Free The Beast Prince (The Fairy Tale Series Book 1) by S.E. Smith Page A

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