The boys had been acting strangely for days. Blue couldn't quite place it, though something in the air felt odd whenever the three of them were together. Sig was looking at Blue a little too long, constantly, a soft smile on his face hiding a string of thoughts the little wolf was never willing to share. Eivind seemed distracted, often lost in a haze Blue couldn't see through. At first, the young man had attributed the mental distance to Eivind's increasingly exhaustive work schedule, the long hours surrounding chauffeuring Blue to school and back again. But even that didn't seem a good enough excuse to slip away from Blue's gentle lips and needy fingers that morning, and Blue watched with his thick brow heavily furrowed and his mouth twisted into a frown as Eivind began to dress himself. It wasn't like Eivind to refuse sex, and it seemed almost an insult to do so after Blue had complained the night before about missing his mate.<br/><br/>No amount of whining or arguing seemed to change Eivind's mind. The wolf was determined to go stretch his legs, and he wanted Blue to come with him. Begrudgingly admitting he wouldn't mind a long hike through the woods he used to frequent before running off to the dingy motel, Blue quietly dressed himself in some blue jeans, a green t-shirt with old dried paint stains, and a pair of dark brown hiking boots. Easy to move in, made to get dirty. He slathered a layer of sunscreen on his face and arms before climbing into Eivind's truck, his fair visage marred by a lingering glower.<br/><br/>Blue's interest was piqued with Eivind's instructions, though he spent the five obligatory minutes wallowing in an irritated funk before snatching an unfamiliar paper out of the glove box. “What the fuck?” Blue mumbled, staring at the crude but intelligible map as he stepped from the truck and began following the predetermined path.<i>This isn't like our other games</i>, he thought to himself, crossing a small bridge. He knelt down to look at the upturned earth, noting the fresh smell of dirt.<i>Claw marks?</i>Fingers ran through the soft, displaced ground. Definitely intentional. He stood, his steel gray eyes glancing at the map again before folding it up and slipping it into his back pocket. A little farther down the path and Blue noted more of the same gouges in the dirt, paired with lost bits of clothing that were undeniably Eivind's. It wasn't too difficult to when Eivind wanted him to deviate from the trail, the marks in the dirt and discarded clothing leading the way.<br/><br/>The shovel stuck out of the dirt like a pillar of curiosity and intrigue, encouraging Blue to grab at it and dig where a mass of marks scarred the ground. It didn't take very long for the metal blade to smack against something hard buried beneath the dirt, forcing Blue to get down on his knees and carefully clean away the earth, revealing the huge skull.<br/><br/>“What the fuck?” he mumbled, diving deeper and using his hands to scoop. He saw a glint of metal hidden beneath the bones and used the shovel to dig out the pieces of skull and retrieve the strange locked box. He carefully moved it around in his hands and could hear<i>something</i>sliding inside, though he had no idea what the combination could be and Eivind hadn't left any hints about that.<br/><br/>Following Eivind's scrawled message, Blue found his way to the top of the trail, the pathway spreading out into a small clearing surround by a curtain of trees. Eivind was standing there, waiting, his olive skin glowing beneath the sunlight that broke through the crown of branches.<br/><br/>“What is all this?” Blue asked, his annoyance from the morning forgotten as he approached his lover, holding the box out. “What's in here? What's the combination?”<br/><br/>Eivind told him, but the information didn't register. “Say yes? To what?” He tilted his head, perplexed, and watched as his mate knelt down before him on a single knee. The young man's eyes grew wide, his lips trembled as he clutched at the box, holding it to his chest. “What are you doing?” he whispered, but he already knew, and a shaky wrist twisted up so Blue could look at the watch Eivind insisted he wear. The date shown clearly beneath the glass face,<i>May 21st, 2018. </i>He looked at the combination lock again. Six digits. He swallowed a hard lump in his throat as he fingered the dials, listening to them click into place.<br/><br/>0 – 5 – 2 – 1 – 1 – 8<br/><br/>The door popped open, revealing a small blue velvet box. “Vin?” Blue set the lock box down on the ground and stood, running his fingers along the top of the velvet and admiring the rich texture. He smiled faintly, opening the box with quivering fingers as his heart raced inside of chest. He could hear his own pulse in his ears, erratic and hurried like a frenzied horse. The ring inside soaked up the sunlight and shone beautifully beneath its rays, the various materials woven so perfectly together. The young man's breath caught in his throat as he removed it, palmed it and stared for only a few seconds, though it felt like an eternity as his blood continued to rush wildly through his veins.<br/><br/>“Yes,” he whispered, slipping the ring onto his left hand and grinning. It fit perfectly.<br/><br/>“Yes,” he said again, this time louder, tossing the blue box onto the ground next to the lock box and falling to his knees, wrapping his arms around Eivind's shoulders and raining kisses down upon his face again and again.<br/><br/>Blue's skin was hot and flushed a bright red as he ran his hands through Eivind's hair and down his back, breath warm against his lover's skin. Adrenaline pumped through him as he pulled at Eivind's belt, wanting to feel him, wanting to be one with the man he'd agreed to spend the rest of his life with. His fiancé. His wolf.<br/><br/>“I love you.” His voice quavered against Eivind's mouth, overwhelmed with emotion he didn't know how to calm. But he decided in a moment that he needn't be calm, not now. He was excited and terrified, aroused and elated, blinded to everything around him except the man in his arms, and he loved every electrifying moment.