Page 129 of A Mysterious Slave for the Lycan Prince

“Arman is pretty strong,” I explain to Jace and my parents. “I trained with him. He is good.”

“No kidding,” Anthony agrees. “I believe he is just waiting for us to strike so he can get his revenge too.”

“It’s still so unbelievable that he never noticed that he isn’t a regular werewolf,” Jace says.

“Blood Snow has lived secluded for far too long,” Freya says quietly. “You can’t imagine how it felt for Ryllis and me to be exposed to reality, and the rest of the world. Everything I grew up with turned out to be a lie. It’s the same for Arman.”

“Immanuel Kant said that we never know reality for certain. We just make assumptions about it and interpret it,” Henry says into the silence. “Arman and Leila shifted into wolves. None of the others knew the reality about lycans, and they had never seen them, so to them… Arman was just a bigger wolf with alpha blood, maybe even a mutation. Almost reminds me of Hempel’s paradox if you think about it,” he continues. “Evidence is risen by observing objects that differ. All wolf shifters shift into wolves, so they are werewolves. If they don’t shift into a wolf, then they are not werewolves.”

We all stare at him, stunned. “Are you really my Henry?” Jace asks in disbelief.

“You read Kant?” I ask in shock.

“Who’s Hempel?” Anthony wants to know.

Henry’s cheeks turn a light shade of pink. “Just forget it.”

“You did that when we were in Blood Snow too,” I muse. “You said you were interested in philosophy.”

“Henry is incredibly intelligent,” Anthony says proudly. “He just doesn’t want anyone to know. He thinks it will kill his reputation as a cool frat boy.”

Henry’s embarrassment seems to grow. “I was just thinking aloud,” he stutters.

Jace raises his brows. “You should do that more often,” he says. “I can’t believe I wasn’t aware of how well-educated you are.” He turns to Anthony. “Do you also have any hidden talents?”

“No, I’m an open book.” Anthony grins. “Sorry to disappoint. But I could pick up knitting if you’d like me to take up an unconventional hobby.”

My father looks at their exchange in amusement. We know Jace to be a sarcastic tease, but Anthony can definitely keep up with him. He had to learn it from somewhere.

Freya entwines her fingers with mine. Her stance is more relaxed now, and she smiles gently. We all take this moment of silly banter to take a break to drink and eat something. While we are on our break, Annie joins us, much to my surprise. It seems she had a meeting scheduled with my mom, which Mom obviously forgot to cancel.

“I’m so sorry, Annie.” Mom beams while not sounding sorry at all. “The Luna meeting. I forgot!” She tosses a glance at her pitiful gamma, who accompanied Annie to our meeting room. “Aurel, you should have said something!”

Dad looks at her like she lost her mind, but Aurel remains completely unfazed as usual. “I apologize, Luna,” he says calmly.

“Honey,” Dad interrupts her before she can retort. “Please don’t pester him. I’ve only just raised his salary last month.”

Mom furrows her brows. “But Aurel loves me! He told me he does.”

A bead of sweat appears on Aurel’s brow when Dad turns to stare at him. He is a very beautiful man and very quiet but undoubtedly beautiful even to a man’s eye. “I don’t believe those were my exact words.”

Dad sighs slightly. Fortunately, Annie saves us by turning her attention toward Aurel. “It’s not your fault, Gamma Aurel,” she says warmly. “I could have called Flora beforehand.”

He returns her smile. “You’re very kind, Luna Annalise.”

Mom pouts a bit. “You don’t like Annie more than you like me, do you?” she asks.

I grin. “It’s not like you are winning the competition at the moment, Mom,” I tease. The others chuckle at my words, making my mom glare at us. She forgets her anger fast, though, and smiles again. “Now that Annie is here, she could join our meeting,” she says, taking us by surprise.

Freya has been watching the scene curiously and is highly amused. Now she links me.It’s almost like your mother planned this.

I wouldn’t put it past her,I admit.

Annie seems to think something similar because she stares at Flora for a while before giving in with a little sigh. She sits beside my father and accepts a glass of soda from him. After this little intermission, we can finally pick up our discussion again. Annie reassures us that Liam is ready to send some elite warriors to our aid.

“As I said, Anthony and Henry are good fighters,” Jace says. “They picked up training again and are getting closer and closer to their full potential. I’ll be sending some of my best warriors with them.” He pauses, turning towards his sons. “I want you to take Matthew with you,” he says. “I’m worried about him.”

“About Matt?” Henry blinks. “What’s wrong with Mattie?”

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