The Wolf Prince: The Cursed Princes, Book One Read online

  The Wolf Prince

  (The Cursed Princes, Book 1)

  by Amber Jantine

  © 2017 by Amber Jantine. All rights reserved.

  Prologue

  “Do you think they suspect anything?”

  Luke glanced out of to his brother’s bedchamber. The hall was clear. No sign of any of the servants. He shut the door firmly behind him to ensure it stayed that way. “Not yet. Father was more than willing to accept my excuse for moving the Midsummer’s Night ball up a few hours.”

  “You mean he actually believed that we need the extra rest after all our travels?” There was a heavy dose of bitterness in Adrian’s voice, and he turned away quickly. But Luke caught a glimpse of gold twisted about his fingers, along with a hint of a floral scent. His brother was holding a lock of hair from his lost beloved, stored upon a golden chain and pendant.

  “There’s no need for you to stay here, little brother. You could go look for her.”

  “If she even wants to see me after what I’ve become. Perhaps her family was wise to hide her from me.”

  “You don’t really believe that.”

  Adrian sighed and raked his hand through his hair. “They didn’t approve my attentions to her before the curse. The only thing that might make them change their mind would be to reveal the truth of our identity.” They had been traveling under assumed aliases, as ordinary sailors, when Adrian had met the beautiful merchant’s daughter. “And I can’t take that risk.”

  “It would serve Father’s purpose if you managed to get her to renew the engagement. You know how desperate he is to see our line continued.”

  Adrian let out another bitter laugh. “You’re just try to get out of the ball tonight. What’s wrong, big brother? Not looking forward to having all of the most eligible young ladies in the kingdom throwing themselves at your feet?”

  “For the same reason that you’re reluctant to go after the woman you love. No woman should have to deal with this curse.”

  “And some men couldn’t handle it. Edward certainly didn’t.” Their middle brother. He had refused to return home when their father had called for them. The last he’d heard, Edward had retreated into complete seclusion on an isolated mountainside, though no one was certain just where that mountain was located.

  “He blames himself for our situation. You know that.”

  “But it is his fault!” Adrian turned and slammed his fist into the nearby wall. Plaster shook loose from the ceiling and fell down to coat his dark hair. “If he hadn’t insulted that witch-”

  “There’s nothing you or I can do to change that now.” The curse would take effect again as soon as the full moon rose tonight. That was why they had asked for the ball to be moved to mid-afternoon, rather than its usual evening schedule. It was the only way he and his brother could make any sort of decent appearance in public before they had to retreat. “But you’re the one among us who still has the best chance at happiness, if you can find your Roslyn again.”

  “You know I can’t go. I promised Father I would stay until…”

  Until the disease that the king was battling ran its final course or Luke found a suitable fiancée to appease their father’s need to see at least one of his sons wed before he was gone. “I will do my best to it would make it so that you can go free as soon as possible. I only hope that there will be a lady who is not silly enough for me to entertain the thought of possibly spending the rest of my life with her and who is also strong enough to bear marriage with a prince who turns into a wolf.”

  “Sounds like you’re hoping for the impossible, big brother.”

  Chapter One

  “Ella! Where are you? Answer me at once.”

  She set her mending aside, rubbing her fingers together in a vain attempt to sooth away the many pinpricks. “I am in the kitchen, Stepmother.”

  She couldn’t see the older woman’s reaction to her choice of words, but bit back a smile anyway. She knew the honorable lady hated to be reminded of the fact that Ella was indeed a part of the family, rather than just the help.

  The older woman stormed into the room. In her arms as a basket, filled with a variety of herbs and roots. It seemed Lady Isabelle had been working in her private section of the garden, a place Ella was forbidden to enter. “Have you seen Catherine? She must get ready for the royal ball.”

  “Have you checked the library?”

  “Of course.” Her stepmother stomped off, and it wasn’t long before Ella heard the door to the library open. “There you are! Foolish girl, you know tonight is the Midsummer ball. This is probably your best chance to impress one of the princes.”

  They passed by the kitchen before heading upstairs, and Ella caught a glimpse of her stepmother with her hand locked around Catherine’s upper arm, dragging the obviously reluctant young woman toward the stairs. “Ella, make sure my daughter’s gown is ready for her in her room.”

  “Should you be calling her away from her preparations, Mother?” Catherine soft voice was full of its usual distraction, but also unerringly kind.

  “What are you talking about, you silly girl?”

  “The invitation said that all eligible young ladies of good family should be attending this ball. That is why you are forcing me to go, is it not? There is no reason Ella can’t join us.”

  “You wish to have the scullery maid join us at the ball? Truly, those books you read have addled your head.”

  Unjust criticism, to be sure. Ella’s father had always admired his stepdaughter’s scholarship and had said that it was a pity that she was not a man, for she would easily put any of the king’s great thinkers to shame with her intelligence.

  But intelligence was not a trait that noblemen looked for in their wives, and it was no secret that the Lady Isabelle’s one focus in life was to get both of her daughters married off as well as possible.

  Ella headed upstairs with Catherine’s ball gown. The repairs to the hem were barely finished, but they would have to do. There had certainly not been enough time to ensure a better job, what with tonight’s event having been pushed up several hours earlier than everyone had originally expected.

  The one other maid that was employed by the household, a young girl named Maria who lived in the village rather than with them, was already in the dressing room that Catherine shared with her sister, Daphne. The young woman was struggling to bind up Daphne’s hair with all of the jewels that she deemed necessary for a proper appearance.

  Daphne raised her chin and look down upon Ella through her reflection in the dressing room mirror. “Have you brought my sash?”

  “I’m afraid there was no time to clean it properly,” Ella said. The item in question was Daphne’s favorite accessory. She wore it with every gown and it was the only thing she could bear being seen with more than once.

  She stomped her foot as Stepmother and Catherine entered the room. “Mama! This lazy fool has not bothered to bring my favorite sash.”

  Stepmother glared at Ella. “Do you have an explanation for yourself?”

  “I was working on Catherine’s gown, Stepmother. I thought that more important.”

  Daphne snorted. “Hardly. It’s not as if everyone anyone will bother to look at her, since she always goes and hides in corners at these things.”

  Catherine turned a brilliant shade of red but said nothing. Ella began helping her change out of her day gown.

  “Be that as it may, my darling,” stepmother said. We will simply have to do without, since the ball will be starting shortly.”

  “It’s not fair!” Daphne pouted in a manner that would be more befitting a five-year-old, rather than a young woman of m
arriageable age. “Just how am I supposed to win the prince over if I am not allowed to look my best?”

  “Perhaps we should look at this as a blessing, darling,” her mother said indulgently. “Without the scarf, there will be less to distract His Highness from your beautiful face.”

  Maria rolled her eyes and Ella covered her mouth with her hand, coughing to disguise the laugh that she couldn’t quite stop from forming in her throat.

  Fortunately, no one noticed.

  Ella finished helping Catherine into her ball gown and deftly fastened the buttons in the back. Maria added one last diamond pin to Daphne’s hair before moving to undo the simple braid that Catherine wore. Brushing out her long, dark hair. The maid had barely begun to pin it back up again when the distant sound of the church bells began to tell. Five times. 5 o’clock. The ball would already be starting.

  Lady Isabelle ushered her daughters downstairs to meet the carriage. Maria left shortly afterwards, leaving Ella alone in the house. After a brief cleanup, she abandoned her chores to head to her tiny room in the attic. It was a space no larger than a closet and tended to get ridiculously cold in the winter and damp in the summer, yet it was where she had lived ever since her father had died. She pulled out the trunk that she kept hidden under the piles of other artifacts that her father had left behind, which her stepmother never bothered to look at.

  Perhaps they had simply not been outwardly valuable enough to appeal to the woman’s greed.

  Ella briefly chastised herself for such thoughts. Her father had obviously seen something good in the lady at one point, or else he would never have married her. He had been very lonely after her mother died, and had spoken of wanting to give Ella a new mother figure. The fact that she had daughters of her own, who are close to Ella in age, had been seen as an advantage.

  Outwardly, it had appeared to be a very good match.

  But it had all been a lie.

  The trunk in question was small but exquisitely carved both on the sides and the lid. It was an heirloom passed down through her mother’s family, and in that sense, it would be one of the most valuable things that Ella owned. Perhaps she was fortunate that it wasn't the kind of value that her stepmother could appreciate, because she would have wanted to see and destroy the contents: an ivory silk gown that had belonged to Ella's mother.

  It had been her wedding gown, saved, by her request, for the day when Ella married.

  Her prospects for finding a husband were nonexistent now, but that didn't mean the dress had to remain locked away forever. It was the one thing she owned that would be suitable attire for the Midsummer night's ball.

  Not that Ella had any hope or illusion that she might end up dancing with one of the princes. Or anyone else, for that matter.

  It was too dangerous. If her stepmother ever found out there would be a heavy price to pay. Her body still wore the scars of the last time she had disobeyed one of her stepmother’s orders, carved into the skin of her back and shoulders.

  Getting dressed on her own was difficult, but there was no way she would have risked asking Maria for help. Not that she didn’t trust the maid, but she wanted to protect her. If this all went bad and became public, she didn’t want anyone else to suffer for her decision.

  Ella brushed out her hair and tied it up in a simple not. Not elegant at all, but it was passable. Then she set out for the palace on foot.

  She crossed through her family’s estate rather than walking through the town. Again, she didn’t want to attract attention, if at all possible.

  Her nose wrinkled as she passed by her stepmother’s walled garden. Lady Isabelle had said it was full of the ingredients you need to create her favorite beauty remedies.

  Ironic that something meant to make women look good could smell so foul, though the fumes were always worse at this time of the year.

  Ella vividly remembered the one time she had slipped into the enclosed space as a child, shortly after her father died. All she had done was brush up against one particularly unremarkable looking plant, with its pointed, oval-shaped leaves and purplish brown flowers, and had ended up with horrible sores all over her body.

  Her stepmother had laughed, saying that it was proof that Ella would never be beautiful, not if the so-called ‘beautiful lady’ bush made her so ugly.

  She stared wide of that section of the estate, but the sense produced by it seemed to be following her on the wind. She picked up the pace, slipping a few times in her ill-fitting leather slippers.

  It was nearly sundown by the time she arrived, and though the footmen gave her strange looks for arriving the way she did, they didn’t try to keep her away, either.

  She didn’t go directly to the ballroom. Ella knew her way around the palace fairly well, having visited there as a child. Her father had advised the king on occasion, though that had stopped shortly after he had married his second wife. Lady Isabelle had always resented the time that her father spent away from his family. Or rather, she resented any time that was not devoted to her and her own daughters. She had certainly never approved of Father spending time with Ella.

  As she slipped around the back of the palace, her breath caught in her throat. Although the main party was being held with the indoors, the gardens had been decorated beautifully. Strings of miniature lanterns were set up all around the walkways, giving the entire area a fairy-like glow.

  The music from the ballroom was audible even from this distance, and she recognized an old favorite of her mother’s. She swayed slightly, twirling about in the same steps she remembered mother and father using when she was a child, as they had waltzed about their parlor together. Neither of Ella’s parents have been very fond of attending formal balls or other events, but they had always loved to dance.

  She stumbled several times, as her worn leather shoes continued to slip off her feet at the most inconvenient times. They had been handed down from Daphne, who had slightly larger feet than Ella did, and had never fit her properly.

  An odd noise caught her attention.

  She heard voices. Following the sounds, she peered through the bushes to see what was going on. She immediately recognized the two princes who had recently returned home. Prince Luke and Prince Adrian.

  The entire kingdom was aware of how the king’s three sons had gone off to find adventure in foreign lands, but only two of them had returned. There were some rumored whispers about what had happened to the other prince, Edward, but no one was certain whether he was alive or not.

  Both princes wore agitated expressions, constantly glancing over their shoulders. Were they sneaking away from the ball?

  It seemed a bit… strange, to say the least.

  There was no secret as to the main reason for tonight’s event. King Nicholas was seriously ill. It was not known if he would see the end of the season, much less the year, and he had made it clear he wanted to see one or more of his sons wed before he was gone. That was why they had made a point of emphasizing—no, requiring—all young ladies of marriageable age and of certain family status to attend and be introduced.

  So why would the princes be sneaking away? Ella doubted there had been enough time to meet everyone at the ball who was desiring their acquaintance. They had cut their travels short at their father’s request—making it clear that they would not be completely averse to sacrificing some of their pleasures for the king’s sake. So one evening surrounded by debutantes and scheming, ambitious mothers should not have been too much for them to bear.

  And yet…

  She caught her skirt in her hands, holding it higher than was proper in order to move as silently as possible. Following them deeper into the gardens. They finally paused at the edge of a wilder, wooded area that was reserved for hunting parties held by the royal family. Off-limits to everyone else, except by the strictest invitation.

  The two men were carrying lanterns, for the sun had set and the outside was completely dark. The moon was just beginning to peek over the horizon and was casting litt
le light at the moment.

  Outside of their strange behavior, something about them simply fascinated Ella. In particular, she couldn’t take her eyes off the elder Prince, Luke. Perhaps it was because she had some familiarity with Adrian. They were close in age and had known each other as children.

  The eldest prince was ten years older than his youngest brother and twelve years older than Ella.

  He had always been a rather striking young man, with his black hair and bright blue eyes, but the years had made him into something more. He stood head and shoulders taller than most men, and there was an air of strength in the cut of his jaw and the way he held his shoulders.

  Then, as if this evening wasn’t already strange enough, both brothers began to do something even more unexpected. They removed their heavy brocade coats and tossed them to the ground, without a care for the expensive fabric.

  Luke took off his shirt, revealing golden tan skin and a powerful, muscular body that made Ella’s mouth go dry. A funny little pulsing took up residence between her legs. It felt like her heartbeat had dropped down there and she was flushing hot in a way that she had never experienced before. It felt like there was an open flame coursing through her body, just under her skin.

  Ella knew she should look away, that she was seeing something no proper young lady should observe. Her heart was pounding so hard that she half-expected that the two princes would be able to hear it.

  Luke reached for the fastenings on his trousers. She caught a glimpse of slightly paler skin and firm and rounded buttocks, strong legs and as he turned partly in her direction, of something else.

  Something she didn’t have a name for.

  Both princes now stood in the gardens as naked as they were born as the moonlight began to touch their skin. Luke started, as if startled, and glanced in her direction, though Ella was certain that she had not made a single sound.

  His eyes widened and she thought he would certainly call her out, to shout at her for invading his privacy, but instead he threw back his head and let out a howl.