Chapter 76

Ruby

“It’s all my fault,” I whisper to myself as I slow down, panting from my sprint through the woods.

I shift back into my human form and sit down on a boulder, pulling my knees up to my chest and burying my face in them.

Atwood catches up to me. He shifts as well and quietly sits down next to me.

For a long while, neither of us says anything. We just sit next to one another on the rock in silence, hardly moving.

When I finally look up, I see that it’s begun to snow again.

“They herded them all in there like cattle,” I whisper as I look up at the snowy trees.

Atwood reaches out and rubs my back. I lean into him, letting him comfort me. His scent fills me with a bit of strength, but it’s not enough.

“If it wasn’t for my stupid birthday party…”

“No,” Atwood says firmly. “The Bears would have done this regardless of your birthday. You had nothing to do with it.”

“I could have at least tried to protect them if I was here,” I say.

Atwood sighs. “There’s no way you could’ve known. And you alone couldn’t have stopped this from happening.”

There’s another long silence.

The image of Cayden being killed fills my mind; that’s why he didn’t come. He died trying to protect our people, while I was too busy worrying about pointless drama. He fought so hard, but in the end the Bears snapped his neck like a twig.

I can still see the Bear who bit down on his neck in my mind. Blood spurted everywhere. I swear that Cayden’s eyes blinked one last time, even after he was dead.

I wonder what was going through his mind in his last moments.

“The night of my party,” I say suddenly, having an unexpected bit of courage, “I was going to run away.”

Atwood doesn’t speak, so I continue. I’m still leaning on him and looking up at the snowy pine trees. His arm is wrapped around my shoulders, holding me tight.

“I… I was angry about you pulling me out of school. Angry for you not listening to me, angry for having to constantly fight to get you to hear my side of the story. And I wasn’t just angry. I was scared of becoming your mate.”

“I know,” Atwood says quietly. “It’s okay. I don’t blame you.”

“I still blame myself,” I respond. “I plotted with Cayden -- the alpha of my pack -- to run away with me. He… He kissed me, in the woods just outside the castle, the night that we met up to plan my escape.”

Although I expect Atwood to become upset, to push me away and lose trust in me, none of that happens. He simply continues to hold me.

When I look up at him, however, he’s solemnly staring ahead at the trees.

“You didn’t run away, though,” he says. “Why?”

I think back on the night of the party. I think about my dance with Atwood, how he held me so gently and so firmly at the same time as we twirled around the ballroom. I think about how it felt to have everyone see us together, to finally be revealed as his future mate.

I also think about the looks on Nancy’s and Tamara’s faces. I didn’t want to leave Nancy behind; she’s my best friend in the whole world, and I’ll never have another friend like her. And Tamara -- I couldn’t rip her out of a home that she had begun to love. I couldn’t force her back into poverty.

“I just knew that I couldn’t,” I answer. “I knew that you had to be my mate, even though I was scared. What I feel for you is far stronger than what I ever could have felt for Cayden. I’m sorry that I kissed him. I’m sorry that I even considered leaving you.”

Atwood gently squeezes my arm and rubs it comfortingly.

“I’m not upset,” he says quietly. “I’m sorry for making you feel so alone these past few months. If I were in your position, I would have likely done the same.”

It’s comforting to know that Atwood doesn’t resent me for kissing Cayden or for plotting to run away.

I want to tell him why I was truly afraid; I want to tell him about the curse.

Just as I’m about to, footsteps and voices echo through the woods.

Atwood grabs me and pulls me down behind the boulder where we can’t be seen. He holds his finger to his lips and keeps his other arm wrapped tightly around me, pressing me between the boulder and himself with his body to shield me as he peeks over the boulder.

“Well, that one was easy,” a man’s voice says. “They barely resisted, except for that one guy. But he didn’t even have the ability to shift! What a loser.”

I know that they’re talking about Cayden. Everything in my body screams to jump out and attack them, but I don’t. Atwood looks down at me and slowly shakes his head, then holds up five fingers. There are five Bears. Too many for us to take on our own in the snow like this.

“Hopefully the next one will be just as easy,” another man says. “The first few put up a good fight, and I’m tired.”

“I know,” another man replies. “The boss has really been pushing it lately. I heard that Laura from the other troupe dropped dead from exhaustion the other night. Just keeled over.”

The first man speaks again. “Don’t worry, guys. It’ll all be over soon. The tunnel is almost complete, and then we can just wait for the Lycans to come to us so we can pick em off one by one…”

The voices slowly fade away, and both Atwood and I can relax. Once we’re certain that the coast is clear, we quietly stand and carefully start to make our way back to the car. Thankfully, it sounded like they were headed in the opposite direction of the road.

As we head back, however, it occurs to me.

“They’re going to the village just a few miles away,” I say, stopping short. Atwood looks back at me, still holding my hand.

“We can’t let them burn that village,” I say. “We can’t let them burn any more villages. We have to protect them!”

“And we will do just that,” Atwood says, gently pulling me after him. “But we have to get to safety first. I’ll use mindlink right now to send some troops to intercept them.”

It doesn’t feel like enough right now, but I know that I have to trust Atwood. He’s right; I’m not so concerned about myself, but the Lycan King can’t chase after five Bears out of fury and get himself killed.

We get back to the car and climb in, letting out huge sighs of relief once the doors are shut and locked.

Atwood and I both turn to look at one another at the same time.

The same thought seems to cross our minds.

We lunge toward one another and kiss. I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him toward me so hard that he falls on top of me, pushing me down into the car seat as he kisses me fervently.

He fumbles at my skirt, lifting it up to touch my wet panties. I moan a little at his touch, grinding into him to let him touch me. He kisses my neck and unbuttons the shirt of my school uniform to reveal my breasts.

But then he stops, leaving me wanting more.

“No,” he says breathlessly, getting back in his seat and putting the car in drive. “Not yet.”

“W-Why not?” I ask, sitting up and straightening my skirt. My face is blushing a bright red and my heart is pounding.

“Because,” Atwood says as he peels out onto the road and heads back to the castle, “I’m going to marry you first.”