Page 9 of A Mysterious Slave for the Lycan Prince

Who knows, maybe they will bond over their food.

Everything is going well until Elodie snags the last chicken burger away from Henry. Henry glares at her and she flashes him a grin while biting into the burger, then moans.

Yeah…maybe not.

four

The Goddess-Forsaken Pack

*FREYA*

Irundownthethird-floor corridor as silently as possible, constantly checking to ensure no one is following me. Omegas and slaves are not allowed on this floor of the pack house; it’s only for the higher-ranking wolves and chosen subordinates of the alpha. We can only enter if specifically ordered to do so.

“Amaryllis?” I whisper. “Ryllis?”

I concentrate hard on using my wolf senses, trying to make out my friend’s scent. To be honest, I shouldn’t be able to use wolf senses anymore. Not since the alpha forced me to take wolfsbane on a regular basis. It’s his go-to method for keeping all us slaves weak.

Luckily, the wolfsbane hasn’t fully suppressed my wolf. She still talks to me all the time, and she is strong. At least, she is mentally. Unlike the other slaves, I’m as tall as any beta-ranked werewolf, but the alpha demoted me because I never shifted into my wolf form. I was made an omega at first, then further demoted to slave.

Sereia, can you feel her anywhere?I ask my wolf.Is Ryllis here?Amaryllis is my best friend, and I’m really worried about her. One of the high-ranking warriors called for her a few hours ago, and I haven’t seen or heard from her since.

Hopefully, they haven’t done anything to her.

I really want her to be okay, but the sinking feeling in my stomach tells me otherwise. If she were okay, she would have returned by now.

Her scent is weak,Sereia says in hersoothing voice.But she is definitely somewhere around here. Let me take over, my dear.

Of course.Aside from Amaryllis,there’s no one I trust as much as my wolf. Ryllis is like the little sister I never had. She recently turned eighteen and she is the sweetest person I’ve ever met. She is small and delicate, with large doe eyes that make her look innocent and cute, like a doll. But unfortunately, it also garners her a lot of attention from this goddess-forsaken pack of creeps. I swear, if it weren’t for her, I would have already left this shitty place. Even if it cost my life. Most of the time, the other slaves and I manage to hide Amaryllis away so she doesn’t cross paths with anyone. But if a high-ranking member calls for her in particular, there is no way to deny them.

I remember one incident with Ludovica, a fiercely protective older woman and the head of the omegas and slaves. She punched Ryllis just hard enough to send her to the infirmary, so the creeps couldn’t have her. Such a trick only works once or maybe twice at a push. We’ve had to get creative with our excuses and why she’s unavailable, but it doesn’t always work.

Today it didn’t.

I feel Sereia’s presence growing stronger, so I close my eyes and let her take over. It’s a weird feeling, like an out-of-body experience, but not bad. Sereia hands back control a second later.She is close. Two or three doors down from here. Left side.

Thank you, Sereia.

Don’t mention it. Let’s get that poor girl.

There doesn’t appear to be anyone around, and I can’t hear any sounds. I decide to make a run for it, dashing forward in the direction Sereia pointed at me. I’m not scared of this pack or the assholes who lead it, but I don’t need to run into them here. They’re just waiting for a reason to get rid of me.

Slaves are considered prey to everyone in this pack, even the omegas. I’m the only exception. After my demotion, when I didn’t shift at seventeen, the alpha’s son and some warriors called me to come to them for some ‘extra’ services. I don’t have any memory of what happened when I went to them. I only know that no one was able to touch me. Ludovica is the closest I have to a witness of what happened since she was called up to clean the room afterward. She said the windows were all broken, shards of glass scattered everywhere, and some shards had even pierced through some of the men.

I wish I could remember it. The alpha claimed there was an earthquake, and my being in the room was purely coincidental. I don’t know if that’s true or not; I just know that none of those guys have ever tried to touch me since. In fact, the worst I receive is a punch or slap, and even then, the lower-ranking warriors don’t dare do anything to me.

I hear voices approaching and quickly hide behind some thick, floor-length curtains, keeping my breathing to a minimum. I thank the Goddess over and over again that, unlike other wolves, I don’t have a noticeable scent and can easily sneak past people as long as I’m not seen.

I move on when the voices fade away, finally reaching my destination. I slip into the room as silently as I can. Sereia was right. Amaryllis’ scent is strong here, along with the stench of alcohol and drugs.

“Ryllis,” I whisper, noticing her trembling form lying next to the bed they have tied her to. There are bruises all over her wrists and face. My heart breaks for her. They didn’t even untie her properly. I carefully remove the ties from her body and hug her close. “Sweetheart, it’s alright. I’m here.”

“You found me,” she whispers.

I brush over her hair softly, reigning in my anger as best I can. They are monsters. Seriously, monsters. Who could do something like this to another person? “I’ll always find you,” I reassure her quietly. “I just wish I were here sooner.”

“You couldn’t have done anything,” her voice trembles, slightly broken. “…would have killed you…”

“Let’s get you out of here,” I say, brushing a strand of hair out of her face to carefully examine the bruises on her cheek. Amaryllis only had the opportunity to shift once; it was the first time and last time her wolf awakened. Because of that, and the daily dose of wolfsbane, her wolf is now too weak to heal her. Ryllis never stood a chance in this pack. As an orphan whose wolf they deemed physically weak, she was destined to become a slave.

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