Page 14 of Little Red Riding Hood (The GriMM Tales #1)

Something scampered over his feet.

His heart raced as he peered down. He could just make out a rat-shaped thing darting away from him. A shiver ran down his spine, but not before his brain cried out at him to catch it. The palace servants had roasted many a rat over the last few months.

Out of nowhere, his foot caught on an unseen object. He stumbled, flailing as he fell forward, hands outstretched. He hit the ground, his fingers brushing against something cold and smooth. Panic washed over him as his mind raced—could it be a bone ?

His mind was assaulted with awful images of the rocky floor heaving with skeletons.

Was that tiny crunch the sound of Red grinding a long-forgotten hand into dust?

What if the shadows held the remnants of lost souls, their hollowed eye sockets staring into his, accusing him of trespassing in their dark domain?

Red pressed a shaky hand to his mouth. He was going to die here, in this filthy cave, with only skeletons for friends.

Then he heard it—the quietest cry. The whimper echoed through the tunnel, soft and frightened. Red’s heart leapt—it had to be Tobias.

He leapt to his feet.

“Tobias?” His voice bounced off the stone walls. “Toby, is that you?”

Another whimper, louder this time, followed by a choked sob. Red pressed forward, ignoring the sting of his wounds as he half ran, half stumbled through the darkness. The tunnel curved sharply, opening into a small chamber. A tiny sliver of light illuminated the space from a gap in the ceiling.

“Toby?”

The boy huddled against the far wall, naked and shivering.

Dirt and grime covered his dark skin, and tears had carved clean tracks down his cheeks.

His left leg stretched out at an awkward angle, caught in the cruel teeth of a rusty rabbit snare.

The metal contraption had bitten deep into his flesh, and dried blood crusted around the wound.

Red’s stomach turned at the sight.

He’d seen these devices thousands of times, when out training with the Queen’s Huntsman.

Sharp metal teeth designed to snap shut on anything that triggered the pressure plate, anchored to the ground by a heavy chain.

The length of chain attached to the trap trailed upwards to where it disappeared through the narrow crack in the ceiling.

Someone from above—desperate villagers hunting for food, perhaps—had lowered the device into the cave system, likely hoping to catch whatever creatures might dwell in the darkness. Instead, they’d ensnared a child.

“It hurts,” Toby whimpered, his small frame shaking. “I c-can’t get it off.”

“I know, little one.” Red crouched beside him, careful not to touch the snare. “I’m going to help you, alright? Your mother’s just outside. We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

Fresh tears spilled down Toby’s face. “Mama’s here?”

“She is. And Wim too.”

“She found Wim?!” For some reason, this made Toby explode into a fresh torrent of tears. “I couldn’t find him! I tried so hard!”

“Now, I’m going to need you to be very brave. Can you do that for me?”

Toby nodded, his bottom lip trembling. “I’ve been trying to shift, but every time I start, the pain gets worse, and I can’t go through with it.”

Red’s fingers trembled as he examined the rusted trap.

His heart ached at each of Toby’s quiet whimpers.

The scrapes to his skin were nothing compared to what the boy must be experiencing right now.

The mechanism looked simple enough—all he needed to do was press down on the springs at either side to release the pressure.

“Now, this will hurt,” Red warned, positioning his hands. “Ready?”

Toby squeezed his eyes shut and nodded.

Red pressed down hard on both springs. The metal teeth retreated with a harsh screech, and Toby yanked his leg free with a strangled cry. Blood welled fresh from the puncture wounds.

“Can you stand?” Red offered his hand.

Toby gripped it tight and pulled himself up. The moment he put weight on his injured leg, he crumpled with a yelp.

Red steadied him. “You need to shift. Your wolf form will heal faster.”

“But it hurts so much—”

“I know, little friend. But the sooner you shift, the sooner the pain will stop.”

Toby’s face scrunched up in concentration. His small frame trembled, then blurred. Soon, where the boy had stood, a black wolf pup now balanced on three legs, his fourth held carefully off the ground.

“Good job.” Red smiled. “Think you can make it back through the tunnel?”

The pup limped forward, determination evident in every step. Red followed close behind, ready to catch him if he stumbled.

“Is my mum really mad? I bet she is. But I bet she isn’t as angry as I was, when I heard they were making Wim leave our pack.”

“Is that why you tried to follow him?”

“Yeah! It wasn’t his fault he ate those people. His sickness made him do it. It’s not fair he had to leave all by himself!”

Red hummed in agreement.

