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#Chapter 38- The Truth
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2023-01-08 21:52:21Related chapters
The Lycan's Runaway Bride #Chapter 39- Escape the Curse
RubyThe Queen finishes her lecture on the curse and Alice escorts me back to my room. Alice seems to be very pleased with herself as we walk back, and I think that I can hear the lock click when she closes the door, but I’m too preoccupied with this newfound information to care.I have to find a way out of here. Regardless of whatever feelings for Atwood that may have arisen over the past couple of months, I have no desire to stay now that I know about the curse. Why didn’t he tell me sooner? Why would he be so desperate to have a mate that he wouldn’t warn me about a curse that will plague any of his mates?I think back to Edith sitting on Atwood’s desk, flirting with him.She can have him.Taking out my phone, I open my contacts. My thumb hovers over Cayden’s name for a moment as I bite my lip, but then I press it and hold the phone to my ear.He picks up on the first ring.“Ruby? Is that you?”I can’t seem to find the words right away. They get caught in my throat when I hear Cayd
Last Updated : 2023-01-08The Lycan's Runaway Bride #Chapter 40- Nightmares
AtwoodAfter the events from the past few days, I’ll admit that I’m utterly exhausted. I never wanted to pull Ruby out of school, but it seems as though that was the only viable option after her behavior. I mean, who gives a thong to a new transfer, let alone someone that is living with them?Admittedly, I never wanted Edith here. After the way that my mother tried to force me to marry Edith when we were younger, I honestly want to be as far away from the both of them as possible. Can I not just marry my fated mate and run my kingdom in peace?Still, Edith and my mother being here, as well as Ruby’s misbehavior, are the least of my worries right now. My beta is dead and my kingdom is at risk. If I don’t keep up with my work, the Bears will have their way and take over the Lycan kingdom. After that, they’ll likely go for the Swan kingdom, too.When the three kingdoms were first formed hundreds of years ago, the original leaders of the Lycans, Bears, and the Swans lived in peace. Each m
Last Updated : 2023-01-08The Lycan's Runaway Bride #Chapter 41- A Pawn in the Game
RubyEven though I promised Atwood when I first came here that I wouldn’t use my dazing ability anymore, I don’t have a choice now. There’s no other way for me to get to Greenwood, where I’ll be able to pawn off the brooch at a local pawn shop, unless someone drives me.Using my ability on one of the guards doesn’t count though, right?The day after my meeting with the Queen, I wake up and change into plain clothes: a pair of black jeans, a black hoodie, and sneakers. I make sure to wear my beanie and sunglasses as well to help hide my identity when I get to Greenwood, then slip out of my room to find a guard to daze.Thankfully, it’s still early and Atwood, the Queen, and Alice are nowhere to be found. I suspect that Atwood is probably in his study, and Alice is probably preparing breakfast. I’m not sure what the Queen does in the early mornings; maybe she’s still asleep. I know for a fact that Edith is at school, since she didn’t get kicked out.I quietly walk around the hallways un
Last Updated : 2023-01-08The Lycan's Runaway Bride #Chapter 42- Hybrid History & Other
RubyWhen I return to the castle, I lift the daze from the guard, who instantly falls asleep at his post by the back door; when he wakes, if he even remembers anything, he’ll just think that he had a vivid dream. It seems as though no one noticed my absence, so I’m able to quietly sneak back to my room and stash the protection charm and my money where I know Alice won’t find it.The next couple of days are solemn and quiet. I don’t see Atwood at all, and I don’t see Edith and the Queen for more than a few moments in passing. They seem too preoccupied to bother me, as though they’re planning something.Whatever they have planned, however, is none of my concern. I’ll be gone soon, leaving them to do as they please. If Edith wants Atwood so badly, she’s more than welcome to have him. I refuse to mate with Atwood if it’s only going to result in my death. I can’t leave Tamara alone like that.Maybe Atwood will listen to Edith, too. Maybe he won’t always assume that she’s up to no good, and
