by S. E. Smith
The Beast Prince:
The Fairy Tale Series
By S.E. Smith
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank my husband Steve for believing in me and being proud enough of me to give me the courage to follow my dream. I would also like to give a special thank-you to Sally, Debbie, Julie, Jolanda and Narelle, who listen to me, read my stories, and encourage me to be me.
—S. E. Smith
Montana Publishing
Paranormal/Fantasy Romance
THE BEAST PRINCE: THE FAIRY TALE SERIES
Copyright © 2016 by Susan E. Smith
First E-Book Published May 2016
Cover Design by Melody Simmons
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission from the author.
All characters, places, and events in this book are fictitious or have been used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations are strictly coincidental.
Summary: A cursed prince hopes the unusual young woman that steps through
an enchanted doorway can break the spell cast upon him before it is too late.
ISBN: 978-1-942562-90-0 (Paperback)
ISBN: 978-1-942562-91-7 (eBook)
Published in the United States by Montana Publishing.
{1. Fantasy Romance. – Fiction. 2. Fairy Tales – Fiction. 3. Paranormal – Fiction. 4. Romance – Fiction.}
www.montanapublishinghouse.com
Synopsis
Lisa Tootles discovers more than she expects when she steps through an enchanted doorway during a game of Manhunt with her cousins. On the other side is a Prince that has been cursed.
Sharden is running out of time. Cursed before he was even born, he waits by the doorway for the one the witch said could break the spell. What he gets is a curvy human woman who doesn’t have a clue that his world even existed, much less how to break a curse.
Join Lisa and Sharden as they discovered that it doesn’t matter what you look like on the outside; it is who you are on the inside that counts in this delightful fairy tale.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Epilogue
About the Author
Chapter 1
Lisa laughed as she ran through the meadow. It was almost midnight, but that didn’t stop the fun that had started over an hour before. If anything, it made the game of manhunt even more fun. She and almost a dozen members of her adopted family, ranging in age from four to forty, had decided that sitting around the fire listening to their parents, grandparents, and cousins reminisce about the ‘good ole days’ was about as exciting as attending a funeral.
Lisa grimaced, that probably wasn’t the best analogy to use considering that was the reason everyone was there; for her great grandmother’s funeral. Breathless, she slid down behind a large bale of hay and tried to catch her breath. Laying her hand on her stomach, she leaned back against the coarse straw and listened. The funeral today had been drawn out with almost a hundred family and friends attending. What had surprised Lisa was that her grandparents had insisted on having a huge fire that evening at the old cottage that her great-grandmother had owned outside the city of Bath, England.
She stared up at the glittering stars. From the few times that she had been to England, it was a rare occurrence to be able to see them. With a sigh, she grinned and made a wish on a falling star as it flashed across the sky. Closing her eyes, she thought of her wish – to find a place where she felt like she belonged. She opened her eyes and shook her head. At twenty, she knew she still had plenty of time to discover that, but still….
“Oh, crap,” she whispered when she heard the sound of footsteps followed by a loud yell and a squeal.
One of her cousins had found another member of her team. Afraid that she would get caught, Lisa held the tiny purse she always carried against her hip and scooted around the side of the haystack before she took off running. She ran down the path, veering to the left when she saw someone with a light up ahead. A short distance later, the path became more overgrown. Slowing to a walk, she glanced back over her shoulder before she shrugged. She was tired and could use the break.
A slight frown creased her brow as she continued down the narrow trail. She didn’t remember this path from her explorations over the last week. She was about to fumble for the small flashlight that she had when the path opened up and the full moon overhead shone down on the remains of an old building of some type.
Lisa stopped and stared in curiosity at the crumbling bricks. The only thing left was an arched doorway and the low brick walls. She could see a tree on the other side of it, but what was really strange was that it looked like it was the middle of the day on the other side. Shaking her head, she briefly looked behind her again and bit her lip before turning to stare at the doorway.
She tilted her head and silently argued with herself for several long minutes before straightening her shoulders in determination. She wasn’t a wimp and she didn’t need anyone to hold her hand. Clutching the small flashlight in one hand and pulling her cell phone out of the pocket of her jeans, she slowly stepped through the crumbling entrance.
Chapter 2
Sharden stood on the other side of the barren, crumbling doorway – waiting. The witch had told him that the one he sought would come through the entrance. He had his doubts, but he had paid the witch the gold that she demanded for the information she had promised would be his salvation.
His eyes flashed upward to the darkening skies. He could feel the pull of the moon. It wouldn’t be full for another two nights, but already the magic of it threatened to engulf him. Two nights to seek the cure that had transformed him nearly a decade ago.
Shaking his head, he muttered a soft curse under his breath. He would have been smarter to have kept the gold for all the good that had come from his meeting with the snarly old woman, he thought as he folded his arms across his chest and stared up at the growing clouds. As it was, he would need to seek shelter at the old inn that he had passed early this morning.
