Page 135 of An Enigma for the Lycan Crown Prince

“You always looked beautiful,” I reassure her. “But now you look ethereal to me.”

She tilts her head to the side, tapping her lips. “Maybe it’s because you can see the real me now. I told you that when we marked, parts of the light joined with you, too,” she pauses. “It’s not awkward, or is it?”

I stand up to take her hands, squeezing them. “You are a gift,” I say. “And I can’t believe the goddess deemed me worthy of you. It’s amazing, not awkward.”

Releasing my hand, she reaches out to me, while I lean down so that she can touch me. She brushes through some strands of my hair, smiling. She is caught in her own world again, seeing things that no one else can see.

Eventually, she pulls away. “We should have breakfast,” she says. “There is quite some work ahead of us.”

“And I am going to meet Samuel in an hour.”

Flora looks at me, and her eyes have a gleam to them, as if I can see the hint of stars in them. I am feeling incredibly cheesy even thinking something like that, but her eyes seem to have truly changed. “You will do it,” she tells me. “You don’tneed to be scared of this asshole, Elden. He can’t walk over you anymore; he can’t do anything to you.”

I kiss her hand. “I know. I am not scared of him. It’s such a weird feeling, because I don’t feel much for him at all. I used to hate him, but now there isn’t much left.”

“Maybe that’s good,” Flora says quietly. “Maybe it’s a sign that you have healed, and that he doesn’t have a grip over you anymore.”

“Maybe,” I agree. “I think it helps that I have created my own family now, by being with you and with our friends.”

“A chosen family,” she mutters, before she nods. “You are right. We have a chosen family.” Before I can say anything, feeling awkward that I have reminded her of her grandmother and the loss she has faced recently, she takes my hand and tugs me downstairs. “I want eggs,” she exclaims. “Or cake.” She furrows her brows. “Or maybe both!”

“Then both it is,” I grin.

While Flora sets the table, I start preparing our breakfast. I don’t think I will ever become a really skilled cook, but it’s fun to do the smaller things and see my mate happy. After breakfast Flora meets Emilia, who is mentoring her now. Weird how things changed. I never disliked Emilia; I was just skeptical of her because she chose my father, but learning more about her has made me realize that she is a good person.

And certainly, very skilled. I bet Flora will learn a lot from her.

She doesn’t want a graduation ceremony for finishing school, just like I don’t want one, but this means even more reason to give her a great Luna Ceremony.

Let’s make sure our mate gets what she wants,Regis spurs me on.And let’s kick our father in the ass!

How about we try a less violent approach first?

That’s boring! I hate talking.

In our rank, we need to learn how to be diplomatic and talk. We need to play by the rules and to know them well, to be able to bend and change them. Our first step needs to be to strengthen our position in this world.

Fine,he groans.But you do the talking.

He doesn’t need to worry. The last one I would let out for a talk is my lycan. He just has no patience for idiots or assholes, but as the alpha of such a huge pack, especially with the plans we have in mind, we need to learn to deal with all kinds of people.

“Elden,” Samuel calls out to me, pulling me out of my thoughts. “You are early, just like me.”

“I wanted to be on time,” I say.

“Your father is on pack grounds, but not in his office.”

“So, he finally returned?” I ask blandly. “I didn’t notice. Not that there was much to notice.”

Previous Samuel might have chastised me for talking like that about the alpha and my father, but now he stays quiet. He doesn’t say anything, but it looks like he secretly agrees. We wait in silence in my father’s office, until I can hear the heavy footsteps approaching.

My father opens the door, clearly surprised to see us. I look at him, but as I told Flora there is not much I feel anymore.

“Caelum,” Samuel gestures at one of the seats. “Please sit down.”

I struggle to keep my composure at Samuel’s blatant disrespect. I would have never imagined him acting that way. Samuel is the textbook of perfect behavior and doing things the way they should be. He usually would have gotten up, greeted my father, made small talk and then invited him to this talk.

Dad seems to be taken aback, too, looking at Samuel questioningly while sitting down.