Rating: NC-17 with WARNINGS, see first chapter.
Eugenia Lucas got up from the couch to poke the fire a bit before plopping back down on the old sofa, a long sigh trailing from her lips. Ruby laced her grandmother's fingers with her own, offering strength and comfort. The elder Lucas smiled at her granddaughter, taking their hands to her lips and kissing the back of Ruby's. "You're my favorite granddaughter, you know that?" The old woman said, a glint in her eyes. Red grinned in response, "I'm your only granddaughter, you old bat. Now out with it!"
Eugenia grinned back, "Ok, ok. Yes, enough procrastinating. It's time." The older woman lowered her gaze to the fireplace and began to speak. "I'm not sure how to say this gently, so I'm just going to come out and say it. Your grandfather, God rest his soul, wasn't my True Love. I'm sorry if that's hard for you to hear, but although I loved him, sweetheart, he wasn't the one who stole my heart." The Widow Lucas squeezed the younger woman's hand, seeking further reassurance, a small pained smile on her lips. "That, my dear, was lost to a beautiful maiden years before he and I existed." Red's eyes widened at this admission. Eugenia met her granddaughter's surprised gaze and rolled her eyes. "Don't be so shocked, girl. I, too, was young once, you know. And I, too, was attracted to the fairer sex. Anyways, I've gotten ahead of myself, dear. Let me start at the beginning."
Ruby's heart raced at hearing her own Gran had once fallen in love with a woman, much like herself. How had she never known this? Still, she did her best to stifle her questions for later; she desperately wanted to hear more.
"Back when I was a little girl, about eight years old, a wolf attacked our village, as you know. And, as you also know, my mother, brothers, and father were all killed. The Wolf that killed them, marked me, here, below my neck, above my shoulder, and left me for dead, too." Eugenia had begun rubbing over the place where her right shoulder met her neck, absently tracing the scar that Ruby knew sometimes still bothered her. "I had no one else in the whole wide world, and so, a few months later, that's when another little girl found me- alone, wandering the forest, eating grubs, herbs, and small animals if I could trap them or take them with an arrow, but I was a waif, a ghost of the child I'd been. She was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen, even then. She was younger than I by a couple of years and she was all prettied up in a pale blue dress, white petticoat with white lace trim, a matching pale blue parasol thrown over her shoulder, dark brown ringlets falling over her shoulders- definitely the child of a well-to-do family. I ran from her initially, afraid. What would a child like her want with an unclean little forest urchin like me?"
Eugenia paused, reliving the memory. "But she followed me that day and came every day after that, persisting and persuading, eventually getting me to play with her, and slowly, over the next few weeks, we became friends. One day, she decided to bring me home with her, and a miracle happened: her family, a successful miller and his wife, took me in and raised me as their own for many years after that."
Ruby was stunned; she had never even wondered where her grandmother had gone or who had cared for her after her entire family had been massacred. How had she never even asked? She felt like the worst granddaughter ever.
"When the Wolf began to grace me with my monthly "gifts" in my early teens, I was horribly embarrassed. But when my friend found out about it accidentally, she was incredibly accepting. Told me that my body was nothing to be ashamed of and that I would be her sister forever, regardless of what appeared between my legs. She even convinced me that her parents would be as accepting, and she stood with me, holding my hand while I told them. Unfortunately, they were not as happy about these changes in my body as their daughter was and became afraid, calling me abnormal, an abomination, and took me to an orphanage that very day, forbidding me to see their daughter ever again.
"I was scared and alone once more," tears glittered in the older woman's eyes, and Ruby hugged her arm tight, reminding her she was not alone now. Eugenia patted her granddaughter's hand, then got up to stand at the fire, lost in her own remembrances, hugging herself tightly. Ruby could feel the emotional strain building in the room, much like the fire crackling in the hearth.
"My friend came to see me as often as she could. The orphanage didn't care when we came or went, as long as their coffers were full from the kingdom's Ward of the State fund, so it was easy for me to sneak out to meet her. One night, when were much older, she arrived at our meeting spot very upset. Said her father had told a lie about her to the king, something about her having magic, and being able to spin straw into gold or some such nonsense. It wasn't true, of course, but her father desperately wanted leniency on his taxes and felt that if he had to sacrifice a daughter to do it, then it was her duty. She told me she would be taken into royal custody in the morning. Oh how she cried in my arms!"
The elder Lucas caught herself against the wall above the mantle, her heart breaking. After a moment, she seemed to recover somewhat and continued, still staring into the ebbing flames. "I promised her that no matter where they took her, I would find her and that she would never be alone. I owed her this gift because she had never left me alone. And because by then I was almost seventeen and madly in love with her; I couldn't imagine our lives apart. That night, when I left her at the path to their home, I hugged her and as we parted, I kissed her. I was so afraid my feelings would be mine and mine alone, but regardless, I felt an urgency to tell her how I felt. My fingers trembled as she took my hands in hers, and to my surprise, she kissed me back. Tiny flames shot their way through my chest and my whole body ignited. I had only ever imagined this feeling. It was amazing, it was magical. And now that I had it, I couldn't imagine ever letting it go. Eventually, I pulled away... telling her she had to get home but that I loved her, and I reminded her I would find her. She told me she loved me too, and we parted, both of us crying about our situation, and I watched her until she disappeared into the night.
