of the truck. What was the hesitation? Why weren’t they already locked up and burying what he felt for her that eclipsed everything else? Why couldn’t he let her go for her own well being? Why put her through all this every month and watch her slip away regardless?

“Okay,” he told her quietly, shrugging the weight on his side as he tipped her closer to the edge of the truck where it would take only a step and a pull up into the back before he could close her in and begin another night of spending it watching him lose his partner again. “No tranquilizer but you need to pick yourself up there, Selene, you need to move. If you can’t, tell me and I’ll,” he swallowed thickly, eyes on her like always before he continued. “I’ll carry you up there but we don’t have much time.” His gaze flashed up above the tops of the trees to where the moon was about to reach the top of the sky. He cursed under his breath, a small one that she’d taught him but he always managed to get wrong and cause her to smile before she corrected him and they moved on. It was getting too late, far too late for her to still be loose, but he couldn’t move her without her help.

The two of them knew how to handle their own and Selene was at the top of the list in that category while everyone back at the compound knew that to be the truth. The man beside her, the one who had been by her side this whole time, he knew just how true it was. Selene could more than just handle her own when she pushed harder than anyone else knew possible. There was a part of her that could say it came naturally with the hunters in her family before her, but that never had her letting up for a moment when it meant it could be her last. If she let up in training and ended up slipping on a hunt, she would never make it back and never continue on. That was always reason enough for the woman to allow herself to train harder and be better. If there was one thing about her that anyone could say, it was that she never gave up and always pushed herself and the people around her, including the partner who had been with her this entire time.

That had once been the case until they reached this point where Selene felt like there was no going back. She couldn't be strong, she couldn't be the person she once was. With the passing nights that led to another full moon, she continued to feel as if she was falling apart and there was no end in sight. The person from before who never gave up and only pushed on a little more to keep going was someone she could not longer see when looking in a mirror. The only thing she saw was the face of a worn out woman who couldn't take it anymore. She saw a woman who was once strong and was now anything but that. She saw the face of a woman who practically begged her partner to end it without actually seeing an end. There wasn't an end, not anymore, not unless it came from a bullet that had her name written on it since the night she was cursed.

As another surge of pain jolted through her entire body, Selene realized just how late it truly was. Placing her hands on the bed of the truck while wanting so desperately to push herself up, her eyes cast up at the sky above to see the moon settling in the same as it had many nights before. The only difference was the shape to it that showed it was full and steady, while she couldn't find herself being either of those words. “I can't,” she whispered out the words while still looking up for a moment longer. She couldn't consider herself to be full when she only felt empty and she couldn't consider herself to be steady when her entire body felt like it was shaking as she gripped at the truck bed while her eyes fell down to her own hands that she could see were physically shaking. It wasn't the feeling when it was actually happening and she couldn't stop it. Selene couldn't push herself up when that last piece of her began to tear away for the night and she couldn't push it away as it started taking over.

For their sake, he needed to believe even as it was harder to do with each passing day. All he could do when he wasn’t chasing stories and legends on the wind was see her start to disappear when she used to be a force to be reckoned with even on a bad day. But they were starting to blur together, barely reacting to one morning from the next as dark circles took over his face as he stayed up past her and was up before the sun most every day. It was only the ones that follow the full moon, secure in the thought that she wouldn’t change without the cage or making sure that no one else got hurt did he actually sleep. Restless and ill content was the best that he could afford while putting on the strongest brave face that he could, for her, for the both of them. Even now, it was a fight to hold on for the both of them but given the option to give up, Bray couldn’t. He wouldn’t.

Another push and a pull of her body towards the entrance, he reached out for the door and swung it open as far as it would go until there was nothing for her to do but climb in so he could secure it. Out here, they were safer than anywhere, having tracked out several miles to ensure that no one else other than wildlife would disturb him while she changed into the beast they’d been hunting that night. They were still no closer to finding the cure, but he wasn’t about to tell her that. Hope was a strength even to the weak, and he was nothing but holding onto hope for their sake. “Come on, darling,” he pressed on once more, needing her to take the steps that he couldn’t or else he’d end up in the cage with her. Maybe that was where he belonged, having been the reason for it all in the first place, but if they were both in there, then there was no saving them when the full moon rolled around again.

