Gabrielle - After Happy Ever After

Virginia got up and quickly dressed. She searched the room one more time, but still no sign of Wolf. She slipped out of the room. Maybe he had already gone down to breakfast. That’s what she told herself. But something inside her knew that he wasn’t in the castle.

Virginia was so busy with her own troubles that she ran right into her father. He steadied her and looked at her with amusement.

“Pre-wedding jitters?” he asked.

Virginia shook her head. “Wolf’s gone,” she said.

“What?” Tony asked, his smiled turning to a frown. “Are you sure?” Virginia nodded. “Where did he go?” Tony asked.

“I don’t know,” she said, shaking her head. Virginia looked close to tears. Tony gave her a hug.

“Don’t worry. He’ll be back. If I know that Wolf, he’s too in love with you to miss this. Probably forgot the flowers or something,” he said, trying to reassure her.

Virginia nodded and sniffed, wiping her eyes. She didn’t really buy it, but she pretended to. “Yeah,” she agreed. “I hope so.”

Wolf didn’t know exactly what he was looking for. He just followed his nose and his instincts and tried to hurry as much as he could. The sun was already up; he didn’t have much time.

Wolf paused, panting. He knew that he had covered a lot of ground. But he still hadn’t found what he needed. But he was close. He knew he was close. Wolf sniffed the air, searching for that strange scent. That smell of magic. He started running again. He didn’t have much time left.

Virginia tried not to act strange. But she heard whispers behind her back and she knew what they were saying. They were calling her a fool for ever loving a hybrid. Saying he was finally showing his true colors. That he had run out on her. But she ignored them. She knew in her heart that it wasn’t true. Wolf loved her. She knew it. But she didn’t know where he was or what was so important that he had to leave now, of all times, and that scared her.

Wendell came up behind her and placed a hand on her arm. He smiled reassuringly at her. Virginia nodded appreciatively. But Wolf only had a few hours left. And if he didn’t show up for their wedding…she didn’t know how she would be able to take that.

Wolf slowed. He had found the source of the smell that he had been following for hours. It had led him to a cottage in the middle of the woods. But something about the cottage gave Wolf a bad feeling. He ignored it and stepped up to knock on the door.

Before he could knock, the door opened on its own. Wolf jumped backwards in surprise and slowly walked in, on his guard immediately. He looked around, his eyes quickly adjusting to the darkness. Inside the cottage was an old woman. She huddled over something on a table and didn’t even look up when Wolf entered.

“What do you have that could be worth such a spell?” she asked, still not looking at him.

Wolf jumped again. “I…What do you want?” Wolf asked, not knowing what he could offer.

“You are a wolf. What is worth this spell? Or do you realize what it will mean?” she asked.

“What do you mean do I realize what it will mean? I want to stop being affected by the full moon. So my scrumptious Virginia won’t have to worry about herself or me three days every month,” Wolf said.

The woman said nothing, but finally looked up at Wolf. Her gaze sent a shiver up and down his spine. “Bring me a golden rose from the bushes of Gretel. That is the fee for this spell,” the old woman said.

“But the bushes of Gretel are…” Wolf began.

“That is the fee,“ the woman interrupted. “Choose now.”

Wolf growled low in his throat at being forced to choose without being given a chance to think, but he agreed. “Alright. A golden rose. But I need the spell now. And quickly,” he said.

“Sit,” the old woman said, motioning to a chair. “And close your eyes.”

Wolf did as she said, not liking it one bit. He had never really trusted magic. And he didn’t like not being able to see what was going on. But this spell meant a lot to him.

The old woman stopped in front of Wolf, a book open in one hand and a handful of dust in her other hand. She spoke words that made no sense to Wolf, then threw the dust on him. Wolf sneezed and his eyes flew open. Then he fell unconscious to the floor.

“Now, my wolf. You will listen and heed my command. You will bring me the rose if you have to crawl out of your grave to do it. You are mine now, half-breed. And you will do my bidding. Now go,” she said with a wave of her hand.

Wolf blinked and rose. He didn’t know how he had gotten on the floor or why he was here in the first place. He knew that he had to get back to the castle, though. He had a wedding to be at! He looked up at the old woman in confusion.

“You had better hurry, Wolf. Your Virginia awaits. You are free of the full moon now,” she said.

