Authors: Elizabeth Rose
Lady and the Wolf (10 page)
Chapter 16
Winifred watched silently and anxiously from behind a bush. Her crossbow gripped tightly in her hand, it was ready to be loaded and fired. She felt like a fool having killed so many wolves in the past year, but she’d only been following her grandfather’s orders. She wasn’t certain why the earl did certain things, but he was gone now and none of it mattered. Babeny and Tavistock were going to be allies now – not enemies at war.
“Where is she?” whispered Stefan from next to her. He held his sword in one hand and a dagger in another.
“Put away your weapons, you fool.” Wolf stood up and walked out from behind the bush that concealed them. “They can’t hurt a witch so you’re wasting your time.”
Lucio sat on a rock at the creek in the form that looked like the boys’ father. It seemed he was able to change at will, but he was not able to keep from changing into the form of Roland while he was still under Hecuba’s spell. It took a lot of his energy to keep the form of Lucio. He called out to the old hag in a loud voice to draw her to him.
“Hecuba, my darling, come to me and let’s make love the way we used to. You can be whomever you want and I won’t complain. I just need to lay with you again.”
It must have worked because there was a puff of green smoke and then the witch appeared standing at the edge of the creek, looking like a buxom serving wench with her breasts trussed up and spilling out. She leaned forward and gave Lucio a good view down her bodice. Wolf dove behind the bush for cover.
“I thought you’d never come around to realizing we belong together,” she told him. She tried to kiss him but he pulled back.
“First, remove the curse you have on me that makes me look and act like a man who we both know is dead. If I want to portray his image, it’ll be on my terms, not yours.”
“No.” She stood up and pouted. “If I do, you might not call for me, or want me again.”
“If you do – I’ll want you more,” he said playfully, pulling her onto his lap and kissing her. When she tried to get another kiss, he pulled away. “First give me what I want and then I’ll give you want you want,” he said, reaching out and grabbing her large breasts.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” complained Wolf in a whisper from their hiding place.
“I’m going to stop this nonsense.” Stefan started to stand up, but Wolf pulled him back down. Arnon growled lowly from next to him.
“You’ll all wait until the spell is removed from our father and then we’ll reveal ourselves. Have you got the Wolfsbane?” he asked Winifred.
“Right here,” she said, putting down her crossbow and pulling the plant from her pouch. “I’ll throw it at you and Arnon just as she uses her magic. Just like your father told me.”
“Good girl,” said Wolf, reaching over and giving her arm a squeeze. “Remember, whatever happens – I love you, Red.”
A smile spread across her face. “I love you, too.”
“He’s giving us the signal,” said Stefan excitedly. “She must have removed the spell on him. Now it’s your turn, Wolf. Arnon too. Go on.”
Wolf felt a knot in his stomach as he stepped out from behind the bush with Arnon at his side. They made their way toward the creek and when Hecuba noticed them, she jumped up off Lucio’s lap.
“You were deceiving me,” the witch snarled.
“Not any more than you’ve deceived us,” shouted Wolf. “Now remove our curses, Hecuba, and do it now.”
“I won’t,” she said, but started to choke, and looked over to Lucio who was making a motion with his fingers in the air.
“Now that you have no hold on me at all, the playing fields are even,” he told her. “Remove the curse from my boys or I’ll squeeze and you’ll choke to death.”
Wolf didn’t know if it was true, nor if the witch could actually be killed. Still, he didn’t really care. As long as his curse and Arnon’s were removed, that is all he wanted.
“Stop it,” she said, and managed to get out of his invisible grip. “Since I’ve been locked away underground so long my magic is still weak. I’ve just removed your curse, but I only have enough strength for a little more. I’ll remove one curse and one only, so you choose between your sons, Lucio. Do you want Wolf to live a normal life as a human with his lover, or Arnon to live as a man instead?”
Wolf felt his change coming on and only wished the hag would hurry. He wanted more than anything to have his curse removed, more so for Winifred than himself, because as soon as it was gone, he planned on marrying her. She didn’t deserve to be married to a wolf half the time, and he would do anything to stop that. But then he looked over to Arnon, and his heart about broke. His brother hadn’t known anything but the life of an animal for the last year. He needed to live as a man even more than Wolf did.
“I can’t choose between my sons,” protested Lucio, “so don’t ask me to do it.”
“Then I’ll remove neither curse.” Hecuba raised her hand and a green mist started to swirl around her head.
