Twisted Princess Fables

Wendy on Ever Island CHAPTER 3

When I hear my name being called from behind me.

"Wendy?"

I turn around, and see a giant man behind me. His body towered under the trees. Having to duck his head to move under the lower hanging branches. He looked like a giant bear and his voice matched.

"Everyone Wendy is back" he yells out and I hear wolves howling in the woods around me. Followed by the war cry of men and women not to far off.

The bear of a man before me runs up and picks me up in his arms. Swinging me around in a circle. Letting out a goofy laugh as he does.

"I knew you were going to come home" he says, and then let's me down.

Wolves have surrounded us in a circle. Behind them I could see men and women snaking their way through trees towards us. And the sound of foot steps approach behind me. I didn't need to look to know it was Piper. I could smell him. He smelt different than before, but some how the same. Stronger. The scent of pine kissed with snow. Like a mint for your bones, and I could feel it all through me.

"You said you left her! What were you thinking bringing her here Esmee?" Piper yells, and I turn around to look him in the eye.

Immediately our eyes lock. For a moment he looked surprised, but then his face turned to a heavy glare. That looks deep into my soul. Like he could attack me right here.

I, however, was completely stunned. I know I have seen him before, but he's never looked like this. Like a beast in his own element. His muscles alluring me into a trap. Wanting to be wrapped up in them. His blue eyes are so angry, but for some reason I am enjoying making him livid.

"Take her to my tent" Piper quickly addresses Esmee.

Mary reaches her hand out motioning for me to come to her. I do so, and she wraps her arm around my shoulders pushing me in the opposite direction. I look back at Piper as he watches me go, and then he turns to Esmee who has stayed with him. They both look out to the mass of people and wolves that have collected who are still cheering as I walked away.

Mary makes a hard right down the path leading us to a collection of white tents. Each one is bigger than my own Apartment. We head to the farthest one, and as we walk through the camp I see people poking their heads out with their jaws dropped. An old lady with braids dropped what she was holding as I passed. Completely stunned by my presence, and then before anyone else could see Mary pushed me through one of the tent doors.

Inside the floor was layered with carpets. One hammock hung in the corner of the room. A giant table lay in the middle with a map of Neverland marking each territory. Shelves were here and there filled with random trinkets and books. A few seats were around, but Mary cut off my oogling by saying

"Wendy, you shouldn't have come here. All those people out there. They think that you are your mother. They think you are here to save them. Giving them that hope wasn't fare"

"Well then, they will have to learn that I am not who they think I am. What is not fair is that I am kept from this place. Where I am meant to be. I never was so sure of that than I am right now."

"Wendy..." Mary puts her hand on my shoulder, and then looks down and softly shakes her head.

"I have never agreed with the choice to keep you from Ever Island, but Esmee and Piper will never let you stay." Mary says honestly.

I get a little fidgety under her grip like I want to leave.

"Oh, God, no. I am not saying run. Don't run! Are you crazy? It is way too dangerous out there for you, specifically. I'm saying if you are going to stay, you need to come up with a damn good reason for them to keep you here before they come back"

Just as Mary said this, Esmee walked in, followed by Piper. His eyes locked on mine.

"Wendy, darling" Esmee says very stern while also trying to be motherly "What the hell were you thinking coming here. Have you any common since?"

I didn't hear a word she said because I was too busy trying to read Piper's expressions as he stared back at me.

"Wendy" Esmee calls my attention "How did you get Alfred to send you here? "

"Who? The old man? He thought I was my mom and he asked me if I wanted to go home. So I said Yes." I answer Esmee and then look back to Piper. He crossed his arms and a smirk grew on his face. Then he kindly asked

"Why did you come?"

"I... I guess fate. It led me to where I needed to be. Where I am meant to be" his reaction when I said this almost didn't make sense. Like I have confessed something to him that he desperately wanted to hear.

But it was interrupted by a beautiful blonde that walked in. She was wearing thigh high brown leather boots that were worn and dingy in just the right way. A green dress ripped at the ends, but tight against everything else. She looked like the beauty of nature all combined into one, and she walked towards me with her hand out in greeting. I take it and she says

"Wow, when Piper told me you looked like your mother I would never have guessed. I'm Bella. Piper's Beta, and soon to be Luna if he will take me as his already." She turns back, and gives Piper a wink. Disgusted by her remarks, I drop her hand and say

"I'm Wendy" Her jaw drops and then turns to a smile. Her eyes glistening with joy like she is extremely pleased to meet me.

"Named after your mother too! It's like I see her ghost" Bella says.

