Castiel: Son of Red Riding Hood (Kingdom of Fairytales Boxset Book 3)

by J. A. Armitage

  People littered the street. As we walked into the village, I could tell most, if not all, were still alive, but that was likely due to the magical wolf that resided inside them. Wolves had much faster healing, so even if they were fighting and getting hurt, they weren’t dying, yet.

  It took every part of me not to stop and try to help. The children needed help first, and then we could look at the rest of the people. When they had a safe home, we could turn to helping the cursed.

  “What do we need?” Grace asked, trying not to look around either.

  “Nikkan and I’ll try to find as many boards as we can; you look for nails and hammers,” I directed her.

  “And blankets,” Nikkan added. “They could use more blankets. I saw that little curly-haired one shivering this morning. They don’t have fur to keep them warm like us.”

  “Once you get what you can, head back to the camp. Don’t wait for us. I don’t want them alone any longer than they need to be,” I told her. “Nikkan and I’ll probably have to make several trips to carry what we can find.”

  Grace nodded and kissed Nikkan’s cheek before heading off into the village.

  “I figured that the wall we didn’t finish would be the best place to get boards.”

  Nikkan nodded his agreement as we began to walk to the edge of town. It would be easier to skirt around the town than go through all the carnage that blocked the streets, so we took the longer route around town.

  As we approached the wall, I could tell we were right. Unfortunately, with just two of us, it was going to take a bit of time to haul all the unused wood to our camp. Nikkan and I stood before the stack of wood.

  “We should probably take the trimmed boards first,” I assessed. They looked like the floor of the tree houses in Azren.

  “Or we take it all,” Nikkan suggested. As usual, Nikkan was crazy ambitious.

  I had no idea how he planned to pull that one off. He motioned to a cart nearby. Together, we could probably pull the cart back to the camp, but we still could only fill it full enough that we could pull it. We were strong, but not that strong.

  “We still can’t take it all,” I told him.

  “And why not? Is your animal form just for show, or could you be an ox and actually pull this thing?”

  I nodded to my friend. I hadn’t thought of that. While my new animal form very much felt like just a part of me, I hadn’t thought to do more than run as a wolf or fly as a bird. He was right.

  “Then, let’s do this.”

  I paused.

  “But you better not let anyone try to eat me!”

  Nikkan threw his head back and laughed. I wasn’t exactly sure if that was a yes or a no.

  We first loaded up the cart. When we got as much on it as possible, I moved to the front of the cart and stared at it. I wasn’t exactly sure how to make it work, but we would. I let the change take over my body, and I was instantly an ox. I looked back with my changed eyesight at my friend. He was grinning that his wild idea was actually going to work. I moaned at him to hurry up, and he quickly harnessed me to the cart.

  It was a slow trip back to the camp as we couldn’t take the direct route through the trees, and we ended up leaving the cart further away than we would have liked, but Nikkan and I managed to bring a full cart of boards to the camp in one trip. Now, we just needed to figure out how to make a treehouse. But that was going to have to wait. I needed to hunt on the other side of the wall and get food for the children.

  I expected a quick trip to catch something and bring it back, but that wasn’t going to be the case when Sera showed up.

  “Feeding time for the cubs?” she asked as she found me gutting a deer.

  I had been lucky and found an animal big enough that it would feed them for days. I was going to have to use my bear form to carry it back. I nodded to her as I worked, my arms were covered in the guts of the animal.

  “What’s the plan to do next?”

  I finally looked up at her. I didn’t have a plan. I was at a dead end. We thought I was possibly part of the key to stopping the curse because the women who brought me to Red told her that, but if I couldn’t find out where I came from, then I wasn’t any help. I shrugged before going back to the animal in front of me. I had too much to get done and not enough time. Twenty-two children depended on me to get them food and keep them safe. I didn’t have time to figure out any more about how to save them from the curse. I was failing.

  “You’re not giving up, are you?”

  “I can’t give up if there’s nothing to give up. I’m a ghost. I’m not a citizen of Elder.”

  And that was the truth. I wasn’t in the record books. I was no one. At least, helping the wolves and the children survive gave me a purpose. What was I otherwise?

  “Nothing? You really think you are nothing?”

  “According to Elder, I am.” I stood up and looked down at her. She crossed her arms across her chest and huffed at me.

  “Really, Castiel? I thought I knew you better. The Castiel I know is strong and wouldn’t let little things like this get in his way. Guess I was wrong about you.” Sera threw her arms in the air and marched away.

  I tried not to watch her go, but it was too hard. Her receding form faded into the trees. I knew I’d upset her, but it was the truth. I didn’t know what to do next. I wanted to help my friends, but I didn’t know-how. Helping the kids gave me something to do until I could get more crazy ideas out of Nikkan. When I ran out of thoughts, he was always there to give me more. That’s why I needed to go back and be with him and Grace. I just needed a few nights to reenergize and think, and I would be back.

  Camp and hungry children were waiting for me when I returned to my friends. Grace took the deer from me and instantly went to work, making it into a meal. When she took the meat that she could use tonight, Nikkan took the rest and wrapped it enough to keep it from spoiling until we could finish using it tomorrow.

  Night came too quickly, and our fed wolf children were tucked in their hanging beds. I was exhausted from our day and my fight with Sera, but I knew what was coming. The curse was growing quickly in Grace.

  Grace was worried before she turned, but she couldn’t stop it now. She had to turn. The pull of the night was too great. I turned with her, and Nikkan tried to keep up, but as soon as she was a wolf, Grace took off into the woods.

  She took off on a hard run, heading north of the village. I didn’t wait for Nikkan and took off after her. Grace ran fast, but I was faster. When I finally caught up with her, I had to tackle her to the ground. She yipped and growled at me, fighting back. I could see that Grace wasn’t in control. The wolf staring back at me wanted to kill me for stopping her.

  ‘Grace,’ I pleaded with her, “Come back to us.”

  The wolf growled and tried to buck me off her, but I wasn’t just stronger; I was also larger than her. I had to press harder to keep her to the ground and worried I might hurt her, but the opposite wasn’t an option. I wasn’t going to let her go free and hurt herself or others, even if she wanted to. I wasn’t going to let my friends down.

  Grace growled at me again.

  ‘Grace, please. Fight it. I know you can.’

  Grace bucked more beneath me, and with her twisting and wiggling, she was able to move her head close to my foreleg. Clamping down, I felt the pain but ignored it. I wasn’t letting go that easy. Grace shook her head and then suddenly stopped. I felt the images come to me in a rush.

  Grace was sorry and regretted hurting me. She was back in control. I stayed where I was until she looked into my eyes. Slowly, she faced me, and I could see my friend in her eyes. It was one more night, but she was still in control. The curse hadn’t won yet.

  Slowly, I let go of my friend, ready to stop her if it was just a trick. Grace nodded to me, and I motioned behind us.

  ‘We need to head back to Nikkan. You left him in the dust.’

  Wolf Grace gave a little chuckle and nodded to me as she took off in front of me b
ack the way we had run. I didn’t give it any thought as we picked up our pace to head back as to why Nikkan hadn’t caught up with us. Yes, cursed Grace was fast, but she wasn’t fast enough to outrun us completely. And Nikkan wasn’t a slow wolf.

  Grace howled as we neared and saw the scene before I did. Nikkan was on the ground as four wolves took turns jumping in and biting him, taking chunks of his fur and skin with them. Grace didn’t wait as she charged forward. I knew our odds weren’t the best with four crazed wolfs against three as it was, so I changed my form. I wasn’t going to fight fair. My size grew as I neared, and long brown fur covered me. I could feel the power in every step as I neared my friends.

