Page 35 of An Enigma for the Lycan Crown Prince

“I don’t know,” I whisper, scooting closer. “Isn’t it mysterious?”

“You don’t think it’s weird?” he asks.

“I think it’s magical,” I beam.

Elden looks at me for a moment, then a smile curls his lips, but he doesn’t say anything. I take his hand, pulling him towards my bed. “It’s late,” I say. “You are staying, aren’t you?”

“Is that okay?”

“Of course.”

I’m already in my nightgown, so I’m set. Elden has also brought his pajama pants and swiftly changes into them, while I sneak back under my covers, waiting for Elden to join me. His body feels so warm against mine, soft tingles erupting whenever our arms brush against each other.

Elden lies on his back, looking up at the ceiling. “Sometimes I want to see the world like you do,” he admits.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“You see magic everywhere,” he says. “You see the good in everything.”

“And you don’t?”

“I only do when you remind me to,” he says.

I smile. “That counts.”

“I wonder what it is you are seeing when you look at a flower or an animal, or at another person. The light you see, the magic.”

I’m surprised by his words. It’s the first time he’s said something like this, and the first time I realize that it might be true. There is something different about me, something I see that others can’t. As a child, I hated to be different, but with Elden and Jace, I learned that it doesn’t matter. “Do you think it’s bad that I’m different?”

“No,” he says. “I think it’s beautiful the way you are.”

“Elden,” I turn to the side to look at him. “You love me, don’t you?”

“You know the answer to that,” he mutters, looking flustered. “Besides, we are mates.”

“Yes, but I want you to like me even if we weren’t mates,” I claim.

He groans.

I snuggle closer. “Come on.”

He brushes his hands over his face. “Of course, I love you,” he mutters. “I told you already.”

“I can’t wait for when we are eighteen,” I beam, smiling when he turns his head to kiss me gently, and feeling more light tingles on our skin. “When we are eighteen, we will feel the full mate bond.”

With Elden next to me, I doze off into a comforting sleep. I always do when he is with me, which is why it doesn’t surprise me when it happens again tonight.

I wake up to the moonlight shining above me, a light warm breeze around me and the soft sound of water in the distance.

I’m here again!I jump up to my feet, happily eyeing the beautiful rose garden around me. These roses are so beautiful, I love them. Maybe one day I will have a rose garden, too. The rustling of leaves pulls me out of my awe, and I turn around, opening my arms. Celeste breaks through the bushes, her beautiful silver fur shining under the moonlight.

Here you are,I say, cuddling her.

She is a beautiful, majestic wolf, and rather big for a female lycan. I’ve seen the female warriors in Silverlake, and Celeste is definitely bigger than they are. Female pack members weren’t allowed to become warriors at first, but since the elders arrived that rule has changed, even more so when Emilia was suddenly here.

I know it makes Celeste proud that she is stronger than them.

They are here too,Celeste grumbles, glaring when one of the beings of light settles down on her snout.Tell it to go away.