Rosalina's Hope by D.D. Dass (free novel 24 .txt) 📕

I obliged, turning on my heels to exit through the sliding glass back doors just as a key was inserted to the front doors lock. Rosa was behind me, pointing to another door beyond the pool before she slid the other doors closed again without a backwards glance. That bothered me.

By the time her parents entered the house, I was hidden behind the bushes with a wolfish grin. Discreetly, Rosa glanced out back, to which I smiled wider, even as she continued to talk to her father about hanging out with someone named Isaac. The Isaac I’d seen her walking with most likely. Even though I shouldn’t have felt jealous, it burned deep inside me, despite the boy’s interest in other males.

An acute pain started in my head and I winced, knowing the feeling –the feeling of a wolf wanting out, commanding it. Without a harsher wince, my eyes shifted, and I could see the way the wolf’s eyes were fixated on Rosa. And if fell into place all too late: the urges. I was mating a human. My wolf swirled intensely, in cloud nine, filled with desire, bloodlust, and…love.

With a groan, I struggled against the feeling, pivoting to run away, but I should have known better. My wolf clawed me in place, the fire tingling upon my hand, my eyes falling shut.

Pleased now? I wanted to shout it. My wolf had what he wanted now. He had control, he had Rosa. But she was for the both of us, and knowing that lessened my rage, though for the first time in nine years, I felt unsure of myself. It was an unwelcome feeling.

Why the wolf is us had control over who we mated, I had no idea, but when it found exactly who we both needed, what we both couldn’t overcome, we were forever tied to that person. No longer would I feel anything, especially not lust, for another woman aside from my mother and sister.

And that didn’t bother me in the least, Rosa was so much better than any of them.

“Thinkin’ like a true mate,” I sneered in disgust, peering down at my hand, where the very obvious mating marks were. The marks were patterned in swirls, resembling none other than a wolf, starting at my wrist and wrapping itself around the ends of my fingertips.

Had Rosa seen hers? Suddenly, we were desperate to know, though as we looked, the girl was still arguing, completely oblivious to the fanatical wolf that had altered her life forever, in her own backyard.

Loud growls begun to rip from my throat, my wolf coming far too close to the surface. With one last regretful glance, I fled, shifting (with no care of my clothing) as I did so, until I was a vicious monster of a wolf. Fighting it, I tore through the forests until I was far enough that I could think almost clearly, without that sharp, lavender scent intoxicating me.

The darkness was welcomed as I stood, watching the rushing waters of the creek I’d become oddly attached too. It held something over me, in a sick way that reminded me of the time my father had attempted to drown me. Almost succeeded, should have succeeded.

I barked out a bitter laugh at the memory.

At ten, I’d longed for my father’s attention, so much that if he even glanced at me, hazel eyes burning with hatred, I’d scurried to his side. I’d been born in Lycan form, and we went through puberty far earlier than humans, so I hadn’t been able to keep hold of one form, switching from wolf to human every few minutes. My inky hair had been cropped multiple times, but it grew quickly, hanging uselessly over my eyes.

The smell of tobacco and spirits assaulted me as Father grabbed ahold of my hair, bringing me close, so very close, his forehead to mine. Fright and excitement surged through me, through my body which shifted once again. I yelped pleadingly when his hold on my hair tightened, forcing my bones to take on human-form again.

“Learn to keep one fuckin’ form,” he cursed me in French, and I cringed, eyes wide as he abruptly stood and in front of the entire bar, dig his nails into my thin wrist, until I had to let him yank me in the air.  

“Regardez!” Look, he shouted drunkenly to the onlookers. “Anyone who kills the damned pup gets a hundred grand!”

The magic words had been spoken, all sprang up and I failed to protest, to mention that the older had not even a penny to his rotten name. Instead, I whimpered, scurrying. Using my size as an advantage, I slipped passed the larger Lycans, dodging bottles, teeth and claws, a horrific terror pushing me to be quicker.

Now in wolf form, I was aware of the other wolves following, but too smart to risk glancing backwards and losing my head, shifting back to human where I’d be left defenseless. Still smaller than everyone, I caught sight of human camp and knew I only had two choices: die by human hand or my fathers’ pets claws.

That’s when the sharp claws swiped my hind leg. I whimpered at the pain, realizing that the choice was no more. I was going to die. Or so I’d thought. At the action, I was propelled into the air, flying into human camp.

The humans, an older couple, were startled but instantly concerned…for me. Unknowing of the giant wolves lurking in the thick these, they harbored me, thankfully, for once, luck was on my side. Quickly, the retreated, probably ordered by the Alpha, Laden.

I would forever be grateful to the stronger, even if, years later, he’d banish me from the pack.