“Come on,” he whispered, looking at the doorway of the crumbled remains of the building. “The witch swore that the answer to my quest would be here.”
He straightened when he saw the faint movement in the shadows of the doorway. The witch had cautioned him not to go near the building. When he had asked why, the witch just shook her head and mumbled under her breath that the doorway only worked one way.
“Those that come in, may not go out,” she whispered in a hoarse voice. “The doorway was closed to the magical world long ago. Only those that belong here may enter, but never exit again. You must accept the one that comes through and the curse will be broken.”
“What do you mean ‘accept’? Accept what?” Sharden remembered asking in frustration.
The witch grinned and shook her head. “You will see,” she had cackled.
Now, Sharden’s eyes widened in surprise and disbelief as the curvy figure of a young woman stepped through the opening. Disappointment surged through him. The girl looked… normal. How was she supposed to have the magic to rid him of the curse that had been laid upon him before he was even born? His first change to a werewolf occurred when
he was barely fifteen years of age. His parents had locked him away in the dungeon of the palace.
The following morning, he had awoken starving and confused. It was then he learned about the curse placed upon his parents for denying a young, pregnant witch shelter from a terrible storm. His parents had shared their grievous action with him and spent years searching for the witch to beg her forgiveness, but she had disappeared.
Sharden jerked back to the present when the young girl turned back to the doorway. He was about to call out a warning when she hit the invisible wall that sealed the magical world from her own. The force of the shield knocked her backwards. He watched in dismay as she stumbled before falling onto her back in the thick grass. He quickly strode forward when she didn’t move.
Kneeling on one knee beside her, he stared down into her face in concern. “Are you hurt, my Lady?” He asked politely.
The girl blinked up at him in surprise… and annoyance. “No,” she replied with a grunt. “What the heck just happened?”
“It is the doorway, I fear,” Sharden replied. “You came through, but you cannot leave.”
The girl stared up at him like he had lost his mind. Sharden shifted uneasily. This was not the way most women looked at him. Realizing that he was still staring at her, he leaned down and slid his arm around her shoulders to help her up. He was surprised once again when she shrugged off his help and climbed to her feet on her own, brushing off the grass that clung to her blue cloth-covered legs.
“Thanks, I got it,” she mumbled, pushing a strand of long hair away from her face. “So, how do I get back through?” She asked with a puzzled frown.
“You don’t,” Sharden replied, handing her the strange cylinder shaped object that she had dropped.
“What do you mean… ‘I don’t’?” She asked, turning to stare at him through narrowed eyes.
“The witch said that once you enter you cannot leave,” he replied in a calm voice.
“Witch?” She asked with a raised eyebrow. “Okay… Someone obviously has lost the few marbles that they had,” she muttered before turning away from him.
Chapter 3
Lisa threw another savage look at where ‘His royal highness, Prince Sharden’ sat watching her. Picking up another rock, she threw it at the door. She barely had time to duck when it bounced back at her. With a snort, she grabbed a branch off the ground.
“You already tried that,” he informed her with a sigh. “It knocked you on your lovely rear-end, remember?”
She ignored him. Oh, she remembered alright. In her world, wood didn’t conduct electricity. In this world, it did. Her arm still tingled and her butt was sore. Frustrated, she weighed the small limb before throwing it like a javelin at the doorway. This time, she had to dive to the side to keep from getting nailed. She landed on her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. Dropping her head onto her arm, she drew in a deep, gasping breath before losing what precious little oxygen she had pulled into her lungs when she felt the touch of a hand on her shoulder.
“Are you finished now?” Sharden asked in a quiet voice. “The clouds are getting darker and I can smell rain in the air.” He paused when he heard Lisa mumble. “What did you say?”
In aggravation, Lisa raised her head and glanced over her shoulder at him. “I said great. Frigging luck! Let’s just add a nice thunderstorm to the misery,” she retorted.
“I…,” Sharden started to reply when several big, fat raindrops landed on him and Lisa. “It is time to go. We will be lucky to make it to the Inn without getting soaked.”
Of course, they didn’t make it. Lisa released an exhausted sigh and shivered as the cold rain poured over them. She was riding behind Sharden on a beast that looked like a cross between a horse, an elephant, and a dragon. It had a long trunk like an elephant, the body of a horse, and the feet and tail of a dragon. If Lisa had any doubts that she had fallen down the rabbit’s hole, it had disappeared when he led her to the creature.
She buried her face between Sharden’s shoulder blades and pressed even closer to his slightly warmer body. She was freezing and she didn’t do cold well. It made her crabby, miserable, and did she mention, very, very cranky? She curled her fingers into the front of his soaked shirt, hoping to find some warmth. A relieved sigh escaped her when she felt the heat radiating off of his body.
