Chapter 61

Ruby

“What was that about?” Nancy says as she and the seamstress come back in. I hold the book out to her and she takes it while the seamstress starts working on pinning my dress again. I watch in the mirror as Nancy sits on the bed, thumbing through the pages.

“This is so cool!” she says. “I didn’t know that you were into history. Is it an early birthday gift?” She gestures to the wrapping paper on the chair.

“Yeah,” I answer somewhat solemnly. My heart is still fluttering from my interaction and it almost feels as though I can still feel Atwood’s kiss on the top of my head, but then I remember that I’m going to be leaving him tomorrow and it makes my heart ache.

The seamstress finishes her work and takes the dress off of me, leaving the room to finish the alterations on her sewing machine.

I spend the rest of the night sitting with Nancy, reading the book together. Pretty soon, we both fall asleep with the book open on our laps.

I wake up the next morning to Nancy jumping on me and shaking me awake.

“Good morning, birthday girl!” she says excitedly. She lowers her voice. “I know you’re planning on running away tonight, but let’s still enjoy your eighteenth birthday party, okay?”

“Okay,” I answer with a sleepy smile, stretching.

Alice comes in soon to get me ready for the party. She surprisingly lets Nancy and I eat breakfast, and Tamara too, and it’s actually more than some slices of plain white bread for once. The table is laden with waffles, fruit, and even bacon.

“Atwood insisted that you all have this fattening breakfast,” she says angrily as we sit down at our chairs in the private dining room. “But just know that if it were up to me, you’d be eating nothing so you can fit into that overly expensive dress of yours.”

Nancy sticks her tongue out as Alice leaves the room. Alice doesn’t see it since her back is turned, but it causes Tamara and I to giggle.

After breakfast, I barely get time to shower before I’m whisked away again to get my hair and makeup done. Atwood has hired a beautician to do my hair and makeup for me. She styles my hair into a beautiful updo with curls and a pearl circlet around my head, and gives me ladylike makeup. She styles Nancy and Tamara as well, which makes me happy. Even though I’ll be running away tonight, the thought of my sister and my best friend being treated so well makes me happy. But then, it hurts as well to know that Tamara will have to make do with having next to nothing when we run away.

After our hair and makeup is finished, it’s already the middle of the afternoon and the party is coming closer. With each passing minute, my stomach starts to turn more and more due to my nerves from both the idea of my dance with Atwood and the thought of running away. Truthfully, I’m starting to have second thoughts about running away. My wolf guilt trips me about it all day as well.

The seamstress puts my dress on me in my room while Nancy and Tamara wait downstairs, already in their party dresses, and turns me so I can see in the mirror.

A gasp escapes my lips.

“Do you like it, Princess?” the seamstress says with a smile.

I can’t come up with words, so I only nod. I feel beautiful. The dress, which is a beautiful royal blue satin with off-shoulder sleeves and matching gloves that come up past my elbows, fits perfectly. It hugs my curves in all the right places. It’s almost as beautiful as my wedding gown, but fits even better.

I descend the stairs to the main entryway. The party has already begun; I can hear voices and soft music coming from the ballroom. Alice stands at the door, and her face darkens with a scowl when she sees me.

“Stand up straight,” she growls as I approach her. She opens the door and all of the voices stop as everyone turns to look at me in unison.

All of my classmates are here -- even Beck, who scowls at me angrily from the corner. I enter the room and everyone’s eyes follow me, but there’s only one person who I’m truly looking at: Atwood, who is sitting on a throne at the end of the room. I follow the red carpet to him, trying my best to ignore everyone’s eyes on me. He stands as I approach and holds out his hand.

“You look absolutely beautiful,” he says in my ear as I take his hand. We both turn and face the crowd; he bows and I curtsy, then the string quartet begins playing.

Everything is a blur. We move around the room so fluidly, like we were meant for this dance. Nothing in my life compares to this moment as he twirls and dips me as though I weigh nothing. Not once do I stumble or step on his toes, and the way he leads me is firm and strong. I feel like a feather in his arms.

His scent overtakes me as we dance and I can feel my wolf become excited. She throws her head back and starts to howl, and for a moment I let her approach Atwood’s wolf to mark him… But then I stop her.

The dance ends and we bow again. The guests all clap, some of them looking thrilled with our dance and some of the girls looking upset that I’ve been chosen as Atwood’s mate.

Atwood lifts my hands to his lips and kisses it in front of everyone. There’s no hiding the pain on his face; he knows that I stopped my wolf from marking him. Should I have just let it happen, and deal with the curse instead of running from it? No, there’s nothing I could do; Marisa Elder, the only one who knew anything about the curse, is dead. And I fear that, if the curse doesn’t take me first, whoever killed Marisa will do the same to me anyway.

“I hope this party is all you could ever dream of and more,” Atwood says as the string quartet picks up again and the partygoers start mingling and dancing.

“It is,” I say. I can feel myself blushing. “Thank you.” I look down at my feet for a moment, then back up at Atwood. He’s gazing at me unwaveringly with his piercing orange eyes.

“Go enjoy yourself,” he says. “I think Nancy wants you.” He points behind me and I turn to see Nancy standing a ways off, looking at me with a mixture of excitement for the party and nervousness for our escape. Should I call it off?

I smile and approach Nancy. She reaches out for me and takes me by both hands. There are tears in her big, green eyes.

“Oh, Ruby,” she says, “you’re so beautiful!”

“You are too,” I reply. “The green color of your dress matches your eyes.”

Tamara comes up to us now. She’s had a bit of a limp since she was attacked by the Rogues, but it doesn’t seem to bother her. I crouch down to her level and stroke her cheek. “You’re beautiful too, sister,” I whisper to her. She blushes, then lunges for me and throws her arms around my neck.

“I don’t want to leave,” she whispers in my ear.

I pull back to look at her, then look at Nancy, who also heard what she said. Nancy says nothing, but I can tell that she feels the same way.

I glance over my shoulder to see Atwood talking to someone with a smile on his face. The dance seems to have given him a lot of strength, and he looks like his old self again. His all-black suit fits him well, and I can see his strong biceps straining against the fabric. He’s kept his silky black hair down for the party; I always prefer it when he lets it cascade over his shoulders like that.

My wolf strains to go to him. I feel like my heart is being ripped in a million pieces.

“Alright,” I say, turning back to look at Nancy and Tamara. “Change of plans.”