The real Little Red - And The Beastly Realms

Chapter Three

“You can shift, I’m no threat to you.” She stands with her hands on her hips, the front of her cloak swings open, revealing her to him once again. She quickly pulls it closed and Phillip is relieved to be is in his wolf form because he would definitely have laughed at her sudden switch from confident somewhat cocky woman to blushing damsel. She may not be a physical threat to him, but if his suspicions are right, she already has more power over him than she can possibly imagine. Phillip turns his back to her and groans as he shifts back to his human form. The whole process taking no more than a few seconds.

“Why are you here Prince Phillip?” she asks. Surprise and shock show in his eyes. He feels more than a little exposed, standing with his hands covering himself. She turns to grab her skirt and bodice, dressing quickly under her cloak.

“How do you know who I am?” he questions her. When she turns back to face him she removes her cloak and takes a second to survey his muscular body. He is everything you would expect of a werewolf prince. Tall, broad, sculpted muscular body, handsome face, eyes you could lose yourself in, and a strong stubbled jaw. She would never admit it, but she reluctantly hands him her cloak so he can cover up. He reaches out with both hands to accept her kind gesture, and she immediately flushes crimson when she sees that he is in proportion, EVERYWHERE.

“I believe I asked you a question first.” She breathes a sigh of relief when he pulls the cloak around himself. The sigh isn’t because he is covered but because she had no doubt he would sense what she was thinking if her mind wasn’t distracted soon. The gleam in his eyes tells her he may have sensed it anyway.

“I am a guest at the castle. My father sent me as his emissary to discuss our treaty with your King and Queen.” He keeps his answer vague but honest, suspecting she knows more than she is letting on. She nods her head, her eyebrows furrowing as she thinks about her vision. She has been dreaming of shifters for weeks, but had dismissed it as childhood tales playing out in her subconscious.

When she touched his head, images of him shifting into the prince from her dreams had flashed through her mind. She had already made the connection, but it was all just so far beyond the realms of possibility. It’s not the first time she has had a dream which has come true. Other strange occurrences have been happening with increasing frequency too.

A woman who introduced herself as her grandmother appeared to her once, in this very spot. She emerged from the middle of the lake and floated across the surface of the water until she was as close as Phillip now stands. The woman didn’t say very much, only that the women in their family are gifted, and she would come into her gifts as her birthday approaches. It was all quite normal really for such a daydreamer with, what her parents call, a fanciful mind.

“Now it’s your turn. How do you know who I am Little Red?” he steps closer to her, fighting the urge to wrap her in his arms and never let her go. He knows if his father finds out she knows about them, she will be in grave danger. His instinct is to protect her, to hide her away until he can take her home safely.

“I saw you, in my dreams. I know about your father, the war, the dragons who fight alongside you. I also know they won’t help you. They don’t think your people will be able to hide their true nature, and they worry that if you are discovered, humans will respond how they always do when they fear something. By destroying the object of that fear, bringing the wrath of every realm down on us.” She stops and waits for his response before deciding whether or not to reveal anything else. She has no idea how much of what she has seen has already come to pass, or which version of events will play out before them. Phillip is lost for words for the first time in his life.

“What kind of creature are you? I sense something…else, not entirely human.” Phillip knows the girl believes she is human, he desperately clutches at straws, looking for a way to ensure her safety when he claims her. If she has even the smallest amount of mythical blood she will be accepted among their kind, their children would be accepted as legitimate heirs and he could keep her for himself.

“I… I don’t know exactly. I always believed myself to be human. Then my grandmother told me stories about my ancestors and I started having visions. I’m beginning to question everything I’ve been raised to believe and everything I dismissed as make believe.” Little Red tips her head back in an attempt to get her tears to flow backwards. Sharing the burden she has carried alone these past months is a most unexpected relief. She had feared she was going crazy and even though the truth is hard to accept, it is far better than losing your mind.

“It’s a lot, and for one so young, to bear alone.” Phillip closes the distance between them and sweeps the rolling tears from her cheeks. An unfamiliar tightness in his chest steals his breath. She doesn’t flinch or pull away, his tender gesture tugs at her heart, opening it to the possibility he might be the one beast least like the others. The only one in all of her dreams whose human half hasn’t been entirely corrupted with malice and greed. Of all the possible outcomes she has seen, only one wolf can be tamed. His submission to love and the influence of his destined mate change the fates of all five realms. The only problem is, Little Red has no idea how to find out what sequence of events is playing out this very moment. Her visions are of a time after she has come of age.

