Page 162 of An Enigma for the Lycan Crown Prince

No, it’s different now. I am not alone.

I might not feel deserving of everything in my life, but it’s perfectly human to have doubts.

I spend hours caught in my mind, but with every passing minute, it gets less and less excruciating, until I find myself completely calm. Step by step my bond to Regis returns, making me whole again.

Sometimes I feel like I am weak, but I know it’s okay. Every person has their doubts at times. It doesn’t mean that Iamweak.

I am not weak.

“…Elden?” Flora’s voice reaches me, making me blink my eyes open. My head is resting in her lap. She has a towel in her hands, using it to dry the sweat off my forehead. “You are back with me!” she exclaims.

I smile. “I am fine,” I say, needing a moment to take in the many sensations I feel now. It’s my pack members, with whom I have formed a new bond as their alpha. Voices swirl around me. They must have heard the news, too, because I can feel their surprise and joy. Some even reach out to me to voice their happiness. “How long was I out of it?”

“Almost the whole night,” Flora says with a frown. “I was so worried. You were exhausted before, and you needed some sleep. Then… that happened.”

“I have a wild idea,” I say. “How about we take a shower, and then go back to sleep. Let’s not care how long we sleep for once”

“Can we do that?” she asks hopefully.

Instead of an answer, I sit up, tugging her with me out of the bed and scooping her up in my arms. Flora laughs and wraps her arms around my neck. A smirk curls her lips. “How about we tire ourselves out a little further, so that it’s worth it to sleep through the day?”

I don’t need her to repeat her invitation. The moment I feel the water of the shower coming down on us and washing the sweat off our bodies, I scoop her up again and press her against the wall of the shower. She is in the perfect position for me to bury my head between her breasts and suck at her nipples. Her fingers grip my wet hair, holding on to me while she moans my name. I am still reeling so much from receiving my full alpha powers and feeling my new position in this pack, that I am almost high on all the sensations.

It's all becoming a blur, but eventually, Flora and I drop into our bed, completely exhausted. My back has barely met themattress when I find myself drifting into a deep sleep. The best sleep I’ve had in a long while.

We wake up hours later when the sun is already high in the sky. The air is warm, indicating that summer is swiftly approaching. Flora decides to spend the afternoon helping Emilia with the preparations for the Alpha and Luna Ceremony.

Meanwhile, I meet with Samuel.

By now, the whole pack knows about the involvement of my father in Flora’s abduction. To them, it’s a disgrace to say the least. Before that he was already disliked, but now he has lost all respect and credibility.

For me, the contrary happens, my show of power has earned me even more respect. I am a young alpha, and not all of the pack members were initially on board with me taking over so soon, although they knew there was no other option. But now, it feels like I have proven myself to them. I can clearly feel it through my alpha bond to the pack.

There is still so much chaos to sort through, so many documents and organizational issues, but I am slowly getting a feel for it. Vincent and Calvin have been a great help, so has Flora, who has started taking over her own tasks.

“He is going to leave tomorrow,” Samuel says when we wrap up our final meeting before the ceremony. “Your father, I mean. We will have him escorted to the Council before your inauguration ceremony. Geneva and I think it’s better if he is away.”

“Oh,” I say, not sure what kind of answer Samuel expects from me. “Good.”

Samuel wavers obviously before he lets out a sigh. “Do you want to see him?”

“Not really,” I admit.

“That’s alright,” he informs me. “I just wanted you to have the option. So, you could decide for yourself.”

I consider his words before I nod. “Thank you,” I say.

“You’ve grown up a lot,” he says. “Probably a lot faster than you should have. But I believe you will become a formidable alpha.”

“I will try to give it my all,” I promise.

After the meeting, his words still linger with me. I am not sure what I want to do, I just know that I don’t want to have any regrets. As if on autopilot, I find myself walking to the infirmary. The warriors in front of my father’s room greet me respectfully, before one of them opens the door for me. I step inside, my eyes instantly catching my father’s frame. He is lying in his hospital bed, still looking pale and tired.

I let my gaze wander down his arms, noticing the scars I left there. It’s a reminder for future training with my warrior to be particularly cautious. Maybe Regis and I will even have control over it to a point. We were angry, but maybe I can control it by controlling my emotions.

Dad looks at me for a moment. “You look like her,” he says shortly.

“I know,” I say.