Chapter 56

Atwood

Being near Ruby helps to ease the symptoms of my condition. I wish I could just be around her for a few more minutes; it seems as though she enjoys my touch at first, but it fades quickly when she becomes tense again and steps away from me.

I drop my hand, which was just cupping her soft, pale cheek, back to my side with a frown.

Inside of me, my wolf rages. He smells her wolf. For the past several days, ever since she shifted in the woods and killed that Bear, all my wolf does is whine about wanting to be marked. I can feel him growing restless too from my condition. Before long, he’ll take over and go feral, destroying any shred of humanity that I have left. I can’t let it get to that point.

Ruby backs away from me cautiously, looking up at me with her round red eyes. I love their color, the way her hips and breasts have grown, the way her hair is down past her shoulders now. She looks like a woman, no longer a little girl. The thought of taking her right here in the corridor crosses my mind, but I push it back down. I know it’s just my wolf instincts trying to take over, and I can’t let that happen.

“U-Um, I have to go,” Ruby says quietly, tucking her book into her bag before I can get a chance to peek at the cover to see what she’s reading.

I don’t say anything. I want to say something, but the words are caught in my throat. I want to say a million things all at once, but my brain can’t seem to choose which one to say first.

As she walks away, I get a glimpse of her shapely behind and let out a soft growl. She turns back to look at me, her eyes wide with fear.

I’ve scared her.

But then, something crosses my mind. It’s simple, so simple that I’m angry with myself for not doing this sooner.

“Have dinner with me tonight,” I say. It comes out of my mouth all at once, like my throat is in a hurry to get it out.

Ruby is silent for a few moments. I wouldn’t blame her if she says no; I’ve been terrible to her, and I look like death right now. I’m not even sure if she’d be able to stomach food around me right now, but I just want to try to spend some time with her. Each moment in her presence brings me relief from my symptoms. It’s selfish, but I wonder if having dinner might make her less afraid of me and more likely to mark me.

“Um…” Ruby says. I brace myself for her to say no. “Okay.”

I have to suppress my surprised facial expression. This gives me hope. If she’s willing to have dinner with me, then does that mean that she doesn’t entirely hate me?

I can’t help but smile a bit. Even her accepting my dinner offer gives me a bit of strength. Suddenly I don’t feel so deflated.

“I’ll take you out,” I say, which makes her look surprised. Of course I won’t keep her locked up in here while the nosy servants eavesdrop. I’ll take her to a nice restaurant with a private room. I don’t care about the snowstorm. “Be ready by seven,” I say with another smile. “Wear something nice… Although, you’d look beautiful in anything.”

Her face turns bright red. With a nod, she scurries past me toward her room.

I smile the entire way back to my study.

Once I’m alone, I feel weak again, but not so weak as before now that I know that Ruby will have dinner with me tonight. I still have some time to get some work done, so I sit down at my desk and start sifting through the mountain of documents.

Several hours later (althought it feels like minutes), there’s a knock on my door. Expecting it to be Noah, I call for him to enter. Unfortunately, it’s not Noah. It’s my mother.

“Oh, mother,” I say, clicking my pen and setting it down. “Do you need something?”

“Don’t sound too excited to see me,” she says haughtily, waddling over to one of the plush chairs across from my desk and sitting down. She’s been looking more frail as she’s gotten older, but her tongue is sharper than ever.

“I came here to talk to you,” she says firmly. She folds her hands across her stomach with her elbows on the arms of the chair and stares at me with an icy gaze. Hopefully, whatever this is won’t cut into my dinner date with Ruby.

“What is it, mother?” I ask, leaning back in my chair. My eyes feel tired and heavy.

“I’ll be blunt,” she replies. “You’re not doing well. Your condition gets visibly worse by the day, and there’s no telling when that tramp girl of yours will mark you, if ever.”

Tramp girl? Her words make me furious, but I decide not to say anything simply because I don’t want to start an argument.

My mother continues. “You clearly need help. Your new beta is inexperienced and cannot help you enough. You need someone with more experience.”

“Like who?” I ask. “You? Or maybe Edith, since you apparently want me to be around her so much?”

My mother scoffs, standing from her chair. “I’ve called your brother. He’ll be here within a couple of days.”

Paine? She called Paine, of all people? My stupid, brutish brother who’s never accomplished anything except for taking too many wives? The only experience he has in leadership is the measly territory that our father gave him to keep him placated.

“You can’t be serious!” I shout, standing from my desk.

Standing so fast, however, makes me dizzy. I sit back down, putting my head in my hands.

“I don’t need help,” I mutter.

“Look at yourself!” my mother exclaims. “You’re a wreck, Atwood. Until you have a mate, you cannot continue to run this kingdom. Not by yourself, anyway.”

“You’d see to it that I don’t run the kingdom at all,” I mumble, my head still in my hands.

With a huff, my mother storms out, slamming the door behind her.

I’ll have to deal with the issue of my brother later. Right now, I need to focus on taking Ruby on a date she’ll never forget.

As promised, Ruby comes down the steps at seven o’clock sharp. My jaw practically drops to the floor when I see her; she looks stunning. She wears a black silk dress, along with a white fur jacket and heels. The locket I gave her sparkles around her neck, and she’s even put on makeup and done her hair.

I hold out my hand to her when she comes down the steps. She takes it, and although she avoids eye contact, I can’t help but to smile.

Without entirely meaning to, my feelings for Ruby take over and I pick her up, spinning her around before setting her back down. Her face goes red again.

“You’re gorgeous,” I say softly, taking her hand as I guide her to the car. The snow has let up a bit, but it’s still sprinkling lightly. In the moonlight, it looks like a winter wonderland.

Our driver takes us to the fanciest restaurant in Greenwood. It’s a luxurious restaurant with flowered terraces, fireplaces, and exotic foods. Once we’re seated in our private room overlooking a sparkling lake below, I order us food and drinks.

The drinks come first. I hand Ruby her glass of champagne. She takes it warily, looking up at me with her beautiful red eyes.

“To your wolf,” I say softly, holding up my glass. Ruby blushes again as she looks down at her lap.

“To my wolf,” she says, finally meeting my gaze and clinking her glass with mine.