“Nay!” Wolf stopped her. “Remove Arnon’s curse,” he told her.
“Wolf, what are you doing?” he heard Winifred call out.
“Wolf, think about what you’re saying,” said Stefan. “You have a castle and an army that respects you. Give them the man they want to follow and be loyal to. You are a leader, but Arnon isn’t. You can accomplish much greater feats.”
“Then I’ll accomplish them as a wolf as well as a man. Now you heard me, remove his curse, Hecuba and do it now!” spat Wolf.
He felt the pain of his bones shifting, and doubled over. Winifred ran to him, but he held out his hand to stop her from touching him. “Look away, Red. You don’t need to see this.”
“Oh, how charming, the love of the two of you. It makes me sick!” spat Hecuba.
“Arnon, come forward,” said Lucio, calling forth his son. The wolf did so with his head down and his tail low. He was being very cautious.
“I feel weak and I don’t think I can do it,” complained Hecuba.
“Do it,” ordered Lucio, tweaking the air with his fingers and causing her to choke again.
“I’ll do it, but I can’t guarantee there won’t be side affects,” she finally agreed.
“Side affects, what side affects?” Wolf fell to the ground in pain, wondering if Arnon would feel pain as well. Arnon had never felt the pains of shapeshifting the way he shared the pain of actual wounds with Wolf. They were twins, but since Arnon didn’t shapeshift, he’d never had to go through the horror Wolf endured every time he shifted.
“I’m not sure,” said the witch. “Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Just do it, and stop stalling.” Lucio released his hold on her throat, and Hecuba waved her hand through the air over Arnon’s head.
“Wolf looked over to his brother as his vision started to blur and his body changed. He could see Arnon turning from the shape of a wolf into that of a man at the same time he shifted back into his animal form.
“It worked!” Stefan darted out from behind a tree.
“He looks just like Wolf,” said Winifred, as his brother’s limbs became long and his fur disappeared.
“Welcome back, son.” Lucio walked forward to greet Arnon.
Wolf’s vision was blurred, but in this form he could see the invisible magic that was at work, though it wasn’t noticeable to the human eye.
There was a green fog around both himself and his brother. His father was surrounded in blue, and Stefan seemed to have an eerie green fog attached to him as well, though it wasn’t as thick as his or Arnon’s. Winifred had a white light around her and glowed beautifully.
As his shift continued, he heard a loud splash and then the croaking of a frog. Then as if in slow motion, he saw a frog jump up out of the water, intermingling with the green shroud around his brother, just as his brother finished his shift.
Wolf shook his head and got to all fours, and hurried over to his brother who was hugging Stefan. Winifred had her back turned since Arnon was naked, and Lucio was arguing with Hecuba about something but he couldn’t hear their words clearly. All he could hear was the loud croaking of the frog that had landed atop Arnon’s foot.
“Oh, look at that. A frog,” said Arnon, bending down to pick it up. When he did, the green fog swirled around both the frog and Arnon and somehow tied them together. Then Arnon tossed the frog to the ground and it hopped back into the water, pulling with it the invisible green cord that connected it to Arnon.
That’s all Wolf remembered before he took off at a run through the forest in his wolf form, feeling happy yet doomed at the same time.
Chapter 17
Two days later, Wolf sat at the dais of Babeny Castle with his new wife, Winifred, at his side. His brother, Arnon, sat to the other side of him with Stefan. Next to Winifred sat Lucio in his disguise of being the girl’s grandfather.
No one knew the truth and neither would they find out. Lucio had put a forgetting spell on Dolan to make him forget what he saw that night, and for the last two days the boy was also forgetting to polish Wolf’s sword, tend to his horse, and to take care of the rust on his armor. It seemed Hecuba’s magic wasn’t the only magic that was weak and bringing about side effects.
Wolf leaned over and whispered into Winifred’s ear. “I’m sorry about not having a ring for the ceremony. My squire seems like he’s forgetting more than he’s supposed to, and I only hope it won’t keep him from doing his job properly.”
“Your father said it’ll wear off eventually and he’ll only forget what happened concerning the shifting things, and that this was just a temporary side effect.”
“I hope he’s right, or I’ll have to find a new squire.”
“You’ve got me as your wife now, Wolf. I’ll be sure to take care of you, even better than Dolan, so don’t worry.” She leaned over and kissed him and the crowd cheered for the newlyweds.
“You married a half man and half animal, Red. You don’t deserve that.”
