Page 138 of A Mysterious Slave for the Lycan Prince

“Exactly,” I smile. “It’s not particularly common that witches help us unless a pack has a witch living with them. Otherwise, they prefer to keep to themselves.”

After a young omega serves us a whole plate with ham & eggs, and fresh bread, we all dig in. While we are only setting out tomorrow, it will still be a very busy day. After breakfast, Freya joins Elise and Elodie to learn more about their plans and catch up with them while I go with Anthony and Henry.

“Finn.” Henry sounds so serious. “I know I’m not in the position to ask anything from you.”

“Why’s that?” I ask in surprise. “You are my friend. Just ask.”

Anthony grins. “Told you, Henry.” He looks at me with a smirk. “Henry still feels bad for giving you such a hard time.”

I laugh slightly. “It’s not like I went particularly soft on you, either.” I joke.

“Yeah, well.” Henry shrugs. “You had every right to reprimand us.”

“You’re like the older brother we never had,” Anthony points out with a grin.

I’m starting to feel flustered by their words. Everyone seems to be very in touch with their emotions at the moment, me included. “You don’t need to explain yourselves anymore,” I tell the twins. “It’s all forgotten. You became great allies and friends, and that’s all that matters.” I pause. “So, what did you want to ask me?”

Henry looks at me thoughtfully. “We’d like for you to meet Matthew.”

The guy who hurt Dave? Now I know why Henry was so uncertain about asking me in the first place. I feel more than a little conflicted about meeting this dude. What happened between Dave and Matthew was terrible enough for Dave to go on a trip with some unknown werewolf and for Jace to apologize to me officially as Matthew’s alpha. Annie has filled me in on everything, making my conflicted feelings grow further.

The twins don’t say anything; they just remain quiet next to me.

“Did you talk to him?” I ask them.

“Yeah, the first thing we did when we returned from the meeting,” Anthony explains, his normally juvenile attitude gone. “He didn’t even cut himself any slack. He came clean to us and told us everything.”

“So it’s true what your father said?”

They nod.

“It’s also true that he is going to therapy,” Henry points out. “He told us some details of what happened to him, and fuck, Finn, I grew up with him. He is a friend, and I never noticed. That’s just pathetic.”

“You were a child yourself,” I point out, thinking about what happened to Marius when we were all kids and how no one knew he was abused until he finally told us. Thinking about my brother makes me feel even more conflicted. He was the shittiest mate ever towards Celine at the beginning. Yet, I instantly forgave him because he is my brother, and I love him.

Hypocritical much?

I still don’t know where my future will lead me. I’m unsure if Aurelia or I will lead Silverlake or if I will have a position within the Council or as an advisor. But no matter what, I’ll be in a high rank. I’ll need to be responsible and fair in my judgment. I can’t go lenient on one person and hard on another just because I’m personally involved.

It would make me a shitty leader.

I nod toward the twins. “Introduce me to him.”

“For real?” Anthony asks in surprise.

Henry nods. “Thank you, man.”

While the twins lead me to their warriors, I allow my thoughts to wander off again. I truly hope Dave is alright, but from the sound of it, he is happy. And why would he lie to me? Dave never lied to anyone. If he tells me to give Matthew a chance, I’ll need to take him seriously.

“Matt, Mattie!” Anthony calls towards a young guy, waving at him.

Matthew approaches us hesitantly. I have no idea what I expected. Probably a bulked-up frat boy with a cocky grin and arrogant aura—and maybe that’s who he was not too long ago—but all Matthew oozes now is uncertainty. The color of his face is pale, almost grayish, and it makes me wonder if he even eats properly. And there is this hollow look in his eyes. He looks haunted.

I instantly know that Dave won’t be happy when he sees him again.

“Hello, Matthew,” I say. “I’m Finn.”

“Hello, Lord Finn.” Matthew bows politely and looks at me through his worried, fearful eyes. I allow my gift to come forward, taking in his aura. There is black and red swirling around him, but not the aggressive kind of red. He looks fearful, his aura just mirroring what I see. I’m not surprised that Jace is worried.

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