Limply, exhausted, I’d lain there, in the arms of the older woman, vision fuzzy. Too soon, another figure arrived, a tall, lanky man with pale skin, looking crisp and clean…My father. I began to struggle, but the woman tightened her hold on me, welcoming the stranger…Welcoming the monster.

“I’d hate to disturb you, but pup scampered this way, and I was wondering if you –Oh! There’s the little guy,” he exclaimed in our native tongue, in false relief.

With my paws, I covered my eyes, quivering as they gladly handed me into his choking hold. Curtly, he thanked them, not saying another word as we disappeared into the forests. I didn’t know where he was taking me until I heard the water…I squeezed my eyes tighter, praying once I was gone, Mathine and Aimee would be out of harm's way.

At the creek, he dropped me, hazel eyes blistering as he untied his cravat. It was his usual attire as an old fashioned male.

“Shift now or I’ll take this slower,” he threatened. Obediently, I shifted, shivering in my nudity, as his hand squeezed my shoulder, hard enough that it cracked. My cry was gurgled as I collapsed into the dirt, another shift claiming me, popping the shoulder back into place as I breathed deeply, curling in on myself.

“Ma-Maman s-said you’d be n-nice to me,” I stumbled through the words, cringing when he laughed, head falling back so it got lost in the woods.

“Come now, Sebastien,” he murmured. “Why would you believe such false tales?” When I didn’t answer he shouted, “why!”

“J-Je suis un héritier Alphas,” I’m an Alpha’s heir, I’d blurted stupidly. His answered strike had me falling backwards, shifting once more. The pain blurred my vision as pathetic tears overflowed my eyes.

Why? Why can’t papa just be nice to me? At that time, I remembered asking Aimee, late in the night, when she’d hold me. I was so weak to seek comfort from a female, I knew, let alone my younger sister. A female I was to ward against the monster. I was such a failure.

“You are nothing!” I believed him. “Shift!” Once again, I found my body human at the command. I wished he would get it over with then, and like the Gods had answered me, he fisted my hair, dragging my stone-still body towards the rushing water.

“I loved you, Fathern” I screamed desperately, knowing his hatred for the words. Why I did it was a blank to me, but it worked to agitate him and he kicked me into the freezing liquid, pouncing so fast I remained under, even as his hands yanked at my hair, trying to lift me out.

At that, I spit in his face, smiling despite the sharp pain. “I know why you hate me you know!” He paused, baring his teeth, eyes cold coals. “I would have been a b-better…” his other hand squeezed my neck, closing my airways. I choked the last words anyway, “Alpha!”

He shoved me below again.

With a snarl, I snapped away from the memory. I don’t know who had saved me that night, but I’d woken up to the forests, all alone. I smiled hollowly. For a while, I’d cried my ass off until Laden had found me, dressed me, taken me to the packs Doctor, and finally, back…home. When I’d arrived, my father had simply glared, waiting until Laden was gone to beat me once more.

Still, he’d never spoken of it, never attempted to take my life again. And it’d been a blessing that at the age of thirteen, I’d been able to fight back.

My smile grew. The other had looked far worse than I ever had. 

“I am not wearing that! Ever!” I exclaimed in exasperation to Isaac, who was holding up a skimpy little mini-skirt in one hand. Somehow, I’d managed to convince my mother to let me out of the house with Isaac, though it’d taken hours of arguments to do the job. Thankfully enough, once they met him, they seemed to have approved. Now, we were at the mall, a small one, but with enough stores that I was actually enjoying myself.

Especially in Isaac’s company, where I could be myself, where I was treated like a normal human being.  

“C’mon Rosa. You dress like a…an old lady,” he choked, laughing. My mouth fell open as I looked down at myself, dressed in a grey wool sweater, jeans, and Converses’. It looked fine to me.

In fact, it looked comfortable. What was wrong with that?

“So you want me to dress like a slut then?” He grinned, putting the skirt back on the rack, much to my relief.

“Nah, but, we have to get you something…better to wear, at least,” he said, mouth set. I groaned.

That’s when an idea came to mind. Isaac always dressed like he was going to a job interview or something equally as important, not just school. With slacks, a button up tucked into those slacks, and dress shoes. If he was going to play dress up on me, then I should be allowed to do the same for him.

Tit for tat.

I grinned devilishly, an unfamiliar excitement falling over me. “Why’re you looking at me like that?”

Smugly, I told him of my thoughts and this time, it was his mouth that hung open in shock. My smile deepened as I realized Isaac and I weren’t so different after all, we both shied away from fashion that caught attention. He’d done this to himself though and I was not letting it go.

“And what is wrong with the way I