Page 46 of A Silent Prodigy for the Lycan Princess

Dad just shrugs. “Whatever,” he says, his voice cold and distant. I can see the hurt in Vander’s eyes, a small part of him still hoping that his dad would fight for him, or at least ask him to stay and do the bare minimum you’d wish from a parent, albeit a shitty one.

Aurelia squeezes my hand, and once Emilien and Vander drive off, she and I go to my room and fetch some things. I’ve always lived rather minimalistic, and I have a good amount of stuff in my room at the Council, but I want to grab some last things. At least my father never stopped me from working for the Council; I have to give him that much. Logically, he probably didn’t want to alert Prince Eric, or maybe he was glad I was useful for something. Illogically, I saw it as an ounce of decency he showed towards me.

“You are not taking everything?” Aurelia asks.

I shake my head. “No, I have some stuff at the Council, and most of my books and electronics are there, too. I don’t think my father is going to burn Vander’s and my rooms down. Now that Prince Eric is on alert, he will want to lie low.”

I grab the backpack with my most important stuff and take Aurelia’s hand. “Let’s go. I’m hungry,” I say, although I don’t feel hungry at all. This morning was the biggest mess I’ve ever stumbled into, and most of it was on me. I should have known it would happen, but in my joy of finding my mate, I forgot about my father.

“He is the only parent I have,” I mutter to myself.

“Yes,” Aurelia says, sadly.

“I’ve been your mate for not even 24 hours, and I’m already dumping all my messed-up family situation and trauma on you,” I say.

“Stop it,” she says. “That’s what mates are for.”

“Trauma dumping?”

She chuckles. “Being there for each other. Just for the record, I found it amazing how you were able to block the alpha command. That was hot.”

“You find me hot?”

“Obviously, I do,” she says. “What about you?”

“I think I’m mediocre,” I muse.

Aurelia looks amused. “I mean, do you find me hot?”

“Oh,” I groan inwardly, feeling like the biggest dunce. “You are incredibly hot and beautiful.”

“You know what else is hot?” she asks me.

“No.”

“Coffee.”

I smile, grabbing her hand and kissing it. “Let’s grab some. Goddess, knows I need it.”

Aurelia came to pick me up with a car she borrowed from the Council, so we soon find ourselves driving towards Paris. Midway, we switch, as she claims it’s too confusing for her to drive in a busy city like Paris.

I make sure to drive us to a coffee place where we can order to go, so, we can grab some coffee, croissants, and pain au chocolat, then head out of the busy city to eat somewhere quiet. Both of us don’t feel like being surrounded by too many people, at the moment.

When we settle down in a park, just the two of us, we can finally relax and discuss what happened.

“Your father is…” she pauses.

“An asshole?” I offer.

She looks at me shortly but doesn’t say anything. “I’m sorry,” she says quietly. “I’ve only known you for a day and already messed up your life.”

“No, you didn’t,” I assure her. “You made it worth living. To my father, I don’t count much because I don’t have the usual alpha traits.”

She stops chewing on her croissant, making me halt as well. “Eric told me about you throughout the last couple of months. He told me he has a young assistant here who is more intelligent than any other lycan or werewolf he has ever met. He also told me he had said young assistant take an IQ test and that despite all his knowledge and talents, he is very humble.” She frowns.“You are not the problem, Arden. You are fine the way you are. Your father, however, is an idiot.”

I chuckle. I’ve never met someone so blunt yet charming as her. “He wasn’t always like that,” I admit. “My mother passed away, and it was just him, Vander and me. We were still little when he grabbed us and moved us to Paris. Mom was from this pack. She was an alpha’s daughter, and they desperately needed someone to reign, so Dad did it. Everything went well, as well as it could without Mom here. Then, the accident happened.”

“The accident that caused your hearing loss?” she asks.