Page 123 of A Female Alpha for the Lycan Prince

I nod, and Elden turns to look at Eric and smiles. “Your trip really has turned out successful this time, hasn’t it?”

“Absolutely,” Eric agrees, as he kisses Valerie’s hand. “And now, if I could just convince my king to take over the Council, my mission will be fully accomplished.”

Elden throws his hands into the air in slight annoyance, shaking his head. “You’re unbelievable,” he mutters.

I chuckle, not saying anything… yet… but I’m with Eric on this. Taking over the Council as the king would be Elden’s birthright, and he would do a fantastic job. I think he knows that already, and once Silverlake has found its successor… probably in either Aurelia or Finn… then maybe he will change his mind.

We make our way back down the mountain to meet with Jade and the others while Elden goes to help Ciara. He reassures me that he doesn’t need backup and will call some of his warriors to come, so that I can deal with the aftermath of Val’s abduction, while he helps Ciara. They will then accompany him to Liam and Marius.

Leaving Elden behind, we arrive at the bottom of the mountain to find the others super excited by our successful rescue of Val… especially when they see Valerie and Eric together. Jazz screams in joy and jumps on Valerie to hug her. “You’ve got yourself an actual prince!? Woohooo girl, hot!”

Valerie stares at her. “Prince?” she stutters. She looks at Eric. “Prince!?”

He winks at her. “Oh, did I forget to mention that?” He combs through his hair in a dramatic gesture. “It must have slipped my mind. My apologies, my sweet angel.”

Harmony and I exchange a grin. Valerie has yet to see Eric at his most… well, Eric. She’s in for a big surprise. He’s very capable and charming, but also sassy and cunning. It’s exactly that kind of laid-back prince charming attitude that Valerie needs to bring her further out of her shell.

Jade crosses her arms in front of her body as she stares at Eric. “Really? You’ve just found your mate in a freaking castle, where she was held captive?”

“Like a fairytale, isn’t it?” he beams, a sassy grin on his face. “My beautiful maiden was locked up like Rapunzel at the top of the tower, waiting for her prince. I should have called up to her: ‘Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!’”

Jazz and Garret burst into hysterical laughter along with Valerie, making Eric smile at her adoringly.

Jade just groans. “Wolves,” she mutters, annoyed. “Justus,” she turns to my grandfather. “I need a drink. Better make it strong.”

Grandpa looks amused. “What are we doing about them?” he asks, pointing at the two witches Jade captured. The younger one had surrendered early on, looking glad the whole ordeal was over, but the other one… Sina… she fought to the bitter end and now lay motionless on the ground.

“Is she still alive?” I ask.

“Yes,” Jade shrugs. “But I’ve made sure she can’t move. I’ll open a portal and have some of my coven take them. I know this is your fight, Celine, but they are witches, and I would prefer if I could bring them in front of our own council.”

“Actually, that’s very much in my favor,” I tell her. I have no idea how to deal with witch criminals, and prefer she and her coven deal with them.

“You can open a portal?” Harmony asks in surprise. “Why couldn’t we have done that before?”

“It’s not that simple,” Desmona jumps in to explain. “We need to have visited the place at least once in our life before we can connect it with a portal. We can’t put portals in places we don’t know.”

“Makes sense,” I nod.

While Jade deals with the witches, Elias, Marcel, and the rest of their team join us. I make sure to have some of the warriors patrol here at our borders, in case Henrick has any more allies lurking nearby.

Henrick is being sent directly to the nearest werewolf prison instead of coming with us to our dungeons at Moon Blood. There are a few of these prisons scattered around the world. We only use our dungeon for prisoners we intend to question, or those we think might be able to rehabilitate and eventually return to pack life—they will be held for a short-term punishment—or in case there still has to be a decision made regarding their guilt.

But there is no way Henrick will be going anywhere soon. He is best locked up in the werewolf prison and dealt with by actual judges.

Luca is an entirely different issue, though. One glance at the poor boy, and it’s evident he has suffered. Valerie explained how he helped her and defended her. He looks timid and broken, and his wolf has been locked up ever since he woke up. It will take some time for him to heal and regain his strength.

“You know, Alpha,” Harmony says, “Now that we’re losing Jazz to Red Claw pack and Valerie to the Council… we could do with an additional pack member.”

I look at the boy. “How would you feel about that?”

He flushes and looks at the ground. “Will I be locked in a prison cell?”

“Of course not. You will be a normal member of the pack like all of us. If possible, you will go back to school or learn a trade. The only thing I’d order you to do is get counseling from one of our therapists.”

He looks at me, eyes wide in hope. He probably thought we would kill him or ditch him. Poor soul. “Can I really stay?”

“If you want to, I’ll allow you to become a pack member,” I repeat. “You helped to save Valerie and were an ally to her when she needed one.”