Rules of a Fairytale
Rule One: Don’t Expect a Happy Ending

All fairytales have rules. There’s always the beautiful princess who needs a prince to take care of her and the princess usually wastes all day singing and talking to animals while she waits to be rescued. The villains are always predictable- a witch or stepmother or wolf who makes some stupid mistake to get defeated.

Well not in my fairytale. I’m no princess waiting for some guy to save me. I’m more than capable to handle any problems I encounter. I guess it helps that half of my genetics come from a wolf most people would fear and the other half are from a fairy’s granddaughter. The fact that I was even born was a miracle because in the land of fairytales, wolves weren’t allowed happy endings, not since the days of Red Riding Hood.

Yes, The Little Red Riding Hood, but it didn’t play out like the Grimm Brothers said. They got most of the stories wrong, but the “good guys” came out as the heroes, so they didn’t argue. The Grimms were normal humans born in the Enchanted Kingdoms before going to Germany to become famous by telling the mortal world about the magical realm, not like people believed them.

Anyway, wolves had been considered evil for two hundred years and were kept away from society all because the pack leader tried protecting his territory. Even the truly barbaric trolls ostracized wolves. They became weak and on the verge of extinction when my father met my mother and they moved here to Miami (that’s all its own, long story). I guess I was doubly a miracle because Mom’s family tree branches out to both Aurora and Maleficent. She was a miracle baby, too, and my parents decided that we should live in the “real” world where our family wouldn’t be as criticized. So I grew up in the mortal realm. Everyone I knew had heard the Grimm fairytales, but no one knew that just on the other side of a magic mirror, those ancient fables had actually taken place. Though, I’d take the world of technology over the one of magic every day, especially because the other place was so hostile to wolves. It’s not like I had a choice in the matter!

“Hey, dog-face, pass the mashed potatoes,” my brother, Tate, demanded from across the table. I glowered back at him.

Tate and I were complete opposites in every way, despite being twins. He was popular, a football player with plenty of friends and no worries. I was a computer geek with a total of one friend and a short temper. And the biggest difference? While he and I had both inherited the ability to change during the full moon, he enjoyed the becoming half a wolf with no control and I hated that every month I became a small black wolf but still kept my human brain. He might have had fun, but I had enough sense to worry about getting caught. I mean, werewolves in Miami? We’d make the front page.

“Tate, leave your sister alone,” Mom chided, peeking over her pork chops. Mom was an amazing cook. She owned a little restaurant that was always packed. Tate and I worked there sometimes and she always smelled like fresh cooking.

“What?” My brother was seemingly innocent, but he was full of bologna.

“Tate,” my dad warned. He scratched behind his left ear in a doggy fashion, his unruly brown hair flopping on his forehead. Dad’s eyes were an intense hazel color that practically glowed in the dark. I guess they’d lightened in a world with hardly any magic. Just looking at him you couldn’t tell he was anything other than human hurt he did carry something animalistic in his mannerisms. Dad’s warning was enough to make Tate shut up.

I wiped my mouth with my napkin before throwing it down on the plate. I refused to rise to my brother’s bait, but I wasn’t going to deal with him, either. “I’m not really that hungry. I’m going to go for a walk along the beach. Be back soon.”

“Tasha, please just sit and finish dinner with us,” my mom begged. She definitely looked like a princess with her long, chocolate brown hair that fell in soft curls, her regal features, tall and slim build, and those knowing brown eyes. Her eyes were all I got from her.

“Thanks, Mom, but I really just need some air. The food was delicious, as always.”

I slipped on a pair of tennis shoes and pulled the stringy, pitch black wisps of my hair into a loose ponytail at the nape of my neck. I avoided the mirror in the hallway when I exited the apartment. I already knew I was average with absolutely nothing remarkable in my features. Some days, like now, I actually intended it that way.

