The Wolf Prince: The Cursed Princes, Book One

by Amber Jantine

  It was the strangest sensation.

  Or maybe that was just the feeling one got when being under constant scrutiny. Every move she made was studied intently. Many of the servants were not even trying to be subtle about it.

  She couldn't quite shake the feeling that they were all watching, and perhaps waiting, for her to fail. Just like the elite members of court, particularly the ones who couldn't understand why their daughters had not been chosen by one of the princes. And especially didn’t comprehend why they had been passed over by the heir to the crown, for someone like her.

  Ella straightened her shoulders and once more pretended not to hear the whispers that followed her.

  Her stepmother had tried to destroy her, physically and mentally, for more than half her life. If Lady Isabelle had not succeeded, then nothing that these people could do would break her. Not with their gossip. Not with their dirty looks.

  She was stronger than that.

  Except… she didn’t feel very strong at the moment. More like lost and confused. and very much as if she had nowhere to belong.

  Again, that should have been another familiar feeling.

  She tried to push her doubts aside, resolving to worry about them another day as she descended into the main courtyard of the palace.

  Several men were busy loading trunks onto the carriage, and Ella was fairly certain it was the exact same one that had brought her in her stepsister to the palace in the first place. Catherine stood alone among all the confusion, looking as lost as she herself was feeling.

  Somehow, it wasn’t a surprise that her stepmother had not bothered to come to escort her daughter home. It was just another example of her favoritism, and Ella again felt a rising dread as to what awaited the young woman when she returned to the manor.

  “Cat!” Only in this last week as she began to feel comfortable enough to call her stepsister that. They had grown much closer in the short time they had been spending at the palace than in the many previous years they had lived together. Lady Isabelle had done her best to isolate Ella from her own daughters, always reminding Catherine and Daphne of the difference between them. Even if it was a wholly manufactured one, existing only in the mind of Ella’s stepmother.

  “Ella.” The girls embraced, though a bit awkwardly from lack of practice. Catherine’s scrutiny was nearly as intense as that of the servants, but she found it less intimidating, because she knew that there was no malice behind it. “I’m surprised you made it down to see me.”

  “I said I would, didn’t I?”

  “True, but Mother said…” Her stepsister’s voice faded away as she blushed. Leading Ella to wonder exactly what Lady Isabelle had told her daughter. Surely she had not ruined Catherine’s innocence, the innocence she would be expected to carry until she herself married, just for the sake of trying to hurt Ella again in some small way.

  Then again, she had not hesitated to lie outright when it came to telling Ella about what to expect for a wedding night, even knowing that she would soon find out the truth.

  Ella forced out a smile. “I was hoping you could stay a little longer. It’s been nice to have a familiar face around as I try to settle in here.”

  “Mother says it’s very improper, especially since you’ll be leaving soon yourself.”

  “I know.” Yet she couldn’t stop feeling uneasy about this. Everyone seemed to assume that she and Luke would be leaving to spend some time for themselves, as was customary for a newly wedded couple, and yet she had heard so little of it, she didn’t know what was going on. “And I’m worried about you. You stood up for me when you didn’t have to and now…”

  “I… I think Mother has forgiven me for that. At least I don’t believe she would hold a grudge over such a thing.”

  Such words might have been reassuring, except for the fact that she was certain that her stepsister was trying to convince herself, as well as Ella, that her mother would not resort to any sort of petty revenge. Although Catherine had been spending most of her time lost in her studies rather than paying attention to what went on in the household, it seemed that much of her mother’s true nature had not escaped her notice. “I hope it doesn’t. I hope everything will be well. But if it is not, I hope you will not hesitate to send a message to the palace. I will tell the servants to forward it on to me, no matter where Luke and I end up going.”

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

  “I believe so. Yes. And if Adrian were not leaving himself, I think he would be willing to come to your aid as well. You two seem to be becoming rather fond of each other.”

  “He has been very kind to me since I’ve been living here,” Catherine said, making it clear that she was choosing her words carefully. “But I’m certain he is that way with everyone, and there was nothing particularly special about the attention he paid to me.”

  It was too bad that Adrian was still in love with someone else. If only he could have fallen for her stepsister, Ella would never have to worry about her safety again. “You like him?”

  “Not in the way my mother thinks I should. I told her so last night.”

  “You told her?” Ella’s anxiety about her stepsister increased. The one thing that might have protected her was lady Isabelle’s belief that Prince Adrian would soon be making a marriage proposal to her.

  “She asked me. I could not lie.” Catherine’s flush deepened. “I do not look at him the way I’ve seen you look at Prince Luke, nor does he look at me the way that his brother looks at you.”

  Now that was Ella’s turn to blush. She wondered what, exactly, her stepsister had seen. But was afraid to ask. “Promise you’ll ask for help if you need it?”

  “I promise.” They embraced one last time, then Catherine turned and stepped up into the carriage.

  Almost before the door closed, a servant approached. Ella thought she recognized his uniform as being that of one of the king’s personal valets. But she wasn’t exactly sure what his real title and position was.

