Page 79 of A Silent Prodigy for the Lycan Princess

“What are you apologizing for?” I ask.

“It’s just with everything that happened, and with there being an investigation on my pack now… I know my father did something terrible—”

“But you miss him,” I say gently.

“Not really him,” he admits. “I just don’t want to lose him.” He takes his phone out of his bag. “I tried reaching him,” he says. “Just to talk, but he doesn’t even pick up.”

I’m at a loss for what to say. Vander hopes so much for his father to love him and Arden. Arden is a realist and sees things from a very logical perspective, and I know he signed out of his relationship with his father years ago, but for Vander, this is still so fresh.

“I don’t want to complain,” Vander continues. “Arden saved me, and I don’t want to sound ungrateful.”

“He would never think that,” I reassure him. “Missing your father, for what could have been, doesn’t make you ungrateful.”

“How could he do that to us?” Vander wants to know. “All he had to do was to show us and the pack the minimum of respect, but he couldn’t do it.” He pauses, sighing deeply. “I need to find something to do here. I can’t always rely on Léna.”

“I am sure she is happy to be there for you, don’t worry. Is she coming today?”

He smiles. “No, she is coming tomorrow. Today, we’ll meet for our online game.” He gazes at the training area. “If only I had someone to train or spar with,” he mutters. “The Council is organized like a pack, but the children and teens are usually in a different area, and I’m a bit of an outsider.”

“I can spar with you,” I say. “Or train.”

“What… no! I can’t ask that from you!”

“You are not asking, I’m offering.” I jump up. I’m not a big talker when it’s about feelings, but I certainly can help with getting some steam off. “How do you normally train?”

“Today would be cardio and then sparring,” he says.

“Then, how about we change into our training gear and meet back here in fifteen minutes?”

“Is this really okay?”

“If you ask once more, I might think I’m imposing, or you are chickening out,” I say.

That’s all the motivation he needs. “Meet you in fifteen minutes,” he exclaims before dashing away.

I grin. Typical alpha kid. We are all the same. I run back to Arden’s room to change and make it back in ten minutes. Vander arrives shortly after me with newfound motivation. We soon start our workout, and I’m actually glad to be able to do it. I’m used to working out regularly, but here I don’t have a lot of time. Once we are done, we add an intense sparring session. Vander doesn’t have his lycan spirit yet, so I go light on him and show him a few tricks. We work mostly on technique. It’s obvioushe has been training and that he is an alpha’s kid. “You tested alpha, didn’t you?”

“I did,” he says. “Both Arden and I actually did.”

“It shows,” I say. “You both have good instincts.”

“I don’t think we are the strongest fighters, though,” he admits.

“You don’t necessarily need to be the strongest at everything,” I say. “It’s just important to find your personal strong point. Your gift will probably enhance it. You have good reflexes and good intuition. That’s something to be proud of and work further on.”

Vander beams at my words. We train for a bit longer because he truly seems motivated, and I’ve learned it’s important in warrior training to get them to do more difficult tasks when they are motivated and feel they can do it.

Half an hour later, we wrap the training up because Vander has his online date with Léna. “Maybe we can repeat this?” he asks hopefully.

“Of course,” I say. “If you want, I will also talk to Eric, then you can join the teenage training here, too. There is no reason you can’t do both.”

He smiles happily. “Thank you.” A pause. “And Aurelia…”

“Hm?”

“I’m very happy that my brother found his mate. You’re cool, you get him, and he can be himself with you. And you’re cool. I said that already, but it’s true.”

Got yourself a fanboy,Maxima teases.