Page 31 of Little Red Riding Hood
Ouch.
“You look like you have too many adventures to be a boring prince!”
Red snorted. “Is that so?”
“But, but, I saw the frog prince once!” Toby almost stumbled over something, and let out a moan of pain. “Nobody in my pack believes me, but I really did!”
“The legendary frog prince? I believe you.”
“No you don’t,” Toby said crossly. “You’re just pretending. But it’s really true! I accidentally got separated from everyone on a hunt, and I found a small frog friend. I followed him for ages, and he led me to the frog prince.”
Red side-eyed the pup. Could the tale be true? Only a very small number of people knew the true identity of the frog prince, and Red happened to be one of them. “Oh?”
“He lives in these super cool ruins!”
“And what did the frog prince do?”
“He said if I gave him my favourite stick, he’d help me find my pack!”
“And did you?”
“Yeah! He led me all the way back to the part of the forest that I know well. But then, when I saw my mum’s pawprints, I turned around, and he was gone!”
“Huh,” said Red, smiling to himself. “He sounds like a very nice frog prince.”
They fell silent after that. Slowed by the limping pup, the journey back felt endless, each of Toby’s occasional pained whines cutting straight to Red’s heart.
Finally, blessed daylight filtered through the narrow crack. Red helped guide Toby through first, wincing as the jagged stone scraped his own wounds anew.
“Toby!” Astrid’s cry of relief echoed off the rocks.
Red squeezed through after the pup, emerging into sunlight just in time to see Astrid gathering her son into her arms, peppering his furry face with kisses.
Red’s chest tightened as Astrid shook her son by the scruff. “What were you thinking? You could have died!” Her words shook. Then,in the next breath, she crushed the pup to her chest, burying her face in his fur. “My stupid idiot. My baby, my precious boy.”
The raw emotion in her words pierced straight through Red’s defences. His throat constricted. This… this wild swing between fury and fierce protection… Was it what having a mother felt like? The question ached in his chest.
The familiar weight of his red cloak settled on his shoulders. Red turned to find Wim studying his face with concern. The pad of Wim’s thumb brushed across his cheekbone, coming away red.
“You’re bleeding all over, sweet—” Wim cut himself off with a cough. “Red. These cuts need cleaning.”
Red lifted his chin. “What’s one more battle scar to a true adventurer?” he said brightly, though the thought of angry red lines rendering his face even uglier made him want to cry.
“Is that what we’re calling your graceless tumble through that tunnel? An adventure?”
Before Red knew what was happening, Wim’s fingers tangled in his hair, ruffling his mess of strawberry-blond strands. The gentle touch sent sparks dancing across Red’s scalp, down his spine. His breath caught in his throat as Wim pulled him into a tight embrace.
Red’s face pressed against Wim’s broad chest. The wolf’s scent—pine needles, earth, andwildness—wrapped around him like a blanket. His head spun, thoughts scattering like autumn leaves in a storm. The steady thump of Wim’s heart echoed through Red’s body, and heat bloomed across his cheeks.
What was happening to him? His legs felt like jelly, his stomach doing strange flips. Perhaps he’d lost more blood than he’d realised from the tunnel scrapes.
Before Red could process these bewildering sensations, a black blur launched itself at Wim. Toby crashed into them with an excited yip, breaking the embrace.
Wim dropped to the ground with an exaggerated “Oof!” as the wolf pup pounced on his chest. His deep laugh rang through the clearing as he scratched behind Toby’s ears. The pup’s tail waggedfrantically, his injured leg forgotten in his joy at finding his missing pack member.
“Miss me that much, did you?” Wim’s voice held such warmth as he ruffled the pup’s fur. Toby responded by licking Wim’s face enthusiastically, drawing another rich laugh from the man.
Red pressed a hand to his still-racing heart, willing it to slow. The dizziness lingered, even though Wim no longer held him. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the sight of Wim sprawled in the dirt, playing with the pup as if he hadn’t a care in the world.
