A Crown of Bones

A legend speaks of forbidden fruit, of those who dare to venture into darkness and be stolen by the keeper of death. But in Korin's world, women are taken at their first bleeding for a Conversion—some return changed, others never do. Korin comes back broken, her mind barely held together by the darkness she's seen. Her beauty draws the attention of the Wolf King, who demands her as his bride. Yet Korin craves more. She remembers the power that was ripped from her soul, and she's willing to consume the forbidden fruit to reclaim it.

THERE ARE ONLY two things I fear in my life.

One—Blood.

I fear seeing the red substance because I know what it means. I know that my fate is over. Those red drops ironically create a green light for my future. A future I do not want. The older I get, the more time slowly creeps upon me and the inevitable waits. I know it will come. I check daily. Hourly. Constantly. For those small drops of blood.

And then one morning. One morning that was just like any other. It happened. I felt it before I saw it. The cramps that they had described. The nausea. The mood swings. And there they were. The thin, red drops. Blood. It led to the second thing I was afraid of. The second thing that I most feared as I felt the pounding upon my door. Heard the shouts of my father saying he could smell my blood. The relieved sobs from my mother as she heard his words. The splintering crack of the wood as warriors burst, unannounced into my bedroom. It was the second thing, yet it was probably the predominant fear of them all. As I fought them off. Yelling. Screaming. Biting and scratching whatever surface of skin I could reach. On that day, both my fears were shoved at me. Choking me down until I could not breathe. As they dragged me away, knocked out from their blows—because that was the only way they would ever have been able to take me. My second fear. The fear of losing my freedom.

A Crown of Bones

Royalty Werewolf DarkFantasy Revenge Retelling