Cinderella And The Wolf Prince (Shifter Tales Book 1)

Chapter One

     Many people think that they would like to live in a fairy tale. But that is only because they haven't experienced what it is like. My name is Elle, but my family calls me Cin for Cinderella. I haven't felt the love of a parent since I was five. My mother died before I could remember her and my father passed away a year ago. He had not shown me love since before my mother left this world. I don't remember much about life before my mother died. She was a beautiful woman and was very kind hearted, but that is all I know. I don't know what she smelled like, what color her eyes were, or anything else about her. People say that I look like her, but I have been told for far too long that I am a pig, useless, and unwanted.

     Not long after my mother was taken from us, my father had to remarry. My mother had had cancer and her doctors bills were too much for our insurance to pay, so we were left with an enormous amount of debt. My new stepmother came from a very wealthy family, so we were able to pay off the debt, but I was stuck in my own personal hell from then on. My stepmother hated me, and so did my two new stepsisters. My father began to ignore the things they made me do, like cleaning the estate and taking away all of my personal possessions. The only thing I have left is the clothes on my back and a necklace that had once belonged to my mother. I became the maid of the house and once my father died, it got worse from there.

     I was thrown out of the house and made to live in the barn with the livestock. My only warmth was from the fireplace, so I was always covered in cinders. They began to call me Cinderella from that point on. I suppose I am Cinderella now, because I am being made to clean the entire estate tonight while everyone else goes to a ball to find a suitable partner for the prince. I was invited with the rest of our household, but they said that I was not meant to go, because I was only the help.

     While Janna and Jessa , my twin stepsisters, were getting ready for the ball, I was cleaning their rooms. I overheard their conversation and my world was forever changed. I learned the real reason my father died, and why he was so broken after mother died. They were mates and wolf shifters. I am their daughter, so I have wolf blood in me as well.

     That night I also heard the real reason for the ball. The Prince was the Prince of Wolves. He was looking for his mate. I wasn't sure exactly how he would know who his mate was, but if there was even a small possibility that it was me, I would be taken away from this nightmare, I was willing to risk another beating to be free. I would go to the ball tonight.