Chapter 94

Ruby

It all happens so fast. Time has continued moving; the wind has begun to blow again, the snow is falling, and the sound of Atwood’s screaming echoes in my ears like a siren. It all feels too quick now after spending what felt like an eternity in a state of limbo.

The Bear brings his knife down, but misses my heart. The blade slices in between my lower ribs with a searing pain, but I feel stronger now. My wolf has returned, but something else is there, too. Something new.

I kick the Bear off of me, taking him by surprise as he’s launched backwards. The other Bear simply looks on in astonishment as he stands over Atwood, still holding him down.

“Get her!” screams the first Bear, scrambling back to his feet as I slowly stand and pull the knife out of my side.

“Ruby, Run!” Atwood calls.

The two Bears advance on me, shifting from their human forms into their Bear forms. I feel small beside them in my human form, but something in me tells me not to shift yet. Instead, I take Atwood’s advice and run, if only to get distance between the Bears and Atwood.

Once I’m far enough away that I’m satisfied, I decide to use my small size to dart between the Bears. This causes them run into each other in their pursuit of me and bash their skulls into one another headfirst. While they’re too dazed and dizzy to notice, I sprint with all of the speed I can muster toward Atwood. At some point, my wolf takes over just a little bit, just enough to help me run faster through the heavy snow despite the pain in my abdomen from the knife.

I throw myself the rest of the distance to Atwood as the Bears regain their composure and come barreling toward me, covering him as best I can with my body.

“I will never leave you,” I whisper in Atwood’s ear as I shield him.

The pain in my abdomen fades as my healing abilities return, and beneath me, I can feel Atwood’s own strength growing as his symptoms fade. But it’s not enough. The Bears are fast and strong in this snow, and neither of us has regained enough strength to fight back or run away.

All I can do is shield him and hope that this strange instinct to stay in my human form was right.

Just like I did with the knife, I close my eyes, bracing myself for the feeling of the Bears’ massive paws slashing into my back. But it never comes.

I open my eyes and look down at Atwood.

“Ruby…” Atwood’s eyes are wide as he looks above me, no doubt at the Bears preparing to kill us both.

But when I turn my head to look, all I see are white feathers covering both of us in a protective cocoon. Has Vivian returned to save us both again?

“Are you there?” I ask my wolf, hoping that she’s fully returned and that perhaps she might have some answers.

“I’m here,” she replies, “but I’m not alone.”

“What the hell?!” one of the Bears shrieks from behind me. “What is she? That’s no Lycan!”

Atwood’s eyes are still wide. Pushing myself off of him, I stand and turn to face the Bears, who scramble backwards out of fear.

What is happening?

I turn to look over my shoulder, and soon, my own eyes are just as wide as Atwood’s.

Big, white, powerful wings protrude from my back. With a slight shift of my arms, the wings spread out with great force, expanding to their full, massive size. The feathers are so pure and white that they are nearly blinding in the light.

Before I have time to react, the Bears start howling cowardly. I turn back to face them, only to now see a bright, white light emanating from the brooch.

I didn’t even realize that I was still wearing it after Atwood pinned it to my nightgown last night. Is this brooch imbued with magic? Is that why my parents had it -- for protection?

As I take a step toward the Bears, the beam of light only grows stronger. It grazes one of their shoulders, searing off flesh like a laser beam and causing him to yelp in pain.

“Let’s get the hell out of here,” the Bears says, turning tail and running off into the snow. The other Bear follows suit, and soon, Atwood and I are alone, with only the echoes of the Bears’ cowardly yelps in the distance.

“Ruby…” Atwood says from behind me. I turn to face him as he stands up, clearly having regained his composure from my own wolf returning. When I look over my shoulder again, the wings are gone.

“What was that?” I ask, but Atwood only shakes his head.

“She was right,” he says, walking toward me and touching my cheek with his hand. “Your innocence protected me. Protected both of us.”

Neither of us says anything else. Atwood bends down to kiss me as the snow falls all around us. His lips are cold against mine, but soft and comforting. When he pulls away, he holds my face in his hands.

“Marry me,” he says softly. “I don’t want to wait anymore.”

My heart skips a beat. All I care about is this; the feeling of his lips on mine, his hands on my face, his breath on my skin. My vision of Vivian, my strange new ability, and the brooch all seem to fade away.

“New Year’s Eve,” he says. “We’ll be married at midnight. I love you, Ruby.”

Atwood scoops me up in his arms and starts to carry me back to the castle. His arms no longer seem weak and unsteady, and his scent fills my body with joy.

“I love you too, Atwood,” I reply, my lips brushing his ear as he carries me. His neck is warm and soft as I nuzzle into it.

Soon, the castle reappears through the snow. The front door is still wide open, with a gaggle of worried servants standing in the entryway. Polly, the young servant girl, stands at the front of the group, her brow furrowed with concern.

Atwood sets me down once we get through the door.

“Bring us some blankets and something warm for our bellies, please, Polly,” Atwood says, to which the servant girl curtsies and scurries off toward the kitchen. One of the guards shuts and locks the door behind us, his face wrought with worry.

“The beta-” he begins, but Atwood cuts him off curtly.

“I know. Who’s left?”

“Um… Paul, sir, and Lawrence. Freya is injured, but she’s alright.”

Atwood nods solemnly, still holding my hand as he guides me toward the parlor. “Gather them and bring them to the study to wait for me,” he says sternly. “I need to know that the rest of the pack is protected.”

“Yes, sir,” the guard says. “But sir, there’s one more thing.”

Atwood stops with his hand on the door handle to the parlor. I can tell that he’s annoyed and exhausted and just wants to rest, but his pack instinct is telling him to be alert.

“What is it?” he asks, turning back to face the guard.

“It’s the Queen and the others,” he replies. “Sometime during the night, they escaped. They’re nowhere to be found.”