Now Wolf was even more confused. But her words were astounding. Free from the full moon? Did she mean…? Virginia! He did have to hurry. From the looks of it, he only had an hour or two to get back and there was no way he was going to be late for his own wedding! Wolf jumped to his feet and bounded out the door, hurrying through the forest as fast as he could go.

The old woman watched him go. He would deliver the rose and more. But she would be patient. She had been patient this long. A little longer made no difference.

Virginia stood in her wedding dress in the back of the castle chapel. Everything was perfect, just like Wolf had promised. Except that Wolf wasn’t there. Virginia felt like crying until she couldn’t cry anymore.

Suddenly, a howl broke through the air. And Virginia knew it was Wolf. Her heart soared and her temper blazed at the same time. Wolf had a lot of explaining to do!

A few minutes later Wolf stumbled into the chapel, his tux thrown on, his shirt only half-tucked, and his hair in a disarray. “Sorry,” he said to everyone. “Sorry,” he repeated to Virginia.

“Where have you been?” she demanded.

“Tell you later. I promise it was very important. I’m just not sure exactly why,” he said.

“What?” she asked.

“We can start now!” Wolf called, ignoring Virginia’s question.

“You had better explain all this,” Virginia whispered to him before he left to take his place at the altar.

Tony linked arms with Virginia and whispered to her, “See. Everything’s fine. Just out of curiosity, where was the groom?” he asked.

“That’s what I’d like to know,” Virginia said.

The music began and all Virginia’s questions left her mind. She was drawn into the moment and all she could think about was all her wonderful moments with Wolf and all the wonderful ones she knew would come. She looked up at the head of the aisle at Wolf. He had an anxious, but completely loving look on his face. She wondered if his thoughts were the same as hers.

Wolf hadn’t noticed before just how beautiful Virginia looked. He couldn’t believe he was going to marry such a dreamy, wonderful girl. He thought of his times with Virginia and how wonderful it had been. The time at Snow White’s glass coffin. The time when Virginia had said she loved him. The time in the woods when they had played hide and go seek. Oh, how he loved her. He thought of the little cub growing inside her and how he was going to be a father.

Virginia reached his side and Wolf smiled at her. She smiled back and she seemed to have forgotten her anger from earlier. He took her hand and glanced at the priest as he began to speak.

“We are gathered here today…” the priest began.

Virginia tuned him out, too busy staring at Wolf. He stared back at her and smiled again. He squeezed her hand to draw her attention back to the priest.

“Do you, Wolf, take Virginia to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold until death do you part?” the priest asked.

“Oh, I do. I do. I do,” Wolf agreed emphatically.

“And do you Virginia, take Wolf to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold until death do you part?” the priest asked.

“I do,” Virginia agreed, smiling at Wolf.

“Then, place a ring upon each other’s fingers and say, ‘With this ring, I thee wed,’” the priest instructed.

Wolf lifted Virginia’s hand and she just realized he had slipped off the singing ring. He placed it back on her finger.

“With this ring, I thee wed,” he repeated.

Virginia was glad he hadn’t gotten another ring. The singing ring would be offended and she was perfectly happy with it. But now it was her turn.

“With this ring, I thee wed,” she repeated and put a ring on Wolf’s finger.

“I know pronounce you…” the priest paused uncertainly, then shrugged, “man and wife.”

Wolf howled with joy then took Virginia in his arms and kissed her. He released her to wave at the people in the crowd. Virginia laughed and waved, too.

Wendell smiled. He didn’t know how long he had before he had to tell them. He didn’t know how he would be able to interrupt their honeymoon even for something as important as this. He hated this. But if he didn’t get Virginia and Wolf’s help, the Fourth Kingdom could and probably would be destroyed.

Virginia let her head rest on Wolf’s shoulder as they danced slowly. She whispered quietly to him, “You’d better have a damn good reason for being late to your own wedding.”

Wolf jumped, then calmed. “I do. I do. I’ve said that a lot today. Anyway, the reason I was late is because I was off arranging a little surprise for our honeymoon. I think you’ll like it. I’m sorry for not telling you,” Wolf whispered back.

“Okay,” Virginia said, forgiving him quickly. She didn’t want to be mad at Wolf on their wedding day. With that thought, she smiled softly and rubbed her cheek against Wolf’s shoulder. “I love you, Wolf,” she said.