After leaving the house, I made my way to South Beach. It was my haven. It was usually filled with tourists, but a few years ago I found a secluded section of beach over some large, sharp rocks. Most people would be smart enough not to attempt to climb over the boulders, but my wolf abilities made me athletic enough to make the climb easily. No one bothered me in my private sanctuary and I ran along the sand, my version of a workout, until I was able to climb over the hill of slippery rocks. When I landed on the other side, I nearly had a heart attack.

I wasn’t alone.

“Fairy farts!” I exclaimed as I pressed a hand to my racing heart. “What are you doing back here?”

“I need you to take me to Cale and Lisette.” The boy who was being so incredibly rude and demanding was about my age with honey blonde hair that fell into his piercing green-blue eyes. He was almost half a foot taller than my five-foot-five frame with a lean build. I might have found him attractive if he wasn’t such a jerk. Or if he wasn’t asking about my parents. That instantly had alarm bells ringing because only someone from the Enchanted Kingdoms would be looking for them somewhere other than Mom’s restaurant.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He rolled those pretty eyes. “I don’t have time for this. I know you know who they are. ‘Fairy farts’ is a saying in Sleeping Beauty’s kingdom.”

My mind raced. I wasn’t the trusting type and I was extremely overprotective of my family. And what were the odds he’d find anyone from my family to begin with? “How did you even know to look here, of all places?”

He huffed. “The mirror I used dropped me here. I guess it knew where I needed to be. Sort of.”

I sucked in a breath. “What do you want with my mom and dad?”

“Look, I need your parents’ help. I’ve spoken with King Steven. They’re the only ones I can trust.”

“So? Why should they help you? Give me one good reason I should take you to them.”

“Because your grandfather is also missing.”

Nothing else he could’ve said would have made me take him back to my house. The blonde fairytale character clambered over the rocks after me. He didn’t say a word as we trekked through the sand and a few blocks to my two story bungalow.

Once we arrived at the house, he introduced himself to my mom and dad as Prince Ryder Riding Hood. He was the grandson or something to Little Red and apparently had a wolf problem. My dad agreed to the adventure because he thought the wolves were innocent in whatever Prince Ryder was accusing them of and wanted to help them. Mom was on board simply to save Grandpa.

After the conversation with the stuck up, annoying prince, Mom and Dad started packing. I sat on Mom’s bed while she put some clothes in a backpack. “Mom, please let me go,” I whined. “I want to help find Grandpa.”

“No,” she said immediately. “You and Tate have school. Dad and I should be back within a few days-a couple of weeks at most. I want you and your brother to be good and take care of each other. You guys look after the restaurant.”

I groaned. “Mom, please. This isn’t fair. Why can’t we go?”

“No, Tasha. That’s my last word on the subject.”

I stormed from her room and soon I was stuck watching dejectedly with Tate at my side as both of our parents followed the prince to the ornate mirror I’d passed on my way out. He muttered something and it rippled. I caught a glimpse of what looked like a throne room in the glass before Mom touched the surface and disappeared. Dad followed. The prince looked at me, seeming too smug for my taste, before bringing up the rear. A few seconds passed before the mirror settled back to normal, reflecting the plain entryway.

I’d been through magic mirrors enough not to worry that my mom and dad had just vanished. But this time a dark knot formed in my stomach as a feeling of foreboding washed over me. I was going to avoid mirrors even more now.

It had been almost a month since my fight with my mom. The city was crowded with tourists flying out for the winter and Christmas was getting closer. I was getting more stressed by the day thanks to my final exams and working at the restaurant with Tate. A full-time manager ran most of the operations while Mom and Dad were gone, but we still needed to help out if we wanted to keep it thriving.

“You look exhausted,” my best friend Leon said one day at lunch.

I yawned and dropped my head to my arm. “I am,” I admitted. “Between school and the restaurant I barely have time to sleep. And of course Tate isn’t doing anything to help things at home. Did you know that he left his wet laundry in the washer for two days? It’d still be in there if I hadn’t gotten tired of the smell and rewashed it.”

