Page 5 of A Mysterious Slave for the Lycan Prince

To woo her that way, we have to get to the point where she lets me lower my pants,I answer dryly.

That’s your problem. You are the human; wooing the human side is on you,he says smugly.I’ll reach out to her wolf.

And if she doesn’t have one?I ask tauntingly.

He stares at me.What does that mean? Why would you say that?

We could be mated to a human or another creature, a witch, maybe.

Maximilian looks momentarily crestfallen, but he recovers fast.Even then, I have complete faith in you and your pants!He turns his back to me, stretching a bit longer and then relaxing on his side. Not even thirty seconds later, I hear him snoring.

Awesome. I roll my eyes. Liam gets a proud and dignified beast, Marius has a quirky and very strong lycan, my sister’s wolf is regal and proud. And I’m stuck with Mr. Couch Potato.

Anders looks at me, amused. “Having a little argument with your wolf?”

“What can I say?” I chuckle. “It just so happens that my wolf is the laziest beast ever. It’s a pity there aren’t any lycan competitions for sleeping. If he were a human, he would be your prime example of a stereotypical middle-aged man with a beer belly watching his favorite reality TV shows while munching on chips.”

Anders snorts out a half laugh, which is contrary to his customary stoicism. “That is a very distinctive image, Lord Finn.” Anders is a quiet man with short red hair and a bulky build. He is half lycan and half werewolf, but still very strong. Over the last few years, and through my friendship with Annie, I’ve learned a lot about werewolves and lycans. One being that strength doesn’t always mean having the biggest wolf. Celine, for example, doesn’t have any lycan blood in her, but she’s so strong, she can easily overpower most male wolves of alpha blood, and also several lycans.

“Yeah, well, he may or may not have gotten on my nerves just now,” I admit. I love my lycan. He’s half of my soul, and he always has my back—well, as long as he’s not sleeping, then he is just so fucking annoying. “So, how do I get you to drop the formalities with me? You could at least call me by my name when we are alone.”

Anders sighs, his face turning serious again. “It just feels wrong,” he admits. “I’m sorry; I don’t want to upset you.”

“You are not upsetting me,” I say. Well, not anymore. When I was a teen, it sometimes felt like he didn’t like me, but then I learned it’s just the way he was raised. And Anders has always had my back, so there is that.

He looks at me like he wants to say something, but stops.

“You have a question?” I ask directly.

He sighs. “It’s nothing.”

“Just ask me,” I urge.

“I feel bad not accompanying you to Blood Snow,” he finally admits. “I should come with you to protect you!”

I sigh. “It’s not possible, Anders. You know we are all pretending to be either young beta-bloods or warriors in training.”

“I know, and I would look too old,” he admits begrudgingly.

It’s only one of the reasons, though. The other reason I can’t tell him. I can’t tell anyone. Anders is family, and while my bond with him is very strong, I feel like this mission is something I need to do on my own.

three

Double Trouble

*FINN*

Thefirsttoarriveis Steve. He smiles at me as I gesture for him to enter my suite. “It’s good to see you, Finn,” he says.

“Good to have you here, man,” I say, clasping his shoulder in a friendly greeting. Steve’s smile widens.

“I can’t thank you enough for this opportunity!”

“Steve.” I chuckle. “You’ve already thanked me the last ten times we met.”

“But I mean it,” he emphasizes.

“I know. But you are forgetting that I’m taking you along for a reason. I need you to have my back.”

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