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#Chapter 21 - Speech
Last Updated:
2023-01-08 21:31:27
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The Lycan's Runaway Bride #Chapter 22 - the Queen
RubyI don’t waste any time taking advantage of the library. First thing Saturday morning, I pop out of bed and hastily brush my teeth before throwing on my robe and slippers and running off to the library.The library smells like mahogany and old books. It’s quiet and peaceful, and without Alice or anyone else here, I finally feel like myself for the first time since I’ve come to this castle.I easily spend an hour scouring just one bookshelf and come away with a stack of novels to read. With a smile on my face and my arms heavy with books, I waddle over to the seating area beneath the large window with the stained glass rose at the top and plop myself down to read.The first novel I pick up is the first in a series about a young female detective who is working on a murder case. It’s a page-turner, and within half an hour I’m already several chapters in and completely enthralled.Unfortunately, my peace is broken by the sound of the library door opening. I poke my head up over the ba
Last Updated : 2023-01-08The Lycan's Runaway Bride #Chapter 23 - Play practice
RubyAtwood takes away my phone for the week and makes me clean up the mess I made in the bedroom, which is a fair punishment for my behavior. I’m thankful that he doesn’t restrict my newfound access to the library, although as I wake up on Monday morning I’m terrified to think of the brutal punishments that will come from Alice and the Queen this week.Alice’s punishments begin with her usual routine of ripping me out of a peaceful slumber and forcefully combing my hair and dressing me before school. She gives me nothing but an apple for breakfast and sends me on my way with a glare.When I arrive at school, Nancy is waiting for me by the door. After the events this weekend, it’s nice to see a friendly, smiling face.“Good morning, bestie,” Nancy says excitedly. She immediately grabs me by my hand and drags me off before I have a chance to get my bearings.“The cast list is here!” she says as she pulls me along down the hallway. “I waited for you to get here so we could look at it to
Last Updated : 2023-01-08The Lycan's Runaway Bride #Chapter 24 - Hybrid Equality
RubyEver since my interaction with Atwood in the entryway the day of the auditions, I’ve been pretty certain that he had something to do with Ethan’s accident. That’s why I’m terrified when Atwood says that he’ll “take care of it” after I tell him about what Earl said after play practice.Despite the fact that Earl said awful things about me and called me a dirty mutt for being a hybrid, I still don’t want to see him get hurt. I don’t want to see anyone get hurt; I didn’t even want Ethan and Donna to be punished beyond something as simple as a suspension from school.Still, I know that there’s nothing I can do about Atwood’s actions. When I enter the school on the morning after Earl’s outburst, I fully expect there to be some new, horrible thing that “mysteriously” happened to him during the night.Instead, I’m met with Nancy’s usual smile and hug. The other students mill about in the entryway and at their lockers, looking at their phones and laughing with their friends.Nancy notice
Last Updated : 2023-01-08The Lycan's Runaway Bride #Chapter 25 - Sign
AtwoodRuby emerges from her hiding spot looking rather embarrassed. I’m not upset with her for snooping, though -- how could I be? She’s a naturally curious girl, and besides, after what happened in the auditorium, I can’t blame her for wanting to follow when she saw the headmaster and I storming off with my men at my heels. I just hope that she didn’t overhear too much.My suspicions are confirmed, however, when we get into the back of the car to go back to the castle and the first thing out of her mouth has to do with the Bears.“Why are we going to be attacked?” she says. Her voice quivers a bit. She sounds frightened, rightfully so.I sigh as Kayne pulls out of the school parking lot. There’s no beating around the bush or trying to hide this now. The girl deserves to know the truth.“They want to overthrow me,” I say, matter-of-factly.She looks confused.“But… why?”“Because,” I answer, “the Bears… don’t agree with my method of rule. They’ve never sided with the Lycans.”Ruby lo
Last Updated : 2023-01-08The Lycan's Runaway Bride #Chapter 26 - Costume
