Lycan's Prey by Jessica Hall

Chapter 13

The air in the room grows thick, heavy with the weight of her suggestion. I swallow hard, feeling the walls close in. To disguise myself as my own sister–it feels disrespectful, a betrayal to her memory. Yet, desperation claws at my insides, urging me to latch onto any lifeline thrown my way.

“But Granny, they’ll find out,” I manage to say, my voice barely above a whisper. My stomach churns, revolting against the idea. “What if they want to know why I don’t already have an ID?”

The lines etched deeply into Granny’s face seem to deepen, carved by a lifetime of hardship and loss, but her gaze never wavers from mine. She understands the risks better than anyone–the dangers of deceit, the price of protection. But her next words are a balm to my frayed nerves, a reassurance that steadies the trembling of my hands.

Granny’s head moves in a firm shake as she catches my gaze, her eyes alight with something fierce and unwavering. “No, they won’t,” she insists, the words cutting through the haze of my terror. “You’re a rogue; it’s not uncommon for rogues to not have ID. Most are sovereign, avoiding getting caught up in pack politics.”

She’s right; Rogues often skirt the fringes of society, unseen and undocumented. It’s how they’ve managed to survive- how I will have to survive. But as I stand here, with the weight of my sister’s birth certificate in my hand, survival takes on a

new form.

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Chapter 13

17:23 Wouchers.

The risks flash before my eyes like lightning in a stormy sky. The Lycan King’s rule over our kind is absolute, his laws shaping the world we live in and the risk to Granny would mean death for helping me.

I glance around Granny’s quaint living room, the walls adorned with faded wallpaper and memories that seem to mock my predicament.

murmur, voicing the dread coiling in my

lying to protect me,” I can’t finish the sentence, the consequences too horrifying

a steel edge

right to be. The plan is risky, dangerously so, but it offers a sliver of hope. The Lycan King rules over werewolves, creates our laws, and governs us. Knowing one is close while Rhett is hunting me is not a good thing because if there is a bounty on me, that means he’ll notify authorities soon then. And just Granny lying about me being here could get her executed. If the King’s guard finds me, I am dead meat. But

is that old,

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Chapter 13

and his dealings with King Soren–at least for a while. It could work. The name I

what are the chances of running into him while grocery shopping, he’s a King, he’d have people doing that sort of thing for him so chances seem pretty good on my end that

days

it came across the news the other night. Thankfully, the only photo he had of me was one my parents gave him from when I was teenager and going through the awkward emo stage, though it also bothered me

grainy footage from the gas station was too distorted to make out my

milk that day only had a mix of rainbow dyes, so we made do, now I looked like I could fart rainbows with the mix of colors in my hair. Granny proved to still have skills, she used to be a hairdresser, and bright colors were her favorite, so she did a good job and I liked the change. Though I hated the extremes I had to go to, just to hide from Rhett.

I keep this up? Not only that, but

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Chapter 13

208 Vouchera

bond I know I’ll never get back. Werewolves had only one mate and mine turned out to be a dud, or maybe I was the dud and that’s why

deliberately being unfaithful to our bond, tormenting me from afar