The Wolf Prince: The Cursed Princes, Book One

by Amber Jantine

  “Not quite. But you can see most of the kingdom.”

  “This is amazing.” They stood there for several minutes, before they heard the sound of the carriage being driven away.

  “No one else is here but us, now.”

  “Oh? She gave him an arch look. “I suppose you have plans as to just what we could be doing up here, alone.”

  It was easy to tell what she was thinking. “I thought maybe we could talk a little.”

  “Talk?” A small giggle escaped her lips. “Is that another name for what we did together this morning?”

  “Not in this case, no.” Though he could hardly blame her for expecting him to be thinking that way. He’d certainly made no effort to make her think that there was anything he was interested in other than their physical connection. “I really do mean to talk. Adrian said something last night that really hit home. About how I wasn’t making much of an effort to get to know you.”

  The oddest expression passed over her beautiful face, but he couldn’t quite define what it was. “I’m pretty sure you know more about me than I know about you.”

  True. “Then ask me anything.”

  “Anything?”

  He hesitated, then nodded. It was only fair. “Yeah.”

  She turned away, staring out at the mountains and forests around them. “Speaking of Adrian, I’m surprised you two don’t come up here during the full moon. This seems like a much better place to hide all of your secrets than in the palace garden.”

  “You’re probably right about that.” He remembered the taste of blood that had been in his mouth that morning. Fortunately, it had been from an animal, and not human. His valet had done some investigation and discovered a report about a farmer’s sheep that had been attacked by a wolf. “We both thought about it, but I guess it reminds us too much of…”

  “Of what?”

  He waved a hand toward the surrounding woods. “This is very similar to the place where we were attacked.”

  “Attacked?”

  “I showed you the scars.” Despite his resolution to talk, and even keeping in mind what Adrian had said about their secret, he wasn’t entirely comfortable with the current direction this conversation was taking. “As for the rest, I thought you and Adrian were friends? Didn’t you ask him?”

  “He said you should be the one to tell me.”

  “So you did ask him.”

  “I was curious and I didn’t have much chance to talk to you before the wedding. And every time we were alone, you’re too busy trying to kiss me and who knows what else.”

  Heat rushed into Luke’s face and he hunched the shoulders. “You’re right. I’m sorry. But it’s a long story.”

  “We have time. And I’m listening.”

  Still, he hesitated. “I’m not even sure where to begin.” He stared down into his wife’s face, seeing some of the light go out of her eyes as she was clearly expecting him to evade the subject once more. “Are you sure you want to hear this? It’s not pretty.”

  “I never thought it would be anything else.” She slipped one hand under the collar of his shirt, lightly stroking close to the edge of one of his scars. “Just tell me, Luke. Please.”

  He shuddered as the memories swamped him and he turned away, grasping the railing so hard that the wood nearly cracked under his hands. “I don’t like to think about it, that’s all.”

  To his surprise, she embraced him from behind, slipping her slender arms around his waist and hugging him tightly. “Don’t you remember wedding vows? Were supposed to share each other’s burdens now.”

  In that moment, he realized how strong she was. Not physically, of course.

  But then again, to have endured what she had, while living with her stepmother, she’d had to be strong.

  So he told her. His voice cracked and often wavered, but the feel of her arms around him, and the fact that he didn’t actually have to look at her as he spoke, made it a little easier.

  He didn’t hold anything back. Once he started, he couldn’t. It was like the words had been behind a dam all this time, locked away deep inside him but now that they were started, they seem to pour forward almost without him willing it to happen.

  He described her travels, how he and his brothers had taken on the disguise of ordinary sailors. How Adrian had fallen in love with the merchant’s daughter, and how a young peasant had caught Edward’s eye.

  Unfortunately, love had had nothing to do with Edward’s situation. Luke could easily guess that such an emotion had not been the slightest consideration for the older of his two brothers.

  It had been a game.

  Similar to ones they had all played, at some time or another. It had been a privilege of their rank and of their sex. He’d never imagined that they would all end up paying for Edward’s misjudgment.

  Because that had been no ordinary woman whose heart his brother had broken. Her mother, a witch with a kind of powers none of them had ever imagined possible, had called up a pack of wolves to try to destroy them during a full moon.

  Luke didn’t know if they were cursed beings like he and his brothers were, or if they had been true wolves.

  He assumed there had to have been more magic involved, whether they were natural wolves or cursed men. Every time that he himself changed into a beast left him with little to recall in the morning. The full moon always took him over completely, leaving little room for rational thought.

  He became a creature of instinct, under the command of primitive impulses to attack and kill.

  And yet, somehow, only he and his brothers had been attacked by the witch’s wolves. He had very little memory of that night, although that might be more due to the fact that he didn’t want to remember it. The memory of his brothers’ screams of pain were bad enough, especially when coupled with the memory of fangs sinking into his flesh. Tearing him open.