  He gave her a bow that was more insolent than respectful and his smile was more like a smirk. “Your… Highness. You are expected in the main hall.”

  “I’m aware of that. But we need to say goodbye to my family first.”

  A brief scowl crossed the man’s face before he regained control of his expressions. “I see. But Prince Luke was asking for you.”

  And her new husband had to know that Catherine was leaving this morning. Surely he would not have expected Ella to let her stepsister depart without actually saying goodbye to her. Would he?

  Perhaps he did. The fact that he had not come down to join her was damning evidence of what his expectations were. Plus there was his own seeming indifference to the fate of his missing brother…

  Ella had known that she was marrying a man who could turn into a monster, but she didn’t want to believe that he could be just as heartless when the moon wasn’t controlling him.

  She silently followed the servant back into the palace, to a small alcove just off the main hall. Luke was pacing and turned to look at her with a grimace that could barely be called a smile. “Where were you?”

  A muscle in her jaw began to twitch, and there was nothing she could do to control it. “Where do you think I was?”

  “Don’t do this, Ella. Don’t be mad at me.”

  She couldn’t believe he was serious. “Then maybe you should stop acting as if you assume the worst about me at all times. It’s not exactly the best way to start off the morning, either.”

  He sighed, raked his hand through his hair, then reached for her. She drew back as far she could, only to have her back hit the wall. An all-too-familiar position, when it came to him. “I was beginning to think you ran away.”

  “Why in the world would you think that? Do you have so little faith in me, and in the promise I made yesterday?”

  “No!”

  But she had come close to the truth. She could see it in his eyes.

  Once again, she wondered why he had
insisted on going through with this marriage. It was true that he wanted her, but wanting wasn’t enough of a foundation to make something that would last for a lifetime. Even she knew that.

  “I want to see Catherine off. You knew she was leaving today.”

  “I forgot.”

  “You can’t be serious. You’re the one who insisted that she leave immediately after the wedding.”

  “Are you still mad at me about that?”

  “Why wouldn’t I be?” Her voice rose and she struggled to calm herself, all too aware of the servant circling around them. Probably taking in every angry word that they spoke to each other with glee, as a sign that they were right in her conviction that she should not be a princess. That she did not deserve to be Luke’s wife. “You know better than anyone what my stepmother is like. You know exactly why I wanted her to stay.”

  “And you know why she can’t.”

  “I’ve been told that we are leaving on a journey, but since you haven’t bothered to share details with me, I was beginning to wonder if maybe everyone was wrong about that. Or if that was just an excuse to get Catherine out of the palace.”

  “I wouldn’t do that. We are going away, Ella. Just you and me. Tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow?”

  “Tonight is the full moon. Surely you realize that.” His hands were on her shoulders and he was leaning in toward her, making it clear that he intended to end yet another argument by kissing her senseless.

  But she wasn’t going to fall for that. Not this time. She turned her head away and crossed her arms over her chest, not allowing him to fully press against her. “It seems I’ve given as much thought to that as you have given to my wishes in regards to my stepsister.”

  “I don’t want to fight with you.”

  “I know exactly what you want.” She gave him a pointed look up and down. “But there’s no time for any of that. I believe were expected to be placed on display for your father’s court. Isn’t that what you sent the servant to remind me of?”

  As if on cue, the door behind him opened and there was a trumpeting fanfare blaring through the large hall beyond.

  Luke sighed and turned to face the crowd that was awaiting them, offering her his arm. She tucked her hand into his elbow as lightly as she could, and let him lead her forward.

  Chapter Nine

  “Only you, big brother, could make such a mess of marriage on your first day.” Adrian chuckled and shook his head.

  Luke was torn. Half of him was pleased to see his brother laugh, something that had rarely occurred since the start of the curse, and the other half was frustrated with the situation in general. “Glad my problems can provide you with some amusement, little brother.”

  “I could’ve told you that Ella wouldn’t be so easily cowed by you.”

  “You could have, but you didn’t. Why not?” Before he had made his proposal, most of what he had known about Ella had come from his brother. And with all the hustle and bustle leading up to the wedding, he’d hardly had time to get to know her for himself.

  Adrian held up both of his hands, palms facing toward Luke as if in surrender. “Don’t blame me. My memories of her are from when we were children. Back then, I was more interested in figuring out a way to slip a frog into her pocket than in analyzing her personality.”

  Luke let out a reluctant laugh. That was most likely true, and he could completely imagine such a scenario playing out. “I didn’t expect her to be so stubborn about all of this.”

  “So she’s loyal to her stepsister. The one person in her life who has ever shown her kindness, other than her father. That’s hardly something that can be considered a fault, big brother.”

  “I know. It’s just… inconvenient right now.”

  “So you say.”

  He raised a brow, and was pleased to see that expression was still enough to make his younger brother squirm. “Don’t tell me you’re so eager to have our secret revealed. Or has these last three weeks in the Lady Catherine’s company made you take leave of your senses?”