“Your hands are cold,” he commented.
“So’s the rest of me,” Lisa muttered against his back, before she lifted her head. “How much further?”
“We are almost there,” he replied, reining the beast to the right. “I can see the lights from the inn.”
“Thank goodness,” she retorted through chattering teeth. “I’m about to turn into a popsicle.”
Lisa stared over Sharden’s shoulder. He was warm and she was so cold that if it had been possible, she would have wrapped him around her without a second thought. Right now, she was too tired, cold, and hungry to care that she was in a strange world and might not have a way home. At the moment, all she cared about was finding a warm, dry place, a nice hot meal, and a soft bed.
“I hope you have money,” she said before sneezing. “Sorry. I don’t think they’ll take mine.”
Sharden chuckled. “I have gold,” he assured her.
Lisa grimaced. Gold! Shoot! If he was handing out gold, he could spill a little of it her way. She would have rolled her eyes at his statement if they hadn’t been frozen.
A mournful groan escaped her when he pulled the beast to a stop and slipped his leg over the neck of the animal so he could slide off. She immediately missed the warmth of his body. The chattering of her teeth could be heard over the sound of the rain. She didn’t complain when he reached up and pulled her off the back of the creature.
A young boy appeared out of the shadows of what looked like a barn and ran over to grab the reins of Sharden’s horse. Sharden asked the boy a quick question, but Lisa missed it. She was too busy trying to bury her body in the warmth of Sharden’s arms.
“They have a single room left,” Sharden replied.
“I… don’t… car... care,” Lisa stuttered. “You… You… can… have… the… floor.”
Sharden chuckled. “Thank you,” he retorted dryly.
“No… no… no problem,” Lisa mumbled.
She gave up trying to talk after that. She felt frozen to the center of her marrow! A soft whimper escaped her when Sharden pushed open the door to the inn and blissful warmth surrounded them.
Thank goodness for indoor heating, she thought as her eyes closed.
Chapter 4
Sharden felt Lisa’s sigh of pleasure at the warmth in the room. He swallowed the chuckle that threatened to escape. For the past hour she had practically crawled into his clothes with him. He felt a shaft of regret for her discomfort. In his haste to find the witch, he had left much of his gear back at the palace. He would have missed her entirely if he had not overheard one of the stable boys at the palace speaking of an old witch that his father had run into the day before.
Pushing the memory away, he bent and carefully lowered Lisa to her feet before straightening as a male in his early fifties with dark gray hair and shaggy sideburns stepped up to them. Sharden knew the moment the man recognized him. The touch of fear and the nervous wiping of his hands on the dirty off-white apron he wore was clear that he also knew about the rumors.
“Prince Sharden. Welcome to my humble inn,” the man stuttered.
“We need a room for the night,” Sharden ordered.
The man cast a curious glance at Lisa before turning back to Sharden. “I’ve only got one left, my Prince,” the man muttered, bowing his head. “It is the largest one, though.”
“As long as it is clean, that will be fine,” Sharden replied with a wave of his hand. “My lady will need dry clothing.”
Sharden turned slightly when he felt Lisa nudge him with her elbow. “And food, preferably something hot,” she whispered, looking around at the other occupants in the room.
“And some food,” Sharden added.
“Immediately, Prince Sharden,” the man said, turning and calling out to a young girl behind the bar. “Food and a clean gown for the lady.”
“Why is everyone looking at you so weird?” Lisa whispered, stepping forward when Sharden wrapped his arm around her waist.
Sharden shot a heated glance at a group of men staring at them and shrugged. The look was clear, beware and stay clear. He guided Lisa up the stairs.
“Perhaps because I am their Prince,” he murmured.
Lisa shook her head. “You don’t look all that scary to me and those guys looked scared,” she muttered, turning to stare up at him.
“Then perhaps it is because of the beast I turn into on a full moon,” he stated in a calm voice before pulling her through the door as the innkeeper stepped back.
“Say what?!” Lisa exclaimed, turning to stare at him in disbelief as he shut the door.
Chapter 5
Lisa stood staring at the tall man leaning back against the door. He stared back at her with an intense look. She was waiting for him to add… just joking, but it never came.
“Explain your last statement, please,” she ordered, shivering again now that she didn’t have his body heat to warm her. She glanced around the room. A small fire burned in the fireplace. Walking over to it, she turned her back to the heat and glared at him. “You’re joking, right? You don’t really turn into one of the horse, dragon, elephant things or anything, do you?”
Sharden snorted and straightened when a soft knock sounded on the door. Lisa watched as he opened the door and took a long white piece of cloth and a tray from the person on the other side. Kicking the door shut with his foot, he walked over to the table set up near where she was standing.