“I love you, too, dear, sweet, succulent Virginia,” Wolf replied.

Virginia was spent. It was getting late, she knew. It was the first day of their honey moon and they had spent it mostly beneath the satin sheets of the bed in their room. She must have dozed off a little because when she looked, Wolf was up and pacing in their room. She sat up and smiled at him.

“You’re not tired?” she asked. He looked at her and she could tell he was agitated about something. “What’s wrong?” she asked. She looked out the window to see how late it was. And saw the moon. It was full. “Is that it? I didn’t realize it was a full moon. Wolf, are you okay?” Virginia asked.

“Yes. I’m fine. That’s what’s bugging me. It feels so weird not feeling weird on the full moon,” Wolf said.

“What? What do you mean?” Virginia asked, confused.

Wolf ignored her question and bounded over to her. He took her hand and pulled her, trying to get her up.

“Come on. Let’s go look at the moon,” he said.

“Wolf, I don’t think you should be going outside at all right now,” Virginia began.

“No, you don’t understand. This is the surprise. I’m free of the moon. I found this old woman who did a spell for me that makes me unaffected by it,” Wolf told her.

“You did what?” Virginia cried.

“Huff-puff, you don’t listen too well, Virginia. I went to…” Wolf began again.

“I heard you. I just don’t believe you. I thought you said not to trust magic.”

“I…did. But this is different,” Wolf insisted.

“How? What did you give the old woman to get her to do the spell?”

Wolf growled a little, then admitted, “I didn’t exactly give her anything yet. I have to get her a golden rose from one of Gretel’s golden rose bushes. But I can do it! I think.”

Virginia didn’t like the sound of this. “You’d better tell me about these golden roses,” she said.

Wolf sighed and sat on the edge of the bed.

“Gretel, you know, Hansel’s sister, became a queen after they defeated that witch. Well, actually a princess, but later she became a queen. Her brother was made a duke, but he only got some small lands with hardly any people on them and he was jealous. One day, Gretel was given some golden seeds, the ones that the bushes grew from, by a prince who wanted to marry her. Gretel agreed and they got married. But for her brother, Hansel, that was the final straw. Hansel hired a witch to conjure up a curse upon Gretel’s bushes. The flowers became virtually unreachable. The curse drew all kinds of dark spirits to the flowers. The flowers, being magic, became their food and they built all kinds of defenses to keep others away from them. One day, Gretel came, needing a flower because these flowers were said to have great powers that could make you immortal and cure any disease. The prince, now king, had become very sick and she needed a petal from one of the flowers to cure him or he would die. The dark spirits guarding the flowers were lured away and she snuck in while they were gone. But the spirits had poisoned the flowers so that one prick from their thorns would kill you. Gretel pricked her hand and was killed. When Hansel heard this he was so overwhelmed with what he had done, he killed himself. It was a great tragedy for that entire kingdom,” Wolf finished.

“And you’re going to get one of those flowers? Uh uh. No way am I going to let you,” Virginia said.

“But Virginia, I have to. I gave my word and a wolf’s word is everything. Except when it comes to evil queens, then we can make exceptions, but most of the time….” Wolf began rambling.

“Wolf, no,” Virginia interrupted.

“Virginia, I don’t have a choice. I have to. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine,” Wolf assured her. “Come on, now. Let’s go look at the moon.”

Virginia let herself be dragged out to watch the moon, but she still didn’t like any bit of this. There was just something totally not right about it and she knew that they would find out what soon enough.

Three days later, the first night after the full moon, Wolf was again restless. And this time he didn’t know why. Something just kept telling him he had to leave. That he had to begin, but what he wasn’t sure. He finally couldn’t take it anymore. He left Virginia a note and started running off through the village. He didn’t even use his nose to tell him where to go. Something just kept drawing him on.

When Virginia awoke, she rolled over and reached out for Wolf. When he wasn’t there her eyes snapped open. “Not again. Wolf, I’m going to kill you,” Virginia muttered angrily. She spotted the note lying on Wolf’s pillow and snatched it up.

Virginia, don’t worry about me. I had to leave.
I’ll be back as soon as I can. Do not try to follow.
~Wolf

“If you don’t get yourself killed first,” Virginia gulped.