Page 44 of A Silent Prodigy for the Lycan Princess

No, it isn’t,Maxima says.It’s your gift. Your mind is your gift. I can easily tell.

I swallow thickly. Eric said it all the time, repeating it over and over again, that while I lack bodily strength and don’t have any visible gifts, he is sure there is something not easily detectable by our eyes that’s sleeping in me.

My mind is getting calmer all of a sudden, and I take a deep breath, switching on the hearing aid again.

Focusing back on my surroundings. I notice Vander lying on the ground, a bruise forming beneath his left eye. He must have tried to stop Dad, and while he didn’t fully stop him, he distracted him enough for Cato and me to strengthen our minds.

My own father hates me so much he wants to force me to reject my mate. What did I ever do to him? The accident wasn’t my fault, and my hearing loss was just a consequence of said accident. His rejection of me back then hurt my heart more than anything could. I was a child back then, yet I understood what was happening.

The healers at the Council came up with excuses as to why my father wasn’t visiting, why he couldn’t, but even back then, my mind wouldn’t allow me a moment of peace. I just knew. I put the puzzle pieces together and knew he didn’t want to see me.

It was the only logical explanation.

And I was right.

Since then, I have locked myself inside my head. I studied and read and kept the silence around me, unless it was for Vander. I made it through school that way, and through the bullying of my schoolmates. Gustave’s face flashes in front of my eyes, remembering how his friends would empty a bucket with white color over me. He was there, too, laughing. They would steal my books and break into my locker until I learned to hide my stuff.

They would insult me and mock me, then I blocked their voices and refused to hear them.

The silence was a gift at these moments.

I feel tingles on my hand, glancing downwards to notice Aurelia has taken my hand. I have her approval and Vander’s. I don’t need anyone else. Family is who I choose.

“No,” I say, glaring at my father. “I won’t reject her.”

Chapter fifteen

Her Show

*ARDEN*

My father looks at me, shock and confusion in his eyes. He’s clearly struggling to come to terms with my answer; however, he furrows his brows, staring at me. I feel something pushing against my mind, but Cato has his mind link blocked.

Father growls, turning towards his warriors. “I won’t let them insult me like that,” he huffs.

Beta Jules’s eyes widen in shock.

“Catch them and put them in the cells!” my father snarls.

Goddess, is he stupid!? Is he truly going to imprison a lycan princess, someone with direct connection to the Council? Aurelia is Alpha Elden’s child—the crown prince’s child. The fact he is going to be king means he and his children are direct descendants of one of the first lycans to ever exist.

My father’s command seems to be too much for his warriors as they eye each other nervously. “Now!” he bellows, his alpha aura seeping through, making it impossible for them to deny him.

“Poor guys,” Aurelia mutters. “I won’t kill them.”

I whip my head to the side to stare at her. “What?”

“You had your showdown. Now it’s mine.” She frowns. “He’s insulted me more than enough.”

It all happens so fast, like a flash before my eyes. I lunge forward to protect her, but before I even move, I notice that Beta Jules and the two warriors have been pushed away. Beta Jules is lying on the ground, curling over in pain; the others are against the wall.

How did she do that?

Cato projects an image in my mind with Aurelia looking at us and smiling brightly. Yes, he is right, our mate is awesome. He shows me more, of how fast she moved, so fast that our eyes couldn’t catch it.

Is your gift to be that fast?I ask her.

No,she says.But, I can stop time, at least for a very short moment. Long enough for me to use it in a battle. A few seconds are a lot when you’re fighting.