Page 174 of A Silent Prodigy for the Lycan Princess

“Arden, can we have a word?” Eric asks.

“Of course,” I say, feeling my stomach churn slightly. I can’t help but feel nervous when I follow him. He sounded so serious, and I worry if I did something to upset him.

“Why do you look so worried?” Eric asks, sounding amused. As usual he easily reads me like an open book. “Did you think I would scold you?”

“I… no,” I pause. “Maybe.”

Eric’s amusement just seems to grow. “Why? Did you do something I need to scold you for? Hopefully something dirty!”

“What—”

“If you need to get your hands on some VIP erotic stuff, I can for sure set you up with something,” he adds. “Or if you want to boost your sex life—”

“No, that’s not it,” I interrupt him with a groan. “My sex life is great.” Actually, the only part of my life that’s great at the moment is Aurelia. The only comfort I seem to find is in her arms. After losing Vander, it took me some time to allow myself to be intimate with her, but once we picked up our sex life again, it just happened to be one thing that seems to heal me.

The mate bond. I am not sure what I would have done without her. I would have gone insane with my grief for Vander; that much is for certain. I try not to talk too much about him, as it still hurts so much, and at first, I thought everyone would judge me for it. But no one did.

Eric smiles. “At least you stopped looking like a lost pup, scared to be scolded by his mentor.” He chuckles. “Let’s grab some coffee.”

I actually feel like getting some caffeine too, thanks to not sleeping well recently. Only Auralia gives me comfort, but I haterelying on her so much and having her carry this burden. She is giving 200% because I can’t do much at the moment.

Eric and I grab a coffee-to-go each because Eric wants to stroll around instead of sitting in an overcrowded café.

“I hope you don’t mind?” he says.

“Not at all. I prefer that too.”

“Maybe we can sit down outside,” he muses before leading me to one of the balconies reserved for the royal members of the Council. At this time of the day, we are the only ones outside. “It’s getting warmer,” he says.

I gaze at the sunny sky. Despite the temperatures still being low it’s indeed getting warmer. From the floors below us, I can hear noises and laughter, the sound straining my ears. I subconsciously move my hand to my hearing device to switch it off.

“Don’t,” Eric stops me, much to my surprise. “Keep it on. You are switching it off a lot recently.”

“The noise hurts me, lately,” I admit, embarrassed that he has noticed.

“I know,” he says. “But please, leave it on.”

Anyone else I might have fought over it, but I respect him too much to not do what he asks of me. He and Aurelia are my two people, and I would do anything for them.

“I will miss you, Arden,” he says all of a sudden.

I raise my gaze, looking at him, surprised by his sudden words.

“You are like a brother to me,” he continues. “Please, don’t believe you don’t have anyone left.”

I don’t know what it is, but his words make my eyes fill with tears. “Fuck,” I curse. I rub over my face and then through my hair. “I wish I would have been quicker,” I hear myself say.

“I know,” Eric says quietly.

“I wish someone would have been faster. I wish I would have seen that he planned to go to Dad… or anyone else would haveseen it. No one paid attention,” I mutter, not even sure why I’m saying it. Eric hasn’t prompted me to say anything; he didn’t ask any questions, yet I can’t help it. I feel like I’m overflowing with emotions and thoughts that need to get out. “Why did no one pay attention? Why did no one ever protect him or me?” I groan in frustration; mostly frustrated with myself and the ups and downs of my mood. I have to be fucking exhausting to be around. “I’m sorry,” I mutter. “You always cared, and Aurelia cares too.”

“No, let it out,” Eric encourages me. “Let your frustration and your anger out.”

“It should have been someone else,” I blurt out, recoiling at my own thoughts. “It’s so unfair,” I add sadly. “I see others being happy, and it just makes me so angry. Vander should be here, and he should smile and be in school. He should be the one being happy.” I bury my face behind my hands. “It should have been me,” I whisper, feeling how tears fill my eyes. “Eric, it should have been me. I should have died, and he should have been here. Why wasn’t it me? I failed him as a brother.”

“You were the best brother Vander could have had,” Eric argues. “And the fact he trusted you so much and looked up to you and saw you as his best friend is proof of that. All you endured during the last couple of years was for him.”

“But what does it matter?” I ask bitterly. “At the end of the day, I couldn’t save him. Actually, I didn’t save anyone, no matter how hard I tried. I only saved Meg, and even for her, help came almost too late.”