Human Again — E.L. Tenenbaum

When Prince Azahr's brother dies, he is thrust into the role of future heir to the throne. Despite his best efforts, it quickly becomes apparent that nothing he does will ever make him good enough to replace his brother. In the absence his beloved brother left behind, a dark void created by anger, frustration, and fear begins to open within him. And in that void, a beast is born. On the eve of his eighteenth birthday, Azahr refuses hospitality to a faery. She condemns him with a curse that will haunt him and threaten his very humanity; a curse that empowers the beast and sets it free. Exiled from his home, he takes refuge in a forgotten corner of the kingdom. Then, one day, the door opens and Kiara steps inside, bringing with a heretofore unimagined hope of breaking the curse. If he can just keep himself together long enough for Kiara to see in him the man he could, and may yet, be. Human Again is the fourth in a five part companion series that rewrites the classic tales of happily ever after.