“I’ll take it, if I can have you even half the time. What you did for your brother was very chivalric. I don’t know many men who’d give up having their own curse removed.”
Wolf looked over to his brother and noticed him dipping his hands in the water of the basin that the ewerer held out for him. He instructed the boy to leave it at the table, and continued to play with the water. Wolf heard the croaking of a frog and looked down to see a fat frog sitting atop his brother’s foot. Wolf shook his head and blinked, and it was gone.
“I’m not sure Arnon is exactly free of his curse,” he whispered back to Winifred.
“What do you mean?” She giggled, and Wolf loved the sound of her happy laughter. She excited him, and all he’d been able to think about was coupling with her again. She looked beautiful with her long red tresses hanging down and contrasting with the bright blue velvet gown she’d worn for the wedding. He couldn’t wait to have her living at his castle as his wife.
“Red – I saw a frog jump into the stream of Hecuba’s magic when Arnon did his shift at the creek. I swear I just saw the same frog again, sitting atop Arnon’s foot, but now it’s gone.”
“A frog?” she said a little too loud, and Wolf held his finger to her lips and then kissed her to keep her quiet. “You think something is going to happen to Arnon because a frog jumped into the beam of magic?”
“I hope not, but it could be one of those side effects Hecuba mentioned.” He looked back at his fool brother who was now up on the table, being well in his cups. He hopped over one trencher of food and then the next until he made it to the end of the dais table. Right behind him were not one, but three frogs, hopping over the trenchers following him. Everyone laughed and the ladies of the castle screamed, watching the odd scene unfold. He turned and looked back at Winifred and raised a brow.
“Oh my,” she said, and then they both laughed. “Well, at least being followed by frogs won’t be nearly as bad as turning into a wolf.”
“If that’s all the side effects entail,” said Wolf, having a feeling in his gut that this wasn’t the end of Arnon’s awful curse.
“I’d like to make a toast,” said Lucio, standing up and raising his goblet of wine in the air. “To my son – er, I mean son by marriage that is,” he corrected himself, almost forgetting he looked like the earl. “And a toast to my . . . granddaughter, Winifred as well. May they both live a healthy, happy, and prosperous life together as not only husband and wife – but also as the couple we all know and respect - the
Lady and the Wolf
.”
I hope you enjoyed Book One of my
Tangled Tales
series. Red and Wolf might not be the exact couple you remembered as a child hearing the fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood, but it is a version I’ve concocted that I think is a lot better and much more fun to read. I always like to take what is known and twist it into a whole different perception.
Continue on the journey of the cursed de Bar family siblings with Arnon’s story –
Just A Kiss
(The Frog Prince) Book 2 of the series coming soon.
Here are some of my other series that might interest you. All my books are also available in print, and now you can also get the audiobook of
The Baron’s Quest
– Book 1 of the
Barons of the Cinque Ports
series. Watch for more audiobooks coming soon.
Daughters of the Dagger Prequel
, and
Ruby
– Book 1 of the
Daughters of the Dagger Series
will be in audiobook form before the end of the year.
Daughters of the Dagger Series:
This series is followed by my Scottish
Madman MacKeefe
series, with the first book being about the girls’ brother
,
Onyx – Book 1,
who they thought was dead.
Aidan – Book 2
,
is next, followed by
Ian – Book 3
.
(Watch Book Trailer)
Greek Myth Fantasy Series:
The Legacy of the Blade Series:
The Elemental Series:
The Dragon and the Dreamwalker
Book 1: Fire
The Duke and the Dryad
Book 2: Earth
The Sword and the Sylph
Book 3: Air
The Sheik and the Siren
Book 4: Water
Cowboys of the Old West Series:
And one last series I’d like to tell you about is my
Tarnished Saints Series
.
Watch book trailer
.
This is a twelve book series about the sons of a preacher – but they are far from saints. Matter of fact, these men are nothing but trouble! Please be sure to visit my website at
Elizabethrosenovels.com
for more information on this series and to subscribe to my blog in order to receive updates about new releases. You can also read excerpts from any of my novels on my website as well as get sneak peeks at covers of upcoming books. And please remember that there are other authors by the same name, but my novels can be identified by the rose on every cover. If you’d like to follow me on twitter, my handle is
ElizRoseNovels,
and my facebook is
Elizabeth Rose – Author
(don’t forget the dash.)
I’d like to leave you now with excerpts from some of the series I’ve mentioned.
Elizabeth Rose