Page 144 of A Silent Prodigy for the Lycan Princess

“Gemstones,” Eric finishes.

“He had a son from his chosen mate. He never marked her, which means the bond to his actual mate never broke,” Leila adds. “But here it gets weird. I talked to the alpha of the pack in Auvergne. His father was the one working with Guillaume. He said his father always admired Guillaume for his talents, although they butted heads a lot for their differing views. There is a rumor surrounding Guillaume, namely that he met his true mate one day and kept her hidden until she ran off. No proof, though.”

“Meg’s mother,” Arden says. “It has to be her. Even if it didn’t happen exactly like the rumors say, there has to be some truth to it.”

“Yes, I think so too,” I say. “The director of the orphanage said that Meg’s mother was on the run and clearly hiding from someone. She wouldn’t even say his name.”

“What we know for sure is that Guillaume split from his chosen mate, took his son, and disappeared,” Leila continues. “Then, there was no sighting of him for a long while until a pack in the south stumbled over his dead body. It looked like bears ripped him apart.”

“Bears, or his son,” Eric mutters.

“Going by what Annette said, Night killed his father, so it’s safe to say that it wasn’t bears,” I point out.

“Let me get this straight,” Nox says. “Guillaume and his chosen mate had a son. Said son is our culprit, Night. But Guillaume never marked his chosen mate, so when he stumbled over his fated mate, the mate bond kicked in, and he wanted to claim her as his, abducted her, probably locked her up, and did horrendous things to her. She escaped, gave birth to Meg in secret, and passed away.”

“She is his gemstone,” Arden adds. “We know that Guillaume was the first with the obsession.”

“So, father and son separate from Guillaume’s chosen mate, and do Goddess knows what to track down Meg’s mom.” Nox pauses. “And then suddenly Night decides he has had enough, kills his father, and sets out to get his half-sister, Meg. That’s insane! All of it.”

“Folie à deux,” Arden points out.

“I was about to say the same thing,” Gustave agrees. “It certainly sounds like it.”

“What does that mean?” I ask.

“It means two people share a psychosis,” Arden explains. “It mostly occurs when two people live closely together, possibly isolated. In this case, Guillaume had the psychosis and probably transferred it to his son.”

“That’s possible?” Zoé asks, shocked.

“It’s rare,” Arden says. “But it’s not unheard of.”

“We know Night is very smart,” Eric says. “Chances are high that he got this psychosis from his father but then bested him because he was clearly the more intelligent individual.”

“It also explains where Night’s money comes from,” Nox adds. “His father must have been loaded. It helped to get hisbusinessrunning, and once he had customers, they added to his wealth.”

“Is it possible that Guillaume originally helped with that plan?” Zoé asks.

“I doubt it,” Arden says. “From what we heard, he was mainly obsessed with Meg’s mother but was not controlled and organized enough to manage what Night is pulling off.”

“He was a wealthy man,” Eric says. “Did Guillaume own some estates?”

“Plenty,” Arden says. “Which makes our search so difficult. We could search through every one of his possible properties, but where to start?”

“We are running out of time,” I say. “We can’t look through every property and hope Meg, Léna, and Coralie are there.”

“I agree.” Nox takes a step forward. “And that’s why I want to propose a plan.”

“Go ahead.”

“We need a trap. We need someone to play bait, if you want to call it that way, someone to lure them out. Have them go to the hospital and fake donate blood and make sure everyone knows they havetheblood group.”

“That’s dangerous,” Arden says.

“I know,” Nox says. “But it’s not like we have many options left. Léna and Coralie were abducted. Clearly Night’s plan changed, and whatever he is doing now is for revenge, and he has a strong, unknown supporter now who served him Coralie and Léna on a silver platter. Plus, they have to be desperate for new victims now. They lost three at once but still have customers waiting for fresh blood.”

“I have to agree,” I mutter. “This is getting worse every minute. We need to take the risk.”

“It’s going to be difficult to get a good bait so fast.” Eric frowns. “Most wolves and lycans working here are well-known in one way or another. I would need to request someone from a pack far away.”