Page 12 of A Silent Prodigy for the Lycan Princess

*ARDEN*

The preparations at the Council are going into the last stage, and everything is as crazy as it can be. Christmas in Paris is just magical, and even more so at the Council. My younger brother and I are here to help because Prince Eric requested for us to be, and it’s probably the only thing my father truly likes about me:the fact that one of the princes of the Council sees a tiny bit of potential in me.

Eric rummages through some of the books. “Where again was the passage about lycans during the Enlightenment and French Revolution?” he mutters.

I turn to him. “The Years of Evolution,” I say. “Page 215.”

He looks at me. “Bless you and your eidetic memory,” he mutters. “Please tell me you can recite the whole passage.”

“I can,” I reassure him, helping him write the facts down. Considering I am an alpha’s son, his firstborn, at that, I’m not particularly strong and not really skilled in any areas. I don’t even know if I have a particular gift. As an alpha-blooded lycan, I am supposed to have gifts, but so far I can’t sense any. My only asset is my mind.

One of Prince Eric’s subordinates enters, and I turn back to my work. I lower my hearing aid to avoid hearing what they are talking about. Eventually, the both of them leave the room. Silence engulfs me, completely, lulling me in. Years ago, when I had the accident, I was devastated to realize I lost major parts of my hearing, but now it’s a blessing. I can tune out everything around me, and just be with myself.

Half an hour into my work, I can feel something changing. Vibrations through the floor indicate a soft, even padding of footsteps. A young woman. I sense her approaching and look up, noticing Valerie. She is Prince Erics’s mate, a young, beautiful, and gentle woman, one of the kindest people I have ever met.

I don’t have many friends, but she is one, so I immediately turn my hearing aid up again.

“Why do you do that?” she asks quietly.

“Sometimes I prefer the silence,” I admit.

I like to be engulfed by it, and not hear what others say about me. The moment I realized I could literally tone their insults down or block them out—the mocking, the hate, the disgust—thesilence around me became much more bearable. Like a blanket I can pull over my head and not see or hear anyone.

I don’t talk much, either, unless it’s with people I am comfortable with or when I really have to. Sometimes, I am not sure if my voice is too loud or if I pronounce a word awkwardly.

“What happened to your face?” she asks.

“I had training today,” I explain. “With my father.”

“And he hurt you like that?”

“Get up,” my father links me. He is the only one whose voice I can’t escape even if I wanted to. His alpha command could easily break through any barrier I put up.

I’ve learned to remove my hearing aid before training with him. It would always break in one way or another. The downside is that it gives me a disadvantage not to wear it… something I feel that he enjoys.

The moment I scramble to my feet, he punches me again, sending me flying. “You are my son, my oldest,” he yells. “Why aren’t you better?”

“Well, I am an alpha’s son,” I say. “Training is always hard.”

Valerie reaches out her hand, touching my face. I feel the warmth flooding through her fingers, feeling how the slight burn of the cut on my cheek subsides. “Done,” she says, pulling her hand away.

“You shouldn’t exert yourself over such a minor injury,” I say.

She laughs. “But it’s not draining me much to do it,” she says. “You know I could try again…” she pauses. “With, well, with your hearing.”

When Valerie arrived here and heard of my ailment, she offered to try to heal it. That was if I wanted her to. And I did. I wanted it. I wanted to feel normal for one time in my life. Her gift is healing. She is a true miracle and is considered a special werewolf. The Council was basically hysterical in their joy whenthey realized she and Prince Eric were mates and that she would move here. Healers are incredibly rare.

But no matter what she tries, she can’t heal my hearing. The first time she tried, the repercussions of using her gift hit her, and she spent three days in bed with a fever. That’s the downside of having a gift like hers; there is always a price to pay. Hers is to be of weak health.

It made me realize that my lack of hearing is part of me. No matter if I like it or not, it’s not going to magically go away.

“No.” I shake my head. “We tried it a few times already,” I pause. “The injury that ruined my hearing is old,” I say quietly. “Too old, and it even influenced my wolf. Back then, everyone thought that once I got my wolf, it would…” I pause, not sure how to continue.

Valerie doesn’t say anything. She understands me even without me saying it aloud. I grab my ear as if I can make the silence go away and heal me magically. My wolf has the same ailment as I do. He wasn’t able to heal me despite being an alpha wolf. Ever since that day, I have been my father’s biggest disappointment. It’s bad enough that I am not the best of fighters but even worse that my wolf can’t hear well.

What kind of alpha can’t hear?

My younger brother Vander doesn’t have any disability, but he isn’t the firstborn either. Usually, the first child of an alpha inherits his strength unless they are twins or triplets. Vander isn’t made to lead, and that’s okay, but I am not the typical alpha, either, and that’s a problem.