Free The Forgotten Fairytales by Angela Parkhurst Page A

pretend?”
    “Because, you’re one of them .” Kate stormed away, tripping over one of the broken pieces of pavement. For being unlabeled, Kate sure did jump to put one on me. Princess or not, Danielle was just like any other mean girl you’d find in school. And as someone who attended her far share of schools, I knew them by their Dolce and Gabbana perfume.
    “You never cease to amaze me, little princess.”
    Holding in my groan was not possible. Maybe if I closed my eyes and clicked my heels three times I’d find my way back home again. Wolf strutted forward. His musky, pine scent wrapped around me like a warm blanket.
    He nodded toward the direction Kate headed. “Looks like you met our resident loser.”
    “Do you even know her well enough to call her that?”
    His lips curled into a cunning smile. “Goldilocks keeps to herself.”
    Kate hurried down the long path to the dorms. My own memories, memories I tried hard to forget, flooded into my mind, reminding me of who I used to be—a girl just like her. Tortured, picked on, and hated for no reason besides the fact that the mean girls sensed weakness in me.
    “I know that look in your eyes,” he said. “You want to help her.”
    I snapped my attention to him and crossed my arms over my chest. “First off, you shouldn’t know that look and second, what if I do?” I asked. “She deserves a friend.” Wolf stared at me like a science experiment again. “Why are you staring at me like that?”
    A five o’clock shadow coated his rough skin and he breathed in, as if to smell me. I shivered, but not in a disgusted way. In a way that made me want to take a step closer, his eyes were beautifully intoxicating.
    “Most princesses run at the sight of me.”
    I leaned against the tree for support. “You’re not scary.”
    “Of course I am. I’m a villain.” Wolf flashed his big white teeth at me. They were slightly bigger and sharper than the average person, not that I spent a lot of time looking at people’s teeth, but they stood out. Come to think of it, his ears were a little bigger too, and his eyes.
    “Let me guess, the Big Bad Wolf?” I examined him, wondering why I never noticed it before. His burly hands could kill someone. “Frightening.” I raised my hands and pretended to be terrified. “But you’re wrong about one thing. I’m not a princess. I don’t claim to be perfect like the others. What if I’m a villain, too? Hell, maybe we’re all villains, we just don’t know it because not everyone has snapped yet.”
    “Naw. You wouldn’t be so worried about Kate if you were.”
    He was right, but only about the Kate thing. Order wasn’t something I’d obsessed over. And I sure as hell wasn’t going to start because someone told me to.
    “You’re so wound up, like a volcano ready to explode.” Wolf’s hand grazed my shoulder. A strand of my sandy hair slipped between his fingers and he twisted it, his attention pinned to the smoothness. A lump built in my throat, his touch clouding my mind. “There’s a party tonight. South end of the woods, you should come, release some of that tension. I, for one, would love to see an unleashed princess.”
    His hand slipped away, leaving me slightly off-center. A villain party? Could be fun, but I needed his help first. While I cringed to ask Wolf for anything, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
    “I’ll go. But I have one condition.”
    Amusement twisted his wolfish features. “Only one? Do tell.”
    “Show me where my sister’s dorm is.”
    He raised an eyebrow. His attention flickered to my mouth and back up again. “What makes you think I know where she is?”
    “Because you know everything.” I licked my lips, nibbling on the bottom one. His nostrils flared and the crimson flecks in his eyes darkened, dominating the gold. I bit back the smile pinching my cheeks and let out a breath. “Or so I thought.” I rubbed behind my neck and shrugged. “I was wrong. I guess I could always