Page 120 of A Female Alpha for the Lycan Prince

*VALERIE*

Myhearthammersinmy chest like it’s about to escape any minute. Luca and Lenny are rolling across the floor. Luca is clearly no match for Lenny, even though he’s trying. The years of abuse have weakened him, as has the silver collar, and he is much younger than Lenny. He lacks Lenny’s overly aggressive streak.

Lenny is a true psycho.

Fear crawls over me, and I’m not sure what to do or how to get Luca and myself out of this situation. My wolf is a healer, it’s a passive gift. I can’t fight… not much, at least, and definitely not enough to take on Lenny.

Soon Lenny is hovering above Luca, easily pressing him to the floor while he wraps his hands around his neck. I wonder why Lenny hasn’t shifted yet; maybe he forgot… maybe he’s scared that their father would notice… maybe he can’t… I don’t know… but even in his human form, he’s strong.

Seeing Luca struggle and gasp for air kicks my senses back in and I rush toward Lenny, tugging at his arms. “You’re going to kill him,” I yell, punching his back and shoulders repeatedly.

But Lenny is so out of it that he doesn’t even acknowledge my presence.

My fear vanishes all of a sudden, and instead, a new feeling starts crawling over me. It’s foreign and unpleasant… I feel so much anger and hatred for this man. For the things he has done to his younger siblings… Sometimes, when he thought no one was looking, he would stare at Ciara with a sick smirk. What did he do to her when she was still alive? What did he do to Luca?

And then there is Henrick. That sick bastard, who keeps torturing his son and daughter

Allow it to happen,Ailia says to me, her voice low and even.Think of what they did. Are you the first one they brought to this place? What happened to the ones before you? Allow these dark feelings and emotions to grow in you. It’s alright to feel anger. It’s alright to feel desperate and infuriated. These are your emotions, and they are part of you. Light and dark always need to be balanced, even within ourselves.

I do what my wolf tells me to and allow these feelings to grow, acknowledging them as part of me. Seeing Luca on the ground fighting for his life is enough to push me over the edge. “Let go of him,” I yell with sudden fury and grab Lenny’s arm.

Lenny groans in pain, letting go of Luca and clutching his arm. He gasps for air. “What…” he breathes out in pain. “… did you do?”

He collapses on top of Luca.

My eyes go wide. Did I do that? But how?

I can heal… and hurt?

I stand there rooted to the ground with wide eyes, while Luca pushes Lenny off him. “Valerie.” He coughs and grabs my hand to pull me with him. “Let’s get out of here. He’s only unconscious. Who knows how long it will last?”

His voice and touch bring me back to the living. I nod. “Wait a moment!” I call out. I search through Lenny’s pockets, grabbing a bundle of keys from him. Luca blinks rapidly as he realizes what I'm doing.

“Which one?” I ask him.

He knows what I’m talking about without saying it directly. He points at a small key. I tug off the chain and put the rest of the keys in my pocket, before freeing Luca from his silver collar. The skin beneath it is scarred and sore. He’s probably had to wear this for years.

“Come,” Luca hurries to the door.

I follow him swiftly. I’m so ready to leave this awful place!

*CELINE*

It should be more difficult than this, I think, as we push through the few men who guard Sullivan’s castle. It’s just a few rogues who carry the same symbol Marius sent me earlier. As we move closer, it’s evident how run down this place is.

I don’t even want to imagine the terrible things that might have happened in there.

Before we’d started the raid on the castle, I’d received a message from Elias stating,Everything is under control, Alpha. We got most of the rogues. Only a few escaped. Will follow them with Marcel to make sure they don’t ambush you.

Henrick was relying so much on their magic tricks that they didn’t even have many guards around the castle. In a weird and twisted way, it’s like Henrick Sullivan thought it was his Goddess-given right to abduct Valerie and use her gifts. Maybe he thought we wouldn’t even bother to look for her.

Jade was right… this is kind of a letdown. Harmony and I could have probably taken down this place on our own. But I definitely shouldn’t complain about a fight being too easy.

My men rush in different directions to ambush every possible guard. We were prepared for traps and for allies and anything else that Henrick might have. But it seems the pitiful witch and her boss, Sina, the lovesick crazy one, were the only ace they had up their sleeves. Judging by how Jade throws these two around, I doubt they will be a problem for much longer.

I send Garret and one of our teams off to secure the basement. Prince Eric has asked to be on my team, as we are going to concentrate on finding Val. Most of us have shifted, with only a few remaining in their human form. It’s a safety measure in case the enemy has a few tricks up their sleeves that affect our wolf form. I link Harmony and the others.Follow me, I can detect Valerie’s scent.

You can smell her, Alpha?Harmony asks.