Red Riding Hood

Chapter Thirty Four

The future will always look bleak

when you have to rely on

the one you hurt

the most.

Scarlet sits on the side of the table whilst her mother and grandmother get their disapprovals and thoughts of disappointment out of their systems. She then goes on to defend herself, and Luca, at first getting angry at their distasteful comments, but that doesn't last long as she's too emotional drained to fight with them. So instead, she recites their very long, very eventful story, from the moment they met – at her mother's request.

They grieve together as she relays the information Ulfric had told her about her father, but they soon return to scolding her for the secrets and lies.

After a while longer the two women wander off to stew in their own thoughts, her mother going up stairs to check on her brother – who has been asleep the whole time, and her grandmother to the kitchen – where she hears the clutter of pots and pans as her grandmother begins to bake, helping her to soothe her mind.

Scarlet positions the small, knee height table closer to Luca and retakes her position – stroking his unruly hair of his pain pinched face. After a few minutes he begins to stir and his eyes briefly flutter open to survey his surroundings before shutting again.

"Scar..." He murmurs and she smiles in response.

"It's okay. I'm here."

"I'd ask if I'm dead but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be in this much pain if I was." He coughs and sits up so his head is resting on the arm rest with Scarlet's assistance. "What happened?" He opens his autumn eyes and stares at the ceiling.

"I managed to convince the town to let you defend yourself. There were some protesters but Grey silenced them. My mother and grandmother cleaned you up and tended to any open wounds, but they're all pretty much healed now." She caress his face and hair soothingly. "What happened last night?"

"It's a bit of a blur." He pinches the bridge of his nose. "But I'm telling you now, I'm never fighting another werewolf ever again." He lifts the blanket to examine himself – not seeming surprised at his nakedness. "How are you?"

"I'm okay." She reassures quietly.

"Your wounds?" His fingers touch her corseted stomach gingerly, a pang of guilt hitting his heart.

"They're okay. Actually they're healing incredibly fast. My mother says they should have taken weeks to heal but now they're predicted to be healed in days." Her hands trace over the areas.

"Good." Luca breathes, relieved. "I wasn't sure if it would work." He says and his hand falls back over his chest.

"What would work?"

"Apparently werewolves have healing 'magic' in their saliva. I thought it was just myth, though. I've never tested it before. I'm glad it's true though. I thought I was going to lose you." He cups the side of her face tenderly as she recalls the lapping of his tongue, at the time thinking he was tasting her before he ate her. "I'm so sorry." Tears glint in his eyes.

"It's not your fault. You weren't to know."

"I should have protected you better. I should have –"

"No. You can't blame yourself. Nothing was your fault. It could have been a whole lot worse if you weren't there."

"Scarlet, he could have killed you."

"Well, lucky for me he was counting on you to do that for him." Luca raises an eyebrow in confusion. "He said that when a werewolf first changes, in that first couple of minutes he's not there. That your mind would be ... asleep ... that the wolf's primal instinct would kick in before the man could take control." She looks at his still puzzled face. "Does that sound right?"