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Forever Scarlett
(The Everly Girls Book Three)
V.B. Marlowe
The Everly Girls Series
#1 Forever Snow
#2 Forever Ella
#3 Forever Scarlett
Other Books by V.B. Marlowe
The Shadow Pines Trilogy
#1 Shadow, Shadow
#2 Moonlight, Moonlight
#3 Ember, Ember
The Dust Trilogy
#1 A Girl Called Dust
#2 Dust and Roses
#3 Blood and Dust
The Final Breath Chronicles
#1 Naomi Grim
#2 Keira Grim
#3 Brametheus Grim
#4 Chase Grim
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously.
Copyright © 2017 V.B. Marlowe All rights reserved. No parts of this book may be copied or reproduced in any matter whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. Printed in the United States of America.
Cover Design by Everpage Designs
Marlowe Blue Publications
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Email: [email protected]
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Forever Scarlett
(Book Three of the Everly Girls Series)
V.B. Marlowe
Contents
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1
Over 200 Years Ago
The Eirwen Forests
Are you a good wolf or a bad wolf? That is the one question a Wolvenblood must always answer truthfully. We couldn’t answer with a lie if we wanted to. The answer is an involuntary reflex, like breathing or pulling your hand away from a fire when you’ve been burned. We don’t even think about it. The answer rolls off the tongue whether we like it or not.
What are these Wolvenbloods I speak of? I’m one of them. During the day, I’m Scarlett Radcliffe. A normal girl who lives with her mother, sister, and grandmother in a quiet village nestled in the woods. Once the sun makes its retreat and the moon rises, I become something else. My flaming red curls disappear. My pale skin turns a caramel brown and fur appears on every inch of me. My long slender limbs change into four short, muscular wolf legs. The only part of me that remains the same are my bright blue eyes. At night, they glow. That’s how my family tells me apart from the other Wolvenbloods whose eyes are mostly a yellowish-brown. Their eyes do not glow.
Wolvenblood was a disease that skipped a generation. My Nana had it. My mother did not. Of my mother’s three daughters, I was the only one to inherit the sickness. My older sister Ruby and my younger sister Rowan, were perfectly normal human beings.
Sometimes I resented being the only one of my siblings who had to carry the burden of being a half-beast. While growing up, Ruby and Rowan got tucked into bed every night by our mother. She read them bed time stories about mermaids or handsome princes. They got to sit around the fire to enjoy a sticky bun, a hefty slice of cake, or mother’s famous bread pudding before going to bed. My sisters got to snuggle under warm comfy blankets and drift off to sleep in the safety of their soft beds.
I, on the other hand had to leave the house with Nana by dusk. There were no calming bedtime rituals for me. Sometimes when Mama had time, she would read me stories in the afternoon, but that wasn’t often and it wasn’t the same as having her tuck me in at night.
I would kiss Mama goodbye and Nana and I would find our den—a hole underneath a pile of large, gray rocks, remove our clothing so they wouldn’t be ruined when we changed, and then wait to transform. Once the moon was high in the sky it would happen. The process was slightly painful, but I was so used to it. It felt like moving around for the first time after you had been trapped in a box for a while. My muscles and joints would be sore for a few moments, but then the pain would go away.
Once we were wolves, the hunt was on. We had to feed. Nana taught me how to hunt. It was simple and amusing. We raced through the woods searching for small animals until we had our fill. Once we were full, Nana would let me run wild and play with the other Wolvenbloods, but only the good ones.
That was the best part—having someone who could challenge me. Ruby and Rowan could never run as fast as me, but the other Wolvenbloods could. For hours, we would race and play tag or just snuggle together under the moonlight that crept through the tree branches. Finally, Nana would howl for me and we would go back to our den to rest up for the next day. When morning came and we were changed back to our human form, we would dress and go back home where Mama would have breakfast waiting for us.
As much as I would have rather spent nights at home with Mama and my sisters, there was something magical about the forest at night. It was our place. The sky was a black blanket that covered us and the stars sparkled like jewels decorating the sky. The wind wrapped us up in its coolness and moist soil made the most comfortable bed. Outside was where I really belonged. Being indoors made me feel trapped.
Not all Wolvenbloods were like me and Nana. We were good wolves. We only hunted when we needed to eat and we only killed animals, not people. We stayed where we were supposed to and didn’t venture into forbidden territories.
The bad wolves didn’t do that. They killed other animals just for sport, sometimes even other Wolvenbloods. They would leave our part of the forest and sneak onto nearby farms and kill the animals kept there. Often, they attacked people—anyone brave or foolish enough to venture around at night time. Nana told me that for a long time we’d had a deal with the Humans—we wouldn’t bother them and they wouldn’t bother us. The bad wolves messed that up. They violated the Human’s trust.
The bad wolves gave us all a bad name and Humans were afraid of every wolf they came across—even the good ones like me who would never harm them. Whenever they spotted a wolf, the braver Humans would hunt it down and kill it. Mama was afraid for Nana and me, but Nana told her not to worry.