RubyThe night that I asked about Luna, Atwood gave me a cold and distant answer and then promptly sent me to bed. I tried not to think about it, but I couldn’t help but toss and turn all night wondering just who Luna was and why Atwood was being so strange about it.That night, as I lay in bed, I had another vision. Truthfully, I’m not sure if it was a vision or a dream, but even now, two weeks later, it burns inside my mind.In the vision, there was a beautiful woman with long, dark hair staring at me.Not a real woman, not really.A painting.I was standing in that same dark room from that day I had been running around the castle. I don’t know how I had gotten in there, or the events leading up to it, but there I was, holding the white sheet that covered the painting in my hand.Was this Luna?I looked down.There was blood on my hands.I haven’t stopped thinking about that vision.It seems as though Atwood forgot about my question -- or at least, he’s pretending that he forgot, be
Last Updated : 2023-01-08The Lycan's Runaway Bride #Chapter 27 - Bear
AtwoodI wanted to go to Ruby’s play. It was really, truly all I wanted.As I limp through woods with my blood dripping into the snow, she’s all I can think about.Tamara and I were both dressed and heading out the door to go to Ruby’s play when they came in. Tamara looked so cute in her little blue dress and matching peacoat, holding a big bouquet to give Ruby after the play.When they came in, however, I immediately ushered Tamara away so she wouldn’t have to see the blood.“They came out of nowhere,” my pack member, Noah, said. “Ambushed us. We… We didn’t have time to shift.”“Medics!” I screamed down the hallway. Frightened servants frantically ran to and fro. I don’t even think some of them knew where they were going in all of the commotion.I ran up to Noah and helped him to lift Kayne onto the stretcher.Kayne’s face… My best friend from childhood…There was so much blood.The medics rushed him away to the infirmary. Noah wasn’t so badly injured, but still needed to hold onto m
Last Updated : 2023-01-08The Lycan's Runaway Bride #Chapter 28 - The locket
RubyWhen I first saw Atwood’s empty seat in the theater, I was angry and hurt that he would miss my show. Now, however, as I stand in the middle of the quad as the snow falls around me, it all makes sense.I reach into my shirt and pull out my locket, which I haven’t taken off since Atwood gave it to me. His instructions from this morning flash across my mind.“If you ever need me, or just want to feel my presence, all you have to do is hold the pendant.”With a deep breath, I close my eyes and wrap my fingers around the pendant, squeezing it tightly in my hand. I wait like this for several moments, searching for the sound of Atwood’s voice, his touch, his smell, but… there is nothing.Just as I’m about to give up and go back inside, thinking to myself that maybe Atwood’s words were more metaphorical than anything, I feel something.It’s small, just a spark, but it’s there. At the edges of my mind I can just barely feel Atwood’s presence, but it’s weak. I squeeze my eyes shut even ha
Last Updated : 2023-01-08The Lycan's Runaway Bride #Chapter 29 - He heals
RubyWhen I wake, I’m back in Atwood’s bedroom. Was this all a dream? Is it the morning before school again, and will Atwood come strolling in with my homecoming dress any minute?I look over to see Atwood laying beside me. He’s back in his human form. Someone has bandaged his wounds; I guess I knew that my healing abilities wouldn’t be able to fully heal his wound, but I’m satisfied to know at least that maybe my healing kept him alive until the rest of the pack came.I sit up and quietly climb out of bed so as not to wake him. As I do so, I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and pause to look at my reflection.Even though my vision showed me laying dead in the woods having frozen to death, I’m here. I’m alive, I’m warm, and I’m okay. I guess this wouldn’t be the first time that my vision was wrong, but… Even when I had my vision about Atwood in the tunnels, it had still technically been correct; just scattered and misinterpreted.This vision, on the other hand… I stopped it fro
Last Updated : 2023-01-08
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The Lycan's Runaway Bride #Chapter 100: What’s in Store
