“Here?” Tristan pitched his voice low, unwilling to disturb this exquisite memory.
“Perfect,” Griffin responded.
Both men reached for their gold and tucked it in the hollow of a Rowan tree on the edge of the meadow. Safe from goblins, witches, and other enemies, they returned to the wooded area beside Grimm River.
Snow
Red stood and began breaking down their small campfire. Snow collected their plates and dishes. As they worked side by side, Red took her sister’s hand.
Snow looked up, a question in her eyes.
“I shouldn’t have left like I did,” Red began. “I was so sure I could save Griffin, I never considered I was walking into a trap.”
Snow closed her eyes, remembering her resistance. She had changed so much that weeks felt like years. “I wasn’t the most understanding sister.” She looked up through her bangs. “And I have no idea why I let you go by yourself. For that, I’m ashamed.”
Dishes dried and packed, the sisters walked back to where Griffin and Tristan were breaking down their small fire. “If you had come, we both would have been held in that cave. Then where would we have been?”
Tristan shuddered. “You should have seen your sister and Ruby learning to fight. They were fast learners.”
Red linked arms with her sister as they left the woods. “This from the woman who didn’t even want to carry rocks in her apron?”
Snow tilted her head back in laughter. “It’s amazing what you learn when you have no choice.”
“You’ll have to teach me to fight with the staff. I admired the way you helped defend us in the cave.”
“You should have seen her when the gnats attacked. It was Snow’s quick thinking that saved all of us,” Tristan said.
“What did you do? Tell me,” Red demanded.
Snow shrugged, blushing. “It was nothing, really. I was further back, so Tristan and Avery got the first hit from the bugs. But they were getting into our eyes. I tied a bandana around my face.”
“But first she soaked it in vanilla,” Tristan added.
“Gnats don’t like the smell of pure vanilla. When I saw the gnats were leaving me alone, I made bandanas for everyone else. Once the bugs realized they weren’t stopping us, they went back wherever they came from.”
Griffin turned to look back. “You saved my brother.”
Snow shrugged. “He saved us, too.” She waved a hand at the empty campground they left. “It’s as you said. Each one of us brought a different strength. We worked together and were stronger for it.” Snow tilted her chin up. “A brotherhood.”
Red looked aside.
“What’s wrong?” Snow asked, touching her sister’s shoulder. “We’re on our way home. In a little while, we’ll have Mother’s tea and warm scones fresh from the oven. Why so glum?”
“I didn’t bring anything to the fellowship,” Red whispered, her beautiful sage green eyes filling with tears. “All I did was rush in and get caught.”
“You bring passion and light. When I was afraid, you charged ahead. When I was cautious, you gave me strength.”
Red hugged her sister. “I’m so glad we’re together again,” she whispered into her cloud of raven hair.
“Always, goof! We’re best friends. Forever.” Snow kissed her sister’s cheek before racing to catch up to Griffin and Tristan.
“Blueberry scones, fresh from the oven,” Red said, licking her lips.
“Strawberry rhubarb pound cake,” Snow teased.
Tristan laughed, catching Snow around the waist and twirling her. “Are you trying to make me hungry?”
“No, just dreaming of all the things we’ll eat when we get home.” Snow smiled up at the tall man she’d fallen in love with.
“I want a steaming hot bath,” Red declared. Her hand slipped naturally into Griffin’s as they walked ahead.
A sense of lightness overtook Snow. She was floating on a cloud of happiness. Only one shadow remained. “Do you still wish to be alone?” she asked Tristan.
His words still echoed in her mind. How he resented his bear and all it represented.
Tristan was quiet so long, Snow wasn’t sure he was going to answer. Her chin firmed. Whatever he decided, she would be fine with it.
Enveloping her hand in his, Tristan lifted their entwined fingers and placed a kiss on her knuckles. “Maybe I wouldn’t mind so much. You know, if I had the right partner to help me raise cubs and children.”
Snow tightened her fingers. “You should never be ashamed of who or what you are.” She looked down at her feet. “I had to learn that lesson the hard way. I always thought Red was the stronger sister. I was shy. Held back. Reserved.”
