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“Your teeth,” my grandmother screeched as she took a step back in horror.
“Seize the Elder Reithaube! She and the others must answer for their deception!” cried someone from the crowd.
The rest of the crowd began to chant, “Seize her! Seize them all!”
My grandmother was grabbed by the arms and roughly pulled back through the crowd. “No! No! Stop! Don’t you see! She is one of them now! She is a wolf! Stop! Listen, I tell you!”
The crowd was deaf to her cries.
Taking a few steps back, I retreated from the crowd as they surged forward. Curious at my grandmother’s words, I made my way to a hat shop near the edge of the square which I knew had a small oval mirror in their window display.
Upon seeing my reflection, I smiled.
It was time to return to my men.
Inhaling deeply, I took my first step into the clearing. I knew I was disobeying them. My stomach did a small anticipatory flip at the thought of what punishment I would receive from them for my disobedience. Would it be all five at once or one at a time? I wasn’t sure which way I wanted more. Biting my lower lip, I wondered if it would be Rood’s leather strap, or Beo’s birch switch, or perhaps another trip to the hot spring with Helm?
My wicked thoughts distracted me till I was nearly through the clearing. In the bright sunshine there was no creeping black mist to signal the presence of the dark force.
Still, I saw shadows detach and prowl forward from the forest.
All five of them in wolf form slowly stalked toward me.
I lowered my head in supplication.
“Red. You may have just saved your village once more, for we had decided to snatch you back,” said Grimm.
“We keep what is ours and you are now ours,” ground out Helm.
“Does this mean I don’t get punished for disobeying you?” I asked, my head still lowered, my features hidden by my cloak.
“Oh, my little Red. You will still be punished. By each and every one of us,” purred Rood.
“Good,” I said as I raised my head and lowered my hood.
My once bright blue eyes glowed a golden amber.
EPILOGUE
ONE YEAR LATER.
Helm strode up to the fire, his arms laden with several baskets as he crunched on an apple.
“What? More?” asked an astonished Canis.
“This is getting out of hand. We need to find a way to communicate to them to stop,” grumbled Grimm.
“Why?” Rood asked as he rummaged through the baskets, delighted when he found a boysenberry pie which was still warm. “We haven’t eaten this well in hundreds of years!”
“Red, looks like Nessa mended your cloak,” said Helm as he tossed me my favorite red riding hood. As I opened the folds to inspect my friend’s handiwork, a small bundle fell out. Lifting the brown paper packaging, I eagerly untied the string. Inside was a beautiful baby blanket of soft wool and several baby booties and sweaters.
“Who told?” growled Canis.
“How could they have known?” wondered Grimm.
With a slight shrug of my shoulders, I said, “I may have told Snow when she stopped by to visit with a few of the huntsmen and she may have told the villagers.”
Since transforming into a wolf, I had never been happier, although I was delighted to learn that Snow was able to communicate with me as well as some of the other animals in the forest. She couldn’t see me in my human form, only my men could, but still it was nice to be able to talk to someone in the outside world. Although I’m sure it would look odd if anyone were to stumble upon the slight woman having an animated conversation with a bright red wolf!
It was Snow who was passing on messages to the villagers for me.
Ever since the day I confronted them, the villagers had begun to respect and admire the wolves for all they had sacrificed and done for them through the generations. With the elders no longer terrorizing everyone with the threat of a blood moon sacrifice, the villagers had shown their admiration in other ways, like leaving baskets of baked goods and sweets at the edge of the forest.
Now knowing it was an enchantment which kept them from seeing the wolves in human form but they were still in fact men, the villagers had even begun to leave gifts of trousers and vests…even a pocket watch. My men scoffed at the restrictive clothing and marks of society but every once in a while, just to make me smile, they dressed in human clothes and paraded about the den.
Upon hearing that Snow had recently visited, Helm groaned, “She didn’t bring any more of her cooking, did she? I swear that boar roast she made the last time made the birds fall out of the trees.”