I felt my eyebrows twitch, and I gave Bella a slight glare for her remarks. Since I have just recently lost my mother. Mentioning her as a ghost wasn't the right move. When Piper interrupts loudly

"Can you leave?"

Bella turns around honestly hurt.

"Why?"

"Go calm the pack down. They are waiting impatiently outside. Make sure that they all know that this isn't who they think it is. There is no point in hiding her identity anymore." Piper demands of Bella, and she listens.

Esmee addresses me

"We need to leave. The news of you being here is going to spread like wildfire. We need to find somewhere for you to lay low back on earth until this blows over. I just came here to warn Piper that the Cannibal Coven has found your location" She grabs my hand, and tries to walk me out.

"She can't leave now" Piper slowly steps in front of the door way to block us.

"Piper, don't do this. He will come for her."

Piper laughed out loud.

"I dare him to come for her" His eyes narrowed in on Esmee like he is ready to kill.

"This is no longer a fight over land. There is no option for peace anymore. I wish it didn't take me this long to see that Wendy was right this whole time... " He paused.

"If I did, she would still be alive." Piper, looks to me like he is begging for my forgiveness. When Esmee interrupts

"Piper, think clearly. I told you what Judas thinks she is. If you feared him then. Now that he has matched with"

"Don't"

Piper screams, cutting Esmee off and then calms himself down.

"Say that. You came to me for advice. This is it. She stays. We have already seen what it would be like for her under your care. Now it's my turn" Peter flashes extremely sharp teeth at Smee. It's almost like he has fangs.

"Piper, you know better then to cross a faerie" Esmee puffs her chest to challenge him. All three of us are now so close we are almost touching.

"Wendy is my leannán sídhe" Piper tells her calmly, but behind his voice I can hear a threat.

Mary, who was standing behind us just watching it all go down, reacted when Piper said "leannán sídhe". Mary went up and grabbed Esmee's shoulder softly pulling her away.

"She's your what?"

I hear an extremely irritated voice coming from behind us. It was Bella coming back through the tent. Her eyes narrowed on me.

Both Esmee and Piper look at each other like "Oh s**t" like a whole nother danger has entered the room. Esmee let go of my hand, and stood in front of me. Piper pointed his finger for Bella to leave the tent and he followed her out. Esmee also followed them leaving Mary and me alone.

"Oh, my God. Oh my God." Mary said, quickly coming to my side with a huge smile and twinkling eyes.

"What?"

I looked at her hoping she was going to explain what just happened because I felt completely confused, and some how aroused. I'm not sure if it was the adrenaline or my heart beat. Or being in a place of magic so close to someone so handsome.

"You're going to stay in Ever Island" She says, celebrating with a little dance.

"You think? I felt like Esmee wasn't going to let me"

"No way. She would never separate a leannán sídhe. She couldn't even if she wanted to. I think that's why she fears the Alpha of The Cannibal Coven so much now, but this is seriously a blessing in disguise. You and Piper" she says looking at me to reciprocate.

"What? What is a leannán sídhe?" I say knowing I'm not pronouncing this foreign word right. One that I have never heard until today.

"It's Fae language. For..." She stops and squints at me with a happy smile "You don't know?" She asks me, staring at me with a huge smile.

Then the sound of thunder comes from outside, but not from the skies. From Piper and Bella screaming at each other. My eyes look at the tent exit. I go to stick my head out and peak. Esmee is standing just on the other side watching Piper and Bella argue by the fire. As soon as my head pops out, Bella looks straight at me. With the ugliest glare and the evilest smile. Just shaking her head at me. Piper looks to me, and grabs Bella by the shoulder to walk her away. She ripped her shoulder out of his grip and pushed him hard, but he doesn't even budge.

She turns and quickly walks away while everybody in the camp watches. Piper stands there for a moment with his back to me watching her walk away. Then he turns around and looks at me with an ashamed face.

Esmee pushes me back into the tent as she follows inside.

"You have 10 seconds to decide to come with us and live the rest of your life happy. Just how your mom always wanted it to be. Or stay and get wrapped into a war that your mother wanted you far away from, and possibly lose your life but most definitely lose your freedom." Esmee says very seriously to me.

"10 seconds" Esmee snaps since I don't answer fast enough.

"I..." I hesitate, even though I know the answer, it's just the pressure of it all.

"I am meant to be here. I know it" I tell her.

Then the tent curtain swings open behind us and my knees go weak as Piper's scent enters the room.

"Well, we're not leaving either" Mary said, and Esmee rolled her eyes at her partner.

"Your mother, I swear to God, if she knew she would absolutely kill me" Esmee puts her hand on her brows frustrated.

I could feel Piper behind me. I didn't know how close he was but I swear I could feel his breath on the back of my neck.

