Page 106 of Red's Beast

Oh, I was being a little mischievous.

Her eyes open wide as she feels my breath against her skin, then Grandmother opens the door and ruins my fun. Lillian snaps out of it and gets to her feet, scurrying inside while casting glances over her shoulder as if she didn’t just enjoy what happened.

She didn't see it but Grandmother was shaking her head with a smile once her back was turned. I could have sworn I just heard her whisper, "Naughty, naughty wolf."

I watch as my wolf slinks into the shadows of the woods to wait until he would see her again.

My wolf had run for miles before returning. All the energy I had seemed boundless because I had finally found my mate. The idea of freedom was all I could think about.

She would be the one to free me. I could finally leave the forest and everything would be fixed. Everything would be normal again, or at least as normal as it could be.

Sadly, every time I saw Lillian after that, she was always fearful of me, but that was to be expected, since Nigel so kindly made her fear me after she moved to the village at eighteen. Before that moment, she had never thought anything of it, and Grandmother never drew attention to the woods like he did.

Six years of being told I was the big bad wolf was enough to make her scared and I would find every way in this world to break that fear.

My mind swirls as it goes to the last day I was with her. The mating ceremony.

Grandmother broke the binding that was over her, but her wolf was delayed in surfacing.

Sighing, it flashes to the moment I was thrown back in the woods, tumbling into this new realm before everything went black.

My body feels pulled as I rush through bright colors and spirals. It makes no sense and I wonder where I'm being taken.

Suddenly, I hear Ma's voice as I'm being shaken. "Wake up, Lucian. Wake up."

My eyes are so heavy though, and I don't want to. I want to go back to see her. She was right there in my grasp, and almost mine.Please, take me back.

Pa huffs as he tries to sit my head up. "Come on, Lucian. You aren't any good to your mate if you kill over now."

"Interesting. What was he doing before he passed out?" I hear Emmeline ask.

It's your fault that I'm this way, witch. You did this to me. Now fix it.

"He just fell over," Logan says as if he is truly worried about me.

Ma lets out a small sob. "Will he be okay? I've never seen a wolf shifter pass out before."

"Oh, I'm sure he'll be fine. He's been through worse than this."

I almost swear I hear amusement in that witch's voice.

As I rise to my feet, Ma is utterly terrified I'm about to fall over again. I stumble slightly to my left and she has her hands out like she is going to catch me, but I over correct myself and fall to the right, landing with a soft thud.

"Lucian!" she yells.

Ma, I'm fine. Please don't worry. Just got a little dizzy.

Emmeline coos. "I'm sure he's fine. Possibly a little dizzy from his fainting spell."

Tell them, witch. Tell them what you have done to me. It's your fault.

She eyes me curiously with a wicked grin. "All those growls. If only we knew what he was saying."

Why aren't you telling them you can hear me? You're lying. But you’ve been telling them I said things, so they know I can hear you. Come on. Tell them.

Ma readies herself again to catch me as I go to stand, but this time I can without falling. My small whines turn into a growl as I turn to face Emmeline.

"Lucian, what are you doing? Emmeline has always been so kind to us?" Ma cries out.

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