Page 104 of An Enigma for the Lycan Crown Prince

“All the children are safe,” Emilia calls towards me.

“Everyone else who can’t fight is in the bunkers,” I tell her.

“Good job, Flora,” she says. “I don’t mean to sound condescending, but I have done this a couple of times already. The way you instantly knew what to do is amazing. It’s an instinct you have.”

I can’t help but feel flustered at her words. That is until Geneva runs towards me. “Flora, your grandma!”

“What about her?” I ask. “I made sure she was with the first group I evacuated!”

“She left the bunker,” Geneva exclaims. “When I saw her, she was already too far away to catch her. The other women told me she muttered something about a brooch or something.”

“She is trying to retrieve something from home?” I ask. “Damn it! I will try to catch up with her!”

“Wait, Flora!” Emilia calls towards me, but I ignore her, dashing off to find my grandma. What is she doing? Why did she have to leave the safety of our hideout!? Nothing is so important that we can’t lose it. Oh, Grandma! First, Elden needs to go and fulfill his duties as the future alpha – no matter what he claims, I know that’s what he is. He is never going to quit, and I amterrified about his safety. And now, Grandma does something completely unusual for her.

The path to my house is quiet. The only thing I can hear are my own footsteps and my rapid breathing. The beings of light flutter around me like usual, but with every step I take they seem to be getting more agitated. More and more of them appear. And with every step a stronger feeling of dread settles in me.

There!Celeste says.Right in front of the house!

I notice it instantly. Grandma is there, holding something in her hands while two foreign wolves are surrounding her. My human legs are too slow, too weak to carry me faster than I am already running. Why can’t I shift yet? I would have cast all precautions aside, the hell with hiding my wolf. Celeste and I would have shifted and defended my grandma. Instead of running, she clutches something to her chest, while turning her body away as if to protect whatever she is holding. The first rogue attacks her, pushing her to the ground.

“NO!” I yell, picking up my pace, pushing myself to new limits. The rogue seems to tear into Grandma. I can’t let her get hurt even further! My lungs hurt, my chest is constricting, but I don’t care. I just run, run, run.

Out of nowhere, Samuel appears right next to my grandma and shifts to his lycan. His age shows, but he can still hold himself up against the rogues. He was never a huge warrior, I know that from Geneva, but he is here now, and ready to fight for my grandmother.

“Grandma!” I yell, dashing forward and finally reaching her. I drop down to my knees and grab her trembling frame. She has her eyes closed, while her breathing becomes rapid. “You are okay,” I say. “You are okay!”

“Flora, we need to get her out of here,” Samuel pants. I didn’t notice that he has shifted back. Raising my gaze now, I notice that more rogues are coming.

“Come, Grandma, you heard Samuel. We need to-”

“Flora…” She whispers.

“Yes, I am here! I am always here!”

“It’s the moon,” she continues. Her voice is weak and almost fading. Her hands tremble while she hands me a brooch. “It’s your legacy and your birthright. Child of Light.”

“No,” I whisper. “No, don’t-” I lean my forehead against hers. “Don’t leave me. I only have you left. Don’t go. Please stay. Stay. Stay.”

“Flora! Hazel!” Elden yells. Someone must have alerted him.

“He will always come for you,” Grandma mutters. “You are not alone. You are never alone. You gave this old woman a reason to live, and I will always love you, wherever I am.”

I press her body against mine, feeling how her breath evens out, and her body goes limp.

My heart stops beating for a moment, and my mouth goes dry. I have never felt this pain before, or this rage. It fills me up from the tip of my toe to my last strand of hair. “No!” I yell, with a voice that doesn’t seem to be mine. Light engulfs me, but not the comforting one the beings usually give me, it’s colder and more dangerous.

Samuel leaps to the side, while strings of silver appear in front of me, covering the whole area in front me in the deathly metal. The rogues want to run, but I don’t let them. Channeling my anger and pain, I focus on the silver in front of me, turning it into spikes and following each of these murderous wolves, until it has caught the last one.

thirty-three

Without Her there is no Me

*ELDEN*

Regis shows what he is capable of to everyone. The rogues that attacked, but also to my fellow warriors. Once we have fought the attackers back, I can sense a newfound respect towards me from my warriors. It’s a weird feeling; very new, very unusual, but Regis is basking in it. I am not sure if we did all that well, though. We didn’t manage to take any prisoners to question. There is still much to learn for me, and it means I will need to sit down with Vincent and Calvin, and maybe also with my older mentors like Oliver and Tobias, to work on better strategies.

Elden!Emilia’s mind link comes through, much to my surprise.