Scarlett's Light

Chapter 6

A few weeks pass, Scarlett has excelled at her job and Ophelia was comfortable enough to let Scarlett make her own design. It was a simple design, but for Scarlett challenging enough. While Scarlett was finishing the design, Reynold and Harrison came in looking for her. “Ophelia, do you mind if we steal Scarlett away from you for a moment?” Reynold asks as he smiles back at Scarlett who is happily waving at him.

“I don’t mind at all; I was just about to close for the day.” Reynold helps Scarlett clean up her station and they head out of the shop.

“Scarlett this is Harrison.” Reynold says gesture toward the slightly short man, he had bright white and choppy hair, his face was a little chubby, but his beard helped shape it better. “It’s nice to meet you, I hope you aren’t the she-wolf our friend here got a little too smitten with a month ago.” Harrison says patting Reynold on the back as he rolls his eyes.

“Only werewolf I’ve ever known was the one that kept me locked away in his basement.” Scarlett says with a faint smile. “Again, you’re a terrible actor.” Faya chimes in with a chuckle.

“Shut up.” Scarlett snaps back, but Reynold was impressed and slightly terrified with how well her acting was. “What did you guys need me for?” She asks.

“Oh! My wife wanted to know if you had anytime to help her at the bakery, apparently a few couples have decided to have their wedding back-to-back, so she needs help baking and preparing a few wedding cakes.” Harrison explains.

“I love baking! I can help.”

“Perfect, this way.” He says, Reynold and Scarlett follow him a short distance down the road and reach the bakery. They walk in and a woman with long raven black hair and sightly taller than Scarlett comes rushing out of the kitchen and gives a sign of relief.

“Thank god you boys are here, did you bring an extra hand?” She asks quickly.

“We did, Maddie, meet Scarlett.” Reynold says as he moves out from in front of her, Scarlett shyly waves ‘Hello,’ but all Madison could do was stare at her in shock. “Sweetie, what’s wrong?” Harrison asks, snapping Madison out of her trance.

“Uh… nothing, I’m sorry, you closely resemble a loved one that I haven’t heard from in a very long time. Reynold, Harrison if you will just very carefully package these two cakes up, Scarlett and I are going to finish the last two in the back.” Reynold and Harrison nod their heads and Scarlett follows Madison to the kitchen putting her hair up and grabbing an apron on her way. Madison immediately stops in front of her and turns to face her. “Does Reynold know what you really are?” She asks.

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, your scent isn’t human, and neither is your eye color. You’re a werewolf.”

“Yes, he does, it was his idea to keep up with the lie. Please I beg you, don’t sell me out. I can’t go back to my pack, and I don’t want to die.” Scarlett begs and Madison gives her a sweet smile.

“I wasn’t planning to, my mother and sister were werewolves, I wouldn’t sell out my own kind.” Scarlett looks at Madison in shock as she walks over to a frosted cake and starts to add the delicate details.

About an hour of silence was all Madison and Scarlett had between them. Scarlett bring over the last tier of the finally cake they were putting together and watched as Madison added pre-piped roses along the bottom of the tier. “Have you found your mate yet?” Madison asks, bring the silence.

“Um, yes and no.” Madison looks up at Scarlett with an expression that clearly stated for her to explain. “I found him, but I’m not entirely sure if he truly wants me back.” Scarlett responds with a small sigh.

“He does, the way he looks at you when you aren’t looking makes it very clear. He may not understand the pull to you that he feels, but he is certainly listening to that pull.” Madison explains with certainty, it made Scarlett start to wonder if she wasn’t the only werewolf in the room.

Scarlett thinks about what Madison said for the remainder of the evening as her and Reynold sat together in her living room, combing through his collection information about her own species before they went out on their every other night trip to the lake for Scarlett to feel free. As badly as Scarlett wanted to just run for miles, she stayed close to Reynold so he could keep up. He watched as she took down a moose by herself and noticed she used the same technique she did when stalking him. He also noted how much she acted like an overgrown puppy when she was proud of herself, but what neither of them noticed was that they were being watched.

About a mile off, sitting in a tree were a set of twins, a man, and a woman, both in their thirties, sepia, reddish brown skin, and both have bright yellow eyes. One a revenant, his name Rowan, the other a witch named Rolonda.

“Are you sure, this wolf is the same chick he brought through the gates Ro?” Rowan asks as he watches Scarlett and Reynold through a pair of binoculars.

“I’m one hundred percent sure, the b***h never leaves his side.” Rolonda exclaims just as Rowan watches as a woman takes the place of the white wolf that he had just spent three hours watching. He sighed hoping his sister would have been wrong, but alas she wasn’t. “So, what do you want to do?” He asks putting his binoculars back into his backpack.

