Page 25 of A Silent Prodigy for the Lycan Princess

I like that you see it that way,I beam.See? You are a sweet and kind person.

Tori smiles at me and squeezes my hand shortly before climbing into the car.

Before we can take off, Marius and Finn look at me. “Please call us when you arrive!” they command in unison.

“Wow,” I state dryly.

Marius sighs. “Yeah, that was a bit weird now.”

“Don’t worry.” I chuckle. “I already promised Mom I would call.”

Dad finally takes off and maneuvers us out of the pack lands and towards the airport. Like my brothers, he has always been kind to my friends and welcomed them anytime. They stopped feeling anxious around him long ago.

Once we arrive at the airport, Jazz and Marilou are already waiting for us. Liam’s beta and Jazz’s mate, Aryanna, brought them. Jazz is the only one of us who has already met her mate, and when she hugs and kisses her goodbye, I feel it for the first time… that I’m longing for this type of bond, too. I’m in no hurry, but it must be nice to have met the one person destined for you.

Dad hugs me goodbye before I can disappear through the security check. “Have a great time, Aurelia,” he says. “You truly deserve this break.”

Chapter nine

A New Job

*ARDEN*

I’ve been working relentlessly ever since the winter solstice. Vander asked me a few questions the next day when he realized Coralie wasn’t around, but for the first time ever, I couldn’t answer him honestly. I feel so embarrassed and ashamed that she managed to use and betray me like that. She wanted to seduce me and film us having sex to have leverage over me, to blackmail me. Maybe she would have even shown it to her friends to laugh at me.

She probably felt disgusted about me all along.

Since then, I have tried to wipe this memory off my mind. I’ve seen her once. She looked at me as if she was about to walk over, but I made sure to give her no chance to do so.

Cato and I deserve more than pity.

“You are not listening,” my father yells, startling me as he hits his fist on the table in the dining room. “It’s not enough that my oldest son is a useless cripple who can’t even hear, but he can’t even pay attention.”

He has one of these days where he has set his anger towards me, more so than usual. I’m used to it by now.

He is on his feet all of a sudden, rushing towards me and pulling me up from my chair. “Can you hear me?” he yells right into my ear. “Why are you such a coward? Why was I burdened with your existence!?” He pushes me against the wall before grabbing my throat. “At least fight me!”

“Don’t!” Vander yells, rushing towards us and grabbing Dad’s arm. “Let him go! He didn’t do anything wrong!”

Dad lets go, shortly, turning around to backhand Vander. I watch in horror as my brother drops to the ground. “He was born,” Dad spits out.

Vander doesn’t give up, though. He wipes the blood off his nose and scrambles to his feet. Before he can cling to Dad’s arm again, there is a knock at the door.

Dad releases me not without glaring at me with disgust. “I can’t believe the Goddess punished me with two useless sons. At least Vander isn’t damaged.” He pushes past Vander, almost knocking him to the ground again, before disappearing out of the suite.

My heart breaks at the sight of my brother. He got it this time, although, I should have taken the brunt of our father’s anger. It’s me he hates the most, for how I am.

“That asshole,” Vander huffs. “Why can’t he just leave us alone?”

We are his punching bags to relieve his stress. He won’t ever leave us alone. I’m not telling that to Vander, though. He has enough on his plate already. “Wait here,” I tell him, hurrying to the bathroom to retrieve the first aid kit.

Walking by the mirror, I notice the bruises he left when he strangled me. Cato will be able to heal me, but Vander doesn’t have his wolf yet. I make my way back to my brother fast, noticing how he has sat back at the dining table, eyeing his food. “It’s cold, now,” he mutters.

“I will take you out for a fresh one,” I say.

Vander smiles before his eyes drop to the kit in my hand. “You don’t have to do that. It’s just a bruise and a split lip. I will tell them that it happened during training.”

I ignore him, taking some disinfecting spray out of the kit and putting some on a cotton pad. “You shouldn’t have done that,” I say, carefully pressing it against his lip.