Chapter 19 Azalea
Azalea
I couldn’t have avoided all the discussions of the wolf attack from the previous night if I wanted to. And believe me. I want to. If I have to hear one more person say how brave Braxton was for allowing himself to get gnawed on by an overgrown dog, I’m going to scream.
I’ll admit, for the briefest of moments, when I heard about what happened, I was concerned for him.
But then I fully woke up, came to my senses, remembered what an intolerable asshole he is, and banished those feelings far, far away.
Do I want him to die? No. But that’s only because if he dies then I won’t be able to find a way out of the curse binding me to him.
That’s the sole reason I even remotely care.
Or at least that’s all I will let myself believe.
“You have to admit, it was a little heroic.”
My nose crinkles at hearing Rhoden’s words.
Rhoden rolls her eyes at my reaction before tossing her hair over her shoulder.
She’s accompanying me as I trail around the castle today.
I’ve noticed she tries to do this with me at least once a week, and I think it’s because she’s afraid I’ll lose my mind if left to my own devices for too long.
“Last I checked, almost getting yourself killed because a helpless animal wandered onto your castle grounds doesn’t make you a hero,” I scoff.
“Helpless animal?” Rhoden barks out a laugh. “It was a pack of wolves.”
“It was three wolves,” I correct.
“And?” Rhoden asks incredulously.
“And a pack is at least five.” I shrug, not knowing if this is factual in any way.
Regardless, I would rather eat every single one of the gowns in my wardrobe than admit that Braxton did something even remotely heroic, especially after what he said to me yesterday.
His condescending words about doing what I’m told echo in my skull, and suddenly I wish the rumors about Braxton’s arm being torn clean off were true. After all, my ability to escape this curse isn’t altered by him being badly injured.
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t be running on the front lines of a wolf attack.”
“Didn’t they seek the wolves out?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, did the wolves come and attack, or did they seek out the wolves, and the wolves merely defended themselves?”
“Wow,” Rhoden lets out a low whistle.
“What?”
“Either you really love animals, or you really hate Braxton.” There was a glimmer of amusement in Rhoden’s mossy eyes.
Pretending to think on it for a moment, I tilt my head to the side before saying, “I think it’s both.” A smile creeps up my lips.
Rhoden snorts and shakes her head. When I turn to make my way to the garden’s, she stops me by gently grabbing my forearm.
“What?” I inquire, seeing her apprehensive expression.
“We aren’t supposed to go into the gardens until they find the last wolf.”
Now it’s my turn to chortle. “I’m not staying cooped up inside because Braxton is on some kind of power high after taking down a defenseless animal.”
“I wouldn’t really call having a mouth full of sharp weapons defenseless,” Rhoden counters.
“Are you purely in the mood to argue with me this morning?”
She twists her lips to the side before bringing her pointer finger up and tapping her chin. “It does seem to make the day go by faster.”
I plant my hands on my hips. “Well, I’m going to stroll the gardens. If you would like to join me, you can, but I’m going regardless.”
Rhoden hesitates a moment longer before taking a step forward. I can see the rigidity of her posture as she readies herself to pass the threshold into the garden.
“Rho,” my voice softens, and I gently grab her elbow. “If you’re nervous to go into the gardens, you don’t have to join me. I won’t be out there long. I’m just going to do a short stroll for some fresh air, and then I’ll come right back inside.”
I watch her body physically sag with relief. “I’ll meet you in the library?” she offers.
“That’s perfect.” I give her a warm smile and watch as she heads back into the castle.
Secretly, I’m glad to be alone. I plan on going over to the forget-me-not bushes and seeing if I can pick some for my room, and the last thing I need is for it to somehow get back to Braxton.
I can easily imagine how smug he’ll be if he finds out that I miss the hand-delivered flowers I’d been receiving every morning.
Even though it has nothing to do with him and everything to do with the fact that I’ve simply grown accustom to having flowers in my room.
I glance over my shoulder to make sure no one can see what I’m doing, and am lucky that everyone seems to be taking Braxton’s orders of staying inside very seriously.
The castle grounds look both beautiful and haunting as an early morning mist hovers in the air before the sun burns it away.
The fog it creates distorts my vision of where I’m going slightly, but not enough to where I can’t find the bushes.
There’s something nice about it being so empty this morning.
It’s peacefully quiet, and as I perk my ears to listen to the sounds of the early morning, I’m stunned to realize that it’s actually deafeningly quiet, as in there’s not a single sound being made.
No birds chirping. No wind rustling the leaves in the trees.
From here, you can’t even hear the chatter of the servants inside the castle.
An eerie feeling begins to climb up my neck, when I hear a soft whine in the near distance. At first, I hesitate, but when I hear the distressed whimper a second time, I pick up my skirts and round the corner, coming face to face with the largest dog I’ve ever seen.
I falter, my heart constricting in my chest and ice running through my veins.
The giant animal looks up when it hears the clamber of my heeled steps.
Its brilliant blue eyes focus on me, but it doesn’t bare its teeth.
After a moment of the creature studying me, it returns to licking its paw.
Ironically enough, the dog is lying right in front of the forget-me-not bushes that I planned to pick my flowers from, as if fate wanted us to cross paths.
I walk closer to the animal, diligently watching to see its reactions.
When it stays docile, I take a few more apprehensive steps forward.
I’m practically close enough to reach out and pet it when it finally lifts its gaze and begins studying me the same way I’m studying them.
