Page 32 of A Silent Prodigy for the Lycan Princess

“Right,” I say.

“I really like her. She is a confident and smart young woman.”

Emilien just nods his agreement. “I am glad she and her friends are coming. Ever since Prince Eric’s twin advisors left, he’s felt a bit lonely. They were like his little sisters.”

“Elodie and Elise, am I right? You think they are not going to return?”

Emilien smiles slightly. “No, one of them has already met her mate there. I don’t think they will return. They found their place somewhere else. Eric fully supports it, but it doesn’t mean he doesn’t miss them.”

“But he has Arden and Vander, now,” Leila says and winks at me.

“Yes, he really likes you.” Emilien chuckles. “Be careful, or he will hire you.”

“I wouldn’t mind,” I say.

“You will probably become alpha,” Emilien says. “So, it will be difficult for you to join him here full time.”

Leila just smiles at me, her eyes carrying a knowing gaze I don’t quite understand, but she doesn’t say anything, and I know better than to push.

While we chat, one of the maids approaches Emilien, telling him that the suites for Eric and Valerie’s guests are ready. “Each of them get their own room. Just in case,” Emilien tells me. “Only one of the young women is mated, the young witch hybrid. She happens to be Lady Valerie’s closest friend.”

“Valerie has been looking forward to all of them visiting,” I say. “I am so happy for her.”

“Me too. She basically moved continents for Eric and left her friends and family behind.”

“It’s interesting,” Leila says. “It doesn’t really show in Val’s behavior. She is quiet but not shy, and she fits in here so well.”

“She was very sick as a child due to her wolf having special powers. I think she was just happy to finally be able to travel and make plans instead of being bound to a hospital bed,” Emilien explains.

“A fresh start,” I mutter.

“Indeed.”

For a split second, I envy her. I wish I could have a fresh start like she did. Valerie is one of my favorite people on the planet, and clearly, I don’t truly envy her, but I still dream of this option.

“I think it’s time for us to return,” Leila says.

Emilien and I agree, following her back to my office. The plan for the afternoon is to track down the girl Leila dreamed of. Once back in the office, Gustave and Zoé arrive soon afterwards, getting right back on track.

I have a digital drawing pad for Leila to draw the picture of the girl again, just her face from the front and her profile. Leila is the best at drawing out of us, so it’s clearly something only she can do. Zoé helps her getting accustomed with the pad before she draws said pictures of the young woman.

“It’s the best I can do,” she says.

“It’s good enough,” I reassure her.

“And now?” Gustave asks.

“Zoé,” I say. “Can you try to run the picture through our database of missing werewolves?”

“Of course,” she says. “Prince Eric gave me access to everything. The Council overrides the usual autonomy of the packs. In this case, I can access all the digital information.”

I watch how she runs the program, all of us looking at the pictures of men and women popping up. It’s a surprisingly large amount of werewolves who have gone missing. I wonder what happened to them. Maybe some of them became rogues or died without anyone knowing, maybe some ran off…

The number of missing werewolves is still relatively small compared to what the humans probably have, so Zoé is done quickly.

“No success,” Emilien mutters.

“Maybe I was wrong?” Leila says.