Page 168 of An Enigma for the Lycan Crown Prince

“Yes, unfortunately. Samuel tried to push him in a different direction, but there is just so much he can do. Maybe when he finds his mate…” I pause. “Well, never mind, Caelum found his mate too. Some people just suck.” I pause, trying to return to my talk with Emilia. “Oh! Right, she said she would visit briefly, soon, when the baby is here.”

“That’s fantastic,” Janice exclaims. “She hasn’t visited yet, has she?”

“No, and I think she will come just to pay her respects to Elden and me,” I admit. “Caelum ruined the pack for her, and the pack members themselves weren’t too welcoming of her either. I think she truly wants to move on from everything. I have heard she and Tobias took over a smaller branch of the pack Elden’s great-uncle leads.”

“They both really deserve that.”

“Yes,” I grin. “And I guess some romance is in the air as well. Kinda funny, huh? That Tobias is dating Caelum’s hot ex. Serveshim right! Geneva made sure to tell Caelum about it so that he can be all broody and pissed.”

“I’m so glad things are looking up for you,” Janice says. “I am sure you will be able to handle everything.”

“Things will look up for you, too,” I say quietly. “Jace is going to be a fantastic alpha.”

“His parents keep pushing this other girl on him,” Janice explains quietly. “Sybil. She is a nice one, though, and doesn’t want it either.” She pauses. “I might have a huge favor to ask of either Calvin or Vincent.”

“I have a feeling what it will be,” I say. “And you definitely have my approval.”

“It’s safer to fake-date someone,” she says. “That way, Jace and I can maintain our friendship. And if it’s someone from your pack, it’s even better.”

“Ask Vincent. He will help you for sure, and he is very trustworthy,” I suggest. “Calvin still has issues with social cues, but I think Vince would truly shine in such a task.”

She smiles. “Thank you. Honestly, it might not look like it, but Jace and I are getting more optimistic that things will work out. We just need to play it smart. All we need is for him to take over the pack.”

“And I am sure he will,” I say with emphasis. My gut feeling tells me it’s going to be a very rough path, though, but I don’t tell her. She doesn’t need me to add to her worries, and I don’t know for certain, either.

“Luna!” One of my warriors comes running towards me, with Calvin following him at a slight distance; as usual, he is calm and composed.

“What happened?”

“Not much,” Calvin says before the warrior can say anything. “Just a call from school.”

“School? Now, that’s something I didn’t think I’d hear so soon.”

“My son was involved in an incident,” the warrior tells me, clearly nervous. “I don’t know what happened. Seems like a bunch of older bullies were after him, but then they suddenly got beat up or something. It’s all very mysterious.”

I frown. “Well, reason enough for me to check out what happened.” I turn to Calvin. “Do you have duties to attend to?”

“Nothing that I can’t do later,” Calvin says. “Allow me to accompany you. Alpha Elden, for sure, feels better if you are not going alone. I will take two of the elite warriors with us. That Medina guy is very reliable.”

“I will come, too,” Janice says.

I wait for Calvin to organize everything. As usual, he works fast and effectively. Most of the time, when there are issues with humans I handle them. Elden doesn’t like mingling with them. He is usually very level-headed but not when it’s about them. Although nothing happened to me when I got abducted, and they weren’t even the true aggressors, he still resents them so much.

I know it’s a coping mechanism. The real person he hates is his father, but no amount of resentment will ever make Caelum truly see his wrongs. There is no use in hating him, so instead, he hates the humans.

We can leave, Luna Flora,Calvin links me.

Janice helps me get to the car and not half an hour later we are at school. I am not sure who they think I am. Calvin deals with this kind of stuff, and I trust him not to make me out to be a cult leader, more like someone leading a group home or a representative of the other parents of mytown.

The sight that greets me is intriguing to say the least. I can see a bunch of younger students who look slightly disheveled but also very relieved. Then, there are a couple of very muchroughed-up older ones. The explanation I receive is that they have been bullying some of the younger ones relentlessly, but today, someone seems to have changed the tides and beat them up. Two of them are in the infirmary.

“We don’t know who did it,” the headmaster tells me. “While we don’t tolerate bullying, we can’t condone violence, either.”

“And these five here?” I ask, gesturing towards a group of five students who look to be around seventeen or eighteen, and quite out of place. They don’t belong to the bullies, nor do they fit the group of younger bullied students. Most of them look incredibly confused, except one, who seems to be rather calm.

“They were the only ones who were around and could have done it,” the headmaster explains.

“And how?” I inquire, my gaze wandering to the calm-looking boy again. He is one of my pack members. He recently moved to Silverlake with his parents, and he is a quiet introverted boy, and also very smart. He leans more towards pretty than anything else with his smooth hair and soft face. I have talked to him a few times, and noticed how he handles the pack children, even volunteering to do projects with them. They seem to flock to him easily.