Page 184 of A Mysterious Slave for the Lycan Prince

“And Isaac disappeared around that same time.”

I nod. “I’ve seen his name on the list,” I say, remembering the list of names I went through before turning my attention back to the group of rogues. “I assume most of you were on Colton’s list. What did you do? Rebel against him? Tried to save someone? Did he banish you? Run because you couldn’t take it anymore?”

I look at Isaac again, who nods. “Yes,” he says.

He doesn’t specify which point he agrees on, but it doesn’t matter. I nod toward Ethan. “You can go to him.”

Ethan doesn’t need me to tell him twice. He hurries towards Isaac, landing in the snow in front of him. “Isaac!” he whispers. “Do you remember me? It’s been a while!”

Isaac scans his face. His eyes are clouded, but part of him is still here. Again, I’m amazed that he kept this group together despite his sanity slowly fading. “Beef jerky.”

“Yes,” Ethan stutters. I allow Max to use our gift on the group. Ethan’s aura is made out of shades of gray because of his sadness and sorrow, but there are also strings of blue and green leading through it. He is hopeful and happy. “You always gave me beef jerky.”

I sigh, allowing my gaze to wander. In the corner, furthest away, my eyes take up two women. They look different from the rest, a bit healthier, but also smaller and more delicate. “You are witches?” I call towards them.

“And you’re a lycan prince,” one of them states.

I nod. “Is this why you didn’t help your friends fight my alpha command?” I want to know.

“Yes,” the other one says. “And no. It was a gut feeling.”

“We are mates to two of these men here,” the first one explains.

“Your attack on the pack, on Blood Snow…” I shift my attention back to the wolves. “Why did you do it?”

“Colton,” Isaac spits out.

I can see a shiver through the other wolves, their aura suddenly changing to an angry red. It’s revenge, I realize. Colton banished them, threatened their lives, or killed someone close to them. They wanted to get rid of him.

“Then I have news for you. Colton is dead, and his son has been stripped of his rank.” I pause. “I’m Blood Snow’s, or as we call it now, Ocean Snow’s alpha now.”

Understanding seems to dawn on them why Isaac instinctively bowed to me, and they couldn’t fight my command.

“What about the slaves?” a shy blonde woman suddenly asks.

“I released the slaves into being normal pack members,” I tell her.

Her eyes widen.

“You were one of them?”

She nods. “Then I met my mate,” she says, pointing at one of the rogues. “We knew Colton would kill me or rape me to ensure the bond would break. We…”

“I couldn’t allow it to happen,” her mate whispers. “I took her with me and ran. Isaac found us.”

“We never attacked the innocent pack members,” one other rogue hurries to explain. “We never meant to attack the pack directly, just the warriors.”

“I know,” I admit. “Colton has documented every attack, and I found it weird that no rogue ever tried to attack the weaker pack members. It was all against the warriors and ranked members.” And against me and my friends when we tried to flee, but I won’t tell them that. The few rogues in our way died that day, and they didn’t know we were a group of hostages trying to get away.

We did look pretty threatening, for sure.

I don’t hold it against them.

I hand Matthew a list with names and a pen. He looks at me dumbfounded. “You’ll go through the list and see how many of them are here.” I look at them insistently. “I want to know the truth. You’ll be honest.” I allow my aura to shine through my command, making them flinch slightly. “You’ll tell him why you were banished or why you ran. As long as you didn’t rape or kill someone innocent, you don’t need to fear any consequences. Honesty is all I ask from you.” I pause. “Once that’s done, we can go home.”

“What?” the blonde-haired girl gasps.

“I said, we can all go home unless you prefer to stay here.” I look at them thoughtfully. “There is no one to fight anymore.”

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