Rosaline

by Penelope Marshall

  Squeezing my arms tightly around his neck, I asked, "What are you doing here?"

  "Claiming what's mine. I've waited in the fray for too many a lonely day and night to let you go without a fight."

  "You would fight for me?"

  "My soul has fought for yours since the beginning of time. Silly it's taken this long for it to make its first bid for you. I must admit I might have languished in the shadows for the rest of my life if I hadn't brushed by you in town that day."

  "Although I am flattered by your words, flattery is a cheap distraction from the truth, which you have yet to tell."

  "How could I possibly tell the truth to your ghost? You ran away before I could get a word out."

  Glancing around to make sure no one could hear our unusual conversation, I asked, "Did you expect me to stand still and make it easy for you to lure me into your den of depravity?"

  "A den of depravity? Who has been feeding you these lies about werewolves?"

  "Shh…you don’t need to say that word out loud."

  He continued to lead us to the slow sway of the music. "You know nothing of me, except that you thought I was a fairy tale until three days ago."

  "Maybe you should have just stayed that way," I whispered, looking down at the hardwood beneath my feet.

  "I will pretend you didn’t say that."

  "Pretend all you want, Gideon. Ignorance of the facts does not change them."

  He shook his head in disagreement. "I'm tired of this game you insist on playing with me."

  "There is no game. I simply reacted. Did you follow me here?"

  "No. We have a link. I know you've felt it. You wanted me here, so I came."

  "I wanted no such thing!" I dropped my hands to my side, and stepped away from him.

  "This is not how I saw this reunion unraveling," he said, shaking his head as he took my hands, and placed them back around his neck.

  "We can't begin this way." We continued to sway around our small imaginary island. "You have been unfairly cryptic with your words."

  "I only wanted to prepare you for the truth. A truth you were obviously still not ready for, my sweet Rose."

  The mere fact I didn’t see fit to correct him shortening my name, lent credence to what I knew I felt inside. I softened my tone. I didn’t want to push him away again.

  "Were my words so harsh you thought it proper to completely abandon me?" I searched for an answer through his disguise.

  "Let's take this conversation out into the fresh night air." He unclasped my hands from his neck, and then led me through the crowd toward the back door.

  He hurried me past the quiet lovers that sat about the cobblestone garden like statues locked in each other's embrace. The evening dew, which shimmered like small diamonds by the light of the silver moon, had already settled by the time I took my first step on the grass. The earth was soft underfoot, catching my heels at every step.

  Nearing the forests' edge, I yanked him back, not wanting to be alone with him in the middle of the woods until I had my answers. He was a werewolf, after all.

  My lips tightened. "Wait, wait, wait."

  Our hands unclasped as he spun around mid-step, removing his mask as he dropped it on the wet grass. "Don't be frightened. I am the same man, of flesh and blood, that you felt comfortable enough to allow access to your neck only days ago. The fact you know my secret does not change that…does not change me."

  I peeked over my shoulder to the twinkling lights of the party, ready to run back to its familiarity.

  What did I know of werewolves and fairy tales?

  Only what my mother told me, and by that standard, I should be cowering in my fine dirt-caked stilettos.

  "How can I put you at ease?" He asked gently.

  I turned back to him. "The truth would put me at ease. As of now you are still a stranger. A stranger kidnapping me from a delightful gathering," I sassed, inching back toward Wild Wind.

  "Kidnapping you? I gave you a slight tug at the hand, and as we stand here, you have yet to turn and run back to your delightful gathering."

  I took off the delicate mask Clare had made then crossed my arms; dangling the elastic that held it to my head from my finger.

  "That's neither here nor there. I'm afraid you caught me during a vulnerable moment. The music, the flowers, the dim lighting, it all played a part in that vulnerability. Please don't let a moment dissuade what I said after our last encounter."

  He walked toward me. "That you didn’t want to see me again? But what if I wanted to taste those blood red lips one last time?"

