My Mate Bet Me Away, So the Lycan King Collected novel · Chapter 8 of 24

Chapter 8: The Table

Lucan reached me before I had finished thinking.

"Who was that?" he said.

"My best friend."

"She smelled of Silver Creek and lies."

"She was crying."

"She cries well." He looked at the gate. "What did she show you?"

I did not want to tell him.

I told him anyway, because the message was burning a hole in my head, and because he had been standing on that gallery for ten minutes watching Kendra with his arms folded.

I told him about the phone, the contact named B, and the words.

When I finished, he did not say anything for a long time.

"When she's gone, you mark me," he repeated.

"She's his. She was always his." My voice came out steadier than I felt. "I've been crying on her shoulder since I was eight."

"Do you want me to throw her out?"

"No."

"Orla."

"I want to know everything she knows." I made myself look at him. "She'll come back with my boxes. Let her. I'll smile and take them, and I'll watch what she does."

His eyes searched my face.

"You'd do that to your friend."

"She wasn't my friend," I said. "She was his."

Something eased in his shoulders.

"Fine," he said. "Then come with me. Tobias won't have news until noon, and I owe you a hand."

I followed him through the hold to a small round room with no windows.

A green felt table sat in the middle, lit by one lamp.

There were two chairs and a single deck of cards on the felt.

"Sit," he said.

I sat across from him.

He shuffled once, the cards moving between his scarred fingers too fast to follow, and set the deck on the felt between us.

"Five card draw," he said. "That's the game at the Blood Moon. One hand. High card wins the pot, and the pot is you."

← Chapter 7 · All chapters · Chapter 9 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend