Page 20 of An Enigma for the Lycan Crown Prince

seven

Life as it was

*ELDEN*

From one day to another, in the blink of an eye, they have all left. Dad isn’t here anymore, and Gamma Tobias is gone, too. I don’t know where he went, just that his leaving caused a lot of whispers and rumors. At least Beta Oliver is still here, and he looks worried and tired, every day a bit more.

I’ve never had much of a relationship with him, he was always more Dad’s friend, and as that I never really trusted him. But he is still here while Dad is gone, Mom is gone, and Gamma Tobias is gone. I try not to bother Beta Oliver or Hazel with anything. They both feel like they need to keep an eye on me, to make sure I amalright,but it’s not the first time I have to watch out for myself.

Dad’s never really been around, even when he was here.

I spend my days doing my homework, learning, training… the usual. Studying comes easy to me, and it’s a welcoming distraction to go to school and to my classes with Jace and Flora. It feels like I’m in a different world then, with the other children laughing and playing. It’s just me who feels out of place. I try not to think of Mom, how she isn’t here anymore, and how her warmth has left with her.

There is nothing warm in the packhouse since she has gone. It’s cold and gloomy, and sad. Flora keeps inviting me over to her cottage for sleepovers, though, and Hazel has prepared a small guest room for me to stay in whenever I want to, and for how long I want to.

“Consider it your room,” she keeps saying.

It’s the only warm place in the pack. It has Hazel and Flora’s aura all over it. Even my lycan is more relaxed here.

“Do you have plans for the weekend?” Flora asks me.

She is the only one in the pack not avoiding me; the only one interacting with me normally instead of casting me pitiful and sad glances. Hazel told me not to hold it against the pack members, she explained that they just feel sad for having lost their luna, and also a bit angry for their alpha constantly abandoning them. She believes they don’t know how to approach me, out of fear of hurting my feelings or saying the wrong things.

At least now that Dad isn’t here to control me, I could actually hang out with some of the other kids. But I don’t feel like doing that anymore. I don’t care. I just want my peace.

“Elden,” Flora’s voice reaches me again. “The weekend?”

“Oh,” I shake my head to focus back on her. Hazel has just made dinner and invited me over. The upcoming weekend is my birthday, but she doesn’t need to know that. It’s not like anyonewill remember, anyways, with the recent happenings. “I have nothing planned.”

“Then let’s do something,” she says. “Let’s play!”

“I don’t feel like playing,” I mutter.

“Oh, then how about we go for a walk?”

“That’s a lovely idea,” Hazel encourages us. “The fresh air will do you some good.”

“And maybe we can find new plants,” Flora says.

I don’t hate that idea. Flora knows the forest even better than I do. It’s like she never gets lost and she finds the most beautiful plants, usually. It’s quiet and relaxing to walk with her. “Okay,” I say without much motivation, but it’s still better than sitting at home and staring out of the window in my room.

At least I won’t be alone on my birthday.

The following days pass by without much change to my usual daily routine. The head of the kitchen staff, an elderly omega, dotes on me, just like the other maids do, and makes sure I have everything I want to eat. I never noticed how warm they are, and how kind. Dad used to look down on them and was mad when Mom spent too much time with the staff, but they are so nice. They talk about Mom too, sometimes, and about how much they liked her, and how she was always fair and kind to them.

She didn’t make them feel less. She remembered their birthdays and helped them with their private problems. She even helped one of them meet her mate.

I like to hear these stories, because they know Mom in a different way, in a way I didn’t know her. It makes me happy and sad at the same time how much they loved her and mourn her now.

Saturday comes, my birthday, and the kitchen staff make sure to have a beautiful cake prepared for me. Beta Oliver takes time off to have breakfast with me. He even has a present for me. A new bicycle, a pretty fancy one, which leans against the tablein the dining hall of the packhouse, where he and I are having breakfast. It’s the alpha table, which used to be inhabited by the ranked members and my parents.

Now it’s just Beta Oliver and me.

“Do you like it?” Beta Oliver asks, hopefully.

The bike is great. It means I can finally go on a ride with Flora and Jace.

“Thank you,” I say genuinely. “It’s perfect!”