RubyThe feast goes on for some time longer, well into the night. Some of the guests begin to go home, leaving gifts for Atwood and I, while many others stay and continue to party.“Feasts are always like this,” Atwood says, swirling his champagne around in his glass with one hand and poking at his cake with his fork with his other hand. “On a few different occasions, we’ve had to escort partygoers out of the castle because they simply wanted to party all night.”“It’s refreshing,” I respond, taking a bite of cake. The cake is moist and not too sweet, with buttercream frosting. It practically melts in my mouth. “I’m happy to see people dancing and having fun, especially after what happened at my birthday party.”Admittedly, however, I’m starting to get tired -- and Atwood can tell.“Come on,” he says, standing from his chair and holding his hand out for me. “Let’s sneak out the back here. Everyone is too drunk to notice. I’m getting tired of all the noise.”I nod and take his hand. We
The Lycan's Runaway Bride #Chapter 99: The Royal Wedding
RubyBefore I know it, I’m standing behind the church doors, waiting to walk down the aisle.The morning feels like a blur. As I stand here now, my heart racing with butterflies in my stomach, everything else feels so small and insignificant. All that matters is right now; the flowers in my hand, the veil on my head, the sweat on my palms.It’s just like my vision.I know that when those doors open, Atwood will be standing at the end of the aisle. Nancy and the other bridesmaids -- Beck is one of them, surprisingly enough -- will be standing off to one side, while Atwood’s groomsmen stand on the other side. The priest will be smiling at me, his robes a vibrant combination of red and gold.Tamara will walk ahead of me, tossing flower petals down at my feet while the wedding guests look at their new Princess in awe.And at the back of the room, the shadow figure will be there. It’s always there, watching, lurking.I will ignore it.I will marry Atwood and pretend that the shadow figure
The Lycan's Runaway Bride #Chapter 98: Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue
RubyAtwood says I was sleepwalking last night.I think it was something else.All I remember is waking up in his arms on the forest floor, but my body feels… strange. Like there’s a bit of me missing inside.After I woke up in Atwood’s arms last night, he insisted that we return to the castle in case I start sleepwalking again. I obliged and let him carry me back. He took me straight to my room and didn’t leave my side for the rest of the night, which would normally make me happy, but it only solidified my suspicions that something else happened in the woods.I can’t explain it, nor can I understand it, and I don’t want to try right now. The wedding is today and I just want to focus on that, focus on joy. Perhaps it is just my nerves and it will dissipate after the wedding. Regardless, I’ll take Nancy’s advice and see a therapist. Maybe that will help.Polly comes and wakes me up in the morning. I’m surprised to see that Atwood is already gone, no doubt preparing for the wedding and
The Lycan's Runaway Bride #Chapter 97: Sleepwalker
AtwoodThe last time I slept in the forest, I was just a pup.It was a warm summer night. Lawrence, Freya, Paul, Kayne, and I had spent the day playing and hunting in the woods where it was cooler beneath the shade of the trees. Eventually, we became so exhausted from our day of playing “grown ups” that we all flopped down in a big pile beneath the pine trees, still in our wolf forms, and fell asleep right then and there.I remember that I had felt so much bliss that night. It was as though sleeping outside was in my nature. Even when my mother punished me the next morning for not coming home that night and forbade me from ever sleeping in the woods like a “scoundrel” again, I never regretted it.Now, as Ruby suggests that we sleep in the woods tonight after our hunt and our animalistic sex, I feel the same bliss that I felt that summer night all those years ago.And my mother isn’t here to tell me I’m not allowed.Ruby and I shift back into our wolf forms and find a good spot beneath
The Lycan's Runaway Bride #Chapter 96: A Guilty Conscience
RubyLater in the evening, after we’ve spent a few hours just walking around the castle grounds and enjoying the nice weather, Nancy goes home.Even though it’s much warmer outside than it has been in a while, my face and hands are freezing from spending the day outside so I decide to head in to warm up. I can still hear a bit of commotion in the ballroom as the wedding reception is still being set up when I get inside.My stomach starts to growl and I realize I haven’t eaten all day, so I head toward the kitchen to find something to eat.When I enter the kitchen, Atwood is already there. He’s sitting at the counter with two plates of food.“Perfect timing,” he says with a smile, gesturing to the other plate. “I figured you’d be hungry after trekking around the castle grounds with Nancy all day.”I can’t help but smile at Atwood’s kindness as I take a seat at the kitchen island. The food is still steaming, fresh off the stove. It’s a simple plate of vegetables, chicken, and rice, but
