Beauty and the Beast (Faerie Tale Collection) Read Online Free PDF

ever call for him so did not notice the flower at first. When his brain processed what it was he saw and recognized there was something out of place, he turned around and stared at the rose.
    Alexander did not move for a full minute as he absorbed the fact the delicate pink petals and thorny stem were indeed in front of him. And then it hit.
    She needed him! She had left the sign he’d asked her to.
    With as much haste as possible, the prince sped back to the castle and put the rose in a vase with water. He was eager to do a lot for her, but what? He needed to think. He needed to plan and prepare. She required him. She required a friend. This was his chance to actually become a true companion as a wolf. If he could communicate and get someone to trust him as a beast, then it gave more optimism for the future than he dared hope for.
    The fact this was a girl, who trusted him, was not lost on the prince either. However, he had seen his face in the looking glass as an animal enough to diminish any thoughts of her falling in love. He’d long given up that hope. There simply was not a woman in the world who could love such a hideous monster.
    But it didn’t stop him from determining to help her in any way he could. To guarantee she see him as someone to depend upon. Someone who was good and kind and all things normal on this earth, if he could not give her his soul, then please allow her to see his true heart. Allow her to see he can be decent, there was some hope left, and that the witch was not wholly right.
    If he could prove this to someone who desired his aid, perhaps there would be more he could do for others later. Much, much later.
    ***
    While Prince Alexander was preparing for their upcoming meeting in anxious excitement and wonder, Miss Cecelia Hammerstein-Smythe was anything but excited. William’s friend, Mr. Velmayne, was as obnoxious and as proud of himself as all of her brother’s friends proved to be. He was more interested in sporting events and racing than the cares of those around him. She absolutely refused to be associated with idiotic buffoons. And he, in his brightly colored green and yellow waistcoat, pantaloons and jacket, with his ultra-high starched collars looked more of a buffoon than most.
    By the time Cecelia saw Mr. Velmayne to the door, she was exceedingly eager to escape to her little brook. Any reservations she had about meeting the beast were long gone with the arrival of her brother’s friend. There was nothing she desired more than to vent out her frustrations to someone, anyone with a listening ear at this point.
    She was desperate for a friend.
    Once the family settled down for the night, and the house quieted, she slipped a gown back over her head, and fastened her boots. Fetching a woolen cape, she was quick to escape the confines of her home and make her way down to the stream. She wondered if the wolf would truly be there.
    He was there, waiting for her, and reading a book in the moonlight, no less.
    Cecelia was sure he could hear and smell her coming long before she made it close to him, but she decided to announce her arrival anyway. “Well, hello there! You did come and you’re reading.”
    He smiled as well as a wolf could smile and said, “Well, of course I’m here. And did you not think I could read, then?”
    She laughed, happy and pleased he continued to be as calm and surprising as he was before. “I’ve never given it a thought.”
    “What?” He pulled back and shook his head. “You’ve never imagined a wolf reading before? I’m appalled.”
    Cecelia spread her gown around the small boulder and sat down across the brook from him. “So is there anything else you can do that I should be aware of?”
    “Miss, are you saying speaking and reading are not enough for my beastly form? I must now perform in other ways as well?”
    “Yes.” She giggled, lifting her chin and looking down her nose at him. “Yes. I demand that you sing and dance as well.”
    He grimaced