“Make her suffer publicly for stealing the love of my life and then she will be ultimately killed for attacking us tomorrow when we go and try to…” Rolonda can’t help but look at the two in disgusted, “be nice to her.” She adds hastily. Not long after they see Reynold and Scarlett heading back to the gates and Rolonda masks herself and Rowan.

The next day, just as Scarlett sits down to have lunch, a knock comes from her front door. She sighs as she gets up and begins to open the door, “Reynold, what more could you possibly have to—” Scarlett cuts herself off once she see that it’s not Reynold at her door. “I’m sorry, I thought you were someone else.”

“Yea, we heard Reynold saved a house slave from a pack of werewolves. Since you are the only face, I don’t recognize, I can only assume it’s you.” Rolonda says, looking back at Rowan.

“You’re assumption would be correct, what can I do for you?”

“What is your relationship with Reynold?”

“I don’t see how that is any of your business.”

“It is my business because him and I are lovers and I plan to become his wife.” Scarlett is taken back by this; “someone is a bit loonie.” Faya whispers, as if anyone else can hear her. Scarlett prepares to close the door, “nothing more than teacher and student, goodbye it was nice meeting you!” Scarlett says and tries to shut the door, only for Rowan to stop her, “we aren’t finished talking yet.” He says as he forces the door back open and walks into the house. Scarlett backs away from him, only to find herself trapped between the table, a revenant, and a witch. “You know, it’s really strange that Reynold is training you first and have yet to turn you into one of us.” Rowan says, getting too close for Scarlett’s comfort. She fakes a confused look and grabs a knife off the table behind her, hoping Rowan doesn’t notice. “You don’t smell like a human either. Your scent isn’t earthy and sweat filled, you smell like cherries and vanilla. Only werewolves have a unique scent, so their pack members can find them if they get lost.” Scarlett can no longer hide her fear, she was found out and Reynold was nowhere in sight to defend her.

Scarlett pulls the knife out from behind her back, but Rowan’s reflexes were faster and stops her attack by grabbing her wrist with one hand, just before putting the palm of his other on her chest. “Mro fretho ruo yemw ohs.” He speaks softly as he slowly forms a fist, squeezing tighter and tighter. Just as Scarlett’s bones begin to move underneath her skin, Rolonda runs out of the cottage, her screams of, “werewolf in walls!” echoing. Scarlett couldn’t help the yelps that forced their way past her lips as her bones broke and her skull begins to reshape itself. Right after the final puffs of white fur finish covering her body, Rowan forces a thick silver chain around her neck and drags her out of the cottage.

Reynold hears Rolonda’s cries and sees a crowd gathering to the middle of town. He falls in line with everyone quickly and in between the people he spots a familiar white tail. He begins to push people out of his way, but his efforts are slowed as more people begin to fill in the few spots that he could dash through. “Looks like Reynold brought us a gift!” He hears Rowan yell over the mix of gasps and angry cries. Reynold gets glimpses of Rowan chaining Scarlett to a flag pull and as he makes his way to her, he can hear her cries for help. He begins to vigorously make his way through the crowd, as he did the angry and scared people Reynold pushed past started to cheer him on; thinking he was there to take over. “She looks like a runt in this form! I’ve seen fiercer wolves than this.” Rowan yells as he kneels, getting eye level with Scarlett, and watches her quiver in fear, filling him with satisfaction. “Though she does have a pretty little face,” he whispers, smiling at the thought that the moment he shifts her back, there will be a sight to see. Scarlett bares her teeth, lunges, and snaps at Rowan, causing him to fall back. “She’s feisty, that’s for damn sure!” He gets up and steps back but decides against shifting her back and finds it will be more rewarding to just kill her right there.

Reynold looks through the sea of heads in front of him and watches as Rowan pulls out a pistol and aims it at Scarlett, who is desperately pacing to the end of the chain as her last effort to keep him from having a good shot on her. Just as Reynold is about to break through the crowd, someone grabs the back of his shirt and pulls him back, “Reynold, chill, you can’t be the only one with the glory of wolf slaying.” Harrison says with a chuckle, but he tightens his grip. Reynold looks at Harrison in disgust and for the first time it wasn’t as a joke. “Let go of me,” Reynold says harshly, almost violently and forces his friends hand off him. He pushes past the last few people, just as Rowan was about to pull the trigger; Reynold holds the barrel of his own pistol to Rowan’s temple. “Pull the trigger and this town will see two bodies.” He says to Rowan, making the thundering storm of voices turn to an ocean of silence so quiet, you could hear a mouse scurry across the stone block the flap pole was set in.