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.

stop,” | murmur, voicing the dread coiling in my gut.

protect me,” I can’t finish the sentence,

interjects, a steel edge to her tone that brooks no

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 for now, I just need to lie low and pray to the goddess that I can somehow

that old, how old are these chains Granny suggested, I may be rogue but I’m also alpha blood and Alpha blood is strong, and so is

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Chapter 13

King Soren–at least for a while. It could work. The name I gave the King was

the chances of running into him while grocery shopping, he’s a King, he’d have people doing

days later.

one my parents gave him from when I was teenager and going through the awkward emo stage, though it also bothered me that he had no photos of me, because I

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

local chemist when I got 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

could I keep this up?

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Chapter 13

208 Vouchera

the mate bond is excruciating. Some nights, all | can do is lie awake and endure it. I can feel his infidelity in every atom of my body. Some nights I hated him, others I mourned the mate bond. A 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 he chose her over me. The questions my mind rattles off and taints my psych with

is deliberately being unfaithful to our bond, tormenting me from afar with the crippling agony