Rowan skipped along cheerfully. “We should help Elisa find the prettiest pair of shoes she can afford.”
Ruby coughed. “Or the ugliest pair.”
Rowan frowned. “Why would we do that?”
I tossed a spool of green thread in the air and caught it. “Because our dear sister is jealous of her friend getting new shoes. Isn’t it obvious?”
Ruby shoved me, making me drop the thread. “Shut up, Scarlett. What do you know about anything?”
The spool of thread rolled under a cart selling a variety of beautiful dolls in colorful dresses. I knelt to retrieve it as my sisters walked on ahead. When I stood, I nearly bumped into a man wearing a purple vest with no shirt underneath and black pants. He flashed me a smile which revealed a missing front tooth. The way he looked me up and down made me feel uneasy.
He eyed my basket. “What do you have there, little girl? Are you here alone?”
Ignoring his questions, I sprinted to catch up with my sisters.
For almost an hour I had to watch them gush over each pair of shoes in the shoe shop. Rowan was also interested, but I was not.
Elisa held up a pair of golden slippers with a glittery bow on the toes. “What about these?”
Ruby’s eyes lit up for a moment, but then her lips twisted into a frown. “Nah, they’re a little too flashy, don’t you think?”
Elisa waved Ruby’s comment away. “There’s no such thing as too flashy, Ruby. These shoes will make me the envy of all the girls in the village, don’t you think?”
I sighed. “Sure. Can you just buy them already we can leave?” The aroma of freshly baked pastries tempted me from the shoe shop.
Elisa ignored me and headed to the shop owner to pay for the golden slippers. Ruby gasped at a wooden board with silver barrettes clipped to it. She picked up one that looked to be diamond encrusted even though it really wasn’t. It reminded me of a snow flake.
She held it to the side of her head and turned to Rowan and I. “What do you think?”
I shrugged, but Rowan nodded eagerly. “That would look beautiful on you.”
When she asked the shop owner how much it cost, we learned it was the exact amount of money we had left over. Ruby turned to me and Rowan. “Can I use the leftover money to buy it? Mother won’t mind, I’m sure. She said we could use the money anyway.”
I didn’t know what Rowan was going to say but I answered before she could. “No way. I want my pastry. I don’t care about some stupid barrette you won’t even let me borrow.”
“I will let you borrow it,” Ruby lied. She never shared any of her things.
Elisa appeared at my sister’s side, cradling the box with her brand-new shoes to her chest. “You have got to be kidding. You’d choose a pastry over that beautiful barrette? Ruby can keep that forever and I’m sure she’d let you use it too. The pastry will be gone in a minute and then you’ll have nothing to show for it. A girl your age needs to be watching her figure anyway, Men don’t want to marry butterballs.”
Marriage was the last thing I was thinking of at that moment. I just wanted to gobble down a sweet pastry and run all the way home. My body was begging to burn off some energy. I shrugged. I wasn’t about to let Elisa get under my skin. She wasn’t important enough in my life for me to worry about her opinion.
“Fine, then you can use your and Rowan’s share to buy the barrette and I’ll get my pastry.”
Ruby groaned. “If we do that, I won’t have enough.”
“Don’t care. Pastry now.”
Ruby glared at me for a moment like she was going to say something, then she paled. My sisters were afraid of making me angry even though I would never hurt them. While I wished they weren’t, sometimes their fear worked to my advantage. Ruby sighed and set the barrette back in its place. “Fine.”
Elisa’s jaw dropped. “Don’t let your little sister tell you what to do. Buy the barrette.”
Ruby shook her head. “No, it’s okay. I don’t need it. We should be heading home.”
Elisa scrunched her beautiful face at me. “You’re a little brat, you know that.”
“You shut your mouth before I rip you up,” I snapped.
Ruby grabbed my arm and yanked me away from Elisa. “Scarlett!” Then she turned to her friend. “I’m sorry about that Elisa. I’ll see you later.”
