AtwoodAfter my encounter with Ruby in the main entryway of the school, two things become abundantly clear to me: for starters, she definitely has a hunch about my involvement with Ethan’s injury, which means that I need to either come clean or find a way to diffuse the situation more properly if she brings it up again. I’m leaning toward the latter.Second, and more importantly, Ruby’s plan to join the drama club comes as a surprise to me. I didn’t know that she had an interest in acting; in fact, now that I think about it, I don’t really know what her interests involve at all.Truthfully, I’ve barely spent any real quality time with Ruby aside from our one outing to Greenwood the other day. Perhaps that could explain her aloof nature with me as well as some of her misbehavior lately. How can I honestly expect her to want to marry a man who hasn’t taken even five minutes to discover her interests? I feel like a terrible mate.That’s why tonight, I decide to join Ruby and her sister f

RubyAtwood takes away my phone for the week and makes me clean up the mess I made in the bedroom, which is a fair punishment for my behavior. I’m thankful that he doesn’t restrict my newfound access to the library, although as I wake up on Monday morning I’m terrified to think of the brutal punishments that will come from Alice and the Queen this week.Alice’s punishments begin with her usual routine of ripping me out of a peaceful slumber and forcefully combing my hair and dressing me before school. She gives me nothing but an apple for breakfast and sends me on my way with a glare.When I arrive at school, Nancy is waiting for me by the door. After the events this weekend, it’s nice to see a friendly, smiling face.“Good morning, bestie,” Nancy says excitedly. She immediately grabs me by my hand and drags me off before I have a chance to get my bearings.“The cast list is here!” she says as she pulls me along down the hallway. “I waited for you to get here so we could look at it to

AtwoodRuby emerges from her hiding spot looking rather embarrassed. I’m not upset with her for snooping, though -- how could I be? She’s a naturally curious girl, and besides, after what happened in the auditorium, I can’t blame her for wanting to follow when she saw the headmaster and I storming off with my men at my heels. I just hope that she didn’t overhear too much.My suspicions are confirmed, however, when we get into the back of the car to go back to the castle and the first thing out of her mouth has to do with the Bears.“Why are we going to be attacked?” she says. Her voice quivers a bit. She sounds frightened, rightfully so.I sigh as Kayne pulls out of the school parking lot. There’s no beating around the bush or trying to hide this now. The girl deserves to know the truth.“They want to overthrow me,” I say, matter-of-factly.She looks confused.“But… why?”“Because,” I answer, “the Bears… don’t agree with my method of rule. They’ve never sided with the Lycans.”Ruby lo

AtwoodI wanted to go to Ruby’s play. It was really, truly all I wanted.As I limp through woods with my blood dripping into the snow, she’s all I can think about.Tamara and I were both dressed and heading out the door to go to Ruby’s play when they came in. Tamara looked so cute in her little blue dress and matching peacoat, holding a big bouquet to give Ruby after the play.When they came in, however, I immediately ushered Tamara away so she wouldn’t have to see the blood.“They came out of nowhere,” my pack member, Noah, said. “Ambushed us. We… We didn’t have time to shift.”“Medics!” I screamed down the hallway. Frightened servants frantically ran to and fro. I don’t even think some of them knew where they were going in all of the commotion.I ran up to Noah and helped him to lift Kayne onto the stretcher.Kayne’s face… My best friend from childhood…There was so much blood.The medics rushed him away to the infirmary. Noah wasn’t so badly injured, but still needed to hold onto m

RubyWhen I wake, I’m back in Atwood’s bedroom. Was this all a dream? Is it the morning before school again, and will Atwood come strolling in with my homecoming dress any minute?I look over to see Atwood laying beside me. He’s back in his human form. Someone has bandaged his wounds; I guess I knew that my healing abilities wouldn’t be able to fully heal his wound, but I’m satisfied to know at least that maybe my healing kept him alive until the rest of the pack came.I sit up and quietly climb out of bed so as not to wake him. As I do so, I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and pause to look at my reflection.Even though my vision showed me laying dead in the woods having frozen to death, I’m here. I’m alive, I’m warm, and I’m okay. I guess this wouldn’t be the first time that my vision was wrong, but… Even when I had my vision about Atwood in the tunnels, it had still technically been correct; just scattered and misinterpreted.This vision, on the other hand… I stopped it fro