Page 3 of A Mysterious Slave for the Lycan Prince

I smile. “Have fun.”

“I will.” Dave clasps my shoulder. “Stay in contact with us. Annie has opened that WhatsApp chat for a reason. Try to write as often as possible so that we know you are alright. And please try to stay out of trouble.” He looks worriedly at me. “Celine, Ella, and Annie don’t talk much about it to me, but I know the pack you’ll be investigating is pretty shit. So, please be careful.”

“I will, Dave,” I promise. “Now go have fun!”

He grins and waves me goodbye before hurrying away. I watch him leave, then continue walking beside Anders. We don’t talk about anything, rather just enjoying the silence of the night. Tomorrow will be busy enough, and I’m glad to have some peace for now.

two

Max

*FINN*

Iskipbreakfastandhead directly to Red Claw, the pack my brother Liam and Annie lead.

“Finn!” Annie calls out. She pauses in front of the pack house, waiting for me to catch up. One twin is cradled in her arms while the other is being coddled by the herculean-sized pack warrior next to her. Seeing a ruthless killer cooing and rocking such a tiny infant should be weird, but this whole pack has gone ga-ga over the twins. In fact, all of Red Claw’s pack members are fiercely loyal to both Annie and Liam in general. Liam and Annie earned the pack’s loyalty and respect when they rescued everyone in Red Claw from the cruelty of their previous alpha.

“Annie,” I return as I head towards her, beaming at the baby in her arms. “Goddess, which one are you?” I grin. They might only be fraternal twins, but they’re so difficult to tell apart. “Oh, this is my girl, Aurora! She has a tiny mole on her neck.”

Annie carefully hands me Aurora, the younger of the twins, kissing the top of her head and saying, “Go to your Uncle Finn.”

When she goes to grab Asteria from the pack warrior, the man looks pitifully saddened by the prospect of giving her up. “I can keep her entertained a bit longer, Luna,” he offers hopefully.

“Goodness gracious,” she laughs. “Alright. Five more minutes, but then we need to head inside.” She turns to me now, eyeing me curiously. “You got rid of your nose piercing. I noticed it was gone yesterday, but didn’t know whether I should say anything in front of the others.”

“You noticed, eh?” I chuckle. I had gotten quite a few piercings and tattoos during my rebellious phase a few years ago. I still like them for the most part, but decided to get rid of a couple of piercings recently. I didn’t feel like they were right for me anymore.

Annie taps my eyebrow piercing. “Glad you left this one. It suits you.”

I smile mischievously and poke out my tongue, revealing my tongue piercing before saying, “I also kept this one.”

She laughs. “Good to know. I don’t think I could handle a serious and boring Finn.”

“Never, Annie.”

She smiles warmly before finally prying Asteria away from the crestfallen warrior and leading me inside the building. Liam’s waiting for us in his office. Ignoring my arrival completely, the huge, tall, and scary lycan alpha that is my older brother snatches his daughter from my hands and starts blowing kisses all over her chubby cheeks. “Hello, my princess!” he coos.

“Thanks,” I deadpan. “But technically, I’m a prince, not a princess.”

He stops kissing Aurora and narrows his eyes at me. “Very funny.”

It is a bit funny, but I don’t say that out loud. It’s weird seeing Liam acting this way especially considering who he is. Liam’s widely known as the Silver Alpha. A reputation he earned when he freed himself from silver chains, which is practically impossible for any other werewolf or lycan. Annie, on the other hand, earned her title as the Silver Luna because she is totally immune to silver.

Most people don’t know Liam has a soft side. I find it endearing, though. “How do you tell them apart?” I ask curiously. I was under the impression that only Annie could tell them apart.

“I can’t.” He smirks. “But I dressed them today, and my little sunshine is wearing her favorite yellow onesie. Aren’t you my little sunflower?” He swiftly turns to Annie and exchanges babies with her. “And my little alpha heir looks very stylish in her little green outfit,” he says before kissing Asteria’s tummy. She giggles loudly.

“Okay, I need to take the girls away, or we won’t be able to focus on anything else,” Annie says before taking Asteria away from a reluctant Liam and leaving the room. “I’ll give them to their nanny for now. I’ll be back in a couple of minutes.”

Liam watches the door where they just left before pulling himself together and offering me a seat in the little sitting area in his office. “Would you like something to drink? It’s probably too early for the heavy stuff, but how about coffee?”

“Coffee is fine,” I say.

“I’ll link the kitchen staff.” He sits down as well, stretching his legs out. “Okay, Finn, I don’t want to sound like the overbearing, overprotective older brother, but take this.” He hands me a phone. Not a smartphone, but one of those old-style flip phones. “It’s a burner phone. No one will be able to trace this back to you, and as of now, only Dad and I know of it. Text me every forty-eight hours. If I don’t hear from you, I will know something is off.”

“I’m sure things will go smoothly, Liam,” I reassure him, but take the phone nevertheless.

“You never know. I know you’re an adult and a highly skilled fighter, and you can definitely watch out for yourself and your team. But we don’t know a lot about this pack you’re investigating or their allies. Our current info isn’t up to date. They could try to take or even bug your phones, for all we know. Keep this one hidden and only use it to report to Dad or me. It might not be needed, but you know what they say: better to be safe than sorry.”

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