“A few more steps and then it’s all done. Then there’s nothing to worry about. I’ll handle it all from there.” His words might have been reaching or lost on the howl of the wind sweeping through the woods that surrounded them, but he felt a certain weight tell him that he needed to push on and keep them going for as long as possible. If that meant another change, another night in the cage, then he’d do it and anything else that he could to keep them both going, together. “You want the tranquilizer tonight?” He didn’t know if he’d get a response, but the question was always one that he threw out at her before he closed her. There was no telling if it’d work but it was better to be safe than sorry as he felt the gun in his hip holster as he knocked against the cage with his shoulder as she moved against him.

That was the case until the night that still haunted her. It always would with the mark that got left behind and the curse that was put upon her. Even if the day came when they found some cure and things slowly drifted back to normal, Selene wasn't so sure it would ever be completely normal and she wasn't so sure things could be just the way they were before. That night would still stick with her along with the many full moons that followed and had her locked away in a cage when that was the last place she ever should have been. She should have been back at the compound with the man who still stuck beside her while they trained during the early hours of the day and managed to drink later at night until eventually they were back out in the woods once again. She should have been ready like she always had been, not hesitating or even thinking about it when everyone knew exactly where that hesitation would get them. It was even worse when she got the chance to see and feel exactly where it got them and herself.

The only thing a cure could do was take care of the beast that had settled inside of her and slowly tore pieces of Selene away. Though there would actually have to be a cure in order for that to happen and she still couldn't find herself believing it. It had always been a tall tale and nothing more than that to her until the bite came and she had that split second of hope where she needed it. The only thing she needed more was the bullet that would end things before the could ever get to the point she was at now, but the woman soon found out that it wouldn't come and so she had to settle for the hope of a cure.

It wasn't long before that faded away about as much as she had. A cure seemed so far-fetched at this point and that only got worse as another full moon approached while she could practically feel it. That's the point she had reached, where she could feel the full moon about as much as the pain that was jolting through her body while she stayed hunched over against the back of the truck before trying to steady herself. The only thing Selene had to do was climb into that cage and let Bray lock it up for the night before they would soon be on their way again, but that seemed nearly impossible. It got worse with each full moon as she slipped away more and more with another spark of discomfort that worked its way around her entire body. One, maybe two more steps and she could be fine for the night, but hearing his words about the tranquilizer had her glancing at the gun resting against his hip before her eyes quickly landed on the truck once more while she shook her head. She didn't need it, even if part of her knew that she did and another part knew she couldn't take that last step anymore.

“No,” she croaked out the single word and wasn't even sure if she actually spoke because the voice she heard sounded nothing like herself while Selene gripped the truck tighter with each passing moment of pain she couldn't describe. She needed that tranquilizer and part of her felt like she was screaming for it without hearing a word come out as she tried steadying her hands while gripping a little tighter and knowing it wouldn't help.

“Come on, darling,” his thick words slipping out between his grit teeth as he struggled to keep her upright and climbing into the back of the truck. It was too close of a call for the both of them to be out there togehter. Even if it was in the middle of the nowhere, no town for miles which meant that if she didn’t make it in the cage, then people would be safe either way, Bray knew what she’d do to herself when she came back from the change, beating herself down even more than thought possible. That was the last thing he wanted for her, to take on the blame and guilt of hurting someone else after they’d devoted their lives to protect them from that which she’d become.

He gripped her tightly, hoisting her closer to the edge of the truck but the last few steps had to be taken by her because there was little he could do from where he stood other than show her the way that she’d have to take for the sake of them both. There was nothing for him if she was gone. They’d already abandoned the compound, knowing exactly what they’d do to her if they knew that he hadn’t put her down after the scratch on her arm but there was no way that he’d do that, to her or anyone. It was a guilt that he carried with him as his gaze searched her face for recognition, for anything at all as his hand pushed back the hair that was already slick from the humidity and the night’s pull on her.

“Just a few more steps and then it’s all over.” He grunted with effort to keep her calm while his entire body was on it’s last nerve, needing to rest for the next ten years to get back the time that he’d lost on the search for a cure that never came soon enough to avoid her change. Every time it happened he could watch another part of her slip away from him, from the both of them, and no matter what he did, there was nothing stopping her from slipping away completely other than the fact that he’d put this on the both of them. He’d taken that easy option, the one that would have saved them both the pain and anguish that he was putting them through for a cure, and forced her to live through it. “I promise that we’ll get that cure an’ then you’ll be right as rain, ready to kick my ass again for being such an optimist.”

