“Wait a minute.” I let out a slow exhale. “Are you what all the fuss is about?”
Squinting my eyes and tilting my head to the side, I guess I can see how, in the dead of night, someone might mistake this animal for a wolf, but seeing it now in the daylight, I’m certain this is unmistakably a dog sitting before me.
“Well,” I continue talking to the creature, “that would explain why there were only three of you. You weren’t a wolf pack, you were just a small family of lost dogs.”
Realizing that Braxton and his men killed the other two dogs leaves an ache in my chest, which soon turns my thoughts bitter. Braxton prevails in his ability to rip families apart, further convincing me that he must enjoy it. Taking a deep breath, I step closer before lowering myself to the ground. No matter what Braxton has put this poor dog through, I’m determined to make sure it comes out on the other side stronger than ever, starting with its injured paw.
I reach my hand forward apprehensively, a slight tremble in my fingers that I desperately try to calm. Once my skin makes contact with the dog’s soft fur, I hear a low warning grumble come from the animal.
“It’s okay,” I soothe, lowering my voice to a calming level. “I’m trying to help.”
With nimble fingers, I delicately turn the animal’s paw over, causing the warning grumble to transform into a heated snarl before it yanks its paw back and tucks it under its body. My lips press into a hard line. I know logically I should be terrified,but for some reason, the only emotion I’m able to muster up is annoyance.
“Do you want my help or not?” I snap, my tone turning motherly. “Now give it.” I place my hand back out, palm up.
The dog narrows its icy gaze at me before, lowering its snout to my hand and sniffing around my palm. When it lifts its gaze back up to meet my eyes, I do my best to soften my stare. Then, to my utter shock, it places its paw in my hand.
“Thank you,” I mumble softly.
Upon closer inspection, I can tell that the weapon used to cause the scrapes on the dog’s nose has done equal damage to the top of its paw. When I run my fingers over the top of its paw, applying a light pressure, I notice the dog doesn’t have any reaction, leading me to believe nothing is broken. Turning the paw over in my hand, I see what the root cause of the poor creature’s pain is.
Taking a deep breath, I look up at the dog, hoping it can read my expression that is equal parts comfort and apology, before I pluck the giant thorn that’s stuck between the animal’s paw pads from its foot. The dog yelps loudly, and my heart cracks a little at the sound.
“I’m so sorry,” I scoot closer to the animal and quickly begin running my fingers through and along its fur in an attempt to soothe it. Clearly enjoying the attention, it snuggles closer to me before laying its head in my lap. “You must feel much better now, though.” I smile, scratching behind the dog’s ears.
I don’t know how long I stay like that, petting and cuddling the sweet animal, when I finally remember that Rhoden is waiting for me in the library. Certain that she probably thinks I’ve been eaten by the “wolf” that was scouring the grounds, I jump to my feet.
Startled, the dog also hops to its feet, taking a moment to gingerly test out its now healed paw by pressing it into the ground.
It’s an effort to remind myself that this dog is technically still a wild animal and thus, will probably wander back off into the wilderness beyond the castle. I try to stop the tiny cracks in my heart from forming, knowing that once it leaves these castle grounds, it won’t have a family to go back to. I hate how much I feel myself relating to a fucking dog, but I can’t help it. Shaking the melancholic thoughts from my mind, I turn on my heel and head back toward the castle. I barely manage a few steps before I feel the skirt of my dress pull me to a halt. When I turn around, I see the dog standing too close behind me, causing it to accidentally step and pull on my dress.
“No.” I shake my head and try to shoo the dog with my hands. “You don’t want to stay here.” I wrinkle my brow and look back up at the castle. “It might look nice on the outside, but it’s a prison. One I wish I could escape.”
I know I sound insane having a full-blown conversation with my new four-legged friend, but I don’t have a lot of people to talk to here. Really can anyone blame me for resorting to talking to the wildlife.
“You should escape while you can,” I finish flatly, but the dog looks at me with an eager excitement. Its long tongue flaps out of the side of its mouth as it begins panting and wiggling its tail, clearly showing it has no desire to heed my warning. “You know what, screw it.” I shrug and bend down, scratching behind the dog’s ears again. “You can stay with me for however long you like.”
I’m rewarded with one slimy lick across the cheek and a tail wag that becomes so intense it actually turns into the dog wiggling its entire butt.
“If you stay, I suppose you’ll need a name.” I tap my finger to my chin. “I’ll name you…” My voice trails off, and after a quick glance, I’m able to see that this is, in fact, a girl dog. “Blossom,” I test, and I swear I see the dog wrinkle its snout. “Okay, no.” I look at the dog’s white fur and exclaim “Snow!” That idea gets me a low rumbling growl, and I frown. Chewing the inside of my cheek, I look up to the sky and see the faintest outline of the moon faded in the sky. “Luna!” I declare, and am rewarded with a bark of approval.
Luna licks my hand before idly following behind me to the library. As I push the decorated doors open, I’m certain of two things. One, Rhoden is going to scream when she sees me, and two, I just solidified my perfect revenge of pissing Braxton off after how he spoke to me yesterday.
20
Braxton
Idon’tknowwhat’smore annoying, this fucking bandage wrapped around my forearm, the castle’s incessant need for gossip, or the fact that even after an entire day of researching I’m no closer to understanding how and why the curse is weakening around the castle, much less what that would mean for Azalea or myself.
When I round the corner and find a group of servants instantly hushing themselves, I decide it’s the gossip. Every time I walk into any room as of late, everyone falls into sudden silence or hurried whispers, as if that doesn’t make it even more obvious what they’re talking about.
I absently rub at the wrapping covering the shredded skin healing on my forearm as I walk towards the dining room. The wound is already entering its itching stage thanks to whatever magical paste I snatched from the healer in the infirmary. Hopefully, that means I can take off this blasted reminder that a dimwitted animal caught me by surprise sooner rather than later.
I’m secretly praying Azalea didn’t hear any of the news of the wolf attack, although I know that is highly improbable at this point, with how much everyone has been talking about it. Still, given that she’s a bit of a recluse, I’m clinging to the smallest bit of hope that she has no idea what happened last night, and more importantly, that she doesn’t go looking for answers on what it could have to do with the curse. Azalea is too smart for her own good, and I’ve seen her piece this puzzle together before with far less information. With things so obviously changing now, I feel the need to be more cautious than ever.
“Your Highness.” One of the servants who assisted me last night stops me just as my fingers stretch toward the door to the dining room.
I turn toward him, my face stoic. I think his name might be Tim or John, something simple like that, but I can’t quite remember, so I don’t bother to address him verbally. Instead, I raise a brow and dip my head, urging him to continue.
