The Rider of Rosewood

"Can you please apologize to my mother for me? She was right I never should've come here," Theo said, desperately trying to rip the locket off.

Rosalind cupped Theo's face in her hands. "You can tell her yourself because I'm not going anywhere."

"You have to be joking! She could kill you!" he protested

"She will definitely kill you if you go rabid."

"I can't ask you to do this for me, Rosaind."

"I'm her daughter. She won't hurt me." She had no idea what her mother had planned for whoever stayed behind. She was willing to say anything to convince Theo to go.

Tears streamed down his face. "Please, don't do this Rosalind. I'm not worth it. No one will miss me If I'm gone."

"I would miss you." She brushed his bangs out of his eyes. "You can finally be free just like you've always wanted. I'm going to be okay," she assured him.

He pulled her into a long embrace. "Thank you." Rosalind rested her head on his chest and listened to the steady rhythm of his heart.

"I'm glad we could come to an agreement." Luna zapped Rosalind in the neck with the taser, knocking her unconscious. "Gregorio, please escort Mr. Lovell to the exit."

Rosalind couldn't recall much of what happened after she got tased. She remembered being carried and set down in a different room. She remembered Gregorio whispering to her, saying things like, "I wish things were different,” and "I've missed you so much." Those were the only parts she could remember. Then he sealed the door behind him, and she'd officially passed out.

*********

"Do you think she's dead?"

"She's not dead, Heath."

"Really? Cause I'm starting to think she's dead."

"If she was dead I would have smelled it by now." Duke was becoming thoroughly annoyed.

"Can I poke her with a stick?"

"No Heath!"

Rosalind woke up to the sound of the three boys bickering. The entire room was pitch black. She rubbed her eyes several times trying to adjust to the darkness, she still couldn't see a thing. "Why the hell is it so dark in here?"

"Yay, Sleeping Beauty's awake,” Chandler deadpanned.

"You're alive!" Heath's voice echoed off the walls.

"I guess I am." She shrugged. She still couldn't see, and now her head was throbbing. "What happened?"

"You got yourself tased and then the Pack Father threw you down here with us," Chandler said.

"Why can't I see anything?"

"There's a reason this place is called the Sightless Caverns." Heath tapped his fingers on the stone floors. "Even us werewolves can't see a thing."

Rosalind massaged her temples. Now her entire body was cramping. "Are tasers supposed to hurt this much?"

"Well, they're not supposed to tickle." Chandler scoffed.

Duke helped her stand. "Considering werewolf tasers are some of the strongest in the world, I would say you're taking it remarkably well."

Rosalind's legs wobbled but eventually, she was able to stand up straight.

Heath chuckled. "The first time I got tased with one of those, I threw up four times.

"Shut up, Heath. No one wants to hear about that!"

"Ok...sorry."

The caverns were so cold and vacant they made her shiver. She hugged herself in an attempt to keep warm. All her memories from earlier that day came flooding back to her. She always knew her family had secrets, but never to this extent. She was a werewolf? Her attention drifted to the huntsmen, who were still bickering about something. Had they known? Lately, it felt like she had no control over anything in her life, and it pissed her off. She kicked a pebble across the cavern in a moment of rage.

"Are you okay?" Duke asked.

"Did you know?" she screamed.

"Did I know what?"

"Did you know that I was a werewolf?"

Duke sighed. "Honestly, I wasn't sure what you were. You didn't smell like a human, but you didn't smell quite like a werewolf either. I thought you were covering up your scent somehow.

"Is that why you were interrogating me when we first met?"

"Yeah."

"If it makes you feel better, I didn't know anything," Heath's voice echoed louder. “But no one tells me anything."

Chandler, on the other hand, was being suspiciously quiet about the subject. She didn't care, he could keep his secrets.

Rosalind dug through her pockets. She had thought someone would have confiscated it but sure enough, her flashlight was tucked away in her hoodie pocket.

"Wait! They gave you a flashlight? Lucky." Heath pouted.

"They must have forgotten to take it." She shined her flashlight around the caverns, even with the light there wasn't much to see. The Sightless Caverns were nothing more than a series of long stone tunnels, with stalactites hanging from the ceiling. Maybe if she kept walking she'd find a way out. It was a long shot, but she was tired of being passive. She needed to do something. She began to walk in the direction of one of the tunnels.

