Page 45 of A Mysterious Slave for the Lycan Prince

Anthony nods while biting into a sandwich. He’s grimacing slightly, but wisely keeps his mouth shut. He’s been much more careful around me since I scolded them.

Henry rubs his temples. “What are we even doing here?”

“That again?” Marcel sighs.

“No, seriously,” Henry mutters. “This place is crap, and now Finn has found his mate but can’t be with her. Things can’t get any more complicated.”

“It’s not like I planned this Henry,” I state calmly. “But now that I’ve found her, I’m going to make damn sure I get her out of here safely. Also, we need to accept that we didn’t come here prepared enough. The situation here, the gravity of it, is something we never anticipated. We need to reevaluate our plan. Henry, as a future alpha, you have to be far more flexible than you have been up until now.”

“What would you know about being flexible?” Henry huffs. “You are the third-born. It’s not like you were ever in line for becoming the alpha.”

Steve and Marcel exchange a nervous glance. “I think,” Steve sputters, “I forgot something in the other room. I’ll go…search for it in there now…you know, for that thing.”

Elise jumps up. “I’ll help you.”

“Me too,” Marcel agrees. “Three pairs of eyes are better than one.”

“Make it four,” Elodie jumps in, looking annoyed. “I’m getting fed up with this.”

I turn to look at her. “You’re certainly not the only one.”

I wait for them to leave before narrowing my eyes at Henry. “Is there a particular reason you are such an asshole to everyone?”

“Listen, Finn,” Anthony starts carefully. “I’m sure—”

“Tony,” I snap and interrupt him, using his old nickname. “I’m talking to your brother here.”

Anthony looks like he wants to challenge me. “I’m not leaving him alone.”

Goddess, these twins are always sticking up for each other, even when they are wrong. My twin brothers are the same; if one is in trouble, the other will cover for him. They’d rather take a punishment together than leave one to face it alone.

I kind of want to slap them,Max grumbles.

You mean you want to punch them?

No, I want to punch that shitface, Coleman.Max says.

I blink.You mean Colton?

Whatever, Coleman, Colton, Cunton…I couldn’t care less.He huffs, rolling his eyes.Him, I want to punch. The twins; I want to slap.

He has a point, but since that’s not an option right now, I decide to use words to get through to them.

“We don’t have time for this shit,” I point out. “But, just to clarify, I might not be the firstborn heir to an alpha, and I have no idea how much pressure Liam felt when my father was training him to become his successor. I also have no idea about the pressure you feel. But it doesn’t matter. At this moment in time, we are here, and there is a whole basement full of innocent wolves who are being abused and sexually assaulted daily. They are victims whose lives don’t matter to anyone here but us. They are the reason we are here, and if you can’t see that, if you can’t shove your own issues aside for a moment to help these lost souls, then you’re not ready to be alpha.”

Henry’s jaw is tight, but he doesn’t say anything more. Good grief, he’s stubborn. He’s always been the more stubborn and broody of the twins, while Anthony always was reckless and social.

“Listen,” I sigh. “I like you guys. We grew up together. Please, at least try to help me here.”

“We are not going to sabotage you,” Anthony promises, tilting his head slightly.

Leave it to me,he links,I’ll make sure he pulls himself together.

Hearing his voice in my head is a little surprising. The twins only ever use the mind link when we use it as a group.

I nod toward Anthony.Alright. But this is the last chance I can give you.

I link the others that it’s safe to come back in. While I’m occupied with linking them, I notice Henry going through his backpack. He shuffles through his things, closes the bag, only to open it again and repeat the procedure. It reminds me of the day we drove here, and he was going through the tools. It’s clearly a pattern. Probably OCD. What triggered it, though? It seems to be better sometimes and worse at others.

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