Prologue

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He watched her.

It was a favorite pastime of his. He liked seeing her red cloak brush her ankles as she walked about. He liked observing her actions and interactions with people. He liked to guess what she would do next and make bets with himself.

At the moment, the tree he hid behind was sufficient enough to keep his cover because even though this particular tree lined the edge of the woods, it was so dense with foliage that no one would be able to pick him out unless they were nose to nose.

And so he waited for Little Red.

His eyes watched the cottage door keenly. She should be coming out right around....

Creak, thud, latch.

There she was.

As per usual, her red hood was low over her face so low that even in the light of day, her features were lost in the shadows.

In the last five years that he'd been watching her, not once had he seen her face.

Of course, he heard the rumors. She was said to be so beautiful that her grandmother had made her well-known red hood to keep away from the attention. She was said to be so beautiful that just one look at her face and you'll be ensnared like an insect in honey. She was said to be so beautiful, in fact, that many offered up theories of her status as a witch.

He refrained from snorting. That was idiotic. Of course she wasn't a witch. He'd know it if she was for he'd had dealings with one before. They weren't very pleasant.

His eyes followed her graceful walk down the path that led to the village. Her cottage was a secluded spot surrounded on most sides by the dangerous woods. Why her mother insisted that it be so was beyond him.

When she was walking out of his sight, he started creeping along - his wolf-like senses keeping him as stealthy as a predator stalking its prey.

For a moment, he paused and stared up at the moon. It was waxing to be a full one. He calculated that he'd have perhaps two nights before he would mutate into a wolf.

He blinked away the regret that started to surface and instead focused on the girl that drifted towards the village.

He sighed and leaned against a tree, unable to follow her any further without getting caught.

He was not looking forward to his transformation.

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