Except it was already too late and had been for longer than either realized. She had been slipping away, more than just on these particular nights when she turned with the fear of never turning back again. The only thing she could do was force herself to be the same woman she had always been, but that was too little and too late when that person couldn't be more different than the one who had to be helped into a cage in fear that she would hurt someone. All they ever did was try to help and save people from the things that they had hunted nearly all their lives, but that wasn't the case anymore. She couldn't help or save anyone when she was what they once hunted. She couldn't help or save anyone from inside a cage that held her back from doing too much damage.

The only thing she could do was let him guide her along the right path, which had always seemed to be the exact thing he did for the both of them. Now it was only a little different when that path locked her away until the sun came up the next morning and people would be safe from her own teeth and claws that couldn't be tamed or controlled in the slightest. It was a short distance from the passenger seat of the truck to the back where he had set it up so she couldn't hurt anyone or herself, but that walk always seemed to take longer than any other she might have taken before. While it couldn't be anymore than a dozen or so steps, it felt like miles and she couldn't make it on her own and only ever reached it because he helped push her along. Even at this point where they were and what she had become, he was still doing whatever it took to help her.

It wasn't enough though, not when she felt the pain coursing through her veins, jolting over every bones along the way with each step she barely managed to take. He could help her, try doing whatever it took, but she felt herself slipping away and letting go the instant she waited for the bullet from his gun to end it all. That moment should have come because then it wouldn't have had them in this particular one where her eyes slowly blinked while darting over the cage she wanted nothing more than to avoid, but knew she had to step in. Reaching her hand out to place it on the bed of the truck, Selene took a deep breath while hearing his words, taking them all in, before feeling one last bit of pain that traveled up her spine and had her hunched over against the track with a gasp and whimper, feeling what was to come.

It’d been two months since that first transformation. Two full moons meant two weeks of transformations where they were both fighting tooth and nail to see it through with only the promise of another full moon on the horizon. Selene didn’t look good, that much was clear as Bray did everything he could to keep pushing them forward but every time they neared a full moon. It didn’t even matter that it was only a few days a month before they’d be back on the road again, chasing after a pipe dream that felt even less of a reality the longer they were searching for it. But he couldn’t give up, not if he wanted to keep them both alive when every time that he glanced over and watched her retreat back into herself, Brayden had no one to blame but himself.

There was nothing that he could do to change anything, the cage in the back of the truck a constant reminder as to what they were out in the middle of the woods for another full moon. It was on the waning side which meant that they only had one maybe two nights left before they had a solid few weeks to travel even further north.

He shoved his hands into the pockets of the worn jacket, torn after the past few nights when he’d been alone with a wolf locked in a cage. There was no changing what’d already happened, but he could keep pushing them forward until they found the cure that he so desperately knew had to be out there. They were running late, having hit the woods later than he intended as he watched the moon climb higher into the sky to the point where he knew it would be too late to get her in there willingly. If only they hadn’t got stuck a few miles out, a small town that was under attack from a chupacabra or so they thought, before it turned out to be a rabid dog. Either way, they were late.

“Now, Selene,” he grit out through clenched teeth, trying to do his best to help her into the cage without so much as putting a hand on her, per her request. Though he could tell that he needed his help as he forewent the safety protocals they’d put up over the past few months and went to her side, grabbing a hold of her under her arms and hoisting her onto her feet and towards the back of the truck. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, not sure if she’d be able to understand him in her state now or ever.

Or even couldn't say when words had never been something that so easily came to her. He was only slightly better with the laughter and jokes that got tossed around on too many occasions. Aside from that, it was never easy for the two of them to share certain words, especially in the passing months that brought them to the point of no return in her eyes when she couldn't see an end in sight.

A promise of a cure that would end this curse was too easy. Maybe that was why she couldn't find herself saying the right things, because it came so easily to others and she never was one to take the easy way about things. Of course, the easy way would have been ideal if it meant the moment before had never happened. The moments that led up to it where neither of them seemed to be ready when they always were, the instant the bite came to her, and even the minutes that ticked on after that seemed like hours to her at that point.

The easy way would have been more than ideal if it meant none of it happened and she wasn't ready to take another beating that changed her into the one thing she never wanted to become. She hunted them and shouldn't have become one, but that didn't stop the aching from settling into her bones with the passing seconds as she felt a slight pressure under her arms before she was directed towards an unfortunately familiar place. She was once her own person, and now she was turned into a caged animal when there was no way around it as she clinched her jaw at the pain and spasms jolting through her. It didn't matter that the hands on her were trying to help just the same as they always had, not when it only brought one thought to her; she was a monster.