Lycan's Prey by Jessica Hall

Chapter 35

Valarian POV

288 iVouchers

A few hours earlier

“Valarian, are you dressed yet?” Mom yells out to me. I grab the piece of paper with my dad’s address. it and a small list I made of his description. Mom said I should recognize him, and the funny feeling I get in my tummy should tell me he is my dad.

“Coming, mom,” I call back to her while unfolding the paper again because the corners didn’t match. Why doesn’t it match? I refold it. Casey walks into the room, and I hate how she taps on my door. Two taps, it should be three, odd numbers, odd numbers. I try to refold the paper, but her knock irritates me making me stuff the corners up again.

“Valarian, we are gonna be late,” mom calls again.

“Casey, knock,” I snap, not meaning to. Casey is my best friend.

“I forgot, you are so weird, Vally,” Casey laughs but knocks on the door again, and I let out a breath. I know the other kids think I am weird, they all do but I don’t mind when Casey says it, she doesn’t say it in a mean way.

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“Did you get it?” I whisper to Casey, and she kneels pulling her bag off her shoulder and pulling out torn pieces of paper.

“I tore them out,” she says excitedly before stuffing them back in her bag when we hear footsteps.

“Valarian, come on, come on,” Mom says, ushering us out of the bedroom. Casey giggles at our little secret. Today I find my dad. Mom is getting sick, I know she Jes it, but I see the puffiness under her eyes, how she is always too tired to play and lately she has been falling asleep when she reads to me. She never has time, time, time, never enough time to play with me anymore. Dad will have time for me, I know he will have time, or I hope he does, then maybe he can make mom not so tired no more. Maybe then she will play more, I miss when mom played but now she gets tired too quickly and needs to rest. She thinks I don’t notice but I notice everything about mom, she is the best mommy.

I follow mom out of the house, trying not to think of the torn- up phone book pages. I wanted the maps. I wasn’t sure how to read the maps, but it can’t be that hard, like a pirates map, dad is the golden chest at the end, and I was going to find him and surprise mom. I couldn’t wait to make her smile.

“Valarian seatbelt,” Mom hisses; she was always in a hurry. I clip my belt in and Casey does hers, and then mom puts the car stick on the D, and the car moves, and we are on our way to school.

We stop out the front of my school. My teacher is waiting out

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don’t like her, and she always smells funny, like burnt grass and cigarette smoke. Plus, she talks too slow. Mom gets out of the car and opens my door before walking me

me with a kiss on the cheek before she rushes back to the car, honking the horras she leaves. I

my hand, but I don’t let her. Her hands stunk bad like the rest of her, and she always looked like a poodle with her weird puffy hair and

the seat at recess. I try to flatten the pages out, looking for the street name that

find it.

the right pages?” I ask Casey,

I supposed to know? You said get the maps, I got the

another way to find my dad.

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follow, these ones have lots of lines

fine. Someone must know where my dad

come to find the

on over the top of my shirt and the jeans over my shorts. My shorts

and the lines will go away,” Casey tells me, and I nod, stuffing the maps in my bag and putting it over my shoulder.

tell her as we sneak to the front gate. They always leave it open. Casey looks around the corner while eating her anchovy sandwich before giving me a thumbs up and I run out the gate before stuffing my bag in the dead hedges

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would be worried. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. When I come across a man at the traffic lights I stop. I didn’t know if I was going in the right direction when I saw a man dressed in a suit, like those coming to Mom’s hotel. He glances down at me, and

“What kid?”

ask, showing him the piece of paper. He huffs and takes it from me and laughs.

“Alpha Valen’s?”

knew where it was. Where my dad

boy want to see

rogue boy; I am an Alpha like my dad,” I tell

and who is your dad?”

“Alpha Valen Solace.”

laughs harder. “Is

I tell

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will give

take me to him?”

going there anywhere. in the penthouse

in that big

work for

and we walk up the hill toward the big building with the bright lights. The door opens as we

Tatum?” the man in the

thinks the Alpha is his

rogue whore sent their kid up

rogue whore. He is her mate,

all claim that too, but come on, let’s get this over

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my reflection in them, and something smells yummy, making

your name anyway?” the man asks.