  I didn’t wait for an invitation as I swiped at the nearest wolf. One powerful hit and the wolf went flying. It hit a tree and whimpered. It wasn’t long before the other three wolves knew what they were facing, and all turned to me. That was fine with me. I was ready for it. As each wolf moved, I was able to get in a hit. Even if the wolf got a scratch or bite on me, it wasn’t enough to stop me. It wasn’t a fair fight. I was four times the size of them in my bear form. When the wolves had enough for the night, they turned and ran back the way they came, and I slumped to the ground beside my friends. It was going to be a long night.

  5

  22nd March

  We spent the rest of the night, keeping Nikkan safe as he healed, and running the attacking wolves away from the tree where the children slept. If I had to guess, it would be they came because of the meat hanging in the tree with the children. I could have brought the meat outside the wall, but it was too late to matter much. They already had the scent. It was daylight by the time we made it to sleep.

  When I woke, I found Grace and the older kids were already stripping the meat down to be smoked. Being that the scent would attract the wolves, I thought it was better if I went to the other side of the wall to dry it. This time I would be proactive. While they finished, I went over to start a pit for the fire on the other side of the wall.

  Physical activity was great to keep my mind off everything, but once I had everything ready and got the meat from Grace, I had nothing to do but sit by the fire. Which, unfortunately, left me way too much time to think.

  I needed to keep following leads and coming up with a way to save my friends, but it was getting harder. Grace wasn’t going to beat the curse much longer and what would happen to Nikkan when it took over. I knew she could fight it after her next change, but as it came more often, she would lose more often. She would be a monster, and she wouldn’t hesitate to attack my friend. How in the world could I protect them when I knew he wouldn’t fight back. If there was one thing I knew, he loved her and would never hurt her, no matter the monster she became. That didn’t leave me with options. If I wanted both of them safe, I had to either find the answer or stay here for the rest of my life and protect them.

  The smell of the smoke was a comfort of home. It was the woods, and I was alone in nature, and it felt like the only place I ever wanted to be. I spent the rest of the day smoking the meat that we would save for the children. I wasn’t sure how long it would last them, but it was better than nothing. It would be easier if we had help getting food to the wolves, but Elder didn’t seem to be coming to the aid of the wolves as they should have. I would just have to keep working double-time to get them fed and safe and find a cure.

  The forest on this side of the wall was everything I could remember of life in Elder, but the opposite side was nothing anyone wanted to experience. I felt for the wolves trapped there, but I was just one person. I could only do so much. My friends and the children were my priority.

  As I checked the meat again, I heard Sera approach. She joined me at the fire and inspected my work.

  “For the kids,” I explained.

  Sera nodded.

  “You’re a good man, Castiel,” Sera finally spoke. “I know this is stressful, and you don’t have time to think about all this, but what you are doing is worth it. Those kids are safe because of you.”

  I nodded. I had no idea how she knew I needed the encouragement.

  “But others aren’t as lucky. I feel bad that I can’t help the ones not cursed. They either are being attacked and fighting for their lives, or hiding. None of those sound like great options. Can you imagine spending the rest of your days living like that?”

  “That’s why we need to keep looking for answers. I went back to the papers yesterday and spent the day looking through them. It seems like the only lead was the one you found, Prince Fallon. I think it’s worth going and meeting with him.”

  I nodded. I knew it was, but what was I supposed to do? Leave my friends? Would they be there when I got back?

  “I can’t leave them right now,” I finally replied.

  Sera nodded as she understood.

  We sat down on the ground near the fire and just waited. The meat was almost done, but that only solved one very small problem for a very short time. They would need more food and soon. They would need warmer clothing next winter, and you couldn’t exactly keep children in hanging beds all day. They needed to be able to play and be children. I was giving them none of that.

  That was what my life had boiled down to. Problem after problem. I thought it was bad when I had to deal with Red, but this was much worse. I never in a million winters expected things to turn out like this.

  Sera reached over and took my hand in hers.

