RubyAs I look down at the slip of paper in my hands, I’m faced with two possibilities: I can throw Cayden’s number away, giving into my fate with Atwood and becoming his mate. I can marry Atwood and become his princess. I can live in the castle until the end of my days, being abused by Alice and the Queen, loving a man who can never give all of himself to me because a woman with dark hair will forever haunt his memories.Or… I can run away with Cayden, leaving all of this behind. We could take Tamara and run far away, so far that Atwood won’t be able to find us. We’ll change our names. I’ll dye my hair and become someone else, someone that never knew Atwood, never knew Nancy, never attended the Lycan school and never saw the inside of the castle.Can I really run from my fate like that? Do I possess the power to change the course of my fate, just like how I changed the outcome of my vision?“Ruby, what are you doing out here?” Nancy suddenly says from behind me. Without thinking, I h

RubyI wait at the end of Nancy’s driveway in the cold for Atwood to come and get me. When the car pulls up, I’m both disappointed and relieved to see that he sent a driver; disappointed because I really could have used his comfort right now, but also relieved because I know that he would probably yell at me for what I did at Nancy’s party.I don’t know whether Nancy will forgive me this time. To be honest, I don’t even know if I can forgive myself after what I did. If I don’t get my anger under control, there’s no telling what I’ll do the next time someone makes me mad.As Atwood’s driver takes me home, I can’t stop thinking about my vision of Beck. Sure, she’s been a bitch to me, but that doesn’t mean that I want her to get hurt. Now that I know that I can change the outcome of my visions, I know that I have to find a way to stop Earl from hurting her. But how?The castle is quiet when I return. As I pass by Atwood’s study, I can see a light coming from underneath the door. Part of

RubyDays go by after I broke into Luna’s room. I barely see Atwood the entire time; he pretty much stays in his study all day these days, and when I do see him, neither of us puts in much of an effort to talk to one another. I’m still angry about the way that he yelled at me, and how he won’t just tell me about Luna or this supposed “curse”. How am I supposed to be his mate if he won’t just talk to me?To make matters worse, Nancy won’t talk to me at school anymore. The days go by slowly without her there to make me laugh, and word quickly gets around about my violent outburst at her sleepover, so everyone is avoiding me and talking about me behind my back.I’ve never felt more alone.My etiquette lessons with the Queen only become more strict and more frequent now, too, but at this point I’ve simply run out of energy to stand up for myself. I think Alice and the Queen are pleased with themselves: they know they’ve broken me by now.I get home from school one day and head straight to

RubyI shut the door to Atwood’s study as quietly and calmly as possible before taking off down the corridor at a breakneck speed. Now, more than ever, I want nothing more than to run away and never come back to this godforsaken castle.But, as I lock myself in my room and pull out my phone to call Cayden, I stop.It’s not time yet. I can’t just run off with no plans, no money, and without warning Tamara that we’ll be running away -- because I’m certainly not leaving her.If I was able to fool my way out of the castle once, I can do it again, especially now that I know the surrounding area better and won’t be escaping in a heavy wedding gown. The main issue is money…Cayden, Tamara and I will have to get far away from here if we’re going to pull this off, otherwise Atwood will certainly find us and drag me back to the castle. We’re going to need to purchase train tickets to get away, but I don’t have a cent to my name and Cayden certainly doesn’t have enough money for the three of us.

AtwoodAfter the events from the past few days, I’ll admit that I’m utterly exhausted. I never wanted to pull Ruby out of school, but it seems as though that was the only viable option after her behavior. I mean, who gives a thong to a new transfer, let alone someone that is living with them?Admittedly, I never wanted Edith here. After the way that my mother tried to force me to marry Edith when we were younger, I honestly want to be as far away from the both of them as possible. Can I not just marry my fated mate and run my kingdom in peace?Still, Edith and my mother being here, as well as Ruby’s misbehavior, are the least of my worries right now. My beta is dead and my kingdom is at risk. If I don’t keep up with my work, the Bears will have their way and take over the Lycan kingdom. After that, they’ll likely go for the Swan kingdom, too.When the three kingdoms were first formed hundreds of years ago, the original leaders of the Lycans, Bears, and the Swans lived in peace. Each m