Debbie Banna - Shattered Dreams, New Beginnings

Wolf suddenly realized that he was running through a wood somewhere. He stopped and turned and, to his surprise, he saw Tony and Virginia following behind, trying to keep up with him. He found himself tempted to grab Virginia and sweep her up into his arms but then a voice spoke within his head, “Change as little as possible.” Remembering where he now was and the purpose for his return, he allowed himself to continue on, fighting the feelings now warring within his heart.

The trio reached the edge of the wood and stopped by a tree, against which Wolf leaned to get a better look. “Journey’s end. Wendell’s castle,” he repeated, feeling as if he was reliving a dream.

“That’s where the mirror is,” spoke Tony.

“And that’s how we’re going to get home,” Virginia sighed, longingly.

Tony paused to catch his breath and then, taking off his jacket, he made a suggestion. “Let’s take a little rest before we go on. I’ll go get some water. One of you guys want to get some wood?”

Wolf’s heart began to beat faster as he quickly tried to decide what to do. He remained silent, contemplating, when Virginia spoke up. “We’ll go.” Wolf’s head shot up and he gave her a wide-eyed stare. “Come on,” she said, tugging at his arm and running off toward the woods. Wolf looked at Tony, who shrugged and left to find water.

Virginia jogged through the forest a little ways and then began to reach down to pick up small branches from the ground. She glanced over to where Wolf had now appeared and smiled shyly. Wolf glanced around nervously wondering what he was going to do next. It felt as if his emotions were short-circuiting. He could feel the desire burning within his veins and at the same time, he was seized with an uncontrollable fear. He glanced over to see if Virginia was watching him and caught her eye as she sneaked a peek. Quickly turning away, he leaned down to pick up a stick of wood. He suddenly grasped onto an idea and began frantically loading his arms with the branches all around him.

Virginia moved closer to the path on which Wolf was walking and waited. Avoiding her eyes, he fought against the urge to throw the wood to the ground and grab her. “Virginia,” he spoke hesitantly. “There’s something I want you to do for me.”

“I think I know what you want,” she responded, “and the answer is yes.”

“N…n…no. I don’t think you know what I want,” he stuttered nervously. “I want you to stop looking at me.”

“What?” she exclaimed in surprise, dropping her wood.

“Stop looking at me,” he repeated. “If you keep doing that I don’t know if I’ll be able to control myself,” he confessed.

“So why should you control yourself, Wolf?” she asked him. “I think I know what we both want to do.”

“NO!” he yelled. “Oh, I do want you but you don’t know what you're saying, Virginia. I can’t do this to you. Not like this. Not now. It would be wrong and I will not do anything that would cause me to lose you again,” he shouted.

“Wolf,” she answered in surprise, looking at him strangely. “What are you talking about?”

“Virginia, I know you probably won’t understand this after the way I’ve been acting toward you and I know I’m confusing you because you know that I want you terribly. I want your love more than anything else in the world. But I can’t accept what you’re offering to me.”

She paused and watched the battle he was waging against his emotions as it displayed itself on his face. He glanced toward her and then clutched the wood in his arms more tightly to his chest, using it as a barrier between them. “Wolf, drop the wood please,” she coaxed, and he shook his head fiercely. Watching him carefully, she slipped her arms out of the light blue sweatshirt was wearing to reveal temptingly white shoulders. Wolf gasped, then turned his head and clamped his eyes closed.

“You’re trying to tempt me,” he whined, dropping the wood.

“You’ve got that right, baby,” she purred, coming up behind him and slipping her arms around his chest.

“Virginia, no!” he protested weakly. “Listen to me. If we do this now, something terrible will happen. I know. Trust me. Please, let’s just gather up the wood and go back now before it’s too late. I can only stand so much.” He turned in her arms to face her and, looking in her eyes, he almost gave in. Then the memory of how awful life had been without her gave him the strength to push her gently away. “Virginia, if you’ll marry me, I’ll give you all of the love I have for you every day of our lives. You’ll be my one and only mate forever and I promise, we’ll live happily ever after.”

Touched by his tenderness but frustrated by his show of restraint, Virginia pushed him away and stalked back up the path toward the place where they had left Tony. “Virginia!” Wolf called to her. “Virginia!” he repeated, wondering in desperation if he had pushed her too far, then followed her retreating back down the path.