Tristan opened his mouth to argue with her, but she shook him off. “What I realized is I have to love me for me. My strengths and weaknesses.”
“Your strengths will be sung about for generations.”
Snow giggled. “I have the love of my family. I don’t need any songs sung about me.”
They chased each other all the way home. Like children playing a game of tag or peekaboo. Still grimy from their travels. Tired. Hungry. But as the sun set behind them, the two couples fell in love.
And when the little cabin nestled into the mountains appeared, Snow and Red rushed forward, crying for their mother. They passed the rose-bushes that bore their names.
Olga, tears of joy streaming down her face, opened the door and hugged her girls tightly.
Chapter Ten
Tristan
“Oh, let me get tea on.” Olga fussed around her daughters, the Baron, and Tristan.
“Please,” Griffin said. “You offered me refuge when I was stuck in my bear’s body. We’re old friends, now.” Griffin took Red’s hand in his. “Almost family.”
Red blushed prettily and looked at her feet.
“I’ll get the tea on,” Snow offered.
“I’ll warm the scones,” Red said with a smile. “A little role reversal, don’t you think?”
The two sisters giggled in the kitchen as they prepared a tray for their guests.
Tristan raised an eyebrow at his brother. “Practically family?”
“We will be as soon as possible,” Griffin replied.
“I’ve been so worried about you girls.” Olga’s fingers wrung her handkerchief nervously. “I can’t believe it’s been this long.”
“Not even a week, Mother,” Snow reminded her.
“You defeated Paulina?” Olga asked, turning to the Baron.
Griffin shook his head slowly. “Not exactly. Her sister Nora was working with Gaul to overthrow the witch. By stealing our power and locking us in our bear forms, they were hoping we would blame Paulina, break our treaty, and start a war.”
“I can’t believe you were all involved in that.” Olga was unable to sit still while her daughters worked. She got up and hugged them again, wiping her tears.
“We’re right here, Mama,” Snow said, hugging her mother. “We made it.”
“What about Ruby and the Sherriff? They made it home okay, too?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Tristan stood to help Snow with the tea tray while Griffin took the scones from Red.
“Some food and then we must be going.” Griffin’s brown eyes were sad when he gave the news, but resolute.
“I don’t want you to be apart,” Red whispered with a little pout. “We’ve been together so long now. It just feels wrong to separate.”
Griffin pushed a limp red curl away from her forehead. “I know. I don’t want to leave you either, my love. But we all need dinner, baths, and eight hours of sleep.”
“Eight?” Snow asked with a laugh. She took a sip of tea and sighed at the simple pleasure of it. “I may sleep for a week.”
Griffin and Red settled into the chaise. “I don’t blame you,” Griffin said with a laugh. “But I’ve been away for a long time and left my advisors. I need to plan a tour of Thistle Grove and make sure all is still well.”
“What about
you, love?” Olga turned to Snow. “When will you open the bakery again?”
Snow groaned. “Dreams of baking kept me going during the journey home, but now that I’m sitting again, I don’t want to move.”
Red, sage-green eyes drooping, nodded sleepily. “Maybe in a day or two?” she suggested around an oversized yawn.
They talked a few more minutes before both Snow and Red fell asleep sitting up.
“Maybe we should just put blankets on them?” Tristan suggested. He pulled Snow a little tighter, delighting in the way she fit beside him.
“Let me turn down their beds,” Olga suggested. “They can bathe in the morning.” She smiled a little. “Or whenever they wake up.”
Tristan and Griffin tucked the sisters into their beds, pressing kisses to their foreheads.
When they were done, they rejoined Olga in the living room. “There’s just one more thing,” Griffin said. “Come Saturday, I want to bring Red to my home. Have lunch served to her. May I have your permission to ask her to marry me?”
Tristan rolled his eyes at his brother. “You just couldn’t let me ask first, could you?” he teased.
Griffin merely shrugged.
Olga wiped her tears away. “It would be my honor to have both of you as my sons-in-law.”