She and I were smart enough to stay deep in the woods. We kept to the deepest, darkest parts that people never dared to enter.
There was one thing I never told my Nana, my mother, or my sisters. It was something I would never tell anyone. Most of the time I was a good wolf. But every now and then, deep down inside there was something else lurking that I couldn’t always control. There was a wolf who wanted to do whatever she wanted. I longed to rip people and animals to shreds. I itched to run out into the open where Humans would see me and be afraid. I wanted to watch them run and scream. There was a part of me that ached to cause destruction for no good reason.
I resisted the urge and thankfully that questionable part of me was always overpowered when Mama asked, “Are you a good wolf or a bad wolf?” She asked Nana and I that question every morning just to be sure we wouldn’t hurt anyone. Although she would never say so, she was afraid of us. She had good reason to be. One day I feared the bad wolf would over power the good wolf and who knew what would happen then.
Little Red Riding Hood was supposed to be about me, but Mr. Charles Perraul
t got it all wrong. I don’t own a red hood. My grandmother has never been sick a day in her life. Since I’m not a moron and my eyesight is perfect—I would never mistake my grandmother for a wolf wearing a bonnet and glasses. There were so many versions that came after the original, but they were all lies. I don’t know who wrote the story you’ve read about me, but I can guarantee you have no idea what really happened. My story isn’t one about a girl and a big bad wolf. I am the girl. I am the wolf.
One morning when I was ten Mama sent my sisters and me to the marketplace with a list of items to purchase. Ruby, being the oldest was always in charge of the money pouch. Mama handed Ruby the small brown sack and watched her tuck it into the waist of her long navy-blue skirt. Thievery was becoming more common in the marketplace so Ruby had to be extra careful.
Mother smoothed down the front of Ruby’s skirt. “Don’t flash the money around. Carefully remove only the amount you need and put the pouch right back in its place. No showing off, Ruby.”
The last statement was necessary because there was nothing my eldest sister liked more than to show others up.
“Yes, Mama,” she replied. But I knew Mama’s words had gone in one ear and out the other. At twelve, Ruby thought she knew everything.
My sisters and I each grabbed a wicker basket waiting for us on the table. We would use them to carry the goods back home.
Mama’s auburn curls were pulled back into a long braid. Even underneath her smile, worry lines wrinkled her pretty face. She always looked that way when I left the village—like she expected something terrible to happen. I gave her an extra-tight hug so she wouldn’t worry so much.
She opened the door for us and gave us each a quick peck on the forehead as we left. “Ruby, if there is enough change left you can each by yourself a pastry before heading back—but only if you’ve gotten everything and there is money left over.”
“Yes, Mama,” we replied. My mouth was already watering. A lady named Nicolette ran a stand in the marketplace that sold the best pastries in the kingdom filled with sweet fruit jelly. The raspberry one was my favorite. I hoped there would be enough money left for the treat.
The walk to the marketplace was long and tedious because my sisters only wanted to discuss village gossip and what was going on in Eirwen. I wasn’t interested. I trailed behind my siblings. My sisters both had red hair like me, but their hair was fine and straight while mine was thick and curly. Ruby flicked her long hair over her shoulder. It fluttered down to her waistline. Ruby was beautiful, with flawless skin and high cheekbones. It didn’t take a crystal ball to see that she would marry well.
Rowan, one year my junior, was the brains of the family. She had a knack for memorizing facts and could solve any riddle thrown at her. With no desire to fuss with her hair each day, she kept her hair cut to shoulder-length. While Ruby and I had small button noses, Rowan’s was long and pointy. Nana said, being the middle child, I was blessed with both brains and beauty. She told me not to tell my sisters that, so they wouldn’t be jealous. I obeyed Nana because I never truly believed it. The way I saw it, Ruby was the beauty, Rowan was the brains, and I was the beast.
In my sisters’ eyes, there was nothing worse than being a Wolvenblood and they thanked their luck every day that the disease had chosen me over them. I used every opportunity to make being a Wolvenblood sound as amazing as possible.
Since I had too much energy to walk leisurely like my sisters, I skipped ahead of them. I rounded a few trees to give the slow pokes a chance to catch up. “Last night Nana and I had so much fun. We got to watch the fireworks from the palace. We could see them from our den. They were so beautiful, like magic painting the sky.”
Rowan yawned. “Oh yes. Yesterday was Queen Angeline’s birthday. We stayed up late with Mama and she told us all kinds of wonderful tales about the palace and past royalty.”
I clenched my jaw. Intimate time with Mama trumped fireworks any day. I longed for those moments with her. My sisters always had to rub in the fact that they got them while I didn’t. “Well, we also chased a unicorn, and stumbled upon a band of vicious thieves sitting around a campfire planning their next robbery. We even saw a fairy.”
Ruby snorted. “Sure, Scarlett. Did you happen to run into Papa too while all that was going on?”