Chandler grabbed her wrist. "You're not allowed to go down there."

She spun around to face him, shining the light on his hand. For the first time, she noticed he had a tattoo of a full moon in a starry sky on his wrist. It was surprisingly beautiful. She would've expected Chandler to choose something much edgier than that. She snapped herself back to reality. She had more important things to worry about than Chandler's tattoo preferences. She tugged herself free from his grasp and approached the tunnel.

"Come back, now, Chandler ordered. It was clear he wasn't going to ask a second time.

Rosalind had grown tired of his attitude. "I don't take orders from you!" she snapped "Even they don't take orders from you, anymore!" she pointed in the general direction where Duke and Heath were standing. Chandler let out a faint growl but ultimately decided to let her go.

Without hesitation, she continued her journey down the dark tunnels. No matter how far she got she could still hear the boys talking.

"I can't believe you just got roasted by a teenager, and then you just let her go!" Heath teased.

"Shut up, Heath."

Heath chuckled. "I don't take orders from you anymore."

"I hate you." Chandler retorted.

Rosalind was so distracted by them that she lost focus on where she was going. Before she could stop herself, she stumbled into a ten-foot-deep hole in the ground. She scraped her knees on the jagged stones beneath her. She forced herself to stand and looked around the hole for a potential way out.

The hole was far from empty. It was filled with silver bullets, thick chains, various types of weapons, and several bottles filled with a bubbling cream-colored liquid. But what caught her eye the most was a bow and quiver full of arrows leaned up against the wall. She picked it up and closely examined it. It was a sturdy, well-built, silver bow with intricate designs carved into it. She'd never seen one this finely crafted before. What was it doing down here?

She glanced up to see if anyone was watching when she hid the bow behind her back and stuffed the arrows in her pockets. No one saw her take them.

A few moments later she heard several sets of footsteps approaching. "I warned you not to come down here!" Chandler yelled into the hole, making a loud echo.

"It's funny, you forgot to mention there was a giant hole here!" she yelled back. Chandler just laughed at her.

"Don't worry we'll get you out of there,” Duke said.

"It's alright, I've got this." Rosalind had gone rock climbing with Gran more times than she could count. Sure it was dangerous, but that's what made it fun. She tucked her flashlight away and threw the bow over her shoulder, then latched on to the jagged rock wall in front of her and pulled herself up. She nearly slipped several times, but that didn't stop her from reaching the top.

Heath high-fived her once she was on their level. "That was awesome! You're gonna be a great Huntsman someday, well technically you'd be a Huntswoman..." Heath began to ramble.

Rosalind wasn't listening. She had no intention of becoming a Huntswoman. She would stay here until she could control her transformations, and then she'd run far away from this place.

Duke seemed to sense her uncertainty. "You're being awfully quiet, is there something on your mind."

"What's down there?" She pointed in the hole, hoping to draw attention away from what was actually on her mind.

"Danger." Chandler chimed in. "Everything down there can have a deadly effect on werewolves."

"Why keep it down there? Wouldn't they be useful for hunting rogue werewolves?"

"They would be far too dangerous in the wrong hands." Duke stared her in the eyes. "You didn't touch anything, did you?

"No."

Before anyone could question her further, the wall behind them glowed red and opened up to reveal Pack Father Gregorio. "Your time is up." He made a waving motion with his hand signaling for them to follow. She quickly hid the bow near the entrance. She had every intention of coming back for it later.

They followed him through a corridor Rosalind had never been down before. Then through another door that led into the living room with the fur-covered couches. He pointed towards the Huntsmen. "Why don't you three meet me in the training room? The Pack Mother would like to speak to Miss Rosalind alone."

"Come in, her mother said in a song-like tone. She was filling out a mountain of paperwork on her desk while sipping a glass of Cabernet. She glanced up briefly to acknowledge Rosalind's presence. "I hope the Sightless Caverns weren't too hard on you."

"What do you want to talk to me about?"

Her mother shook her head disapprovingly. "So eager to get straight to the point." She stood up. "Gregorio and I have been trying our best to lead this pack for many years, but unfortunately we won't live forever. I will need a successor to take my place and I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving it with anyone outside my bloodline. The Council of Alphas will be visiting us in a week to discuss the future of the Silver Huntsmen operation. If all goes well they will place you and your brother in charge once my time has passed.

"My brother's alive?"