“Until Saturday then?” Griffin asked.
“Do we even know what day it is today?” Tristan commented.
“It’s Monday, dear,” Olga said with a smile. “Until Saturday,” she agreed.
Snow
“I’ve never seen such a grand home,” she gushed as Tristan guided her through the estate’s gardens.
“Griff has always taken pride in the house and garden.”
Snow stopped. “Just Griffin?”
Tristan shrugged. “When you know you’re the spare, you don’t spend as much time planning for an estate that will never be yours.” He grew quiet as they walked beneath the canopy of flowers and trees. “That you hope like hell will never be yours.”
“I can understand that.” They passed the finely kept lawn and headed towards a bubbling brook on the edge of the property.
“I wanted to talk to you.”
Snow smiled. “Isn’t that what we’re doing?” she teased.
“No. Well, yes. But no.”
Snow laughed as her confident, battle-hardened bear stumbled over his words. “Just say it, Tristan. I think we’re past the formalities.”
Tristan dropped to the ground.
“Tristan? Are you okay?” Snow stared and wondered if he had stumbled and fell.
Tristan looked up at her, brown eyes beseeching. “I wanted to show you my world. Let you see the grounds. Tour the house. Eat food cooked by the world’s best chefs.”
Snow touched his lips in awe as she began to realize why Tristan had brought her out to this secluded spot. “Why?”
“I wanted to impress you with things.” His eyes dropped in shame. “But I was wrong.”
Snow felt her heart began to beat heavily in her chest. Was a proposal imminent? Or was he telling her he never wanted to see her again? “I don’t understand.”
“Things won’t impress you. Not eating off fragile bone china. Not delicacies served on porcelain platters. Not manicured lawns and perfectly pruned flower beds.”
“I like those things.” Confusion was etched on Snow’s brow.
“But the Snow I fell in love with is happy with savory stews, the cakes she bakes, and sturdy quilts made with love.”
Snow nodded, touched that he realized the depth of her character. She was no silly girl beguiled by shiny things. “You love me?”
“With all my heart.” Tristan’s hands fumbled for a moment in his jacket pocket before producing a small box. “Will you do me the honor of marrying me?” Using his thumb, he lifted the lid on the velveteen box. Nestled in the midnight fabric sat a luminous pearl ring.
Snow cupped her mouth in shock. “It’s perfect!” she exclaimed before launching herself into his arms. They tipped over into the ground, laughing as they tangled with the twigs and leaves.
They kissed in the dappled light beneath the protective canopy. A heated awareness grew between them. Snow’s hands fluttered, unsure until finally twining them around Tristan’s neck. Tristan’s arms slid down her spine, sending shivers through her core.
He pulled back long enough to trail kisses along the delicate curve of her jaw. Behind her sensitive ear. The gentle swell of her shoulder. “I love you,” Tristan vowed.
Snow lifted her fingers to press against his lips. “I love you,” she promised.
Epilogue
The double wedding of Snow-White and Rose-Red took place in the extended gardens at Baron Griffin’s grand estate. The town gathered to watch as the young women, each in their signature color, walked down the petal-strewn aisle.
Ruby was their only bridesmaid. She finished the procession and stood at the altar, waiting. She barely restrained herself from dancing with joy as her best friends got married.
Her pale green eyes took in the handsome Knox brothers as they waited impatiently for their brides to join them. And there, standing up next to Griffin and Tristan was Avery Wolfe.
Their gazes met, curiosity and heat passing between them.
Author’s notes:
I fell in love with bear shifters when I was six years old. My mother went to a yard sale and came home with a book of fairy tales. That’s when I first found the story of Snow-White and Rose-Red. It still amazes me that the story is so little known. I’m convinced poor Snow-White was eclipsed by the Snow with the dwarves.
If you haven’t read Snow-White and Rose-Red, I highly recommend it. A story about two sisters and two prince bear shifters. What could be more romantic?
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Shifter Special Forces
An all new shifter romance series!
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Snow: A Retelling or Rose-Red and Snow-White (Thistle Grove Tales Book Book 2) Page 6