[Princesses Uncovered 02] • The Dawn of Courage

All her life she had seen them as the terrible beasts that destroyed her family's livestock. Her hatred for them only grew with each passing day that they stole animals, leaving her family with little to no money. She had trained herself to kill them. Hunting them down and tracking them far into the forest only to murder them when they thought they had successfully gotten away with their terrible crimes. But something changes everything faster than she could blink her eyes. She met him.

He was once human, just like her... but that was a long time ago. His memories of his human shape were already beginning to fade. All that was left was the agonizing wish to feel love again. To feel anything but the terrible anger that seeped into every pore of his body each second of the day. But he is not the enemy. A deeper evil stirs in the forest; something so dark that all hope of a happy ending seems lost.

Excerpt:

A low growl emanated through the room, shaking the floor. The girl stood fearlessly on the ground as the beast moved forward. She could feel his breath as he drew close to her. A cold, clawed hand gripped her arm, piercing her fair skin and drawing tiny droplets of blood. The beast tilted his head. His shiny horns gleamed in the light of the flickering candles.

“Why don’t you quake with fear in my presence?” the beast asked her in a low, growling voice. His black eyes bore into her like knives.

The girl lifted her chin, dark brown hair falling around her shoulders and down her back. The beast drew her closer to him. She clenched her jaw as his overwhelming stench reached her nose. “I do not fear you, or anyone. I have hunted monsters much more fierce than you,” the girl said quietly. Her voice was calm but threatening.

The beast threw her to the ground. She fell on the hard marble with a thud and lay there, staring up at him.

“We will see if you’re afraid of me when I am finished with you,” The beast growled angrily. His black lips turned into an angry glower, his white fangs shining in his mouth. He took a huge step toward her. “You have been hunting my kind for far too long,” He told her quietly. “I would kill you now… if I didn’t know how you feel,” He said it in dangerous whisper. “But all I want from you is for you to swear to stop hunting us.”

“I will not. You terrorize my father’s farm! You and your kind are ruthless monsters, and I plan to kill you all so that you can never eat another one of our animals.”

“We have to eat something,” The beast growled at her. “If you won’t listen, I will kill you.”

“I will protect my family. I won’t stop, for I am not afraid of death.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Anne Zedwick lives in Illinois with her family. She has a dog and a cat, and her two favorite things to do in her free time include romping through the woods and writing. She also enjoys her social life on the internet, which usually includes writing on various websites and emailing friends.

She draws her inspiration mostly from introspection, and she often has wild flights of imagination. When it comes to sources for her books, inspirations tend to come from all over the place. Many of her books are a jumble of various ideas and a mix of inspirational moments.