He kicked me under the table when my head dropped to the table. I raised my eyes to glare at him. “Hey, Tasha, just get through the day and then we have two weeks for Christmas vacation. You only have two hours left until break,” he reassured me. I shot him a weak smile. I wasn’t looking forward to Christmas without knowing my parents would be around for it, but I could use the break.

I stared at the clock in my last hour Pre-Calculus class, counting down until the bell would ring. It felt like the clock was stuck at 2:45 for an eternity, only fifteen more minutes, but it couldn’t come soon enough. The hands on the old-fashioned clock ticked slowly. Finally, two minutes.

I sat drumming my fingers along my desk when the intercom went on. “Just a quick reminder: The Winter Ball will be held Saturday, January eighth. Anyone interested in running for Winter Royal Court will have one week to campaign and voting will take place that Friday before the dance. Enjoy your break.”

I groaned just as the bell rang. The Winter Ball was almost as important as Prom for my school. It was a full week for the popular kids to plaster the walls with their pictures to get votes and for the rest of us to feel inferior. Getting shoved to the background really took a hit on your self-esteem, and I wasn’t really a ball of sunshine to begin with. I really hated Winter Ball.

I was silent while I walked with my brother along the beach toward our place. Christmas was only about two weeks away and we hadn’t heard anything back from Mom or Dad. They’d already missed Thanksgiving and I was getting worried. Well, more worried.

“Stop stressing, Tasha,” Tate said, snapping me out of my reverie.

“I can’t help it,” I defended. “I just feel like there’s something wrong. I’m worried about them, Tate.”

He rolled his emerald green eyes. “Chill, sis. If anything was wrong then Steven would have let us know.”

I sighed. Steven was still the king of the Sumpter, Sleeping Beauty’s kingdom. He was close to our family, but sometimes he wasn’t the sharpest tool in the box. But he cared about Mom and even Dad, too, so he should be pretty dependable in this. I felt just slightly mollified. “I guess you’re right; Steven would-”

“Tate,” a high, obnoxious girl’s voice yelled.

The way my brother’s face lit up told me who was coming toward us. Tate had had a crush on Brooke Cast since junior high. Brooke was the “it” girl of the school. She was a petite thing with thick blonde hair, blue eyes, and perfect tan skin. Everyone loved her, but she really bugged me. She just came off as so fake and definitely wasn’t the nicest person around. I guess that didn’t make people dislike her because already as a junior she’d won Ice Queen- I mean Winter Ball Queen- twice. I didn’t even know freshmen were allowed to run, but she had the whole school wired.

“H-hey, Brooke,” he muttered stupidly. I rolled my eyes. The girl could make my cocky twin as articulate as a troll and nervous as a hare facing a wolf.

Brooke smiled widely at him. “Hi, Tate. I was wondering if maybe you could help me with my campaign over the break. If it’s not too much trouble, of course.”

“It’s no trouble at all.”

I punched his shoulder. “Tate, you have to help with the restaurant.”

Brooke turned her gaze toward me and she arched her perfect brows. Her smirk made my hands ball into tight fists. “Oh, Terry, I didn’t know you were here.”

I had to bite my tongue. She always did that when she saw me, pretend I was invisible and that we hadn’t gone to the same school since the second grade. “It’s Tasha, actually. And I’ve been here the whole time. Now, Brooke, if you’ll excuse us, Tate and I have to go.”

I turned to go but she grabbed my arm, her perfectly manicured nails digging into my skin. “I was talking to Tate, not you,” she hissed.

My brown eyes narrowed and I growled in the back of my throat. There may not have been a full moon coming, but I could still be dangerous if I wanted to be. Tate must have realized that my wolf side was taking over because he roughly yanked me away from Brooke. That only enraged me more. How dare he take her side? I turned on my brother and was about to tackle him when a dog started barking.

