Red Riding Hood

Chapter Twenty Three

"Elizabeeeeeeeth!!!!" James's voice hit my ears loud and hard as he ran down the hall from his room. Groaning I put my pillow over my head but enough his was soon bouncing around the king size bed in an effort to get me up.

"Fine" I growled, rolling over he jumped on me, quickly hugging me. I pulled him into the bed with me hoping he'd like the comfort and go back to sleep but I was not so lucky.

"Santa came Eli" he said more calmer now. I couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm.

"Did he?" I asked in disbelief. He nodded excited and quickly got up, tripping over his blue Spiderman dressing gown that was loosely tied around him. I laughed, getting up and grabbed the coat, fixing it up around him.

"How about you go downstairs really quietly incase any elves are still around and I'll be down in a minute" I didn't need to tell him twice and he ran out of the room, the gentle thuds of his footsteps down the stairs becoming quieter as he neared the bottom. I grabbed a few hidden presents from my dressing room and followed after him. Not surprisingly my Grandparents were already set up in the front lounge room where the tree was and presents covered every spare inch of floor space.

"Merry Christmas" I greeted walking into the room. I kissed them both on the forehead as the greeting was repeated and handed them the hidden presents. Of course they told me I shouldn't have but they were surprised nonetheless. James wasted no time in distributing the gifts 'Santa' left and I headed into the kitchen to make coffee for myself and a hot chocolate for James.

"This one is for you Eli" James handed me a small red box tied with a black ribbon. There was no card on it and I looked at my Grandparents but they just shrugged. If it had been from them they would have looked between each other mischievously first, more excited than James at seeing us open presents. My wolf stirred curious and at her appearance I got nervous.

"Open it" James whined, taking his hot chocolate from the table and taking a sip. Dropping the ribbon beside me I hesitantly lifted the lid revealing white tissue paper. Unwrapping it my wolf was pacing as everyone in the room waited for me to reveal what was in the box.

"Is that a true moonstone?" My Grandmother gasped, moving from her chair she dropped to the floor beside me. The ring was a plain silver band and a milky colored stone was embezzled in the center. The stone had me captivated, and I gently ran my finger over it.

"A true moonstone?" I asked, looking up at her I passed the ring over. She nodded and seemed to sniff it before passing it to my Grandfather who did the same.

"Moonstones are as common as any gem, but true moonstones are of the magical kind. This will protect you from the influence of magic. I have never seen a real one before. Put it on and never take it off! Who sent this to you?" She asked amazed, handing it back. I slipped it on to my index finger. I was expecting something to happen but nothing did. My wolf appeared though, back to normal if not more than before.

"There is no card. How did it get here?" It was a puzzle to all of us but from what she told me about the moonstone, I wasn't going to take it for granted. Staff started appearing in the kitchen around eleven as the Christmas lunch was prepared. I showered and got ready making sure James was dressed too as Jocelyn and her parents arrived and a few other people we didn't know that had been invited for lunch. As we were about be seated the doorbell rang and I went back to open it.

"Mum" I said surprised. She had been the last person I expected to see today. James came running through and launched himself around her.

"Merry Christmas babies" she greeted hugging James back. She looked at me cautiously but it was Christmas. I sighed and opened my arms and I could sense her relief. James led her inside, telling her about everything Santa had left her and I followed behind. How did my Mum turn into a stranger? Silence filled the dining room as she entered and as we took our seats she kept quiet. Finally my Grandmother said grace and conversation continued. After things had been cleaned up everything felt almost normal. I couldn't be happier. Before Jocelyn and I snuck away into my room I had to check with my Grandmother if she was one of us too. Amazingly she was. How had I been so unaware of all this for so long?