The Lost Lycan Princes: A Journey Home

Who's That Talking?

Jonathan POV

  I couldn't believe today was the day my brother Jameson and I would turn 18. I was really psyched about the party tonight. Several dozen of our friends had already said they were coming, and the entire cheerleading squad from school was supposed to be there. Even though we were technically already graduated, I considered this our last hurrah before heading off to college next month. Even Jameson was pretty excited about it, and he usually doesn't get excited about parties like I do. Even though we were both outgoing and had lots of friends, most people knew that I was the most outgoing and talkative one. I pretty much say exactly what's on my mind - Mom says I have no filter - while Jameson tends to be a little slower to say what he's thinking. 

  I sped along the freeway in my royal blue 1969 Chevy Camaro, drumming on the steering wheel along to the song blasting out of my radio speakers, belting out the lyrics of 'All Right Now' along with Paul Rodgers and the rest of Free. Yeah, I like the oldies - it's kind of my guilty pleasure.

  It was just a little after midnight. Jameson and I had met some friends at Denny's and rang our birthday in there. We weren't old enough to go to bars, so Denny's it was. 

  Normally we would've ridden together, but Jameson had been called into work for a couple of hours before that so he just met us there since he got off at 11:30. Or maybe I should say we met him there - we were both servers at the Denny's we ate at. We were supposed to be off all weekend for our birthday but another server had called in sick the night before and they'd called begging one of us to come in. I had been trying to figure out how to nicely say no when Jameson volunteered to go in. 

  I pulled into our driveway at around 12:45 a.m. Jameson pulled in right behind me in his black 2020 Chevy Equinox. That should show you some of the difference in our likes and dislikes. Mom and Dad had allowed each of us to choose our own cars for our 17th birthday, after we'd been sharing Dad's old hand-me-down clunker of a Ford Taurus for a year. I chose the muscle car, Jameson chose the sensible SUV that was more like something you'd expect to see someone in their thirties driving, not a 17 year old kid. But, he'd pointed out to me, if he took good care of it and kept it maintained, he could have this car for years, maybe even after he eventually got married and started having kids. My thoughts were more like, you're only young once, better enjoy it while I can. I preferred to live in the moment and let the future worry about itself, while Jameson was always thinking, always planning. 

  Jameson got out of his SUV and gave me a grin as he walked over to where I was just getting out of the Camaro. "Wow, bro, can you believe we're officially adults?" he asked with a friendly smack on the back. Even though it was just a friendly smack, it still made me stumble forward a little.

  "Whoa, bro, calm down on the enthusiasm a bit," I replied with a laugh. 

  He had a shocked look on his face. "Bro, sorry, I didn't think I did that that hard," he sad, his eyes wide. "Guess I'm a little more excited than I thought.

  I grinned at him. "All good, bro. We're both pretty excited."

  I dropped my car keys in my pocket and pushed the car door closed - then watched in shock as a crack slithered its way up my driver's side window, as if from the force of being slammed too hard. But I hadn't shut the door with any more force than normal. What the heck? I turned to look at Jameson, and even he was staring at my window. 

  "What the f**k, bro?" he asked in shock. "Now who's too excited?"

  I frowned at him, then looked back at my window. "I swear, I didn't close it any harder than I normally do. Window must've had a weak spot in it, or something."

  He shrugged. "There's no telling. But that's not gonna be cheap to repair."

  I sighed. "You're ain't lying," I grumbled. "And Dad will be p**sed, since the car is on their insurance."

  Jameson grimaced. "Bro, I don't envy you that conversation."

  I groaned. "Hopefully he'll at least go a little easy on me since it's our birthday."

  Jameson laughed. "Maybe."

  We went on inside, where the house was pretty much completely dark except a small light coming from under Mom and Dad's door. Knowing that they would be waiting up for us, we poked our head into their room to let them know we were home safe and told them good night.

   I told Jameson he could shower first, since he still had the smell of food clinging to him. While I waited for him to get done, I went in and flopped back on my bed, idly scrolling through social media on my phone. There were already several birthday wishes on my f*******: page, so I went in and started telling everyone thank you. I was just getting done with that when the weirdest thing thing that had ever happened in my life happened to me. 

  'Hello, Jonathan,' said an unfamiliar voice. 

  I leapt up and spun around, looking for the source. Who the h**l was in my room with me?! "Who's there?" I demanded, striding over to my door and yanking it open. No one was there, so I turned to my closet door and yanked it open. Nothing. I checked under the bed. Nothing. What the h**l was going on here?

  I heard the voice laugh. 'I'm in your head, Jonathan. My name is Damien, and I'm your Lycan.'

  Ok, I suppose I would play, but I was beginning to wonder if I might need psyche meds. 'My what?' I replied.

  'Your Lycan,' the voice repeated. 'Some might say your beast, but I prefer to use our proper name.'

  I clasped my head with both hands. I was definitely losing it. 'How the f**k are you in my head, and what the h**l is a Lycan?'

  'I'm in your head because that's where I'm supposed to be,' Damien replied. 'You're a Lycan, Jonathan. Just as your parents were. Just as your brother is. You will soon be able to shift into my true form, which is kinda like a wolf, except we walk on two legs and we're a lot bigger. And - '

  'Stop stop stop!' I said, pulling at my hair to try to stop the voice from talking. I was definitely going crazy!

  'Ask Jameson,' Damien suggested. 'He's meeting his Lycan, Donovan right now too.'

