The Lycan's Runaway Bride

RubyMy heart pounds as I run through the dark forest.I’m not even nineteen yet, still a high school student, but I’ve been forced into a marriage to a man who I haven’t even met, and I don’t even know why.The Lycan King.When the King’s men came to me two weeks ago and told me that I would be married to the King, I was completely distraught.Any girl would feel lucky to be married to the Lycan King, although I feel far from lucky. In my eyes, the Lycan King is a brute, an unlovable man whose family only ever cared for killing all of the hybrids such as myself.The Lycan King is rumored to be ferocious, caring only for his arrogant family’s obsession with purebred wolves and killing all hybrids. I knew as soon as I saw my vision that if I were to marry the Lycan King, he would put my darling sister, Tamara, to death, because she is too human to survive in the werewolf world. There’s no way I could be this brute’s mate, either; we’ve never even met, and everyone knows that wolves ne

Ruby I look up at the King and his henchmen. The King shakes his head and gestures for his henchman to rise, then hands Tamara to him. I begin to cry out in protest, but the King simply raises a finger to me and I am silent. “Your sister will be taken care of,” he says softly, then walks toward me. I scamper back further into the corner and raise my hands in defense, prepared for the King to beat me. But he doesn’t. He crouches in front of me and gently takes my hands in his, pressing my fingers to his lips and looking into my eyes. I can feel myself tingle at his touch, but I am unsure as to whether the sensation is fear or excitement -- perhaps both. Although I would let him kiss my hands forever, there is still a part of me that fears him, so I pull my hands away. The King drops his gaze, looking defeated. “Your sister,” he says after a pause. “She smells like a human.” “She’s a hybrid, isn’t she?” he asks. I nod nervously. His scent, so close to me now, fills my senses and

Ruby I’m not sure exactly what time it is when I wake up, but when I finally come out of my dreams and open my eyes, there is sun shining through the large window to Atwood’s chambers. I yawn and roll over to shield my eyes from the bright sun and stretch, extending my arms above my head and flexing my feet. As my half-open eyes scan the room looking for a clock, I finally find one sitting on the mantle and jump up when I see that it’s already three o’clock. How did I sleep for so long? I throw the covers off of myself and swing my legs over the side of the bed, jumping up. I’m not sure why I feel the need to rush myself out of bed, but truth be told, I feel great There is a soft, purple velvet housecoat laid across the chaise waiting for me. I slip it on over my nightgown -- not taking a moment to consider how Atwood or whoever else had been able to even put me in a nightgown when I was passed out -- and take a second to relish in the feeling of the luxurious fabric on my skin.

Ruby At 6:00 a.m. sharp, I am awoken by the curtains being opened to let in bright sunlight that hurts my eyes. I groan and squint against the harsh light, dazed by this unceremonious wake up call. “Time for school, princess,” Alice says, yanking the blankets off of me to expose my body to the chill of the room. I groan again and shiver, sitting up. “You couldn’t be a little nicer about it?” I grumble under my breath as Alice scurries off to the closet. I’m not sure if she heard me, but if she did, she’s not showing it. I look over to Atwood’s side of the bed to see that he isn’t there. In fact, the blankets on his side are still tucked in neatly, as though he never got in bed in the first place. Come to think of it, I don’t remember him ever coming to bed last night. Maybe he’s busy, or waiting for my birthday to become close to me again. Part of me worries that maybe he’s waiting to see if my wolf will appear before he consummates our relationship. What would happen if my wolf n

Ruby “Who is he?” I ask, looking over my shoulder to see that the handsome boy has disappeared in the throng of students. “That’s Earl,” Nancy replies. “He’s a top student, president of the student council, and he’s the speaker of the school opening ceremony every year. He’s basically the idol of all the girls in the school.” “Hmm…” I mutter, still looking over my shoulder and wondering about the handsome boy as well as what may have happened to my navigator. What Nancy said about the headmaster flashes through my mind, but I decide that that’s just a silly rumor and nothing to really worry about. My thought is broken again by someone else bumping into me and cursing at me angrily. I stumble into Nancy, who catches me and helps me regain my balance. “You really should get a new uniform,” she says. “They’re only a couple thousand dollars.” My eyes widen. “A couple… thousand?” That’s more than double my entire monthly salary that I used to make waiting tables in my old pack. Nanc