Page 36 of A Mysterious Slave for the Lycan Prince

What a sick bastard.

It’s then that the sweetest scent ever hits me. Max stirs inside of me. It smells like strawberries, ginger, and a hint of chocolate.

MATE!Max exclaims.MATE!

twelve

And Now?

*FINN*

Myheartbeatreachesafrantic level as I scan my surroundings. She’s here. She is here! I can sense her, although her scent is dulled by what I can only assume is a dose of wolfsbane. But even toned down, I can smell her.

My mate! I can’t believe it…I hoped so much to meet her, and now I’ve found her here, in this goddess-forsaken pack.

She is here!Max jumps up and down in my mind, which is a whole new level of weirdness, as he usually doesn’t move much at all, even when excited.

My eyes roam over the group of girls passing us by. All of them are keeping their heads down, clearly frightened of us. For a split second, I’m scared that she isn’t really here, that I’m just hallucinating. That is, until my gaze meets the intense green eyes of an ethereal beauty. Her skin is like porcelain. Alabaster comes to my mind. And her light red hair is framing a beautiful, narrow face. She has heart-shaped lips and almost elfin-like features. I’m surprised how tall she is—she is much taller than the other girls working here, and she seems stronger. She is clearly malnourished, but her body seems to cope with it better than the others. I know I might be biased, but I swear, she is the most beautiful person I have ever laid eyes on.

And she is the only one not looking down.

Instead, she’s looking straight at me, her eyes wide with surprise. Wow, she is bold to look at us while everyone else is scared. I love her attitude already.

MATE!Max calls out again, his eyes wide and his tongue hanging out of his mouth in joy.We found her! Finn, I hope you’re ready to woo her with your pants! Aren’t you glad we saved ourselves for that goddess?

I am beyond glad that I made that decision. I’ve always wanted my mate and no one else. And now, I want to run to her and claim her as mine before grabbing her and running away from this horrible place! I don’t even want to know what they’ve made her do here or how these animals have treated her! Some of the girls look like they get beaten regularly, and that shithead of an alpha just announced we could call on any of them for sexual services as well.

Do they do that to her? Order her to their rooms and then force her into their sick games? A growl forms in my throat, and I fight really hard not to let it out. Max is so close to clawing his way out of my mind and killing everyone who even looks at her the wrong way.

I don’t know how to handle this new situation, but I know I need to get her away from here. I have to do everything to save her.

She opens her lips slightly, making me wish I could stroll over and kiss her. She seems to be battling similar emotions because she looks at me insistently before shaking her head slightly, subtly gesturing with her eyes toward the people around us.

I nod, relieved she is interacting with me already, and discreetly put my finger on my lips, gesturing for her to keep silent.Later,I form with my lips, hoping she will understand.

She looks a bit scared, yet hopeful. To my relief, a brief smile flashes across her face, and she subtly nods before looking down again.

The moment between us passes extremely fast, and none of the others appear to have noticed anything. We walk by the group of girls, and my beautiful goddess tosses one last careful glance at me. It’s enough for me to almost abandon my mission, grab her, and run. I push my instincts down. My mate is my responsibility now, but she’s not the only one I have. I am responsible for my team, and also the rest of the pitiful pack members here.

And something tells me that my gorgeous mate would not appreciate it if I kidnapped her from here without considering the consequences.

Arman continues to lead us past yet another group of girls. Meanwhile, I cling to the lingering scent of strawberries that keep me both sane and crazy at the same time. Arman keeps explaining a few things along the way, but I can’t focus on anything he says. My mind is spinning, and Max is howling in pain from being unable to claim his mate immediately. He understood my reasoning; keeping our mate safe is our top priority, even if it means staying away from her right now.

Once Arman sees to it that we each have some tea to warm us up and are settled in our rooms, he leaves us alone. We have two adjacent rooms with a door conveniently in between that connects them. There is a small bedroom for the girls and a huge one for us guys. We all drop our bags and remove our snow-covered shoes and coats.

No one says anything for several minutes.

Marcel finally breaks the silence. “What the hell is going on in this place?”

“He didn’t even greet Elodie and Elise,” Henry growls.

“And did he just offer us some girls?” Anthony asks, sounding disgusted. “Like…if we want them, we can order them? That’s just sick.”

“Yeah, and what about girls not being allowed in the pack house?” Steve shakes his head.

“Right?” Marcel agrees. “For a second, I thought I didn’t hear him correctly.”

“They are slaves,” Elise says calmly.

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