  “It may seem hopeless, but I know you’ll figure it out. You always do. You are the strongest and smartest man I know. If there is an answer, you can find it.”

  And just like that, my heavy heart was lighter. Sera was reminding me of the truth. I didn’t give up. That wasn’t in my nature. I’d deal with one thing at a time, but I would find my answer. I would help my friends and the wolves I called family.

  I let go of her hand and put my arm around her. I pulled her close and kissed the top of her head.

  “Can you watch the meat while I go back and help Nikkan build more? We’re trying to build a treehouse for the kids, so they don’t have to hang in beds all day to stay safe.”

  Sera nodded as I stood and pulled her up too.

  “Once I get a safe structure for the children, I can leave Nikkan in charge of them so I can go explore my options more. See what else I might have missed.”

  Sera smiled at me.

  “There’s the Castiel I fell for seasons ago.”

  I paused. Seasons ago? Really? I thought she hated my guts. Boy, was I wrong on that one, but I was never going to tell Grace that. Girls were so confusing, and yet they seemed to understand each other perfectly.

  Sera let out a laugh.

  “Go help the world. That’s what you’re best at.” Sera yanked on my hand, pulling me down so that our lips could meet again before she pushed me back and stepped to the fire to tend the meat.

  I just shook my head. No matter what, Sera was still Sera, pushing me around and calling the shots. I doubt she could be any other way as neither could I. I didn’t need to save the world. Just my friends.

  Without a second glance back, I took off into the woods and made it to the camp in no time. I actually wondered if my running speed had increased. Was that possible?

  “No, no,” yelled Nikkan from the tree where he was sitting. The teenage children were staring back up at him from the ground. “We can’t use that board. I need the other one. They all need to look like the boards in the tree village, and that means they need to look like the one over there.”

  I stared at where he pointed and had no clue what he was doing.

  “This would work a lot better if we knew how to do it,” Grace grumbled as she stood next to me and watched Nikkan let out a frustrated growl. “Besides you, Nikkan is probably the only one still in his senses that had been around the tree village enough to try to replicate it.”

  I grew up there and wasn’t completely certain how to replicate it.

  “Sera’s tending the meat,” I explained as Grace
looked me over. “It should be done by before nighttime.”

  “Good, because I’m pretty sure that won’t be.” Grace pointed up to Nikkan.

  With one last chuckle, I climbed the tree to join my friend in his building pursuit. Neither of us had a real clue about how to build a treehouse, but it was better than nothing. It couldn’t be too hard, right?

  The afternoon passed quickly as we hammered and pushed the boards into place. It wasn’t much of a house, but it was a walkway under the hanging beds of the children. They seemed to appreciate our work, even if we didn’t know what we were doing. Before dusk, I was able to help get the children settled for the night before I could make a quick run back to Sera.

  Cracking of bones brought my attention back to the trees around me. It was too early to change, but I assumed Nikkan wanted to beat us this time. I turned to tell Grace to wait for him to finish and found her red wolf growling at me.

  “Nikkan,” I yelled for my friend. He had gone down to the river to fill the canteens for the children. “Nikkan!” I yelled again as my friend's red wolf lunged for me as I scrambled down the tree.

  I ducked out of the way, and she went flying over me. I didn’t wait to see if she was going to attack again. Her wolf was out for blood, and I was the only thing she could attack.

  “Pull the rope up,” I yelled to Samuel. We were lucky all of the children were already up there. Samuel was going to have to get them in all their beds. I had to deal with Grace.

  “Nikkan!” I gave one last shout. “Tell him I’m going after Grace,” I instructed Samuel.

  “I will. Be safe,” he yelled back.

  While Grace went north the night before, this time, she headed right back to all the action, the wolf village. I changed into my wolf form.

  ‘Grace,’ I yelled, mentally to my friend. As expected, there was no response.

  I picked up my speed as I chased her. I needed to get to her before she got with the other wolves.

  ‘Grace, come back,’ I tried again.