  Luke and Edward and Adrian had not been alone that night. They’d had a pair of servants with them, yet those other men had remained untouched.

  He thought he remembered something more: the glint of metal among the fur of the beasts. Perhaps an amulet of some sort. Was that how the witch had controlled the wolves?

  He didn’t know. He glanced at Ella.

  She had some magic in her too, though of a sort that must be more natural than evil. It had to be what kept him from attacking her on the night of the ball.

  Her face had turned pale and her eyes were very wide as she stared at him. Her lips had parted, her mouth rounded into an expression of shock and horror.

  It was obvious that he hadn’t been thinking clearly throughout his confession. “Sorry,” he said. He should have spared her all of the goriest details. “I shouldn’t have said all that. It’s too much for you.”

  Something changed in her then as the color returned to her face. “You don’t need to protect me from that, Luke. But that attack… Is that why your brother disappeared? Is that why no one is looking for him?”

  “Partly. Adrian and I did talk about one of us, or both of us, taking turns to go look for Edward, but…”

  She tightened her arms around him, pressing her face against his back. “You’re still angry with him.”

  Was he? He often told himself he had come to terms with what had happened, that he had forgiven Edward’s part in all this. “I have no reason to still be angry with him. No reason to complain about it, at least. I haven’t lost as much as Adrian has.”

  She released him then, and he assumed that she could no longer bear to touch him. That his past was just too much for her, as he had always assumed it would be.

  But that wasn’t it at all.

  Instead, she stepped around him, placing one hand under his chin as if she thought she could hold his head in place. To force him to look her in the eye. And though he was strong enough physically to pull away, something about her gaze kept him locked in place. “I’ll go with you, when you’re ready. I’ll help you find him.”

  “It might not be safe.�
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  “You think your brother would go close to his enemies? Hide near them?”

  “No.” Edward had always been many things, including selfish and inconsiderate, but he’d never been stupid. “But that doesn’t mean they’re not trying to find us. Especially him. I’m not sure they meant for him to live.”

  “I’m sure you’ll protect me, no matter what’s out there.”

  She sounded so certain about that. Even though she barely knew him, even though they barely knew each other, it seemed that she already trusted him in some way. He leaned forward to press a kiss to her forehead. “Thank you.”

  “So we’ll just wait until Adrian completes his quest, I’m assuming, before setting off ourselves?”

  “For a while, at least. But I know father will not rest easy until he knows Edward’s fate.”

  “You think it would take Adrian a long time to—”

  “The young woman’s family found out about the curse. About what he’s become. They had never approved of their daughter’s relationship with Adrian even before that.” His brother had asked for his beloveds hand in marriage, without telling her family the truth about who he was. Since he and his brothers had been traveling as common sailors, Adrian had not believed that his potential in-laws would believe him if he tried to tell them the truth. “They hid her away somewhere.”

  Ella’s expressive eyes were shiny. “That’s so sad,” she whispered.

  “You’re not jealous?”

  “Why would I be?”

  “Remember when I first told father about our engagement? He seemed surprised that you’re marrying me instead of Adrian.”

  “I think that had more to do with his regard for my father than anything else. Adrian and I were always just friends. Nothing more. And sometimes not even that. He was very good at driving me crazy when we were kids.”

  Luke laughed. “I’d like to think I drive you crazy too, but in a different way.” He pulled her close, sliding his hand down to her ass to pull her against him so she could feel exactly what he was talking about. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends too.”

  “Friends?”

  “It seems like a good place to start. Especially since I’ll be spending a lifetime together.”

  “I think I’d like that.” There was a low rumble, and he couldn’t tell if it was her stomach or his. But Ella drew back with a laugh, rubbing her hand over her midsection. “Now that’s embarrassing. I don’t suppose you asked someone to make us a meal before they left us alone?”

  He probably should have. Considering he dragged her all this way out from the palace, almost directly out of their bed without pause for anything except to get dressed. “No. But I’m sure I can come up with something.”

  “Are you saying that a prince can actually cook?” Her lips curved into another one of those adorable smirks. “This is something I have to see.”

  Chapter Twelve

  But cooking had turned out to not be necessary. They had been left with some bread and cheese, which Luke sliced and then laid out on plates. “I’ll try to make a something more substantial later.”

  “That won’t be necessary.” They could live very well on these two things alone. “I don’t need anything fancy.”

  “I want to do it. I want a chance to spoil you, after the way your stepmother treated you.”

  “You already have.” This was already a feast compared to the portions she had been allowed before.

  Luke broke a slice of bread into smaller pieces, holding one to her lips. “Tell me about your father.”

  Ella tensed. Taking the bite he offered and chewing slowly, allowed her to hesitate for a while longer before speaking. “What did you want to know?”

