Free The Wolf Prince by Karen Whiddon Page A

royal ancestral woods. Nothing that way but forest and mountains. Where on earth had she come from? Maybe, he found himself thinking cynically, she hadn’t come from anywhere on this earth.
    The instant the thought occurred to him, he shook his head. Fanciful and ridiculous, even for a man who shape-shifted from human to wolf.
    Then again, there was something different about her. Once more he wondered if she had somehow been involved in the explosion. But if so, why was she alone? She would have needed help to pull off a blast on the scale of the one that had taken down part of the castle.
    Still hidden, the wolves let her pass. And remained hidden, as they were about to rise when their keen ears had picked up more footsteps. This time, Ruben did not recognize the scent. He only knew it, too, was not human.
    And when the unfamiliar man wearing odd clothing appeared a few moments later, they let him pass, as well.
    Though this time, Ruben wanted to trail him. A quick glance at his father showed he concurred. They set off together, easily able to stay out of sight.
    * * *
    Willow arrived at the castle right before the noon meal, which was perfect. If everyone was occupied with either preparing a meal or eating, that gave her a better chance of slipping in and out of the place unnoticed.
    Though she’d been there when the bomb had gone off, how the destruction looked in broad daylight still shocked her. The section of the castle where, only hours before, there’d been music and dancing had been reduced to rubble. And, she saw as she drew closer, she realized the royal family of Teslinko had placed guards over the entire area.
    Not good, especially since that’s where she suspected she’d lost the earring.
    So much for moving around unnoticed. Now what?
    Though initially she’d planned to skirt around the damaged area and enter through the kitchen, trying to pass herself off as kitchen staff, there was no way to get near the castle without getting past the guards. And, since she didn’t have a legitimate reason to enter, she knew she wouldn’t get far.
    She glanced down at her jeans and faded T-shirt; she didn’t look like royalty. Even though, on the other side of the veil, she actually was.
    Backtracking, she slid into the shadows before anyone noticed her. Heart pounding like a trapped bird, she weighed her options. There was one other place she could try. When she and Prince Ruben had stood on the balcony off the main ballroom, she’d noticed another couple balconies farther down the castle wall. Several of them were near large trees. It was a long shot, but at the moment, her only option.
    Going around the perimeter didn’t take as long as she’d expected. Still keeping to the cover of the forest, she passed up the first two balconies as too close to the wrecked part of the castle and far too visible. And, while the second and third had some tree cover, neither was close enough to any limbs.
    Finally, on the fourth balcony, she thought she had a winner. Three large trees formed a triangle and two of them had branches that extended out nearly to the balcony’s edge. Even better, one of the trees looked easily climbable.
    Glad of her jeans, she went around to the opposite side of the large tree so she’d be hidden in case a guard happened to look this way. Shimmying up the trunk was more difficult than she’d expected, but she made good progress and reached the lower part of the balcony without any trouble.
    Glancing one more time toward the guards, she realized she couldn’t even see them. Perfect. She climbed up another foot or two, then took a deep breath, grasped the largest of the four branches and swung herself out over the balcony. And then she let go.
    Landing was awkward and loud and only slightly painful. She stayed crouched on the floor while she assessed the damage to her body. Not bad. Only her ankle hurt and it wasn’t that bad. She doubted it was even strained.
    Waiting another moment to see if