Page 140 of A Silent Prodigy for the Lycan Princess

“He is a mess,” Arden says. “But Lion and Tori are with him. They are great.”

“How about we join them?” I offer.

“I can’t tell him yet,” Arden mutters. “Not before I have real evidence, and not before I find the courage to do so.”

“You don’t need to tell him anything, now. Let’s just spend some time with him,” I say, hoping it will be good for Arden too.

“I knew he didn’t love me,” he says quietly. “But I thought he at least would feel for Vander.”

I’m not sure what to say. Anything I could say feels empty because I grew up with a loving family. My father’s love for us is unconditional. Even when he is mad at us, I have never been scared of him. He always supported us and our dreams. When Felix wanted to take up surfing, Dad made sure he could goto classes and even gifted him a surfboard. When I wanted to learn self-defense and martial arts, I got his full support. Marius went through a phase in which he was interested in mythology, and Dad made sure he got to see every exhibition possible and got the books he wanted. He never laughed about anything we wanted to do or were interested in.

And I know if Mom passed away, he would never take it out on us. He would never sully her memory by abusing us.

“How am I going to face this, Aurelia?” Arden asks tiredly.

I take his hand, holding it tightly. “I don’t know, but I will make sure to be at your side when you do. You are not alone, Arden. I’m going to be there all the way.”

“You promise?” he asks, sounding so broken my heart clenches. “Tell me you won’t leave me, although my life is so pathetic.”

“Arden, nothing about you is pathetic,” I say, taking his hand to lead it to my neck. “I’m proudly carrying your mark. You are mine with everything it entails. I’m not going anywhere.”

He leans his forehead against mine. “I am truly lucky with the Goddess’s blessing,” he says, kissing me softly. He draws back after a while. “Come,” he says. “Let’s see how your friends and my brother are coping.”

Chapter forty-four

Progress

*AURELIA*

Tori and Lion are in Vander’s room with him when we join them. The brothers don’t exchange a word, but Arden squeezes Vander’s shoulder.

“We are having a late-night snack,” Tori says.

“Are there leftovers for us?” I ask while sitting down next to her.

“Of course, Lion organized the food. We have food for a legion.” Her voice is lighthearted, and she smiles, but I can see that she’s putting up a façade to distract Vander.

It doesn’t work because Vander just looks crestfallen. “I can’t lose her,” he mutters.

“We won’t,” Arden says with emphasis. “I won’t rest until we have found Léna. Alive!”

We really need to. It will break Arden if he can’t keep this promise and loses another victim, but also Léna and Coralie don’t deserve this happening to them, and Meg doesn’t either.

“Does Dad know?” Vander asks.

I can almost see Arden’s breath getting stuck in his lungs. “What do you mean?” he asks, appalled.

Vander looks confused at his reaction. “Well, I mean, Léna and Coralie are pack members. He needs to know they are missing.”

Arden still needs some time to recover, so I jump in. “Eric is dealing with that,” I reassure Vander. It was one of the first things Eric did when he heard what happened. Despite his aloof attitude, he is very diligent.

Vander gazes at Arden, still looking confused, but fortunately my answer seems to be sufficient for now. What a mess.

Do you think it’s truly been his father?I ask Maxima.Do you think he would do that to his sons?

We saw what he was about to do to him when we met his father for the first time,Maxima mutters.I didn’t think he would go that far, but I believe in our mate and his gut feeling.

That’s what’s worrying me. Arden for sure has played through all the other scenarios, and with all he knows, this is not only the most likely one, it’s also the one his feeling tells him is true. This is going to hurt both of them, so much.