My pulse raced. Ruby knew better than that. We never talked about Papa. One night when I was five he went to gather firewood and never came back. Nana thought he was taken by a Wolvenblood or some other creature for being out too late. One day when Ruby and I had gotten into a fight and she was infuriated with me, she told me what she thought was the truth. She said that Papa had no idea that the Wolvenblood gene ran in Mama’s family when he married her. When they had me, he wasn’t prepared to have a daughter who was half-beast so he had run away and started himself a new family—one that was all Human. Deep down inside, she and Rowan blamed me for Papa being gone. Maybe Mama did too, although she would never say so.
I said nothing because the only thing I wanted to do was claw her eyes out. I kept my hands wrapped tightly around the handle of the basket I carried behind my back. Rowan quickly changed the subject to what she thought Queen Angeline had worn to her birthday celebration.
The day was perfect and I had no intentions of letting Ruby ruin it. I inhaled the strong pine scent of the forest and that helped me calm down. Above my head a trio of blue jays raced each other through the towering tree branches. The warmth of the sun toasted my skin. At last we came to a series of hills that would lead to the marketplace. My sisters complained because the hills were steeped but I couldn’t wait to sprint up and down each one.
After we climbed the final lush, green hill, a carnival of vibrant colors appeared at the bottom. We had almost reached our destination. I heard the faint music of the band who always played at the entrance of the marketplace for people’s spare change. My feet itched. I had to run. I had an overload of energy I needed to get out of my system. That was a symptom of being a young Wolvenblood—a lot of unharnessed spirit.
I moved briskly past my sisters. “Let’s race.”
They both groaned. “What’s the point?” Rowan asked. “You know we can’t beat you.”
I ignored them and ran anyway. The wind felt so good whipping through my curls. My feet thudded against the grassy hillside carrying me as fast as they good. My sisters knew the routine. I would meet them at the first place we needed to stop, the spice shop. I waited almost fifteen minutes for them to catch up to me.
Ruby rolled her eyes when she saw me. “I wish you would stop doing that, Scarlett. It doesn’t look normal. And now your hair is a mess.”
She was right but I couldn’t help it and what my hair looked like was unimportant to me. I had no one to impress. Still, I ran my fingers through the tangles to make my locks halfway presentable.
The market place was filled with rows and rows of stores, each one identified by a colorful sign, flag, or banner. Dozens of people milled around inspecting goods and wares, eager to make a thrifty purchase.
When I entered the spice shop, the scents of cinnamon, cloves, and garlic powder tickled my nostrils. Rowan pulled the list from her basket and she and Ruby took the corresponding spices from their shelves.
I should have been helping but I was distracted by a table labeled New Spices from Asia. I twisted the top off a bottle labeled Lemongrass and took a deep sniff. It smelled delightful, like nothing I had ever smelled before. I had the overwhelming urge to lick it, but I didn’t.
Frieda, the woman who ran the spice shop, cleared her throat. I glanced over my shoulder and saw her giving me the evil eye. “You know better than that, Scarlett Radcliffe. You open, you buy.”
I quickly replaced the top and set the bottle down. Mother would not be happy if we bought something not on the list simply because I had opened it out of curiosity. I grinned at Frieda who was wrapping something in brown paper. She shook her head and focused on her work.
Ruby glared at me. “You know, t
his would go a lot faster if you would help for once.”
I rolled my eyes at my sister and started to leave the spice shop and explore, when Ruby’s best friend Elisa entered the shop with another girl. Ruby squealed and ran to hug her friend.
Elisa gushed over seeing Ruby and then smiled at Rowan and me. The smile she gave me however, was rather tight. She never liked me because I was wild and unladylike. No one else outside of my family knew I was a Wolvenblood. That was something everyone kept secret so they wouldn’t be ostracized. People feared Wolvenblood, so of course they wouldn’t want to be around them, not even when they were in their Human form.
Elisa beamed at Ruby. “Mother gave me money to buy a new pair of shoes. Want to help me pick some out?”
My sister turned several shades of green. I knew the last thing she wanted to do was help Elisa find a pair of shoes when she wouldn’t be able to buy a pair for herself, and then her friend would have better shoes than her. She swallowed hard and nodded anyway.
Elisa was just as beautiful as Ruby. She had long golden curls and large doll-like eyes that were crystal blue. Elisa was also wearing a new red dress I had never seen before. Word around the village was that her father was doing quite well with his fishing business.
Ruby looked down at her list. “Let me finish getting the things I need then I’ll meet you there.”
Elisa nodded and left the spice shop with her friend. In a hurry we purchased the spices, stopped by the meat cart for some chops and fish. We got some thread and needles mother needed for sewing and a few other things. Once we were done, I was pleased to see we had a little more than enough for three pastries, but before we bought ourselves a treat, Ruby insisted we help her stupid friend find the perfect pair of shoes. I wondered why my sister was doing something we both knew she didn’t want to do but there was no sense in asking her.
Forever Scarlett: The Everly Girls Book 3 Page 1