“Won’t your parents come looking for you? It’s getting dark, you heard your father tell you not to stray from the path.” He chides her with a mixture of concern and frustration as he sweeps a lock of damp hair from her face and tips her chin up to face him. neither of them perceived the passing of time and the early autumn evening has crept up on them both.

“How did you…” she stares, puzzled, then realises he has been watching her since she left home this morning. He called her Little Red, he must have followed her all the way from the cottage and heard the nickname she has had since childhood.

“I caught your intoxicating scent as soon as I passed your cottage. You have an effect on me which I have never felt before.” Phillip finally admits out loud. The words sound ridiculous to him as they spill from his lips, but there is no taking them back now.

“You know as well as I do, we are mates, bound eternally, soul to soul, by your Moon Goddess.” Little red grumbles the words into his ribs, her head barely coming up to his chest when he gives into the temptation to hold her. She shouldn’t know, not yet, not until her birthday, but her visions show the truth in every possible outcome. Phillip looks toward the glowing silver orb hanging in the dark sky above the water.

From where he stands it looks like it is balancing tentatively on the tips of the slender pines which densely cover the foot of the mountains beyond the lake. The pale moon rises from the valley as if the mountains were parted there on purpose to frame the Celestial spectacle. He was raised not to question the will of the Goddess, her divine will would see his kind prosper and thrive. Embracing the little human raises many questions and doubts in his faith. How could such a pure soul be fated to endure the hardships and pain that would befall any mate of his. Memories of his mother’s suffering and the sacrifices she made to guard his humanity all tug at him as he recalls the toll of being the Alpha King’s Luna breaking her to her very core.

“I must leave you now. There are people waiting for me. Can I see you again, tomorrow?” he holds her face in his hands, his eyes imploring her to agree. She doesn’t speak, only nods, her voice stuck beneath the lump in her throat.

“Meet me right here at sunrise Little Red, I’ll be waiting.” His lips crash into hers, stealing her reply, hungrily drinking in as much of her taste and scent as he could manage. He drapes her cape over her shoulders, the cool evening air damping the heat rising within him. He breaks their kiss, leaving her breathless, and turns to leave when she catches his hand.

“Which of the dragons did you bring for your talks with my parents?” the words are out before she realises how much she has revealed.

“Viraseth.” He calls over his shoulder. She breaths out an inaudible sigh of relief. If his answer had been Dramvir she would have known her fate was sealed.

“Did you say your parents?” he turns back to her, his nudity now the last thing on either of their minds.

“Yes.” She murmurs. Even Papa Joseph and Mama Flora don’t know that she is aware of her true parentage. They have no knowledge of her visions and believe her to be blissfully ignorant of the world descending into chaos around her. She is only meant to know that her parents live at the castle and has been led to believe they are members of the Royal Court.

“The princess died. We searched for her for three years, your people mourned her for months. How dare you insinuate you are the…” He growls and snatches his hand out of hers before saying something he may later regret.

“The prophecy of the Celestial Priestess, I know. My mother saw what it would mean for me. She sent me away until I was old enough to harness my ancestral gifts and defend myself. She gave up her only child to hide her from you. Look.” She screams back at him, pulling her hair to the side, revealing the birthmark on the back of her neck. A perfect figure eight. She could only hope he didn’t know its meaning.

The winded look on his face confirms he now believes her, but his anger cut her deeply and she fears the ugliness beneath the surface.

“Princess.” He drops to one knee and takes her hand, bringing it to his lips before bowing his head in recognition of her station. It is not custom for a prince to kneel before a princess, but he kneels before her as his mate. Her body stiffens at his touch, her mind still on the venom dripping from his unfinished threat.

His earlier words were right, it is far too much for her to comprehend. Little Red takes back her hand and darts into the trees, her hair and cloak blazing behind her, her silhouette is swallowed by the shadows. The pain of rejection tears through the beastly prince and his body erupts in fur as his wolf emerges. He saw the look in her eyes when he growled at her. It was pure fear and abhorrence. He had shown his true colours, a black soul like his father. The only light snuffed out with the death of his mother. If she formally rejects him his soul will be condemned to eternal darkness and despair. The silver wolf raises his head and howls at the moon in despair, cursing the Goddess for showing him the light before stealing it away for a second time.