Tony sat, his back against a large, thick trunked tree, waiting for their return. A rustling in the brush drew his attention to Virginia as she immerged from the woods in a huff. He watched as she stalked, indignantly past him and spoke. “Well, it’s about time. Where’s the wood for the fire?”

“I couldn’t find any,” she spat angrily.

He raised his eyebrows suspiciously and replied, “You couldn’t find any wood in the forest?” Wolf appeared, looking despondent as he followed Virginia to the spot where she had settled herself, back to them both, by a tree. “You don’t have any wood either?” he questioned.

“No Tony. Don’t bother me right now, okay?” Wolf spat at him. Tony shrugged as he watched him go to Virginia and settle himself next to her by the tree. He watched Wolf try to touch her shoulder but she pulled away from him. Shaking his head, Tony settled back against the oak pretending to ignore them and straining his ears trying to listen.

The sound of loud, raucous laughter drew Wolf’s attention and he jumped to his feet, trying to drag Virginia with him. “Please come with me. We’re supposed to do this,” he pleaded with her. She followed him reluctantly and Tony joined them at the edge of the forest, where a richly decorated coach could be seen passing by. Within the coach, its rotund but jovial occupant laughed merrily. “Oh, that’s old King Cole,” Wolf recited. “Oh, look,” he pointed in the direction of another carriage now turning the corner and passing before them. “Presents. They’re all going to the castle for Wendell’s coronation.” Wolf reached down and grabbed Virginia’s hand, which she tried to pull out from his grasp. “Oh, come on,” he said pulling her away with him

“What? What? Whoa. Let’s just walk in there,” Tony sputtered.

“If I’m right, and I am,” Wolf informed them, “this is no longer Wendell’s castle. It’s controlled by the queen. The guards are her eyes. We can trust no one.” Recognizing the tree under which they had sat the first time this scene was enacted, Wolf pulled Virginia down to sit beside him. She tried to turn away but Wolf refused to let her. He reached out and grasped her chin in his hand. Then tenderly, he brought his lips to hers.

When he released her, he continued to look into her eyes not allowing her the luxury of avoiding his gaze. Virginia stared at him, confused at first, then hurt. Finally, she lowered her head in submission. “Virginia. Look at me,” Wolf spoke with authority. “Please know I don’t want to hurt you. I love you but you have to trust me right now. If you care for me, trust that what I am doing is for our good.”

Reluctantly she returned her gaze to his and, finding a strength and determination in his eyes that she’d not seen before, she surrendered her pride. She made a quick decision and spoke. “Wolf, there’s something that I have to tell you before we go in there.” She paused and watched his face to see how he would react. “The queen…” She paused again.

“Yeah?” he encouraged.

“…is my mother,” she finished, dropping her eyes in shame.

Wolf gazed tenderly upon the worried face of his beloved. “I knew that from the first moment I smelled you,” he spoke lovingly and scratched at her chin in his endearingly wolfish way. Virginia raised her head, not believing that he would still accept her knowing this and having witnessed the wantonness of her previous behavior toward him. To reassure her, Wolf smiled and touched her hair gently, lingering at her cheek. The look in his eyes spoke volumes to Virginia and she allowed herself to breathe again and relaxed the shoulders stiffened by her anxiety and doubt.

“All right, so what now?” Tony asked, approaching them curiously, and hoping to be let in on the cause of the tiff between them.

“We wait here until dark before we try and enter the castle,” Wolf spoke authoritatively, as he removed his jacket and folded it into a pillow for his head.

“What do we do all day?” Tony sputtered.

“Sleep,” Wolf instructed, pulling Virginia down to snuggle into the warmth of his chest. “I’m exhausted,” he stated truthfully, having just tiptoed through a minefield of potential trouble in his attempt to change their past.

“So am I,” agreed Virginia as she closed her eyes and surrendered her stubborn heart to the keeping of the man beside her. Her own emotional battle had taken its toll on her body, which now longed to find release in a bit of rest.

Tony stared at the couple cuddled up in front of him, wondering how they had suddenly become so close. “Did I miss something?” he asked sarcastically, as Virginia snuggled closer and, smiling, they both tuned him out. Disgusted, Tony found his own comfortable spot a little further away and settled down to wait for the setting of the sun.