  "Pfft…these lips? If you must know, these lips are sweeter than the sweetest Georgia tea, and I wouldn't let a tight-lipped charlatan touch them with a ten-foot pole," I egged on coyly.

  One more step toward me brought him only an inch from my face, "Oh no?"

  I turned away from him, "No."

  His hand slipped behind my neck, yanking me toward his loving arms, "Say one more thing to me that includes even a hint of sass and I will take you over my knee."

  I gasped, "How dare you be so forward!"

  "How dare you act like you don't love it," he exhaled as he pressed his lips hard onto mine, kissing me under the light of a universe of stars.

  I placed my hand over his beating heart, the moment exactly how I'd hoped a makeup kiss would be…forceful and tender. And all at the same time.

  How could those two feelings exist in the same moment?

  I was lost in the moment until I heard an angry growl sweep over the field, "Rosaline Winthrop!"

  My heart sunk into my stomach and my skin froze.

  Gideon stared past me toward Wild Wind. His skin seared with heat, his chest heaved as he glared intently at whoever was behind me.

  "Get behind me Rosaline," he ordered, his eyes fixed on its target.

  "What? Why?" I asked as he pushed me behind him.

  Peeking over his broad shoulders I could make out a man walking intently toward us, but with the shine of the light from the house behind him, I couldn't make out who he was.

  "Rosaline Winthrop, how dare you embarrass me in front of everyone," Williams's familiar voice filtered through the darkness.

  "William. I –" I tried to step out from behind Gideon.

  Gideon interrupted and stepped in front of me again. "You don’t have to explain anything to him."

  "Oh yes, she does," William interjected.

  A deep growl emanated from Gideon, stopping William in his tracks.

  "Don’t do it, Gideon," I whispered, laying my hand on his back, calming him.

  His growl dissipated, and his fists unclenched. William continued on a few more steps until he was face to face with Gideon. A crowd had started to build on the back porch; the whispers might as well have been screams from where I was standing. I cringed at the thought of my parents standing in the crowd, watching the scene unfold.

  "Who are you?" William asked, as he paced around us.

  "That's none of your business. I'm not here for you," Gideon growled.

  "Well you certainly can't be here for my future wife," William replied, pressing his hand to his chest.

  "That remains to be seen." Gideon took a step forward.

  "Stop!" I yelled, stepping out from behind Gideon. "Stop acting like animals."

  The crowd gasped.

  I panned the scene… everyone staring at me…judging me. I could feel the heat of embarrassment warm my cold-blooded skin, and it was all I could do but run away. Before I knew it, I was sprinting the familiar roads toward Weatherly, my parents followed closely behind.

  I was at our front door within minutes, and they arrived a few seconds later.

  "Rosaline," my mother said, lodging a tendril of hair behind her ear.

  "I don’t want to hear it, mother."

  "Well, you are going to hear it," she said as she flung the door open and walked into the house.

  My father didn’t say anything, except to motion me into the house ahead of
him.

  "I don’t want to have this discussion tonight," I said as I sat on the couch and stared at my scuffed heels.

  My mother whipped around, her eyes red with ire. "How dare you embarrass us in front of the McAllisters?"

  "Stella. Let's give the girl a chance to explain."

  "Fine! Explain!"

  I didn’t reply.

  "No words now?" My mother asked.

  "Rosaline," my father said softly. "Who was that man?"

  "Gideon."

  "And who is this Gideon?" My mother raised her voice.

  "I just met him," I replied quietly.

  "Where? Where could you have met him?" My mother continued to raise her voice. Something I had rarely seen her do.

  "I ran into him that day at Mrs. Santiago's boutique."

  "You didn’t run into anyone at the boutique, I was with you the whole time."

  "Remember the weird feeling that came over me when we were leaving the boutique? It was him. And I have run into a few times since, mostly in the woods, and tonight…well."

  "In the woods? Is he an outlier?" My father asked.

