Page 120 of A Mysterious Slave for the Lycan Prince

I smile. “I’m sure we can do that tonight,” I promise.

Are you ready for that, Max?I ask earnestly.I don’t want to take you from your sleep.

Are you kidding me!?Max splutters.Mate wants to see me. That’s our top priority!

Now that’s new. Seems like my wolf found something he likes more than his food and sleep.

I nod encouragingly toward Freya, and she beams at me. We both get dressed and grab our jackets. While I’m waiting for my mate, my mother’s words still ring in my ear, the hints she gave us. I can sense there is something about Freya, something none of us can grasp yet. Freya herself can’t quite grasp it either, but I’m sure it’s there. I can see it in her aura. We’ll find it out, though. I’m sure of that.

thirty-eight

Max II

*FINN*

IleadFreyaovera narrow path towards a small meadow close to the forest while holding her hand the entire time. It’s pitch-black outside, stars illuminating the sky while the moon hides behind some clouds.

Freya takes it all in like it’s the first time she’s seeing the night sky, enjoying our walk, and looking at everything in awe.

“Blood Snow is a beautiful place too,” she admits. “In itself, it’s beautiful. I was just never able to cherish it.”

I nod. “I realized when we went there that it’s beautifully located between the mountains and those luscious forests. Also, it’s close to the sea, which is pretty amazing to me.”

She smiles. “The nights are cold but clear, and you can sometimes see the polar lights there.” She shakes her head sadly. “Colton took away so much from us, enslaving us from such a young age that the place turned to hell for many of us. I think many other pack members feel the same. Right before you and the others came to the pack, some of the regular she-wolves helped us choose some dresses and none of them looked happy.”

I nod tentatively. “You said chosen mates are a thing?”

She shrugs. “‘Chosen’is a broad expression if you ask me. I doubt many of them had a choice.”

Another wave of anger hit me, intensifying by the sadness I feel from my mate through our bond. Colton is such a psycho. “Why did everyone accept it?” I ask. “I’m talking about the regular pack members.”

“Colton says that the committee of werewolves decides on the pairs. Twice a year, Blood Snow holds a match-making party with the girls that turned eighteen, and he announces who is paired with who. He says the Moon Goddess talks to him in those moments.”

I stare at her. What kind of werewolf committee is she talking about? There is only one higher organization, and that’s the Council itself. They definitely don’t decide on mates, though, and they would never intervene with the mate bond or the Goddess’s gifts.

Freya notices my gaze and looks at the ground. “There is no werewolf committee,” she says with finality in her voice, more to herself than to me.

“I’m sorry,” I mutter, unsure what else to say. Anything else would be heavy insults and slurs toward that asshole who manipulated an entire pack into his cult. From what Freya told me, it started with Colton’s father, and Colton then took over and made everything even worse.

“What a dickhead,” she curses under her breath. “You know, I always hated his son with a passion too. He was such a bully to us, and I was beyond relieved that he didn’t want me as his mate, but… I don’t know how to say it…”

“You saw the welts and scars on his body,” I conclude.

She looks at me, surprised. “How did you know?”

“I saw them too,” I admit, thinking about the scared look in his eyes when he looked at his father and the bruises around his shoulders and neck. Colton probably beat his child senselessly for many years, beating him into submission.

“He is his father’s offspring,” she muses. “If you hadn’t come to intervene, I’m sure he would have become a second Colton with time. But then he never had a proper chance either.”

I let her words sink in. “Do you want me to spare his life?”

She sighs. “Benjamin doesn’t mean much to me,” she admits. “I wanted him dead on more than one occasion. He knew what was happening and never once intervened, unlike Arman. But I don’t know if he even had a chance to do anything, seeing how he is Colton’s son.” She pauses, frustrated. “I don’t know how to feel about him.”

“Death is easy,” I say quietly. “Surviving is difficult. Even if I spare his life, it doesn’t mean life will be easy for him. He will lose his rank and his pack, and his whole reality. If—and that’s a big if—another pack takes him in, he will start from zero again without any support. He will be a normal werewolf who has to prove himself, live his life, and make his own decisions. And sometimes that’s the hardest thing to do.”

Freya allows my words to sink in. “You’re right,” she nods thoughtfully. “I don’t want to take blind revenge. I want those that participated in the crimes against us to be punished, but I don’t want everyone to be punished just because they are part of the pack. I know there are lower-ranking warriors who tried to stay away from Colton. If what you said now is an option for Benjamin, and he takes the chance to redeem himself, then I would prefer it that way. As for Colton and his whole gang of rapists—”

“There is no redemption for them,” I say, my voice hard. Something in Freya’s eyes flashes. This time, I know it’s her wolf. I smirk, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her closer. “You liked that,” I tease.

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