  “The stories I heard from my father made no sense. From what he said, your father was one of the most brilliant men in the kingdom, and a good person as well. I have trouble believing that he would’ve willingly left his only child in the sort of situation…”

  “I thought that a few times too.” It made her guilty to even consider such things, as if by considering his potential faults, she was somehow betraying her father’s memory. “But I don’t think you should underestimate Lady Isabelle’s capacity for hiding her true nature.”

  “Is that why you stayed with her as long as you did? You didn’t see—”

  Ella shook her head. “I stayed because I made a promise to my father. When he was dying, he asked me to take care of my stepmother and my stepsisters.”

  Luke grimaced. “And yet I have the impression that you were never close to any of them. Not even Catherine, at least until you two were living in my father’s palace.”

  “Cat was always caught up in her books. I don’t think she knew what was going on in the family half the time.” Once again, she felt like she had to be a bit defensive. This time, for her stepsister’s sake. “But I think she’s proven that she’s nothing like her mother.”

  “I still don’t understand.”

  Ella hadn’t realized how hungry she was until now and took more several bites before she spoke again. “I don’t think it’s something that can be explained, not in a single conversation.”

  “Then I guess that it’s a good thing we’ll have at least a few days to talk about these things, without having to worry about any servants overhearing us.”

  “Are you ashamed of me, Luke?”

  “I wouldn’t have married you if I was.” He reached across the table and clasped his hand over hers. “But I got the feeling that you’re not used to having so many people around you all the time. And that you might want more privacy for whenever you discuss your family.”

  And the extra privacy certainly served his purpose too, she suspected. It was why he was able to open up to her about how he had been cursed in the first place, now that they were alone.

  Was that why he had refused to tell Catherine the truth? Because he had been worried that she might not be the only one who learned about it, with such a high probability of being overheard by someone within the palace walls?

  That was a possible explanation, though not a very good one, in Ella’s opinion. But maybe if she could get him used to telling secrets, during this time together, he would be more open to the possibility of trusting her stepsister as well as herself.

  The odds were high against that happening, but it was her one small chance to make a difference.

  Even though she had instructed Catherine to contact the palace if she needed any help, Ella still felt like she should have done more.

  If only…

  “It’s such a beautiful day outside,” Luke said. “Seems a shame that I can’t take you out for a ride, to show you all of the best places around this estate.”

  “I know how to ride. Or I used to.” The last time she had been on her horse had been immediately after her father’s funeral, when she had written her favorite stallion in a breakneck pace across most of their family estate as part of a vain attempt to run away from the pain of losing him. That mount, along with all the other horses in the family’s possession, had been among the first things that Lady Isabelle had sold off to pay for her ever-mounting debts. “It’s been a while, but I’m told it’s something that you never really forget how to do.”

  “We have stables here, but I asked the servants to take the horses away before we arrived.”

  “Why?”

  “You haven’t noticed the way that even the carriage horses shy away from me when I get close? I think they all sense what I’ve become.”

  That was entirely possible. If the curse had changed Luke’s sent somehow, and there was no reason to believe that it had not changed into something more animalistic, then the horses would certainly have picked up on the difference. And any traces a predator would definitely have agitated them. “I’m guessing you haven’t ridden for a while either?”

  “Not since I’ve been back. I didn’t think it would be fair to my mount, to give them such stress.”

  She didn’t think
either of them had paid much attention to what they were eating, but both of their plates were now empty. She stacked them together and carried them to the kitchen. “There’s no reason why we can’t go for a walk, right? Although we won’t be able to go as far on foot, you would still be able to show me around.”

  “If you feel up to it, then I’d be pleased to take you.”

  “What is with all this concern about what I can and can’t do? Did you expect to be too much for me, somehow?”

  One corner of his mouth quirked into a smile. “I should have known that you are stronger than most women. I’ve always been told that a bride needed a considerable amount of time to recover from the wedding night.”

  “I heard that too.”

  “From your stepmother? The servants told me she had insisted on taking your mother’s place, to talk to you about what to expect before the ceremony.”

  Ella grimaced. She didn’t like to think about that. “She did. I should’ve known better than to believe her, even for a moment.”

  He stepped closer, reaching up to trace his fingers along the side of her cheek. “I was trying my best not to be too greedy with you.”

  “I suppose I should feel lucky to have a husband capable of such restraint.”

  “You don’t sound very happy about it.”

  “I guess you could say I was feeling a bit greedy about you too.” She bit her lip, her face feeling like it was on fire, yet she couldn’t look away. Luke’s gaze locked with hers and she found herself getting lost in those brilliant blue eyes. “I didn’t know it was possible to feel that way about someone.”

  “I’m flattered.” He sketched out a very faint bow and held out his arm to her. “Maybe we should try that walk, first.”

  Part of her wanted to object, but then she remembered what he had said about trying to be friends. Hadn’t she wanted something like this? To make their connection something more than physical? Though they were legally bound to each other for life, it didn’t automatically mean that everything would be perfect between them.