We purchased our pastries. I got a delightful raspberry one with white icing dribbled all over the top. I gobbled it down in a few bites. Our walk home was silent except for Ruby saying one thing to me. “Sometimes I wish you weren’t our sister.”
2
Now that the pastry had settled in my stomach and I had nothing to show for it, I felt guilty about my decision. I would have apologized if I thought it would make a difference, but it wouldn’t have. We were almost a mile away from our cottage when I sensed a presence behind us. I always felt, smelled, and heard things my sisters couldn’t. Being a Wolvenblood gave me heightened senses even in my Human form.
The hair rose on the back of my neck and my nostrils were invaded by a foreign odor.
I stopped in my tracks and looked behind me.
Rowan, who had been talking to Ruby stopped mid-sentence. “Scarlett?”
I swallowed hard. “Someone is following us.”
Ruby, still upset with me, rolled her eyes. “Don’t be silly. It’s just the wind or the trees. You’re being paranoid.”
“Being able to hear things you can’t doesn’t make me paranoid.”
Ruby groaned and pushed me forward. We walked on a few minutes more when the crackling of a tree branch breaking made us stop. My sisters had to have heard that.
Rowan froze. “Ruby, I think Scarlett might be right.”
Before Ruby could respond, a tall man emerged from behind a tree—the same one from the marketplace. “Hand me your money pouch now!”
Had he been watching and following us this whole time? I was angry with myself for not noticing sooner.
Ruby stood in front of Rowan and I, forcing us to take a step back. I knew she felt that was her place as the oldest, but if anyone was doing the protecting it was going to be me.
“Hand it over,” the man demanded. “I’ve seen you with it so don’t tell me you don’t have one.”
My gaze landed on the knife dangling at his side. “Give it to him, Ruby.”
She reached into the waist band of her skirt and tossed the pouch onto the ground. There was only a few copper coins left in it. “There. Now take it and go, you vile creature.”
The man snatched up the pouch and growled with dissatisfaction when he looked inside. “That’s all.”
I folded my arms over my chest. “If you were smart you would rob people on their way to the marketplace not on their way home when they’ve already spent all their money.”
The man glared at me with the right side of his mouth curled.
“Scarlett, hush.” Ruby placed her basket on the ground, then took the baskets from Rowan and me and did the same with those. “Please, take what you want and just go. This is all we have.”
The man licked his lips at my older sister and looked her up and down. An icy chill ran up my spine.
“I think I will take what I want.” He lunged forward, grabbing Ruby’s wrist and pulling her close to him. She attempted to knee him in the groin but missed. Still, he growled, twisted her arm behind her back and slammed her to the ground, driving his knee into her back.
My gums felt sore. That always happened when my teeth grew. My muscles tightened. This shouldn’t be happening to me in Human form. There was a time when it didn’t, one fateful night, everything had changed. My bad wolf was struggling to come out.
“Ruby!” Rowan moved forward toward our sister, but I held her back.
I had to take care of this. When you were a Wolvenblood, even in Human form, when your emotions ran high, you could easily over power any person.
My instincts told me the man was going to hurt Ruby or all three of us. He had no interests
in our groceries. I looked at my older sister lying on the ground, eyes wide with fear. I crouched. The man looked at me and sneered. “What do you think you’re doing, little girl?”
I said nothing. Lunging forward, my body crashed into the man’s, sending him flying to the side and off my sister. I pounced on him, landing on his chest. Yanking the knife from his shaking hand, I tossed it far away from us. I dug my nails into the soft flesh of his throat. He attempted to throw me off but I was much stronger than he was. Everything in my vision turned crimson.
My sisters screamed, but the man’s yelling drowned them out. Finally, I sank my teeth into the man’s neck and bit as hard as I could. He tasted salty and metallic as blood squirted everywhere. I held him down watching the ground around us grow soaked with blood until he stopped thrashing underneath me.
