Ruby
I look up at the King and his henchmen. The King shakes his head and gestures for his henchman to rise, then hands Tamara to him. I begin to cry out in protest, but the King simply raises a finger to me and I am silent.
“Your sister will be taken care of,” he says softly, then walks toward me. I scamper back further into the corner and raise my hands in defense, prepared for the King to beat me.
But he doesn’t.
He crouches in front of me and gently takes my hands in his, pressing my fingers to his lips and looking into my eyes. I can feel myself tingle at his touch, but I am unsure as to whether the sensation is fear or excitement -- perhaps both.
Although I would let him kiss my hands forever, there is still a part of me that fears him, so I pull my hands away. The King drops his gaze, looking defeated.
“Your sister,” he says after a pause. “She smells like a human.”
“She’s a hybrid, isn’t she?” he asks. I nod nervously. His scent, so close to me now, fills my senses and stirs something in me that I have never experienced before.
“Yes,” I say. “Both of us are. But my sister…”
He could have killed my sister and I, but he didn’t.
Why?
For the first time all night, the King takes off his dark glasses to reveal bright, glowing orange eyes that peer straight into my soul. I am captivated by his gaze, and then suddenly I am speaking without realizing exactly what I’m saying.
“My sister is more human than wolf,” I blurt out, surprised at my own candidness, but I am unable to stop myself from telling the truth. “Her abilities are extremely limited, and she has no chance of having a wolf.”
The King sighs and looks over his shoulder at his henchman and Tamara. The henchman looks down at my sister briefly, then back to the King and nods silently.
I can feel my heart rise up into my throat, and I attempt to stand, but the pain in my leg is too great and I fall back down with a thud and a whimper.
“Please,” I manage to get out as the King stands in front of me. “Please, I’m begging you, I’ll do anything.” I reach forward with what little strength I have left and grab the King’s pant leg. He looks at me with an expression that I cannot place my finger on. Pity? Disgust?
No.
His expression is one of pain.
I drop my grip on his pant leg as another jolt of pain shoots up through my body.
“It is all my fault for offending you,” I murmur as my head falls back against the wall again. “I shouldn’t have ran. I know that now, and I will never run again. But please… please, I beg you not to hurt her or banish her. She’s too young… Punish me instead, if you must.”
Hot tears roll down my cheeks as the King continues to stand and stare at me with those piercing orange eyes.
He shifts his gaze to the floor, clenching and unclenching his fists.
After several eternal moments, he bends down to me again. I have no strength left in my body to raise my hands in defense, so I accept my fate. I expose my neck for him to bite, so that he may kill me.
But he doesn’t.
He wraps his coat around me, and scoops me up into his strong arms before standing again. He holds me tightly, and as he holds me, I feel my pain subside. I look down to see the wound on my leg closing up.
And there is another sensation…
My panties are wet.
The King presses his lips to my ear and speaks. “I will always find you,” he whispers. A statement that is both comforting and terrifying.
As it turns out, the Lycan King can teleport, which explains how he found my exact location so quickly.
The henchman steps on the gas and peels out of the woods and back toward the castle as the King continues to hold me tightly in his arms. His hands slip into the coat and under my shirt to hold me closer, and his touch is so cold against my skin that it sends shivers down my body. I can feel my body throb with excitement at his touch.
His scent fills me with a feeling of euphoria that lulls me into a half-asleep state. My eyelids flutter and I half smile up at the King, then look toward my sister and reach my hand out to take hers.
“Don’t worry,” the King whispers in my ear as he emerges from the car with me still in his arms. “Your sister will be taken care of.” His hot breath tickles my neck and his hands still gently stroke my waist. His touch excites me despite my weakened state.
Still, I cannot help but wonder if the King’s words are true. All my life, I have been taught that the Lycan King is a cold, calculating monster. How can I trust his words of reassurance? He could easily be lying to make me compliant.
But his body feels good against mine as he carries me into the castle.
He waves away a servant with one hand, easily carrying me in only his other arm as though I weigh nothing, and ascends the grand staircase to the chambers.
When the guards had first taken me here this morning to prepare for the wedding, they had discreetly slipped me in through a back door with a winding staircase that led up to my bridal chamber; no doubt to keep my appearance hidden from the King before our wedding. I hadn’t seen this grand entryway.
The inside of the castle is beautiful. High vaulted ceilings, tall stained glass windows, and ornate chandeliers. The floors are marble and the walls are made of dark gray stone that perfectly replicates all of the tales of castles that I had read in my fairytales growing up.
Now, I am the princess trapped inside the castle with a monster.
If he is a monster.
My dreams are full of horrible visions. Blood covers my body. Tamara’s sweet little face in front of me, so close I can reach out and touch her cheek, but then suddenly she is far away at the end of a long, dark tunnel. “Ruby!” she screams. “Help me!” I’m running through the tunnel as fast as I can, but she only gets further away until I can no longer see or hear her. I spin around, looking for an exit, but when I turn around, there is only a brick wall behind me. I turn back toward where I was just facing. Another wall. I’m trapped. The walls come closer, squeezing me. I look up to see the moon far above me. It’s full, and I can hear the howls of wolves. I try to howl too, to call for them to help, but no sound comes out. When I wake, I’m covered in sweat. Where am I? The room is dark, lit only by a couple of candles on the bedside table and a fire burning in the fireplace. I can smell Atwood. A cold hand touches my forehead, and I flinch. As I flinch, pain shoots up my
Ruby I’m not sure exactly what time it is when I wake up, but when I finally come out of my dreams and open my eyes, there is sun shining through the large window to Atwood’s chambers. I yawn and roll over to shield my eyes from the bright sun and stretch, extending my arms above my head and flexing my feet. As my half-open eyes scan the room looking for a clock, I finally find one sitting on the mantle and jump up when I see that it’s already three o’clock. How did I sleep for so long? I throw the covers off of myself and swing my legs over the side of the bed, jumping up. I’m not sure why I feel the need to rush myself out of bed, but truth be told, I feel great There is a soft, purple velvet housecoat laid across the chaise waiting for me. I slip it on over my nightgown -- not taking a moment to consider how Atwood or whoever else had been able to even put me in a nightgown when I was passed out -- and take a second to relish in the feeling of the luxurious fabric on my skin.
