Page 64 of A Silent Prodigy for the Lycan Princess

Mr. Simon

*ARDEN*

The night is way too short, and soon, I have to drag myself up to get some work done. Also, I want to meet Vander before he heads off to his club in school. I know he has a basketball practice scheduled for today. Aurelia gets up at the same time, equally tired.

“We look awesome.” She chuckles. “Like we didn’t sleep at all.”

“You do look awesome,” I say, glancing at her when she comes out of the bathroom. “I am a mess.”

She brushes through my hair. “You look perfectly fine. I love that fresh-out-of-the-bed look on you.”

“You are the first to say that,” I say before frowning. “Well, technically, you are the first to see it.”

Aurelia smiles brightly at me, revealing her perfect white teeth to me. Goddess, this woman is so beautiful, but it’s not just that. She is smart and kind and understands me. She finds me funny… no one has ever done that. What did I ever do to deserve such a beautiful and amazing mate? She is the whole package. “Where are you off to? I thought you might want to sleep in.”

“I will look in on Tori for a second and then head to training,” she explains. “Eric told me that the royal elite guards are always training early in the morning. I can’t miss that! And you?”

“I’m going to look for Vander and have some coffee with him,” I say. It should feel awkward that she is off to train, and I’m basically taking a slow morning, but it doesn’t. I guess in our future together we’ll face a lot of differences compared to what’s usually done. “Breakfast after your training?”

“Oh yes.” She beams and wraps her arms around me to pull me into a swift kiss. “Pick me up?”

I nod, smiling when she grabs a few things from my room and dashes out the door. While Aurelia is at the training, I finally manage to find my brother. He is grabbing his breakfast from the cafeteria. “Vander,” I say.

Vander’s head whips around to face me, relief settling in his eyes. He grabs his bagel and hurries to me. I hug him. He doesn’t cry, but I can feel his body trembling slightly. “It’s going to be alright,” I mutter. “We are going to be fine.”

“How do you know that?”

“We have each other,” I say quietly.

“You have your mate now,” he says.

“Yes, but I also still have you.”

“Arden.” He draws back and grabs the bag with his bagel tighter. “Whatever you decide, please don’t leave me behind.”

“I will never just leave you behind, Vander,” I say. “I will either take you with me or find another solution you will be happy with. You will always be my brother.”

“I have heard Silverlake is a nice pack. I bet it’s better there for me than here,” he mutters before tears fill his eyes.

Oh shoot, I am bad at this. I never know how to console someone. “I—I will grab us some coffee,” I blurt out. “Let’s go for a walk, then.”

He just nods. Relieved that I have something to do, I grab a frappuccino for him and a cappuccino for me. Then, we go for our walk, mostly in silence. It’s a tad awkward, but Vander seems to be lost in his thoughts, and I have no idea how to break the silence.

“Do you think Dad loves us?” he finally asks the one question I can’t answer.

“I… don’t know,” I admit. “I think at one point he did. When Mom was still alive…”

“Do you think Mom’s death turned him into such an asshole?”

“Some people can deal with the loss of their mates,” I mutter. “Others can’t.”

“It’s a pity he never was able to see us as part of her,” he says sadly.

I stay quiet, not sure what to say, cursing myself for going into this unprepared. But I have no book in my memory palace that will help me here. “We can’t change the past,” I say. “But we can try not to repeat our mistakes in the future. I won’t let the situation escalate ever again.”

“Do you think we can make up with Dad at some point?”

“I don’t know,” I say. “That’s for each of us to decide individually.”