  "You could say that."

  "What is that supposed to mean?" My mother paced in front of me.

  "He's a werewolf," I said, and as the words floated from my mouth, I almost wished I could pluck them from the air and stuff them into my pocket.

  My mother turned to my father and exchanged rather worrisome glances.

  "What?" I asked, shifting my gaze between the two.

  "Are you sure Rosaline?" My father asked.

  "Well if turning into a wolf right before my eyes is not proof in itself, then I don’t know what is." I shook my head as I twiddled my thumbs.

  My father shook his head and stood by my mother, taking hold of her hand. "Rosaline…we have something to tell you."

  I stood from the couch, bracing myself for the news that made my mother's face cringe in a way I had never seen before.

  "Just tell me."

  "You might want to have a seat," my mother said.

  "No! Stop being so cryptic," I shouted, fully ready to receive a tongue lashing from my mother about the proper way to speak as a lady, but she didn’t say a word.

  My father stepped forward. "Rosaline, we think Gideon might be your wolf."

  "My wolf?"

  "Your soul mate," my mother chimed in.

  "What?"

  I could only imagine the contortionist act my face was performing at this point.

  My mother sat on the couch, beckoning me to sit next to her, patting the small patch of crushed velvet next to her. I obliged.

  "Rosaline dear, remember the story I used to tell you as a child?"

  "The fairy tale about the wolf that almost killed you."

  She looked at me solemnly. "It wasn't a fairy tale, my love."

  I looked at my father who was shaking his head while leaning against the mantle.

  I stuttered to get out my words. "Wh…what do you mean not a fairy tale?"

  "That wolf, that my father killed…was my soul mate."

  My father put his hands in his pockets and turned his back to us.

  Shifting my gaze back to my mother, I asked, "Please tell me this is all a joke?"

  "No, my darling. That feeling that you got when you first met Gideon, was the same feeling that I got when I had my first brush with my soul mate."

  "But why did your father kill him?"

  "My father was a death dealer, and ordered to kill any wolves on sight."

  I looked to my father who still had his back to us. "You knew wolves exist, and you kill them?"

  He turned to me. "You don’t understand Rosaline. The Dàil will have anyone who opposes them killed. A werewolf for sure, as well as any vampire who knows the secret and is willing to rise against them."

  I shook my head. "What is their stake in it all?"

  My mother cupped her palm to my cheek, shifting my face toward hers. "Once werewolves and vampires find their soul mate, and mate, they transcend."

  "Transcend?"

  "They become a better version of themselves. Faster, smarter, more beautiful, and the wolves become immortal. We call them, transcendents, and their children, who are transcendents by birth, are a beautiful mix of both. The appearance of a vampire with the ability to change into a wolf."

  "But how could that be anything other than good?"

  My father stepped toward us. "The Dàil were afraid that the transcendents, or their children, would eventually overthrow them, and take their seats as the new Dàil."

  "But why wouldn't they just find their soul mate and transcend?"

  "Not every vampire is able to find their soul mate. It was hard then and even harder now, since they've gone into hiding out of fear of persecution."

  "Why would you keep this from me? Why did you lie to me in my room when I asked why we couldn't be free to choose like the turned?"

  "We wanted what all parents want…to keep our children safe. There was no sense in telling you that you could have a life outside of the one you were promised to. Especially since you seemed so adamant to kick and scream your way down the aisle," my father said.

  I brushed my mother's hand aside and stood up. "How dare you. How dare you force me into such a life, when you knew there was more for me out there."

  "Rosaline we did it to keep you safe from the Dàil. Most vampires that know never speak of it, especially to their children. That's why most children think werewolves are just mere fairy tales. The vampires that do speak of wolves, usually end up on your father's list," my mother said, trying to hold my hand.

  I swatted her away. "My whole life has been a lie. William. All of it."

  "We only did what we thought was best," my mother said as a tear rolled down her cheek.

