Page 81 of A Female Alpha for the Lycan Prince

Annie looks a bit flustered but then chuckles too. “Yeah, it was pretty obvious…”

Mom stirs her soup absent-mindedly, “The light is strong in you, Annie,” she mutters more to herself than to us.

Aryanna looks at me.The light?She links me.

I wish I knew what she was talking about,I answer honestly.Most of the time, I have no idea what she’s saying.

Mom smiles. “You all overestimate me sometimes and think I know everything. Well…” she tilts her head. “Some things I know for certain through… my connections. But other signs I can only interpret from experience, and then… unfortunately, when it’s about my own flesh and blood, my gift doesn’t work at all.” For a brief moment, her gaze lingers on me, and she looks almost frustrated. Like she wants to read me but can’t. “The light that surrounds Annie was so strong, plus there seemed to be an extra light coming from inside her body, I just knew she had to be with child.”

“My gift works similarly,” Dad agrees. “There’s a lot of interpretation.”

“So, how far along are you?” Aurelia asks into the lingering silence.

Her question raises a whole bunch of additional ones from Felix and Dario… and my mom. Annie answers them all. I’m so thankful that the spotlight is on her. It makes it easier to fade to the background. That is, until we start dinner, and Annie has to excuse herself after only a few spoonfuls of soup. “I’m sorry,” she sighs. “But—”

“Don’t be, sweetheart,” Mom chimes in. “I know the struggle. Come,” she stands up and takes Annie’s hand. “I’ll show you a room where you can rest a bit.”

Dad looks worried when he sees Mom and Annie retreat. He turns to the twins. “Please join your mother and see if she needs anything for Annie.”

“Scared she might tell Annie too much about her own pregnancy experiences with lycan babies?” Felix grins.

Dad sighs. “You have no idea…”

They both nod, eager to help. Once they have left the room, everyone goes quiet. My father looks at all of us expectantly.

“And,” he says after a while into the silence. “Anyone care to fill me in on why I can cut the tension with a metaphorical knife right now?”

No one talks, but I can see Eric sighing slightly. He seems to contemplate if he should do or say something, but Emilien shakes his head at him.

“And how are you guys doing?” my father inquires further, looking at Liam and me.

I can’t believe it. Liam hasn’t told him. He really hasn’t said a word!?

“What can I say?” Liam mutters, obviously aware that our parents easily see through any lie. “Could be better.”

“That bad?” our father wants to know. “What happened?”

Liam stays silent for a while, his eyebrows furrowed, then however, he looks at our father. “I truly mean no disrespect,” he says politely. “But I’d like to treat it as a pack issue. I’d like to deal with it personally.”

To my surprise, Dad leans back a bit. “Alright,” he nods. “I can respect that.”

Liam nods thankfully, smiling shortly. “Excuse me for a moment. I would like to see if my wife is alright.” He looks at Eric, raising one of his brows. “Please help us and enlighten everyone with one of your wonderful stories.”

“Absolutely! Can do.” Eric grins. “I was waiting for my moment to shine. How about I tell you all about the time I was accidentally imprisoned in Paris?”

Aryanna looks at him, a smirk curling her lips. “Oh yes! I want to know more about that. Particularly the part about it being an accident.”

The Birthday Party

*VALERIE*

“Ican’tfreakingbelieveit. We can finally celebrate!” Jazz beams. “Here, grab one of the baskets, Val.”

I nod, nudging her softly. “Or what? Will you curse me if I don’t?”

We both giggle.

“Very funny,” Marilou comments dryly. “You’re so mature.”