The Domus Paranormal Academy

Lycan Royalty

“No, no one in my family is important," was what I said.

Valery gave a rueful pout.

“Too bad, it's always easier that way. “She waved his hand in a nonchalant gesture to play it down. But don't worry, luckily you're meeting me. I know people and I'll introduce you to them. What's your species? nymph, wolf, vampire, hybrid, although judging by your appearance you're human.

I was going to tell her I had no idea what she was asking me, but my eager eyes that had been taking in everything that was going on next to us and everything I saw as we walked by noticed one of the booths at the fair. One in particular.

And then it happened.

They.

I couldn't talk and walk at the same time, so I stopped and first noticed the guy manning the booth. He had a path of tattoos that started at his right wrist and got lost on its way up the rest of his arm, and he wore his jet hair shaved on the sides and more abundant on top. He was one of those guys who, upon entering a place, completely dominated it. One of those guys that looks like the devilish sun, because it makes you want to look at them, but when you do, it causes you eye pain so much energy, so much power, because yes, "power" has always been the perfect word to start describing him.

He was exuding an authoritative nature as he argued with the boy who was accompanying him inside the booth. They weren't making any fuss, but I could tell they were arguing because his mouth kept moving tensely. I even saw the moment when he lost his patience, ripped the cigarette he was holding between his lips from the other guy's mouth, and angrily threw it on the ground.

I then noticed the guy with the cigarette. He was a little thinner, and his hair was the same jet black as the guy with the tattoos, but he wore it longer and with a casual cut. Unlike the first, his face was less expressive. His mouth was a serious line and his bushy eyebrows indicated nothing, so it was very difficult to tell if the discussion affected him in any way. His clothes were all dark and he seemed to have no intention of making any response to the words being spouted at him.

Where the other seemed like an earthquake in progress, this one was the unsuspected calm that precedes a catastrophe.

“Are you out of the Lycan spell yet? “I heard Valery suddenly ask me.

I snapped out of my analysis and looked at her, blinking. I noticed that her eyes were also pointed at the two boys in the booth.

“What? “I hadn't understood her. What spell? What are you talking about?

She let out an "it's okay" laugh.

“You've been staring at the Lycan brothers, and that's what they say happens to you when you first see them," she explained, amused, very obviously. You're stunned for a while, you can't look away, and you think, "Are they real?" And yes, they are as real as your legs are shaking right now.

Well, my legs had stopped, our walk through the park fair had paused and I had been sort of suspended looking at them.

It had been... mixed feelings? Yes, confused.

“Lycan brothers? “I asked, more puzzled.

“I know, sometimes it's better to pretend you don't know who they are," she snorted.

I looked at her incredulously.

“I don't know who they are.

For a moment Valery didn't believe it, but when she noticed I was staring at her waiting for an explanation about them, she blinked and even gave a strange laugh.

“Are you serious?

I curved my mouth downward and nodded. Yep.

“The way you say it, now I want to know all about them.

She looked at me a moment longer, half frowning, trying to understand something in me.

“You're weird, Marise," she snorted as if it were a good joke. How can you not know them? Remember the Lycan scandal?

“I don't know what the Lycan scandal is either," I admitted.

Valery had a hard time believing it and a strange moment formed where she didn't know what to say in the face of my social disorientation and I didn't know what excuse to use. Until I insisted:

“But tell me, come on, it sounds interesting, who are those Lycans?

Oh, that question...

That damned question.

Valery sighed like a teacher who had to give extra explanations to her new student because she had no idea how things were at school. And she started to tell me:

“Well, have you noticed that there's always usually one absurdly rich and powerful group? Well, they are our absurdly rich and powerful, they are Lycan royalty, their father is pure alpha, and so are they. Their lineage goes back millennia and their wealth is as vast as the horizon of the ocean. His surname is famous for being that of a long line of werewolves and shapeshifters.

“In the style of Twilight? “I raised a mocking eyebrow.

“A little," she nodded, more serious than I was. Her father, Adrien Lycan, is a very influential person with a lot of social visibility and enormous political power. So that's it. They are the elite that is above the normal elite. Don't think they are like rich humans, nothing to do with the Lycans, they are on a different level, just being part of their social circle would solve your life, because they are in control of everything, honey, so be careful.

“The dangerous elite “I allowed myself to define better.

Valery nodded and gestured with his head in the direction of the two brothers. The tattooed one ran his hand through his hair as if to regain his posture and then turned to the front of the booth, where some excited girls had just approached to watch. Surprisingly, he rested his arms on the booth counter and wore a very wide smile to attend to them. He had a big, wry mouth with mischievous corners.

“That's Lucian, the senior, and he's a third-year political science major," Valery identified him to me. He is the president of most of the organizations, clubs, societies..., everything, literally everything.

He went on to point out to me the next one, who was still at the back of the stand, looking absent, distant, and perhaps a little grumpy.

“That's Viktor with the "don't talk to me, please" face," he continued. He's a sophomore in business school. He's not as extroverted as Lucian, but more... lonely? I don't know, but you couldn't have small talk with him.

Unexpectedly, while Lucian was concentrating on the girls, Viktor pulled another cigarette from his pocket and brought it to his mouth with lazy slowness. He didn't even pay attention to his brother. He looked in the opposite direction. And expelled the smoke; the lines floated in front of his profile, indifferent, but stylized.

“Finally, there is a third: Ankor," Valery added. He's the youngest, and he's in the first year of International Relations, but he doesn't seem to hang around here. He's more sociable. He has a YouTube channel where he does video blogs and stuff like that. He has two million subscribers and likes to brag about it.

In closing, Valery said in a dramatic tone:

“They are known as Lycan Royalty.

I could have laughed, but it would have ruined the dramatic tone of the introductions. Three handsome boys with a stupid nickname, huh? Couldn't miss it!

“Why do they call them that? “I wanted to know.

“Well, because it's so obvious, they are the cherry on the cake of this place, the inborn cream, and they are very good at making you think they like you and then send you to hell," she answered abruptly.

I waited for more details, but Valery shrugged her shoulders. I thought I detected some annoyance in the way she looked first at Viktor and then at Lucian, but I didn't want to dig deeper. I hardly knew her.

“Literally or...? “I said, finally, in an attempt to get her to explain a little more.

“It's that they only date girls for a hundred days," she said, again with some trepidation. No more. It's like... a rule, a bullshit golden rule, and when the deadline is over, poof... done as if they never felt anything for them.