Last Updated : 2023-01-08The Lycan's Runaway Bride #Chapter 43- Midnight Meeting
RubyAs I leave the library with Hybrid History & Other Stories tucked under my arm, I bump into Noah. He looks somewhat distracted, and simply acknowledges me with a quiet “Sorry, Princess,” before continuing down the corridor.My curiosity gets the better of me, however, and without thinking I reach out and grab his wrist. He stops and looks at me with a confused look on his face.“Everything alright, Princess?” he says.I quickly drop his wrist and bite my lip, nodding. “Yes,” I answer, “but I was just wondering… Have you seen Atwood? I haven’t seen him in a couple of days.”Noah looks around, then shrugs. “He’s just been working, that’s all.” He starts to walk away again, but this time I call out to stop him.“Noah.”He turns to look at me, and as soon as our eyes meet, I use my dazing ability in the same way that I used it on the guard the day I went to Greenwood. Ever since my eyes changed color, it seems as though my ability has become stronger.“What is Atwood working on?” I a
Last Updated : 2023-01-08The Lycan's Runaway Bride #Chapter 44- The Funeral
AtwoodRuby is nowhere to be found. When I go to her room, the place where the bed used to be is replaced with a black hole leading to nowhere. The library is a black void as well, and when I step inside, I feel weightless.All around me, claw-like hands reach out of the darkness. They grab my clothes, my limbs, my flesh, and pull me down, down, deep into the abyss. I’ve accepted it. No one is coming for me.When I wake up on the morning of Kayne’s funeral, my back is once again coated with sweat from the nightmares.It comes as a surprise to me that the day of Kayne’s funeral has arrived. It feels as though the night my beta was killed was an eternity ago, but it’s only been a week. Perhaps time has been moving in slow motion.The nightmares have only been getting worse, and so has my condition. With each sleepless night, my mind becomes more and more foggy. Soon, I feel as though I won’t be able to do my work at all.Ruby has to mark me soon. I know her wolf is beginning to emerge;
Last Updated : 2023-01-08The Lycan's Runaway Bride #Chapter 45- Day Off
AtwoodAfter my incident with Ruby the night before, I decide to spend my Sunday working in my study. However, with my condition worsening as rapidly as it has been, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to focus on my work.Edith suddenly prancing into my study doesn’t make focusing any easier. She’s been practically stuck to me like glue since she got here, and it’s only gotten worse since I pulled Ruby out of school that day. I suspect that my mother has something to do with this, but I’ve been polite nonetheless.“Good morning, Lycan Atwood,” Edith says with a little curtsy. She wears a short pink dress with ruffles around the neck, thigh high white socks, and a pair of heels. She looks like a silly pinup girl.“Morning, Edith,” I say coldly, averting my gaze back to my work as I try to make myself appear too busy to socialize.Edith walks around my desk to the window behind me. When I turn around to see what she’s doing, she’s sitting on the windowsill with her legs crossed, looki
Last Updated : 2023-01-08The Lycan's Runaway Bride #Chapter 46- Wolf’s Presence
RubyI might be planning another escape, and I may have pushed Atwood away when he kissed me, but I still have feelings for him -- feelings that could not be replicated with Cayden despite our kiss in the forest. Seeing Atwood with Edith again only solidified those feelings.The feeling of anger that I’ve become all too familiar with bubbles up inside of me. It makes me want to tear the room apart again, but I manage to quell that urge and instead let my pain come out through the form of tears.I curl up on the bed, clutching a pillow to my chest and sobbing into it uncontrollably.I must drift off at some point, because when I wake up, it’s dark in the room. I sit up and groggily rub my eyes, reaching for my phone. It’s eleven o’clock at night. How did I sleep for six hours like that?Unsurprisingly, I’m starving. I swing my legs over the edge of the bed and stand, crossing to the window to look out at the waxing moon for a moment. The moon is nearly full, its bright light casting a
Last Updated : 2023-01-12
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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