“And before that, he was hiding away in his cottage for months, all by himself! Alpha wouldn’t let him out even to continue to train me to hunt. It’s so stupid. Like he would hurt me? I’m his best friend!”

Red snorted, quickly turning it into a cough. “Best friends? How… nice!”

Tobias stopped his three-legged hop. “I’m not joking.

” His black ears twitched. “He’s been my best friend since I was five, when a storm came while we were out playing.

I was a stupid scaredy-cat and started crying like a baby, but he made a shelter with his own body, keeping me warm until the rain stopped.

He always puts others before himself, just like a brave knight does. ”

“I believe you,” Red replied. Hadn’t Wim acted similarly towards Red? Taking care of him, at the expense of himself? Did you think you were special, Red? A cruel voice whispered in his mind. Wim sees you like a child—weak, helpless, needing protection.

“He sounds like the perfect best friend,” Red forced himself to say.

“He is!” Toby said forcefully .

Red’s chest tightened at Tobias’s earnest defence of Wim.

The child’s unwavering loyalty struck a raw nerve—memories of his own desperate attempts to gain Queen Schon’s approval bubbled to the surface.

He’d spent countless hours practising perfect posture, memorising etiquette, trying to hide his mismatched eyes by styling his long hair just so. All for nothing.

Yet here was Wim, who’d earned such devoted friendship simply by being kind. By sheltering a frightened child from the rain, by teaching him to hunt.

How different would his life have been if someone had wrapped him in their arms during storms, instead of leaving him wrapped in wool on cold palace steps?

Red untangled the strange knot of envy that had formed inside him before pushing the vile feeling deep down. How pathetic to be jealous of a child.

“Are you alright?” Tobias asked, his wolf head tilted to one side. “You look sad.”

Red strode briskly ahead. “Let’s focus on getting out of here.”

“Who even are you, anyway?” said Tobias, curious.

“I’m Red. I’m from the palace.”

“The palace ? Do you know the Queen?” The pup whispered the question, as if even uttering the phrase might summon Queen Schon to strike him down. “Is it true she’s ruled for over two hundred winters? That’s what Ma said!”

“It’s true,” said Red. Two hundred winters, and no sign of weakening, not a single wrinkle on her brow.

“So are you a prince?”

“Definitely not! Do I look like one?”

“Not really.”

Ouch.

“You look like you have too many adventures to be a boring prince!”

Red snorted. “Is that so? ”

“But, but, I saw the frog prince once!” Toby almost stumbled over something, and let out a moan of pain. “Nobody in my pack believes me, but I really did!”

“The legendary frog prince? I believe you.”

“No you don’t,” Toby said crossly. “You’re just pretending. But it’s really true! I accidentally got separated from everyone on a hunt, and I found a small frog friend. I followed him for ages, and he led me to the frog prince.”

Red side-eyed the pup. Could the tale be true? Only a very small number of people knew the true identity of the frog prince, and Red happened to be one of them. “Oh?”

“He lives in these super cool ruins!”

“And what did the frog prince do?”

“He said if I gave him my favourite stick, he’d help me find my pack!”

“And did you?”

“Yeah! He led me all the way back to the part of the forest that I know well. But then, when I saw my mum’s pawprints, I turned around, and he was gone!”

“Huh,” said Red, smiling to himself. “He sounds like a very nice frog prince.”

They fell silent after that. Slowed by the limping pup, the journey back felt endless, each of Toby’s occasional pained whines cutting straight to Red’s heart.

Finally, blessed daylight filtered through the narrow crack. Red helped guide Toby through first, wincing as the jagged stone scraped his own wounds anew.

“Toby!” Astrid’s cry of relief echoed off the rocks.

Red squeezed through after the pup, emerging into sunlight just in time to see Astrid gathering her son into her arms, peppering his furry face with kisses.

Red’s chest tightened as Astrid shook her son by the scruff. “What were you thinking? You could have died!” Her words shook. Then, in the next breath, she crushed the pup to her chest, burying her face in his fur. “My stupid idiot. My baby, my precious boy.”

The raw emotion in her words pierced straight through Red’s defences. His throat constricted. This… this wild swing between fury and fierce protection… Was it what having a mother felt like? The question ached in his chest.

The familiar weight of his red cloak settled on his shoulders. Red turned to find Wim studying his face with concern. The pad of Wim’s thumb brushed across his cheekbone, coming away red.

“You’re bleeding all over, sweet—” Wim cut himself off with a cough. “ Red . These cuts need cleaning.”