  'Are you kidding?' I yelled. 'I'm not asking or telling anyone a d**n thing! They'll think I'm crazy! Wait, I know what's going on here. I'm dreaming. I must've fallen asleep while I was waiting on Jameson, and now I'm dreaming.' I pinched my arm as hard as I could, but I didn't wake up.

  Damen sighed. 'I know, it's a lot to take in, especially when you've never been told what you are. But I promise you, Jonathan, you're not going crazy.'

  'Says the voice in my head,' I replied. 

  He laughed. 'Touche. But I promise you, you really aren't going crazy.'   

  I begged to differ.

  Just then, I heard the shower turn off, and a few minutes later Jameson walked by my bedroom door and paused to look in at me. He was running his hands through his wet hair, and he had a strange look on his face. 

  "Hey, bro?" he said hesitantly.

  "Yeah, bro," I said wearily, scrubbing my hands over my face.

  He stared at me for a second. "Actually, never mind. Good night."

  "Good night, bro," I answered. He went into his room and closed the door. 

Jameson POV

  I relished the hot water washing over me, washing away the traces of grease and smell of food on my skin and in my hair. I actually liked my job as a server - I got to meet all kinds of cool people - but the smells were sometimes a bit too much. I've always had a strong sense of smell, as had Jonathan. Maybe it's something genetic.

  I kept mulling over the events in the driveway in my head. Had I really hit Jonathan that hard when all I was going for was a friendly pat on the back? And his window - Jonathan babied that car and would've never slammed the door hard enough to damage anything. Besides, I'd been standing right there and it really didn't seem like he'd shut it that hard. I wondered why it cracked. But I mentally shrugged it all off. Just a couple of weird coincidences I supposed.

  I had just finished rinsing the shampoo out of my hair when the strangest thing happened. From out of nowhere, a voice in my head started talking to me.

  'Hello, Jameson,' said the voice. 'I am Donovan, your Lycan.' 

  I spun around so fast I nearly slipped on the wet shower floor. I pushed the shower curtain back a little and peeked out. "Jon? Sarah? Who's out there?"

  'I'm not out there, Jameson,' the voice said. 'I'm in here with you.'

  Well, that wasn't creepy at all. (Note the sarcasm.) I felt cold chills all over my body despite the hot water hitting my skin.

  "Who are you?" I asked out loud. 

  'No need to talk out loud,' the voice said. 'I can hear your thoughts. Anyway, like I said, I am Donovan, your Lycan.'

  'What the f**k is a Lycan, and how are you in my head?' I demanded.

  'I'm in your head because you, Jameson, are not human like you've always thought. You are a Lycan, as are your birth parents, and as is your brother Jonathan,' Donovan replied. 

  I shook my head, trying to clear it. Had someone slipped something into my drink tonight? My food? That had to be it, because this could not be happening.

  'Nobody slipped anything into anything,' he informed me. 'And to answer your question, a Lycan is sort of like a werewolf, except we're more powerful, faster, live longer, have better senses, etc. We're superior to werewolves, if I may say so myself.'

  "This is not happening," I whispered to myself. "I'm losing my ever loving mind."

  'No, Jameson, you're not losing anything,' Donovan insisted. 'If anything, you're gaining access to another part of your mind. Me. Ask Jonathan. He's meeting his Lycan, Damien now too.'

  'I'm not asking him a d**n thing,' I informed him. Him, it, whatever it was. 'I'm not having my brother know I've gone crazy.'

  'I'm a he, and you haven't gone crazy.'

  I turned the shower off and toweled off, then pulled on a pair of shorts I like to sleep in. I walked down the hall towards my room, looking into Jonathan's room as I passed by. 

  "Hey, bro?" I said hesitantly.

  "Yeah, bro," he replied, sounding exhausted, scrubbing his hands over his face.

  I stared at me for a second, debating about asking him about this whole Lycan thing, but changed my mind. "Actually, never mind. Good night."

  "Good night, bro," I heard him answer as I went into my room and closed the door. 

  I turned my laptop on and started googling Lycans. Holy c**p. There actually were stories about creatures called Lycans, and all kinds of wild theories about whether or not they existed, what they looked like etc. 

  'I'm supposedly one of these?' I asked, pointing to a picture on the screen. It depicted a drawing of a huge, hairy, terrifying looking gray beast with gigantic teeth and claws that were a good two feet in length. It's eyes were glowing red and there were two horns on top of its head.

  'Well, not exactly,' Donovan replied. 'Most humans that have actually seen us have been too terrified to draw us in good detail afterwards, and rarely have any of them thought to bring out their phones and take pictures. My claws are long but not quite that long, My horns are just a tad shorter too. And I'm black, not gray.'

  'It says here Lycans can shift into their beast form anytime they wish,' I told him. 'If I'm a Lycan, and not completely insane like I'm positive I am, why have I not turned into this thing yet?' I demanded, pointing to the picture again. 

  'Because there's something wrong,' Donovan told me. 'I suspect black magic but I'm not positive. Something is stopping you and Jonathan both from shifting like you're supposed to. I aim to find out for sure over the next couple days.'

  'And how do you plan to do that when you're a voice in my head?' I demanded. I couldn't believe I was actually having a conversation with a voice in my head like a lunatic.

  'Because I'm able to reach out to the Moon Goddess and ask her questions. She would be able to tell me.'

  'Wait, so the Moon Goddess exists too?!' I exclaimed. 

  'Sure does,' he answered.

  'This. Is. Insane,' I said, throwing myself back onto my bed as I heard Jonathan start the shower. 

  'Welcome to life as a Lycan,' he replied.