Chapter 72

Ruby

A couple of days pass, and soon the castle is quiet once more. The survivors of the attack have all been treated for their wounds and sent home. The damage from the attack has been repaired by the expert builders that Atwood hired, and everything feels somewhat normal again.

On the third day, Alice wakes me up bright and early. She’s even grumpier than usual, but seems to be restraining herself. Perhaps Atwood had words with her about how she treats me?

“Atwood has requested that you return to school today,” she says, rifling through my closet for my uniform. I’m glad that I tossed my soot-covered clothes in the fire last night, because it would be difficult to explain myself if Alice found them.

She returns with my uniform with a huff and tosses it down on my bed as I get up and head to the bathroom.

“You know,” she says from the other room as I brush my teeth, “you should really be grateful that the King is being so kind as to let you return to school. If it were up to me, you’d be shipped right back to your dirty little hybrid village where you belong.”

“And there it is,” I whisper to myself when I spit out my toothpaste. I knew that Alice couldn’t be around me for five minutes without insulting me, but it doesn’t matter. The most important thing on my mind right now is ending the curse before it starts to set in.

I finish getting ready for school, and soon, one of Atwood’s drivers is taking myself, Nancy, and even Edith to school. I’m a bit surprised that Atwood is still allowing Edith to attend the Lycan Academy and live in the castle after she gave him an aphrodisiac, but I trust that he has a plan. Edith sits sullenly and looks out the window for the entire trip, then gets out of the car and rushes inside as soon as we arrive. Nancy and I simply look at each other and roll our eyes before heading inside ourselves.

When we enter, it feels as though the entire school stops what they’re doing to look at us. Many of the students are bandaged and wounded in some way from the attack. Some students huddle together with tears in their eyes, crying over those who didn’t survive the attack. In the corner, Beck and Earl glare at me. Beck still wears a bandage over her eye.

Suddenly, I feel full of courage. I know what I need to do.

“What are you doing?” Nancy whispers as I storm over to the fountain and stand up on the ledge.

“Excuse me, everyone,” I say, clearing my throat. Some students look my way, but many others didn’t seem to hear me.

“Can I have everyone’s attention?” I say, this time louder. The students in the entryway all turn to look at me. I can feel my face turn red, but I keep going.

“What happened at the castle the other night was tragic and horrible,” I say. “I know that none of this would have happened if it wasn’t for me and my birthday party. I know that you’re all angry with me.”

I look around at the faces of my classmates. Many of them look at me with a mixture of pain, anger, and understanding. But then I look at Beck. She’s seething, but there are also tears streaming down her cheek. She bites her lower lip to keep it from quivering as we keep our eyes locked.

“I’m truly sorry for everything that happened. For everything that has happened so far. I’m sorry for the attack. I’m sorry for not taking the time to follow your traditions. I’m sorry that I scared many of you on the night of homecoming.”

My voice cracks, but I keep going, still not breaking eye contact with Beck. “If you all want to hate me forever, I understand. But don’t just hate me. Hate the Bears. Hate what they’ve done to us. Right now, the most important thing is for the Lycans to stick together.”

When I finish my speech, the silence in the room feels thick and heavy.

Beck pushes herself away from the wall where she was leaning and starts to clap slowly as she approaches me.

“Wow, everyone!” she says in a sarcastic tone. “Wasn’t that a lovely speech from our Princess Ruby?”

She stops clapping once she’s in front of me and glares at me with her one uncovered eye.

“You are no Lycan,” she growls.

Beck reaches out with both hands. Her hands meet my body and she shoves... Hard.

Before I can catch my balance, I’m falling backwards, then colliding with the water with a loud splash.

Everything is muffled under the water. The laughs and yells of my classmates feel far away, and for a moment I consider just staying here. But then a pair of familiar hands plunge into the water and grab me, yanking me out coughing and sputtering and completely soaked.

“Come on,” Nancy says sternly, helping me out of the fountain and throwing her jacket around my shoulders. She glares daggers at Beck as she ushers me to the locker room.

“Here,” Nancy says as she digs through her gym locker and produces a uniform. “Put this on.”

I peel off my wet uniform and dry myself with a towel before putting on the clean uniform that Nancy has given me.

“I got an extra one after the incident on your first day,” she says. “Just in case you need it.”

“Nancy,” I say as tears well up in my eyes. “These uniforms are expensive. You… You didn’t have to do that.”

Nancy simply shrugs.

I’m incredibly lucky to have such a kind friend.

The rest of the week is spent trying to catch up on all of the work that I missed while I was gone. Midterms are coming up, so most nights are spent with Nancy in the castle library as we prepare for the exams, so pretty soon I nearly forget all about the letters from Marisa Elder’s hut. Another snowstorm hits, so Atwood has been more strict lately about our curfew, which means no after-school activities.

There is also still no word from Cayden. I still don’t have a new phone, so I have to use Nancy’s phone to try and contact him. Each time I call, however, it just goes straight to voicemail. I wish I knew why he didn’t show up the night that we were supposed to run away. Did he change his mind, like I did? Or did something more sinister happen? All I can do is keep trying to contact him and hope for the best.

One night while Nancy and I are studying, Atwood enters the library. His scent has become far stronger to me, so I can always tell when he’s coming now.

“Good evening, girls,” he says as he approaches us. Nancy blushes bright red. His shirt has a few buttons undone at the top, which shows off his attractive neck and a bit of his chest. My panties become a bit wet at the thought of him.

“Nancy, could I have a word with Ruby? It’ll only take a minute,” he says.

Nancy nods and scoops up her books, scurrying from the room. Atwood pulls a chair up and sits next to me. He takes my hands in his and looks at me with a soft expression on his face.

“I know what happened at school on Monday,” he says quietly. “Just know that I can have Beck punished, if that’s what you want.”

I shake my head vigorously.

“No?” Atwood says, looking confused.

I bite my lip. “She’s just angry,” I say. “I’m not hurt by her pushing me in the fountain. I understand why she’s mad.”

Atwood doesn’t say anything for a few moments before nodding and standing. He’s still holding my hands, so I stand, too. Even standing, he still towers above me.

“That’s very mature of you, Ruby,” he says. He reaches out to brush some hair out of my face, then places his hand under my chin and tilts my face up so I look at him.

My heart starts to race. He bends down and plants a soft kiss on my lips and lingers there for a few moments before standing again and leaving.

When Nancy returns, my panties are completely soaked.

“What was that about?” she says with a smirk.

I just shrug, keeping my eyes focused on my notebook to hide the fact that I’m blushing.