I sat up, blood dripping from my mouth. I swiped it away with my wrist. My sisters stood frozen with their mouths wide open.
I looked down at the dead thief. “I had to do it. He was going to hurt Ruby.”
Rowan screamed and hurried away toward the house. Ruby followed. I couldn’t blame them for being afraid. It was the first time they had seen me in action.
I gave one last look at the thief’s lifeless body and took off after them. After expending so much energy, I was too exhausted to run, so I walked the rest of the way. By the time I made it to the cottage, my sisters were nowhere in sight. Mom and Nana stood in the kitchen mixing biscuit batter. They took one look at my bloodied clothing and ripped my clothes off.
They asked no questions and when I tried to offer an explanation, I was immediately hushed. “Whatever happened never happened,” Mama said as she tossed me into the basin for a bath. I looked to Nana who stood behind her watching. She wasn’t like the rest of them, surely she would understand. Nana pressed her lips together and left the room.
Even though I had saved my sisters lives, no one in my family looked at me the same way after that day.
3
Five-year-old Scarlett
Wild Thing. That was what my mother always called me—her little Wild Thing. Even when I was in Human form, I was nothing like my sisters. While they would sit quietly reading or playing with their dollies, I would run wild through our cottage, bumping the tables and knocking things over. I’d broken plenty of Mama’s precious porcelain dishes. While they ate like perfect little ladies, daintily with their silverware, I wolfed my food down with my hands and was done eating before they even began. While they would speak to each other in hushed tones, I howled to get my point across.
Mama and my sisters loved me, but they resented me for what I was. Because I was a Wolvenblood we couldn’t live a normal life. We had to live secluded, away from the normal population. We couldn’t have friends over and my sisters missed out on a lot of the social life they so desperately wanted.
Nana was the only one who understood me and I didn’t know what I would do if I didn’t have her.
I never had the bad wolf inside of me until someone gave it to me as a punishment one night.
Nana and I were sleeping in our den. Something nudged me awake. I opened my eyes to see a wolf cub like myself with golden fur and yellow eyes. The cub nicked my tail playfully and trotted away. I peeked at Nana still sleeping peacefully. Even though I knew it was wrong, I took off after the golden cub. I rarely had anyone else to play with and with Nana sleeping, she would never know.
I followed the cub’s scent and found her hiding behind stump of an old oak tree. I returned the gentle bite to the tail. She pounced after me but I was much faster. I scurried away until I could no longer hear her behind me. The sound of the cub’s footprints was replaced with another sound—a man screaming.
I hurried towards the sound. Hidden in the dark shadows of the trees, I spotted something peculiar. A small dark form moving through the trees. Staying hidden, I followed the form to see what it was. Upon closer inspection, it was a little girl—a girl about the same size as me when I was in Human form.
It was strange because Humans knew better than to be in the forest that late, especially a Human child by herself. She had long yellow hair that hung in a tangled mess and a tattered night gown. I didn’t know why she was running. Maybe she wanted someone to chase her. Maybe she needed someone to play tag with. I wanted to reveal myself, hoping she would think I was a puppy and not a wolf.
Before I could do that, another form appeared. A larger one that seemed to be levitating above the ground. A woman with long, dark hair flowing in the breeze and her dress billowing around her like a cape. Although I had never seen one in person, the woman was no doubt a witch.
She tackled the little girl and pinned her to the ground. The girl’s tiny arms and legs went thrashing every which way. I had to do something. The girl was innocent. She was a child like me who would never harm anyone. I emerged from the trees and pounced on the witch. Nana had taught me that the most delicate part on a Human was their throat. If you needed to kill one, go for that first. It was always exposed and easy to get to.
It was the first time I had ever harmed a person and it came so easy to me. I bit and scratched at the witch’s flesh. Within seconds, she was lifeless, staring at me wide eyed under the moon light. The little girl kept running until I couldn’t see her anymore. I licked at the witch’s blood until the sound of footsteps drew me back into the trees.
