Chapter 52

Ruby

It’s been several days since I shifted in the forest and killed the Bear, and with each passing day I’m becoming more familiar with my wolf and my abilities. However, the longer I go without letting my wolf mark Atwood, the more temperamental she becomes.

I start having dreams about marking Atwood. My mind becomes fuzzy, and my head is full of nothing but the thought of marking him. It feels as though I can barely focus on anything else.

Will it be like this when I run away? I can only hope that distance will make my wolf less inclined to mark him. Maybe she’ll fancy Cayden instead and I can just forget about all of this.

One morning, I wake up before my tutoring session with Robert. I’m groggy from a bad night of sleep due to the dreams about Atwood, but nonetheless push myself to climb out of bed and into the shower.

I turn on the water as hot as it will go so that the bathroom becomes steamy, then climb in and let the hot water run over my body. I stand there for a few minutes, just letting the heat soothe my body, then start to wash myself.

As I wash my body, I notice the differences in my physique. Ever since I shifted, my body feels different. My hips have become a bit wider, my breasts slightly larger, and my thighs a bit more plump. My hair has grown considerably as well; what was once a short pixie cut is now down past my shoulders. I’ve always known that shifting for the first time changes one’s hormones, but it still feels strange for it to happen to me. I never even thought that I would ever shift to begin with.

Touching my body fills my mind with thoughts of Atwood. I’m transported back to the night that he brought me back to the castle, and how his hands felt on me. Logically, I’m happy that we weren’t able to mark each other, but the more lustful part of me makes me want to experience his body. I know that it’s just my wolf aching for him, but it’s hard to resist the urges.

I shake the thoughts out of my head and finish washing myself, then shut off the water and climb out. Before I leave, I’d like to at least enjoy the luxuries of living in a castle for a little while longer, so I happily wrap the plush towel around myself and inhale the smell of the incense and soaps in the bathroom.

He could be in here with us, my wolf says. Bathing together… touching each other…

I shut my eyes momentarily as I imagine such a scenario, biting my lip as I get a little wet, but then force them out of my mind and finish getting ready for the day.

“Try as you might to mate with him,” I say out loud to my wolf as I dry my hair, “it’s not happening.”

My wolf simply growls in response and goes back to sleep.

Robert teaches me more about hybrids today. I’ve been fervently reading the book he gave me during my free time, and greatly look forward to our lessons on the subject. It’s fascinating to learn about my own history for the first time in my life.

According to the book, the first known hybrid was actually a member of the Lycan royal family several centuries ago, when the Prince fell in love with a human girl. However, neither the Lycans nor the humans accepted this love, and when they had their child, they were banished and hunted.

The parents were killed, but the child survived, having been taken in by a sympathetic Lycan couple who couldn’t have children of their own.

That’s how the story goes, anyway. It is just a legend, but I’d like to believe that it’s true.

After our lesson, I decide to spend the rest of the day reading, since it’s been snowing heavily for the past two days. Atwood has made it very clear that no one in the kingdom is to leave their homes unless absolutely necessary during snowstorms, since that’s when the Bears are most powerful. I suppose that that edict applies to me, too, since none of the guards have been letting

me through the doors since yesterday.

Before I know it, it’s past eight o’clock. My room is dark with only the fire to illuminate it, but I’ve been so absorbed in my book that I haven’t noticed the passage of time.

I’m hungry, so I decide to sneak off to the kitchen. Alice should be in her room by now, which means that I’ll actually be able to eat something tasty without being forced to eat a diet meal or not being allowed to eat at all.

I make my way to the dark kitchen, where I make myself a sandwich and retreat to my room.

As I’m walking back, however, with my mouth full of peanut butter, I feel something strange. It feels like a pang in my chest, like something just stabbed me. I clutch my chest and stagger back against the wall, taking in several deep breaths to make the feeling go away.

But it doesn’t.

What’s happening? I say to my wolf.

It’s him, she says with a snarl. Something’s happened.

What? I respond, confused. You mean that it’s Atwood?

My wolf doesn’t say anything in response, which makes me panic. Without thinking, I drop my sandwich on the floor and take off toward Atwood’s study. My body feels light and agile, the same way it felt that night when I found Atwood in the forest and then again when I shifted the other night. When it feels this way, I know that my wolf is taking over.

Unfortunately, however, my wolf doesn’t seem to notice Alice standing in the corridor, and I run directly into her with a thud.

“Ugh!” she exclaims, stumbling backward with my impact and nearly falling. “What on earth are you doing, Ruby?” she says angrily, smoothing down the front of her robe. She’s wearing her nightclothes and her slippers, and her wispy gray hair is in a braid over her shoulder. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the woman dressed in anything but her servant attire.

“It’s Atwood,” I say hastily, my heart racing and still aching as though it’s been stabbed. “Something happened. I don’t know what, but I think he’s in danger.”

Alice furrows her brow. “You’re being ridic-” she begins, but it’s too late. I’m already sprinting toward Atwood’s study. She hurries after me, shouting my name, but her slippers slow her down considerably.

When I arrive at Atwood’s study, light pours out through the cracked door. I swing it open.

“Atwood, I’m he-” I start, but stop instantly.

Atwood is laying on the floor, groaning as though he just woke up.

Edith is kneeling over him, hugging him tightly. He looks over at me and says nothing.

Alice catches up to me, out of breath, and gasps when she sees Atwood. She immediately calls for the medics.

Now that I know he’s going to be tended to, I don’t want to see anymore. The sight of Edith holding him gives me immense pain. I run away before anyone can see the tears.

How am I going to run away on my birthday when it pains me so much to see Atwood with another woman?