"That next night, I started tracking her. I didn't experience full Wolfstime at that age, of course," the elder Lucas clarified, turning back briefly to acknowledge her granddaughter on the couch, still listening in rapt attention. The grey haired woman turned back to the hearth. "My girl's scent- and that's what I'd started thinking of her as, "my girl"- led me to a small round room off the back end of the palace. I quietly sniffed around to make sure we were alone before I leaned up to a small open window and called to her. I saw her peek her head out within moments, and the relief I saw on her face was immense, as was the thumping in my heart when I discovered she was safe. I quietly pulled an old cart in front of the window and scrambled over. She caught me in her arms and we shared our second kiss. It was every bit the heaven I'd experienced the night before.
"Over the next few hours, my girl explained to me that someone was helping her, that she needn't be afraid anymore. There was some small man actually spinning the straw into gold! She was overjoyed and so was I, and as I left her very early the next morning- we didn't want to get caught, you know- I felt on top of the world. That feeling persisted over the next few days until, on the evening of the third day, she told me she would be released to her family. That night, things got more um, physical between us." Ruby noted the crimson flush traveling up her Gran's neck. "We didn't make love, you know, I respected her too much for that... yet, anyways. But there was a lot of, um-" Eugenia stopped herself from continuing, remembering who she was talking to, and made her way back to the couch, again seating herself next to Ruby, who quickly cuddled back up against her. "Well, anyways, let's just say that things got more passionate that night, shall we, and leave it at that." It wasn't a request, and Ruby let it go. She didn't really want details anyways; this was her Gran, after all.
"The next night we met in the woods again, she'd been released back to her family while the king determined a suitable reward for her and her family. We celebrated more, took things further, it seemed our love knew no bounds, that we were truly blessed as a couple. I pledged my life to her, as she did me, and as we kissed good night, light and love in our hearts, and nothing could have prepared us for the news the next day would bring.
"She appeared at the orphanage in the afternoon, looking like she had been crying for days. I had been outside playing with some of the younger kids and rushed to her side as soon as I saw her. I took her face in my hands and begged her to tell me what was wrong. Instead, she kissed me long and hard. When we broke apart, both of us needing air, and our foreheads touching, she told me, tears rushing down her face, that she'd been promised to the king's son. That was her family's "reward" for her magical feat. My heart was breaking in my chest, but I was determined not to let this- or anything- come between us. I saw her every night the week before her wedding. And then the big day came.
"I showed up, but stood out of sight, watching her from afar. It was excruciating, but I'd promised her I'd be there, so I watched her walk down that aisle in the garden to him, watched him take her as his own, but as he was pronounced her husband, I fled. Tears completely obscuring my vision, I stumbled into the woods where we used to meet and I fell to my knees, completely torn apart. I didn't understand how this could be happening to me when I knew with all my heart, she was my True Love. I cried for a long, long time and at some point had fallen asleep. When I woke, the moon was overhead and I realized I had to hurry to meet her, as we had agreed. I found her, waiting at the base of the main tower, as discussed. But as I ran to embrace her, everything changed. I could smell him on her. She had laid with him. And a primal anger had rushed through me. How dare this man lie with my True Love! How dare he place his seed on her, inside her!"
Eugenia had moved forward, her hands clenched on her knees and Ruby was rubbing her back, "Gran, it's ok, I'm here." The old woman looked at her granddaughter and blushed, slightly embarrassed at losing herself in these old thoughts. "I'm sorry, Ruby dear... I thought I'd buried many of these feelings long ago. Turns out, I didn't bury them very deeply." The elder Lucas shrugged and gave her granddaughter a small half smile. Ruby merely squeezed her upper arm again in consolation. The older woman took a breath and continued.
"I don't know how it happened but before I knew it, I had her pushed up against a wall, had torn off most of her clothes, and I was deep inside her. She didn't cry loudly, because she didn't want us caught, but she begged me softly to stop. I couldn't. The Wolf had complete control. I took her repeatedly, leaving so much of myself inside her and on her that she had it dripping down her legs. Turns out, I had completely forgotten what day of the month it was. Even if I hadn't, though, I never would have thought of myself capable of this, of raping the woman I loved. Afterwards, I was incredibly afraid of what I had done and I fled, a coward, leaving her broken and alone to pick up the pieces and get back to her chambers by herself."
There was a long period of silence before the older woman spoke again, "So you see, sweet girl, you aren't the only one who made mistakes, who underestimated the Wolf."
Ruby was shocked. "What happened to your girl?" she asked.
Eugenia looked down at her hands in her lap. "I don't really know. Something happened that night and the orphanage transferred a bunch of us to an adjoining region. All my stuff was packed and as soon as I got back to my room, they shoved us into carriages, and off we went. There were guards everywhere- why they suddenly cared about us or where we went, I never knew- but I never saw my girl again. I imagined she thought I abandoned her. I heard some time later that year that she had had a daughter. I was happy for her, even though my heart was utterly and irretrievably broken, I figured after what I had done to her, she was better off."
More silence filled the air in the room between the two women, both staring into what had become a dying fire. "Ruby," the older woman said, now turning to the younger lady next to her, taking her hands in her own once more. "My girl and I had no chance. Life was against us from the start. But you and Belle- you have an opportunity to repair the damage and find happiness together. You can't not try, Red. If she's your True Love, you have to try to make this right."
**A/N: Sorry for the delay in getting this out to you guys. Real life, and all that... Plus I was finishing up my Swan Queen fic, Identity Crisis. Anyways, much thanks to i heart mean girls (dots in between) for reminding me I could do it. Oh, and sorry for so much sad feels, but it had to happen. It will get better, but it may take time. These girls are dealing with some serious shit. Please review if you have a minute, it means a lot. Thank you so much for reading! :)