RubyAtwood doesn’t reply.There is a knock on the door, and Atwood calls for them to come in.An older, middle-aged woman with salt-and-pepper gray hair pulled back into a tight bun walks in as though she is floating. She wears a long gray dress with a pristine white apron, and shiny black shoes. Atwood turns to look at her and she bows to him, then nods politely to me.“Ah, perfect timing,” Atwood says with an uncharacteristic smile. “Ruby, this is the head housekeeper, Alice. She will be entirely responsible for you and your sister. Whatever you need, just ask Alice.”Alice nods her head to me again. “Lovely to meet you, Miss Ruby,” she says.There is something cold and calculating about this woman. Despite her cordial appearance in front of Atwood, I can tell that she doesn’t like me. There’s a hint of anger and coldness behind her eyes as she looks at me.Once we’ve finished our greetings, Atwood dismisses me to go and prepare to see the doctor.I meander back toward Atwood’s cha
Ruby At 6:00 a.m. sharp, I am awoken by the curtains being opened to let in bright sunlight that hurts my eyes. I groan and squint against the harsh light, dazed by this unceremonious wake up call. “Time for school, princess,” Alice says, yanking the blankets off of me to expose my body to the chill of the room. I groan again and shiver, sitting up. “You couldn’t be a little nicer about it?” I grumble under my breath as Alice scurries off to the closet. I’m not sure if she heard me, but if she did, she’s not showing it. I look over to Atwood’s side of the bed to see that he isn’t there. In fact, the blankets on his side are still tucked in neatly, as though he never got in bed in the first place. Come to think of it, I don’t remember him ever coming to bed last night. Maybe he’s busy, or waiting for my birthday to become close to me again. Part of me worries that maybe he’s waiting to see if my wolf will appear before he consummates our relationship. What would happen if my wolf n
Ruby Still in deep thought about my visions, I locate my locker and attempt to open it. There’s no combination lock. I rifle through my bookbag to see if maybe Alice slipped a key in there for me, but there’s nothing except a notebook, a pencil case, and a pouch of toiletries. Inside the pouch is only a hair comb, a makeup compact, and… diet pills. I roll my eyes and zip the pouch back up again, planning to dump the pills down the toilet the next time I go to the bathroom. How the hell am I supposed to get this locker open with no combination or key? Just then, the plump girl from before returns to me and smiles. “Thank you,” she says. “I don’t know what Mrs. Acker would have done if I forgot to turn in my homework again… How did you know that, anyway?” I shrug, not wanting to give away my vision. “It’s no big deal. Don’t worry about it.” “Oh, okay,” she says. She turns toward my locker. “Is this your locker?” “Yeah. I think so.” “Oh, cool! You’re right next to me.” The p
Ruby “Who is he?” I ask, looking over my shoulder to see that the handsome boy has disappeared in the throng of students. “That’s Earl,” Nancy replies. “He’s a top student, president of the student council, and he’s the speaker of the school opening ceremony every year. He’s basically the idol of all the girls in the school.” “Hmm…” I mutter, still looking over my shoulder and wondering about the handsome boy as well as what may have happened to my navigator. What Nancy said about the headmaster flashes through my mind, but I decide that that’s just a silly rumor and nothing to really worry about. My thought is broken again by someone else bumping into me and cursing at me angrily. I stumble into Nancy, who catches me and helps me regain my balance. “You really should get a new uniform,” she says. “They’re only a couple thousand dollars.” My eyes widen. “A couple… thousand?” That’s more than double my entire monthly salary that I used to make waiting tables in my old pack. Nanc
Ruby My face burns a deep scarlet red as I stand in the middle of the training field with all of the students and Atwood glaring at me. Atwood clears his throat. I can tell that he’s attempting to compose himself, but I can see the anger behind his eyes and the way that his fists ball up at his sides. “Miss Ruby,” he says. “Late on your first day of transfer, and no uniform.” He makes a tsk sound with his tongue. It feels as though he’s trying to hide the fact that I’m his mate from the other students. Finally, he manages a cordial smile and addresses the rest of the students. “Thank you for coming to the first day of training,” he says. “Let’s kick off this school year on a high note. If everyone could please line up at the base line, we’ll begin with some stretches to warm our bodies up.” The students obediently line up on the white line. I go to follow and stand next to Nancy, who gives me a sympathetic smile. Atwood gives instructions to all of us to begin stretching. He wal
AtwoodAll I wanted was for Ruby to follow the rules and make a good impression on her new classmates. I wanted her to make friends, get good grades, and learn to enjoy the Lycan world. That’s it.Not… whatever this is.Did I not instruct Alice closely enough to ensure that she properly explained the rules to Ruby?Perhaps Alice just assumed that Ruby understood the rules of the Lycan world and gave her too much freedom. I find it difficult to see any scenario in which Alice would want to intentionally make Ruby’s first day so negative. My head housekeeper has always been loyal to me and the crown. She would never want to sully our reputation, let alone my mate’s reputation.Maybe I should’ve just instructed Ruby myself. It seems as though she wasn’t even aware that I am in charge of training here. Perhaps if she had known, she would have put in more of an effort to make her first day run smoothly.Perhaps I’m being too harsh on her.Truthfully, I just want her to run so she can sweat
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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