Another witch appeared. She wailed and knelt before the dead witch. “My sister! My sister! What have they done to you?”
Hunching over her sister, her head slowly turned toward the cluster of trees I was hidden behind. For a moment, I thought she could see me. She reached her hand forward, then drew it back. “Reveal yourself immediately.”
I wasn’t stupid. I stayed put.
The witch turned her attention back to her sister, examining her shredded throat. “My, my, what strong teeth you have.”
The better to eat you with.
She ran her fingers along her sister’s arm. “My, my, what sharp claws you have.”
The better to shred you with.
“I know you are there. I sense you, Little Wolf.”
She took a step toward the clump of trees with hid me and I released a low growl. The witch stopped dead in her tracks. She clicked her tongue. “Wolvenblood. For killing my sister, I bestow upon you the curse of the Crimson Coven. May you always behave as a beast and not be able to control your wolf-like urges. You shall be a bad wolf. You should have minded your own business. You have a hero complex and that very thing is going to be your downfall—always wanting to save someone. May the other cursed ones hunt you down for the rest of your life until it is time for us to collect you. The same girl you saved, will one day attempt to kill you with a pair of glass slippers. Mark my words.”
I didn’t believe in curses but I didn’t want to hear anymore. I scurried back to Nana before she realized I was missing. I crawled into her paws and nestled into her warm fur. I hoped the little girl got to wherever she was going safely and that curses weren’t real.
4
I never told Nana what happened that night because I didn’t want to get in trouble. When I was fourteen I went through a stage all female Wolvenblood went through. For amount a month, our shifting was stuck and we remained in our wolf forms the entire time. Naturally that required me to stay out in the forest until it was over. Nana stayed with me for the most part but sometimes she would leave me alone to take care of things she needed to take care of.
One afternoon when I was alone, I wandered a little too close to the palace grounds. There was always some good food around there. I’d managed to catch myself a fat rabbit that had settled beside a tree for a nap. I was stunned when Snow, the princess of Eirwen appeared with a book cradled to her chest. She sat beside a tree and opened the book on her lap.
It was no secret that the princess was beautiful. She was a few years younger with me, with hair and eyes like the night and skin like the clouds. She wore a beautiful red satin dress
, clearly not made for sitting on the forest foliage.
The woods were no place for the princess. They were far too dangerous, filled with regular wolves and other vicious creatures. I was sure she wasn’t supposed to be there much like me. Surely if she saw me, she would get frightened and go back where she belonged. Because of the increase in bad Wolvenbloods, it would have been foolish for Humans to make a habit of visiting the woods.
I moved toward the princess so that I was in plain view and she couldn’t miss me. When she remained engrossed in her book, I growled. She looked up, but didn’t do what I expected her to do. I expected her to run away screaming, but she did just the opposite. She grinned at me. “Oh, hello, Wolf.”
I sat and stared at her, almost wishing I could speak back.
“I wish I had something to feed you. You’re such a pretty wolf.” She lay her book on the ground and moved toward me. “Can I pet you?”
I wasn’t sure what to do. No one had ever petted me and I didn’t want the princess to do think it was okay to just go around and petting wolves so I growled. She grinned again and still came closer. I could smell no fear in her at all. She stroked me right behind my ears. I should have run away, but it felt good, so I stayed there. I lay my head on her lap and she talked to me as if I could talk back. I listened to her talk about her problems in the castle, her horrible stepmother, Queen Angeline, and how she wished she could live in the forest with me.
This happened every day for a week. I would meet the princess and she would talk to me and tell me her problems. I felt sorry for her. I would have thought the princess led a perfect life, but obviously she didn’t. I’d always thought Queen Angeline to be a kind, gentle queen, but she obviously wasn’t. I wondered if she would like me if I were in my Human form. Once the month was over and I would only become my wolf form at night again, I knew that would be the last time I would spend with her.
Forever Scarlett: The Everly Girls Book 3 Page 2