CHAPTER 606: THE LOCKED WOLF

AUBURN’S POV

Auburn stormed up the stairs, her entire veins filled with rage.

The girls rallied around her, trying to help her clean the purple juice from her hair.

"Auburn, we are so sorry." The girls apologized.

But she ignored them as she stomped her feet up the stairs.

"Your majesty." Servants gasped as Auburn and the girls went up the stairs.

Auburn was humiliated.

Her dress was heavily coated with the liquid, and she smelled terrible.

Her fake, vibrant red hair was a mess, smeared with purple liquid that was spilling down her lashes and the front bodice of her dress.

She could smell the little pieces of her now charred dress.

She had no idea where the fire had come from, and she still smelled like smoke.

It drove her insane.

She made a turn that led her to Princess Cherry’s bedroom.

"Aunty Cherry," Auburn said unhappily as she stepped into the room.

The girls tried to help her clean her face.

One of the girls attempted to use a napkin to clean her face.

"Get away from me!" Auburn screamed as she slapped her hand off, sending the hankie meters away. "All of you just go!"

The girls scurried out of the room in a matter of seconds.

Auburn groaned in frustration as she snatched up the hankie from the floor.

"That girl," Auburn said in anger. "She did this. It’s all her fault. Just look at me. And what’s worse? The bottom of my dress caught fire. Fire," A frustrated Auburn said as she angrily cleaned her eyelashes.

She watched her makeup being smeared.

She groaned as she rushed to find water to clean her face.

"And what doesn’t make any sense is that there was no fire around. Absolutely not. She just stared at me, and fire burned my dress." Auburn exclaimed. "Look at it."

Cherry, who had been quiet through her entire rant, turned to look at the dress.

It was burned.

Cherry waved her hand. "Wha is that smell?"

Auburn looked down in shame. "It’s the smoke from the fire."

Cherry sighed heavily. "Jasmine is here to stay."

"I can’t believe it," Auburn said. "I thought you said she was going to leave along with them. She is staying here, only making things worse."

"Shut up, girl!" Cherry snapped at Auburn’s mouth, and it went zip.

Auburn’s mouth couldn’t open for whatever reason; she had no idea.

"I’m trying to think," Cherry said as she very gently paced the room.

"Jasmine is becoming difficult," Cherry said after a while. "I think her powers are beginning to manifest."

"Manifest?!" Auburn gasped in disbelief. "You said that she was a latent wolf. An unshifted and her powers would never materialize ever!"

"Let me think!" Cherry snapped, massaging her temples.

Cherry was furious.

First, she had finally hoped that Jasmine would leave and never return.

But to her greatest horror, Xaden and the rest of the pack had left without her.

She had tried to ask her sister why Jasmine was staying.

But Rose had insisted that it was simply because Jasmine needed a change of scenery after the loss of her child.

Cherry wasn’t stupid; she knew her sister was hiding the story and that there was more to it.

The night of Auburn’s shifting, Cherry had manipulated powers, used almost her entire strength to perform the ritual that would transform Auburn into the great red wolf.

The great symbol of the next true heir.

Luckily enough, they had succeeded.

And yet, during the shifting, all the glasses in her little hut in the forest where she had been performing the incantations shattered.

The candle lights went poof, and she was rendered in darkness.

She knew well enough that wasn’t her powers manifesting.

It was something else, and today had cemented what she suspected.

Jasmine was not an unshifted wolf.

Because her powers were beginning to manifest, and if they didn’t get rid of her soon, the truth would come to light.

All that Cherry had worked for would be for nothing.

She couldn’t let that happen.

"Jasmine needs to leave this pack soon," Cherry said as she paced the room

"We were wrong. Her powers seem to be locked by someone else." Cherry said. "She isn’t as unshifted as we thought she was."

"Are you saying she can one day shift?!" Auburn demanded in disbelief.

"Yes. That’s what I’m saying." Cherry pointed at the charred bottom of the dress. "You see that little fire that burned your dress? Well, that’s the manifestation of the true wolf—the true heir. Only a ruling wolf can use fire. And Jasmine’s power is beginning to pop up. That’s why the necklace burned her neck. Everything is unraveling, and we can not let that happen."

Auburn’s face fell as she went to the ground.

"This is it." She wept. "They are going to kill me when they find out I’m not their daughter."

She wept as she leaned against the wall.

Cherry kicked Auburn’s side. "Get up, you stupid girl! Crying isn’t going to do us any good. The earlier we figure it out, the better. Get up!"

Auburn sniffed as she sluggishly stood up from the ground.

"So who should have locked her wolf?" Auburn sniffed. "It had to be someone who knew who she was. And why would they"

Cherry closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I think I know," Cherry said. "It must have been Scarlet."

"Scarlet? My mother?" Auburn asked.

Cherry looked at the make-believe princess and scrunched her face in disgust.

"Are you so stuck in your delusions that you believe that scarlet is your mother and you are truly royal blood?"

Auburn swallowed heavily.

"You’d better snap. Back to reality." Cherry hissed.

Auburn looked down at her feet, her eyes red with shame.

"I had been thinking about it for a long time now." Cherry went on. "But yes, Jasmine’s, mother did it. She definitely locked Jasmine’s wolf. Now I want to know why."