  "Well, look how well that worked out for the two of you," I said as I turned toward the door.

  "Rosaline," my mother called out.

  I glanced back, my face flushed with anger. "And why would you lie, and say that wolves were evil shifters if that wasn't the truth?"

  "Again…to keep you safe from the Dàil, if you ever happened to run into one."

  "Where are you going?" My father asked. "We aren’t done."

  "Oh, we are done!" I yelled, slamming the door behind me as I started for the forest to find Gideon.

  UNDER THE SILVER MOON

  GIDEON

  The breeze whipped through my fur as I sped through the forest toward home. What was I going to do without her? How could I go on knowing that she was going to spend the rest of her life with another man?

  Two more trees to go before I reached our door, and I couldn't run fast enough. I needed to speak with my mother. She was my lighthouse when the seas of my life tried to swallow me whole.

  I could see the light from the lamp my mother was holding up. I'm sure she felt me coming.

  "Gideon!" She hollered from the porch.

  I took one last leap into the air, transforming back into my human form, before taking my last few steps on to the wooden porch. She laid her arm across my shoulders, and guided me into the house.

  "She knows. I can feel her hurt," I said as I paced about the living room.

  My mother sat at the table. "That’s a good thing that she knows. Did you tell her?"

  "No, she left before I could."

  "Tell her what?" Sabine asked, standing at the door with two dead squirrels.

  "Nothing Sabine," I said, shaking my head.

  "It's Rosaline again, isn't it?" She asked with an attitude as she dropped the squirrels on the porch.

  "What is it about Rosaline that makes you so mad Sabine?" I clenched my fists, yelling at her in frustration.

  Her eyes widened as she took a step back. Never had I raised my voice to her, or anyone in my family for that matter.

  I took a step toward her, and she instinctively transformed into her pale white wolf, growling at me from the door.

  "Sabine!" My mother screamed, as I a
lso transformed into my wolf. "Gideon, please."

  But it was too late. Sabine had called my authority into question and I had to put her in her place. I moved toward her slowly, teeth bared, dominating her with my stare. I growled, and she growled back, as I took slow, resolute steps toward her.

  My mother stepped out of the way, knowing that it wasn't her place to stand against me.

  My growls grew louder, causing her pupils to dilate and her growls to wane. Now, only an inch from her face, she whimpered, as her head sank to the ground in submission. My growls had all but dissipated, until I heard the flare of her distinct growl bellow from her depths, followed by a quick snap at my jaw. Quickly dispatching of her sedition, I clamped my teeth down on her neck.

  She whimpered, and then went silent. Suddenly, like a tidal wave, I could feel Rosaline in the forest; her angst, like a beacon, calling me to her. I let go of Sabine, who slowly backed away, her head low to the ground, as I ran past her toward Rosaline.

  The trees whipped by me, as I hurdled over fallen trees and through dense thickets. I could feel her heart beat the closer I got to her. Our connection was so strong, it was something I could never deny, or would ever want to.

  There she was, under the light of the silver moon, searching the forest for me. Quickly, I transformed back into a human, so as not to scare her away again.

  I stepped out from behind a tree. "Rosaline."

  She ran to me, and threw her arms around my neck. Her body trembled as we stood in our tight embrace.

  "Is it true, Gideon?" She collapsed into my arms; her body broken into a thousand questions. "Are we meant to be?"

  "What do you think?"

  She looked up at me, her eyes searching for answers that her heart had already provided her. "My world has been turned upside down. Everything I knew to be true is now false. Tell me what I should believe."

  I tightened my grip around her. "You don’t need me to tell you anything. The fates have designed it that way. You are mine and I am yours."

  I could feel the approach of another wolf.

  "Gideon."

  "What are you doing here, Sabine?" I asked, shifting my gaze over to the decaying oak tree that she stood next to.

  "Come home with me Gideon. Leave her to her world, and you come home to yours," Sabine begged.