This retelling of a classic fairy tale takes a completely different path over the river and through the Wood...
Outside
the wind raged, rattling the windows. Cold air drafts whistled through the
small cabin, but Ruby Hood hardly noticed. She laid on her stomach, cozy in her Umbro
soccer shorts and Kellan’s oversized sweatshirt, with her legs crossed haphazardly
in the air behind her, as she gave her undivided attention to the document in
front of her.
Tucking a few fly-a-ways behind her ear,
Ruby’s brow furrowed, “Um, Kel…this entire paragraph makes no sense.”
Kellan Wolf looked up from his propped elbow
on the floor and tiny grin tickled his lips. “I have zero idea what you're looking at, and truth be told I don’t really care. I think I’d like to
just take a moment and enjoy the view of your legs from here.”
“Kellan, I’m serious. I’m looking at your
History essay, and it needs some major work. I promised Mr. Brown I'd help
you.”
At this Kellan raised his eyebrow, “You’re working on my History essay? Wait, did I even write an essay? I thought
you were working on Otherly Natural stuff.”
Ruby sat up, and the creases in her forehead
deepened as she rambled, “What does that have to do with anything? We hit another
dead end today, just like every day this week. Day after day. Dead end after
dead end. No physical traces of the Aarush Mage or the Unnaturalness. BUT the
birth records are cursed. Names, people, dates, times, addresses, all changing!
I mean, how many wild goose chases have we
been on this week?" Ruby held up her fingers to count. “There was the girl who
was actually a man born in 1947 instead of 1974, and two wrong addresses, and the 105-year-old
woman...”
“Don’t
forget the 9-month-old twins, the toothless old woman, and the 71-year-old man with
the hump, Rue.” Kellan grinned and counted with her, making his way to the
couch. To be right next to her. “Personally, I think you’re doing great.”
Ruby swallowed hard and scooted over to make
room for him.
He slid closer to her, and their thighs
touched. Looking over her shoulder, his breath was hot on her neck when he spoke, “History huh…what
are you struggling with?”
“I can
only make out every third word, due either to poor penmanship or horrid
spelling skills…er…actually maybe the lack of spelling skills, in general.”
Ruby worked very hard to keep the quiver out of her voice.
“Hmm…let me see,” His hand touched hers, when
he pulled his paper in for a closer look, “Oh yeah, that’s Emancipation
Proclamation," He leaned back on the couch, please with himself, "Well, look at that, I did write an essay.”
Ruby raised an eyebrow, kicking her feet up on the coffee table.
“What? I know the words. It’s my hand-writing. If the shoe fits…” Sidetracked, he paused mid-sentence. He reach-out and ran a finger along her bare leg, from the calf to the thigh. Goose flesh prickled under his touch. He smiled and then looked at her, “But seriously, if you need a distraction from Otherly Natural stuff, you know I’d be happy to help you with that…”
She nearly plummeted into the the vast clear
blueness of his eyes but caught herself, “I know and we’ve been spending a lot
of time ‘distracted’ lately, and while it’s nice…”
“Nice? Ouch?” Kellan held his hands to
his heart like a wounded soldier.
Ruby swatted at him, “you know that’s not
what I meant…kissing you is more than nice…dangerously so…”
Reaching out, she took his hand. Lately, the
only time she felt normal was when she was with him. For whatever reason, he
made everything better. But that wasn’t okay. Not at all. A friendly-flirty-datey-make-out-session
between a Guardian and a Lycan was strictly prohibited.
And deep down, Ruby had always known their
paths would diverge, at some point. He’s a hometown boy and she wasn’t meant to
be a hometown girl.
But then there was the impending doom, which
also allowed one to throw caution to the wind. Plus, she was a teenage girl, and
kissing Kellan Wolf was nothing short of extraordinary in teenage-girl land. So for now, whatever this was worked. Kinda.
“I know,” With a look of seriousness on his
face, he leaned in and kissed her. Short and sweet right on the lips. Then a
sheepish look crossed his lips Kellan’s face, “Now, that we’ve been reminded we have no future and this is against the rules, should we really waste time with schoolwork?”
“I see your point,” she said, as an out-of-control
pinball heaved and ricocheted around in her chest, sounding all sorts of bells
and whistles.
“What
can I say? I’m a logical man,” His eyes danced, and his lips curved, just at
the corners. Leaning in, he nuzzled her neck.
His lips felt nice on her skin. She paused
and closed her eyes.
“You are amazing,” He whispered, planting
little kisses all along her collar.
“Hmmm…if you say so,” Ruby sighed, letting
her mind relax, “And you’re sure you want to do this now?”
His hot breath tickled her earlobe, “You’re
funny.”
“I am,” Ruby’s voice trembled and she
laughed, “but the paper…it’s due Friday.”
“Yep, and today is Sunday. In case you
haven’t noticed, Rue, I don’t care about the essay, no matter when it’s due.” His
lips brushed her neckline. “Now, are you going to stop moving your lips, so I can
kiss them?”
“Yes,” And she stopped talking.
Soon she lost herself in the endless abyss of
his eyes. Kellan cupped her chin in his hands, bringing her to him, and letting
his lips linger on hers. The papers slipped from her hands as worry slipped
from her mind. She ran her fingers
through his hair and pulled him closer. Time stood still.
But not for long.
Ruby’s body stiffened, and she knew. She always sensed his arrival now.
Kellan growled, “I'm really starting to hate this guy.”