I spun around quickly as the dog literally came out of nowhere. I heard Brooke scream at its sudden appearance and held back my laughter. The Golden retriever stared up at me. He sat regally and had a medal displayed around his neck instead of a regular collar. He barked once happily and I grinned back. I knelt at his side and started scratching his ears. That gorgeous, brilliant dog was my absolute favorite animal.

“Hey, Dreamer. What are you doing here, boy?”

“Wh-where did that dog come from? He just, like, appeared.”

That’s what it would seem like for someone who didn’t know about the Enchanted Kingdom. She wouldn’t know that exiting a mirror into our world would deposit the person wherever they needed to be. Guess the trusty retriever needed us.

“Tasha, do you smell that?”

I looked up and saw my brother’s nose scrunched up. I sniffed at the air and wrinkled my nose. The smell was familiar and unwelcome. “Fairy farts, not you again,” I called. Brooke shot me an incredulous look that I ignored.

Ryder stepped out of the bushes the next instant. I heard Brooke gasp but I didn’t pay any attention to her. Ryder smirked at me and I narrowed my chocolate orbs in his direction. “Good to see you, too,” he muttered sarcastically.

My eyes narrowed further and I growled again. I wasn’t happy and neither was my wolf. “Is there something that you wanted?”

He sobered up and the smirk fell from his face. “I need your help.”

I couldn’t help but glare at him. “I’ve heard this before. That’s why my mom and dad have been gone for a month.”

“Your parents went missing while they were trying to help my kingdom.”

My breath caught in my throat. Tate stepped beside me and I could tell he was worried. He put a comforting arm around me as my knees buckled. My brain stopped functioning for a second and I let my twin take the lead. “They’re missing? When did that happen?”

Ryder opened his mouth but Brooke cut him off. “Excuse me. What the heck is going on?”

“It’s none of your concern,” I hissed.

She glared at me for a second before turning to my brother with a saccharine smile and ran a hand over his chest. “Tate, will you tell me what this is all about?”

“Our parents are missing somewhere in the Enchanted Kingdoms,” he blurted out quickly. He was weak, a puppy that rolled over at the first sign of an Alpha’s orders.

My eyes widened in horror at the same time Brooke gasped. My brother was an idiot. Even though he was telling the truth, that simple sentence was enough to have him committed to the loony bin. I just hoped that the ice queen would think he was joking rather than crazy.

“That story you wrote for English class about your dad and mom? That was real?” she stammered.

I rounded on Tate. My parents didn’t hide how they met. I thought it was incredibly romantic that he’d pick her over whatever Malinda had offered, and Tate just liked the fight scenes. “You told that story for English?” I growled. “That was incredibly stupid of you.”

Tate’s green eyes got big in fear and he stumbled backwards. “It was supposed to be a fiction story, but I couldn’t think of anything. I used the story about how Dad met Mom because no one would believe it. I just kinda forgot to change names.” He rubbed the back of his neck in an embarrassed gesture but I had no sympathy for him.

A snarl rumbled in my chest and my hands balled into fists. Seriously, how stupid can you get? I was mad and I could feel my wolf side coming out. “Tate you idiot!” I ground my teeth and took a deep breath. It was really hard to stay calm when I wanted nothing more than to rip my brother’s throat out. It didn’t happen often, but when the beast came out, she was dangerous. And right now she wanted to kick Tate’s butt.

I took a deep breath to steady my temper. “I so don’t have time for this,” I mumbled when I was calmer. I headed toward the beach and patted my thigh for the Retriever to follow. Dreamer didn’t hesitate. At least I could count on him. “You guys can do whatever because I don’t need any help. I can do this myself. C’mon, boy, let’s go find Mom and Dad.”

It didn’t take long for me to find the mirror in the rocks leading down to the sand; although in Miami it was just a patch of rocky beach that was still open from Dreamer and Prince Ryder coming. I stepped through it and in a matter of moments I was in the world of Fairytales.

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