Page 78 of A Mysterious Slave for the Lycan Prince

That’s exactly the time the twins started to act out. “Did you ever ask him about it?”

“No.” He shakes his head. “Anthony and I sometimes wonder…if he sees her in us and then remembers how he was violated.”

My heart breaks a bit. Sure, it might be a bit silly for them to believe Jace wouldn’t love them, but I can’t imagine the shock they had to feel when they uncovered the truth, realizing half of their life was a lie, and the woman who raised them and loved them was hurt and shunned so severely by their grandparents. I’m not sure what to tell them, so I stick with the truth. “I’ve known you since you were little,” I tell them. “And not once did I get the feeling that Janice treats you as anything other than her own children.”

Anthony looks sad. “She is such a great woman. Mom’s fantastic. She didn’t deserve to be treated that way.”

“Jace loves you too,” I point out.

Henry stays quiet, and I know they have hidden something from us. “In his journal…” he pauses, exchanging a gaze with Anthony. Eventually, the latter shrugs. “It’s a huge secret, and no one knows, except for Mom and Dad. Well, I mean…Janice. She might not be our real mom, but to me, she is.”

“What else are they hiding?” Elise asks quietly.

“In his journal, he wrote he was under an alpha command. He wanted to stay with Janice, despite his parents’ wishes. My grandfather, the reigning alpha back then, put an alpha command on him to force him into mating this other woman. Tony and I, we are basically rape babies.”

“WHAT?” I roar in horror, not even noticing how my friends flinch at my reaction. I can feel the veins in my body burning, blind rage filling me. I’ve never heard something so outrageous! Taking someone’s free will from them to have them mate and mark another person! It takes my breath away to even imagine… Jace was forced to mate against his will…his own parents had him raped!

My father definitely didn’t know about that, or he would have ripped these people’s throats out, even if they were his best friend’s parents.

I feel Freya’s fingers brushing over my arm, her touch soothing me. I take a deep breath. “I don’t even know what to say,” I admit, my voice still vibrating in anger. “Aside from how sorry I feel for you guys and your family.”

Elodie nods. “Goddess, Henry, Tony, that’s awful. I can’t say I understand each and every one of your decisions, but I know where you are coming from now.”

Freya rests her hand on my knee now. I’m not sure if she knows what her touch does to me. Maybe it was a subconscious reaction. Perhaps her wolf encouraged her, but now I understand it so much better: a mate’s touch truly does miracles for us.

I try to think of Jace and how often I met him and his family. The twins have no younger siblings as Janice wasn’t able to get pregnant again, it was said. Apparently, she has trouble conceiving in general. But Jace and Janice never treated the boys as anything less, though. They love the twins. Even when Jace complained about their attitude, he always ran off the moment they needed him. He never thought twice. His boys and his mate have always come first. “Janice and Jace love you. They don’t blame you for what happened,” I tell them without further ado. “Take this from someone who has watched you and your family a lot. Jace is full of love toward you. He is a tease and makes jokes sometimes, but he always emphasizes how you two are his heirs, how much potential you have, how rare it is for identical twins to take over a pack together, and that you will become great alphas one day. You are so important to him. You were babies when he got together with Janice, his true mate, and she adopted you as her own children.”

“Mom’s too good for this world,” Anthony says quietly.

“Mine too,” Steve admits.

“Same.” I smile.

“I wish I still had mine,” Freya says into the silence, and Ryllis nods.

“Do you remember anything about your parents?” Henry asks them carefully, but looks relieved at the change of subject.

“Mine were killed during a rogue attack,” Ryllis admits. “I can’t remember them much. I was still a kid. I got demoted afterward.”

“That’s how the pack runs,” Freya explains.

“And you, Freya?” I want to know.

Freya shakes her head. “I know nothing. My father was apparently a low-ranking warrior. As for my mother… I don’t know. I don't even know their names.”

I feel sad at her words. This pack even took her memories from her. I’ll make sure to help her research properly and find her roots. Everyone deserves to know where they came from, and Colton had no right to take that away from them.

twenty-five

Family Bonds

*FINN*

“Stillnotabletoget any signal?” Marcel asks me in worry.

I sigh and nod. With being stuck in a blizzard and a cave, it shouldn’t surprise me. I’m sure more than forty-eight hours have passed by now or will have soon. My father and Liam will be worried for sure. None of us can get any signal.

“There is no helping it now,” I say. “Let’s go to sleep. We’ll need our strength for tomorrow.”

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