  “I believe Catherine’s as sensible and honorable a woman as I’ve ever met in my life. Our secret would be safe with her.”

  Luke groaned. “And you know that, how?”

  “You’d be amazed at how well you can get to know a woman, when you actually talk to her instead of only trying to get under her skirts.”

  “I wasn’t—”

  Now it was Adrian’s turn to give him an arch look. “Weren’t you?”

  Heat rushed into his face, yet he wasn’t ready to admit how right his brother was. He had spent most of his few opportunities to spend time with Ella focus on the physical, rather than anything else.

  No wonder she didn’t trust him.

  But there was nothing he could do about that now, and he couldn’t exactly resolve the situation with her stepsister for the next few days. Lady Isabelle had made it very clear that she did not consider it proper for a young unmarried woman to live in the palace without a chaperone, and he still had every intention of taking Ella away for a while. “I’ll try to invite her back once Ella and I returned from our trip. It’s not as if he would be around to keep Lady Catherine company in her absence anyway.”

  Adrian clenched his jaw and his scent became a mix of anger, frustration, and oddly enough, hope. “I’m not sure it’s such a good idea for me to leave Father when his health is so precarious. He won’t want to be alone.”

  “The longer you wait, the more the trail you seek will grow cold.”

  “You don’t think I know that!” Adrian cried. His hands tightened into fists. “It kills me every day that I can’t go after Roslyn, but I have my duty to my family too. It’s tearing me apart.”

  “Then you should go look for her. As soon as possible,” Luke said softly. Even if he didn’t fully understand his brother’s feelings for his lost love, he would have to be completely blind not to see the way the separation was taking its toll upon him. “You know he would want you to be happy.”

  “The only way Father would approve of my leaving is if he thought I was going to look for Edward.” Adrian’s expression tightened. And don’t tell me to pretend that’s what I’m doing. I’m not good enough of an actor to pull off that lie.”

  Adrian was still angry at their brother. The last time they had seen him, Adrian had pulled a knife on Edward and might have managed to kill him, if Luke had not interfered.

  “Then don’t lie.” He could feel the magic creeping over his body, and wasn’t surprised to glance toward the horizon and see that the full moon was beginning to rise. “We need to head for the woods.”

  They moved to the edge of the gardens and quickly stripped off the rest their clothing. Luke glanced around, half-expecting to see a slender figure hidden among the bushes, watching them.

  He still wondered exactly what had happened that night. He knew she had run from him, but had he truly tried to chase her? It seemed likely. The wolf in him was definitely a hunter.

  And a killer.

  Yet he should have been able to easily run Ella down if that were the case, but it was clear he had not. She had never shown any signs that he had injured her, or that he had inflicted his curse upon her.

  Had he recognized her somehow? Perhaps her presence had partially nullified the curse in some way.

  As unlikely as that seemed, it also appeared to be the only explanation for what happened. Or rather, what had not happened. The animal inside him certainly seemed to have some attachment to her. The instincts he felt when he was with Ella were not strictly human, at least, not in the sense of what civilized society normally expected from an ordinary person, much less a prince.

  His body twisted and turned, the change from man to beast more painful than usual. Luke could feel his bones breaking, could feel his teeth growing sharper and larger and fur sprouting over every inch of his body.

  The last conscious thought he had, before the magic took full possession of his mind, was an image of Ella’s b
eautiful face.

  #

  “Ella…” Luke’s voice was rusty, as if always was after a full moon. He shook his head several times, and rose to his feet. He was back in the gardens, the sun was just rising in the east, and he could taste blood in his mouth.

  But whose?

  He shook his head again, trying to clear it. To search for memories that were not there. Carter emerged from the shrubbery. “Good morning, Your Highness.”

  He heard Adrian groan beside him. “What happened?”

  “I will investigate further, but I do believe no great harm has been done, Your Highness. No alarm was raised last night.”

  That was a small relief.

  Luke pulled on his trousers, but didn’t bother with the rest of his clothing, holding the bunched-up fabric in one hand as he rushed back to the bedchamber he now shared with his wife.

  The windows in the room faced east and the curtains were drawn back, which allowed the first rays of sunlight to fill the space. Luke caught sight of Ella, sprawled out on her side of her bed.

  She was lying on her stomach, her long hair spread out everywhere and partially hiding her beautiful face. She wore a similar nightgown as she had the night before, though he couldn’t be certain it was the exact same garment. It was pulled tight on one side, as part of the skirt was tucked under her body, showing off the gentle curve of her pretty little ass.

  A gnawing hunger took control of him then. Without thinking of what he was doing, he quickly dropped his trousers and moved toward the bed. The animal inside him briefly vied for control, some instinct urging him to simply mount her from behind and take her hard and fast.

  But he reined it in. Barely.

  He was already so hard for her, his cock was aching.

  Luke pulled the blankets aside then pressed up against her body from behind. She made a soft, breathless sound, the rhythm of each breath growing faster and faster as she began to stir, rocking her hips back against him.