"Hey boss" The bear of a man that hugged me in the woods pokes head into the tent addressing Piper.

"Everyone out here is waiting to meet Wendy's daughter. Nana asked if I could come and see when that would happen" he seemed a little bit skittish like he knew he was stepping on toes, but somehow felt obligated to do what Nana had asked him.

Mary came to my side and grabbed my hand and Esmee did the same to my other hand. Esmee looks at me and says

"Get ready to meet your family, or at least some of them" Mary said.

Piper opens the tent to let us through. A large number of people have gathered around the fire that lay in the middle of the tents. They all watch us as we make our way to the fire.

There are no open seats, so one of the men stands to give me theirs next to an old woman. One I had saw when I first came into the camp. She was the only elderly person here, everyone else looked like warriors. Her face was winkled and her skin was dark. She had two braids that hung over her shoulders that wove together her gray hair, and her eyes a piercing light grey they were almost white.

Everyone sat quiet, looking at me. Waiting for me to say something.

"Hi, I'm Wendy" you could see smiles lit up everywhere with some laughter that followed. When I see Piper walk up.

"Where is your mom?" I hear someone call out from the crow, and Piper looks at me. Then he takes a step forward like he is going to address the crowd, but I interrupt before he can.

"She passed away from cancer a few months ago" This was obviously news to everyone, and I wondered why Piper kept it a secret. He knew of her passing. I could see they were all heartbroken.

When the woman beside me grabs my hand surprising me. I look to her and she says

"I am so sorry to hear that" squeezing my hand tight. "It must have been hard for you to handle that alone. Without your people" She tells me, and then says

"It is traditional here, when we lose a member of the pack to all share a memory that we have of them. To honor their passing" She let's go of my hand and then turns it into a shake.

"I am Nana. I raised your mother when she was young" Nana goes on sharing her memory "She came to my home when she was a young wolf. I was the Alpha at the time, and had been for many years. I knew it was my time to hand over the torch, and I could feel new Alpha's emerging in the pack. So I brought them in under my wing. Trained them to lead, and your mother dominated. I had so much faith in her. When she told me she wanted to leave I was shocked, but now I see what she was protecting. I just wished she would have come back before she passed. I feel like I somehow did her injustice. Made her feel like her life wasn't worth" Nana sheds a tear.

"Don't say that. My mother cherished her life. Every moment until the end." I interrupt.

She grabs my hand again.

"I want to believe that. I just don't understand why she didn't come back if she was sick. No one ever gets sick in Ever Island. She could have come home. We all wanted her to come home."

I was taken a back by what Nana said. My mother was really willing to take the secret of Ever Island to the grave so I would never find out. Rather than heal herself.

When someone else begins to speak. It was the giant bear like man, and he seemed excited to share.

"So Wendy and I did something crazy, and we promised we would never tell anyone, but now that she's gone." he lets out a barrel of laughter and then looks at me, and says

"By the way, I'm Grizzly." lifting his hand in a wave "So it happened LAST YEAR on Piper's birthday when we snuck away..."

My mouth dropped and interrupted.

"Wait. Wait.Did you say this happened a year ago?"

Grizzly stops and thinks for a moment.

"Yeah, or a little less even" he answers.

"My mother was here a year ago?" I look around to everyone for an answer. When Esmee speaks

"Time on Ever Island and on Earth do not coincide. Your mother left Ever Island only a few months ago for everyone here, but for you and her it's been years."

I was surprised realizing that everything my mom wrote about was still so fresh. I thought it all happened over 25 years ago. No wonder she didn't want me to come here, and why everyone thinks I am my mother even though I am so young.

I don't know how long I stayed in shock thinking it all over, but the next time I heard anything is when Piper started to share his memory.

"Wendy was challenging, but strong and a loyal friend. We hardly ever agreed except on one thing. That a mate's bond is sacred and should be waited for. It is also my deepest regret. When the tribes agreed to the marriage between The Cannibal Coven and ours, I supported the decision. Even knowing how much finding her natural mate meant to her. It was that decision that drove Wendy away."

Piper looks out to the crowd and begins to speak a bit louder

" We all questioned why she left, and you were never given an answer. Because I was ashamed of Wendy's decision. Choosing love over a way to end the war. I thought it was a selfish one, but it was our selfishness. Now that I understand the mates bond, I would never have agreed. It is more then love. It is the need to do anything and everything to protect your mate. Like we do for our pack. Like we should have done for Wendy."

When Piper finished speaking our eyes locked, and everyone saw. Realizing what I have not come to understand.

That is when the Cannibal Coven surrounded us.