Page 154 of A Silent Prodigy for the Lycan Princess

I let Maxima’s claws come out and slice this pathetic lowlife’s throat before he can finish his shift. “I believe not,” I mutter, while he drops to the ground motionlessly.

“Aurelia!” Nox calls out while he runs into the room. “There is no one—” he pauses, eyeing the dead guy. “Guess I missed the fun.”

“Auri!” Tori exclaims, dashing forward and wrapping her arms around me.

“It’s okay,” I say. “You are safe.”

“You came!”

“Of course, there is no way I would let anyone hurt you,” I reassure her.

My gaze wanders through the room. “How are you three?” I ask the other girls.

“I’m fine,” Léna says. “But Coralie is hurt.” She turns to the woman. “You saved me again.”

“Oh fuck,” I mutter, gently nudging Tori to let me go so that I can see how severely wounded Coralie is. “The bullet hit you, didn’t it?” I ask.

“It’s okay,” Coralie says. “Just my shoulder. The bullet went straight through, fortunately.”

“Help is on its way,” I say. “Wait, let me remove the silver collars from you girls.”

I start with Coralie so that she can begin healing, before I turn to Nox. He has been very quiet so far. He just keeps staring at us, his eyes wide and an expression of surprise on his face. Tori and I exchange a gaze, watching him as he steps closer to the young woman who is still cowering in the corner.

“Hello,” Nox says, carefully getting down on his knees in front of the girl. “You are Meg, aren’t you?”

“I am Meg,” she mutters. “I am Meg Rose Acorn.” And then again. “I am Meg.”

“Can I remove this from you?” he asks gently, pointing at her collar.

“Make it go away,” she whispers. “Before he returns.”

Very carefully and slowly, so as not to scare her, Nox removes the collar from her neck. “Can’t be,” Tori whispers towards me.

Sudden noises erupt from outside and on the first floor, making Meg flinch and retreat into her corner. “No,” Nox says gently. “That’s not them. It’s friends, good people. We have been looking everywhere for you.”

“For me,” Meg mutters.

“You saved Opal, didn’t you? Annette?” Nox says quietly.

“She is alive!” Meg blurts out.

“Alive and well, and we were able to find you because of her,” Nox says.

“She is alive,” Meg repeats.

One by one the other teams start to trickle in. Arden is one of the first, and when he sees the girls, Meg in particular, it’s like all strength leaves him. He drops to his knees. “We weren’t too late,” he says. “We weren’t too late!”

“No, this time we came in time,” I reassure him, hugging him from behind.

“Léna, you are safe too,” Arden says. “I am so glad. And you too, Coralie.”

“Actually, Coralie protected me all this time,” Léna says to my surprise.

“Yeah listen,” Coralie says. “I know I have been shit to you, Arden. Let me apologize to you and your mate. Truth is, I hit on you because you were an alpha, but then I realized I really fell foryou. I didn’t expect it, so I turned into a vicious psycho and tried to trap you.”

Léna stares at her. “You really have a sense of timing, don’t you?” she asks in disbelief.

“What!? I promised I would be honest if we get out of this alive,” Coralie says. “And I decided now is the best moment. Who knows if I will ever see them again, or might chicken out.”