The animal’s piercing eyes bore into mine, assessing.
Its stark white fur makes it easy to spot the blood that has stained the bridge of its nose, where I can see a few small scrapes reside.
Upon determining I’m not a threat, the creature returns to licking its paw, alerting me to the smeared and faded scarlet dotting that patch of fur as well.
“Wait a minute.” I let out a slow exhale. “Are you what all the fuss is about?”
Squinting my eyes and tilting my head to the side, I guess I can see how, in the dead of night, someone might mistake this animal for a wolf, but seeing it now in the daylight, I’m certain this is unmistakably a dog sitting before me.
“Well,” I continue talking to the creature, “that would explain why there were only three of you. You weren’t a wolf pack, you were just a small family of lost dogs.”
Realizing that Braxton and his men killed the other two dogs leaves an ache in my chest, which soon turns my thoughts bitter.
Braxton prevails in his ability to rip families apart, further convincing me that he must enjoy it.
Taking a deep breath, I step closer before lowering myself to the ground.
No matter what Braxton has put this poor dog through, I’m determined to make sure it comes out on the other side stronger than ever, starting with its injured paw.
I reach my hand forward apprehensively, a slight tremble in my fingers that I desperately try to calm. Once my skin makes contact with the dog’s soft fur, I hear a low warning grumble come from the animal.
“It’s okay,” I soothe, lowering my voice to a calming level. “I’m trying to help.”
With nimble fingers, I delicately turn the animal’s paw over, causing the warning grumble to transform into a heated snarl before it yanks its paw back and tucks it under its body.
My lips press into a hard line. I know logically I should be terrified, but for some reason, the only emotion I’m able to muster up is annoyance.
“Do you want my help or not?” I snap, my tone turning motherly. “Now give it.” I place my hand back out, palm up.
The dog narrows its icy gaze at me before, lowering its snout to my hand and sniffing around my palm. When it lifts its gaze back up to meet my eyes, I do my best to soften my stare. Then, to my utter shock, it places its paw in my hand.
“Thank you,” I mumble softly.
Upon closer inspection, I can tell that the weapon used to cause the scrapes on the dog’s nose has done equal damage to the top of its paw.
When I run my fingers over the top of its paw, applying a light pressure, I notice the dog doesn’t have any reaction, leading me to believe nothing is broken.
Turning the paw over in my hand, I see what the root cause of the poor creature’s pain is.
Taking a deep breath, I look up at the dog, hoping it can read my expression that is equal parts comfort and apology, before I pluck the giant thorn that’s stuck between the animal’s paw pads from its foot. The dog yelps loudly, and my heart cracks a little at the sound.
“I’m so sorry,” I scoot closer to the animal and quickly begin running my fingers through and along its fur in an attempt to soothe it.
Clearly enjoying the attention, it snuggles closer to me before laying its head in my lap.
“You must feel much better now, though.” I smile, scratching behind the dog’s ears.
I don’t know how long I stay like that, petting and cuddling the sweet animal, when I finally remember that Rhoden is waiting for me in the library. Certain that she probably thinks I’ve been eaten by the “wolf” that was scouring the grounds, I jump to my feet.
Startled, the dog also hops to its feet, taking a moment to gingerly test out its now healed paw by pressing it into the ground.
It’s an effort to remind myself that this dog is technically still a wild animal and thus, will probably wander back off into the wilderness beyond the castle.
I try to stop the tiny cracks in my heart from forming, knowing that once it leaves these castle grounds, it won’t have a family to go back to.
I hate how much I feel myself relating to a fucking dog, but I can’t help it.
Shaking the melancholic thoughts from my mind, I turn on my heel and head back toward the castle.
I barely manage a few steps before I feel the skirt of my dress pull me to a halt.
When I turn around, I see the dog standing too close behind me, causing it to accidentally step and pull on my dress.
“No.” I shake my head and try to shoo the dog with my hands. “You don’t want to stay here.” I wrinkle my brow and look back up at the castle. “It might look nice on the outside, but it’s a prison. One I wish I could escape.”
I know I sound insane having a full-blown conversation with my new four-legged friend, but I don’t have a lot of people to talk to here. Really can anyone blame me for resorting to talking to the wildlife.
“You should escape while you can,” I finish flatly, but the dog looks at me with an eager excitement.
Its long tongue flaps out of the side of its mouth as it begins panting and wiggling its tail, clearly showing it has no desire to heed my warning.
“You know what, screw it.” I shrug and bend down, scratching behind the dog’s ears again.
“You can stay with me for however long you like.”
I’m rewarded with one slimy lick across the cheek and a tail wag that becomes so intense it actually turns into the dog wiggling its entire butt.
“If you stay, I suppose you’ll need a name.
” I tap my finger to my chin. “I’ll name you…
” My voice trails off, and after a quick glance, I’m able to see that this is, in fact, a girl dog.
“Blossom,” I test, and I swear I see the dog wrinkle its snout.
“Okay, no.” I look at the dog’s white fur and exclaim “Snow!” That idea gets me a low rumbling growl, and I frown.
Chewing the inside of my cheek, I look up to the sky and see the faintest outline of the moon faded in the sky.
“Luna!” I declare, and am rewarded with a bark of approval.
Luna licks my hand before idly following behind me to the library. As I push the decorated doors open, I’m certain of two things. One, Rhoden is going to scream when she sees me, and two, I just solidified my perfect revenge of pissing Braxton off after how he spoke to me yesterday.