The Lycan's Runaway Bride #Chapter 95: The Bear Hostage
Ruby’s POV“I’ll always protect you, no matter what.”Atwood’s words stick with me, even after he leaves me to go back to the wedding preparations.I know that he’ll always protect me, but how can he protect me against something that may not even exist? How can he protect me against something that has manifested in my own mind; a token of my own guilt and fear?When Atwood leaves me to go back to the ballroom, I still feel as though there are eyes staring at the back of my head. When I turn around, however, there is nothing there.Just then, the sun comes out from behind a cloud and shines through the small stained glass window in the alcove. It casts deep red and purples on the castle floor, and for a moment, I don’t feel so afraid.Maybe I just need to go outside. Maybe some fresh air will help.I run back up the stairs, taking two at a time, and head back to my room to get changed. I send a quick text to Nancy to ask her to meet up at the castle, to which she immediately replies wi
The Lycan's Runaway Bride #Chapter 94: Wedding Preparations
RubyAfter we finished cleaning up Vivian’s room last night, Atwood told me that he had a lot of work to do for preparations since the wedding is almost here, so I decided to sleep on my own. My bed felt cold and empty without him there, but I knew that it would only be forty-eight hours until we’re officially married and will share a bed every night.I’m awoken this morning by Polly knocking on my door. She has a sweet smile on her round face; a massive improvement from Alice’s mean mug waking me up every morning.“Good morning, Princess,” she says with a curtsy, entering my room and opening the curtains to let the morning sun in. “I hope you don’t mind, but Lycan Atwood has asked me to wake you early this morning.”“What for?” I ask groggily, sitting up in bed and rubbing my eyes.“Your wedding dress fitting, of course!”My eyes widen and my heart begins to flutter. It hasn’t fully hit me yet that our wedding will be so soon, but hearing that my wedding dress will be fitted today fi
The Lycan's Runaway Bride #Chapter 93: Acceptance
RubyWhen I was first whisked away from my home to live in the castle and be Atwood’s bride, I thought I would hate it. And truthfully, I did hate it for a long time.But now, as I wake up in the warmth of his hidden bedroom, with his scent filling my senses and the feeling of his lips on my skin, I’m glad that I’m here. Fate has a strange way of making things happen.“Good morning, little bird,” Atwood whispers in between gentle kisses on my chest and neck.Last night, we made love for the first time. I thought that we would follow tradition and wait until marriage, but like so many other things that have happened over the past few months, the outcome was different from my expectations.For the first time in months, I feel peace. Alice, Edith, and the Queen are gone; I’ll be marrying Atwood in just a couple of days; and I’ll return to school in a few weeks as the Princess of the Lycan Kingdom.While the whereabouts of the Queen and her minions are still unknown and there is always th
The Lycan's Runaway Bride #Chapter 92: The Room
AtwoodAs soon as Ruby says that she experienced the void, memories of my time there come rushing back. More than anything else, memories of what Vivian said to me there flood back into my mind.“Visit my room more... Turn on the lights and light the fire... Let both yourself and Ruby enjoy the room, rather than shutting it off from the world. Most importantly, uncover my painting; I like to watch from there.”Her words ring in my head as though she’s speaking them to me in this moment, but I know that’s not the case. Vivian has finally crossed over to an eternity of peace. From now on, she only exists in the snow that falls from the sky.I’m okay with that. I think Ruby is, too.I stand up and start getting dressed.“Get dressed,” I tell Ruby. “I want to show you something.She throws on her robe and follows me out of my hidden room, taking my hand as we exit the study into the cold, dark corridor. Everyone else in the castle, aside from the guards who are watching the entrances lik
