Run, Little Wolf: A Retelling of Beauty and The Beast (The Poets of Once Upon a Time Book 1) by Rachel E Scott

Author:Rachel E Scott [Scott, Rachel E]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2024-06-12T18:30:00+00:00

For two nights now, I’ve replayed that moment at the gate when the awful man came for Stella. Only in the dream, I don’t send him away. I turn her in.

It’s not me in the dreams—I know that. It’s the me from the mirror. The one with blood on his mouth and an insatiable hunger for power. But it scares me all the same.

I remember when Stella first arrived. All I cared about was getting her out of my life as quickly as possible. It was the same with all the women before her. There were a few who made an attempt to unthaw my frozen heart. Jessica came close, but I remained a coward clothed in self-proclaimed superiority.

As seen by the way I treated Stella up until very recently.

But the other night brought everything into perspective. I made her feel safe.

The way she relaxed in my arms was euphoric. I’ve never been responsible for making someone feel secure before, never been someone people go to for protection. I was the lesser of the two evils between me and Orrin, but never a haven.

Stella’s is the first real trust I’ve ever earned.

I’m going to break it, I think to myself, pacing in front of the fireplace in the library. Stella’s trust is so new and fragile. I wasn’t even sure she was capable of it until the other night. And me with the sloppy hands and misaligned gaze set on goals that don’t matter are going to completely shatter it.

“Al?” I turn at the sound of her voice. She stands in the doorway, a dressing gown tossed over a deep, coral pink nightgown. Her curly brown hair is a mess, the mass of it pulled over one shoulder. She looks sleepy, her eyes blinking slowly. And as I search her face for the features that I’d at first found so repulsive, I come up short.

It’s as I told her. She isn’t beautiful the way her portrait on the wall behind me is, but neither is she ugly. There's almost an invisible veil over her features and rather than looking deformed, they are simply unclear to me.

“Don’t you look fetching in pink,” I smile, though the expression doesn’t reach my eyes.

“What’s going on?” She asks, walking over to meet me in front of the fire, concerned. “You don’t look well.”

“Well, aren’t you full of compliments.”

I sit on the couch, pretending to be as indifferent as I used to be. Perhaps if I try hard enough, I can get back there. But to what end?

Do I even want to go back to the castle? Do I want to marry a woman like Carissa, living life as strangers who wed for money?

One glance at Stella and I shake my head. No. I don’t want that.

But the uncertainty of these new feelings, the lack of control—and worse, the fear of pain—are almost debilitating in their grip.

“Al, come on. What’s wrong?” she insists, sitting on the low table in front of me. Narcissus finds her almost immediately, meowing as he clambers onto her lap.

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