Page 48 of A Mysterious Slave for the Lycan Prince

“Yes,” I agree carefully. “Better to be prepared sooner rather than later.”

“Right?” One of the girls beams and grabs me by the arms. “This is such a peculiar place,” she exclaims. She bends into me a little. “Make sure to be prepared,” she whispers. “They need to think you ran away. Pack your stuff. Prepare a letter for them to find.”

She moves away again with a beaming smile. “I can’t wait to know more about this place,” she says with the fakest giggle ever.

“Thank you for showing us around.” The other one smiles brightly before linking arms with her sister again. “We’ll head back now and prepare for dinner.”

“It was my pleasure,” I say overly politely, bowing toward them. Once they leave, I finally have time to gather my thoughts. They want me to fake that I’ve run away and ensure it can’t be connected to them or my fellow slaves. I wonder why they need me to run, but I decide it’s best to trust Finn.

On my way back to the kitchen, I pass by Gina. She asks me to grab some wine bottles from the cellar for tonight’s celebration. I’m eager to work and get my mind off Finn and our plans. I’ve waited so long to leave this place, and now that I can feel it becoming a reality, it’s like time stands still.

There is only one thing wrong with this plan. I won’t leave without Ryllis. So, I need to make sure I cover for her and me. Besides, before I allow Finn to take me with him, I need to make sure that he plans to return here to save the others. I’m not leaving them to rot in this shit hole.

I grab a few bottles of red wine and am hurrying back toward the kitchen when I bump into Arman. I squeal in fright, horrified to see one of the bottles slip from my grasp. Fortunately, he catches it, preventing it from dropping to the ground. “Be more careful,” he huffs.

I flinch.

His gaze softens. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell. I’m not angry at you. But I don’t want any of you getting beaten by one of the other men.”

“You’re right,” I sigh, clasping my cheeks and rubbing them to remind me I’m not out of here yet.

“Did something happen?” Arman asks, worried.

“No,” I say, hoping my voice doesn’t sound too squeaky.

“Arman,” Leila chuckles. I didn’t notice her at first, but she was right behind him. “Leave the girl alone.”

“But—”

“Sometimes women have secrets, don’t be such a dunce,” she teases.

He looks at her thoughtfully. “A woman thing?” he frowns.

“Absolutely. Now come on. I want to go for a walk and need you as a shield, or these insufferable idiots are going to hit on me nonstop.”

Arman’s eyes darken angrily at her words. He turns on his heels to follow his sister, clearly unhappy with the guys obsessing over her. Before disappearing from my sight, Leila turns to me earnestly. “Hehas the right idea with his plan,” she says. She must mean Finn. “Still, be careful, all of you.”

I nod, taking in a deep breath to focus my thoughts again. I have a job to do and then an escape to prepare for.

sixteen

A Lycan?

*FINN*

It’smandatorytotakebreakfast, lunch, and dinner in the pack house—at least for the warriors. The regular pack members seem to be staying in their own homes. During the past few days, I’ve tried my best to study the dynamics here. I've mingled with some warriors and chatted with them, but the dynamics genuinely worry me, to say the least. Colton has brainwashed his warriors perfectly. They really think they are above everyone else and that it’s their right to beat the slaves and even the regular pack members.

Every moment spent in the dining room has been a creepy and disgusting experience. Elise and Elodie only join us for dinner, and I kind of envy them for being able to stay away for the other two times a day. Today’s dinner is a particularly unpleasant experience, primarily due to Colton’s cold appearance and that of his warriors. They seem to let loose more and more and slip back into their usual behavior. I notice how a few of the guys grope some of the girls who serve them food and toss indecent comments towards them here and there.

I don’t even want to imagine how they act around these young women when there are no guests to pretend in front of. The thought makes me sick.

Freya serves my table and does so with a professional smile. She is good at keeping her act up. What worries me further is how Benjamin, Alpha Colton’s son, looks at her sometimes with this longing expression whenever he thinks his father isn’t watching. Colton himself tends to look at her with more venom than usual.

That’s not good.

The other men don’t interact much with her at all. To my surprise, she is the only one who doesn’t receive any snide comments as if they are scared of her. I know she emits a certain confidence and strength, which is unusual for a slave in her position, but still, I wonder what happened for these guys to hold back as they do.

Tonight there is no chance to demand her services, as the alpha called it, because Colton sends everyone to bed after a long day, and we can’t possibly go against his orders here. However, he approaches us with a sly grin when we are about to retire.

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