The Lost Lycan Princes: A Journey Home

After The Battle

Jameson POV

Jonathan and I exchanged shocked looks. Queen Havannah? As in, our biological mother? The lady who gave birth to us? So we were related to this guy?!

Alpha Terrance was staring at the rogue. “And you expect me to believe that?” he demanded.

Lyle shrugged. “You can believe whatever you want. It makes no difference to me.”

“It might make a difference if you want me to help you find the princes,” Alpha Terrance retorted.

Jonathan and I both tensed up. Would he betray us? But at almost the same instant, we heard Dave’s voice in our heads. Even though I wasn’t sure where he was in the crowd, his voice was crystal clear.

‘He’s bluffing,’ he told us. ‘He’s trying to get information from the rogue.’

We both breathed a small sigh of relief. My instinct had told me I could trust Alpha Terrance, but for a split second I had questioned it.

‘Thank you for that,’ Jonathan told him. I nodded my agreement, pretty sure he could see us.

We turned our attention back to the conversation between Alpha Terrance and the rogue.

“What makes you think I want or need your help?” Lyle demanded.

Alpha Terrance scoffed. “The fact that your entire ‘army’ is lying dead around us, that’s what.”

“What makes you think that was my entire army?” Lyle demanded, clearly bluffing.

Alpha Terrance merely laughed. “I’m not stupid enough to think you have more soldiers stashed away somewhere. Now, do you want help or not?”

Lyle eyed him suspiciously. “Maybe. Why should I trust you? You just killed my warriors, and nearly killed me.” He indicated the wound on his abdomen.

Alpha Terrance shrugged. “You don’t really have a choice. It’s either we work with you, or you stay in our cells indefinitely.”

Lyle continued eyeing him. “Maybe we can talk,” he replied, doubt and suspicion still heavy in his voice.

They walked away, along with the two warriors flanking Lyle, and we couldn’t hear the rest of the conversation. But we did hear Alpha Terrance’s voice in our heads.

‘I’ll see what information I can get out of him,’ he told us. ‘Just steer clear of the cells for awhile, so he doesn’t see you. I assume you know where that is?’

I nodded, then remembered he couldn’t see me. ‘Yes, Alpha Terrance. Dave showed us before.’

‘Good,’ he replied. ‘See you both at dinner.’

Dinner. That’s right. It was almost time to eat at the packhouse, then it would be time for our meeting with Anthony.

Once Alpha Terrance and Lyle were out of sight, we cautiously slid out of the tree. Dave and Linda, still in their wolf forms, came walking over to us. Linda rubbed her head against me, then against Jonathan, as if she were reassuring herself that we were ok. I had to smile. It was amazing how quickly she and Dave had become almost like other parents to us.

‘Come on,’ she told us. ‘We need to get home and get cleaned up before dinner.’

Dave had told us that even though the two of them normally had dinner at home, Linda liked to go to the packhouse for meals every once in awhile. She said that it gave her a break from cooking, but he’d laughed and told us that it also gave her a chance to catch up on the latest gossip.

Once we’d gotten back to their house and all of us had showered and gotten ready, we decided to walk together to the packhouse. It wasn’t that far, and we had enough time. Plus it gave us time to see what Linda and Dave thought of Lyle.

“So do you do that often?” I asked Linda. “Fight in battles, I mean?”

“Well, not all that often,” she told me. “Most of the battles Dave has fought in have happened when he was already out on patrol. With that being the case, I’m not with him. But the few times he’s gotten the call when he’s been at home, I’ve gone with him if I can. I’m a fully trained warrior, like most of the she-wolves here are, I just chose not to work patrols and such. I would if the Alpha needed me to, but he’s got plenty of warriors that are more into that sort of thing than I am.”

“Does it bother you?” Jonathan asked her. “I mean, do you ever have nightmares or anything like that?”

She thought for a minute. “After the first battle, not long after Dave and I were first married, I had nightmares for a couple of months. I had to kill two rogues in that fight, and even though it was self-defense, it was hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that I’d killed someone. I saw a counselor for awhile, and she helped me to see that I was dealing with PTSD. She got the pack doctor to prescribe me something for anxiety, and it helped. She helped me to work through it, and eventually the nightmares went away. Well, mostly anyway. On rare occasions, they resurface, like after a battle or something like that. But I know now how to deal with them, and they always go away after a day or two. I may have one tonight, because of today, but then again, I may not. But if I do, as I said, I know how to deal with it, and Dave knows how to help me through it.”

Dave nodded. “Those nightmares were horrible for her at first. She would wake up screaming almost every night, sometimes several times a night. I know she was embarrassed about having such a reaction to that first fight, but honestly, she’s not the only one I know that’s gone through it. And not just the she-wolves – I know some of the men that deal with PTSD too. I try to remind her that it’s nothing to be ashamed of. My baby is a beautiful, strong, capable she-wolf, and I hope she never forgets that.” He added that last part as he stared admiringly into his mate’s eyes.

She smiled at him. “Thank you, baby. I don’t know how I could’ve gotten through that without you. You were always there to hold me and reassure me that I was safe, and for that I’ll always be grateful.” She stopped walking long enough to lean over and brush her nose against his, and he responded with a soft kiss. They then twined their fingers together and continued walking.

I had to smile. 22 years together and they still sometimes acted like teenagers in love. In that respect, they weren’t much different than my parents – the parents that had raised me, I mean. I was beginning to realize that for every difference I found between humans and supernaturals, there were five other things that were the same.

“So what’s your opinions on Lyle?” Jonathan spoke up. “Do you think he’ll be able to give us any useful information? And why do you think he wanted us?”

Dave sighed. “Able to give information, yes. Willing, probably not. But Alpha Terrance has a way of getting people to talk, without resorting to the torture that a lot of Alphas are overly fond of. Alpha Anthony never liked violence, and would try to avoid it if he could, even though he was an amazing fighter. Alpha Terrance is the same. As for why he wanted you two, I’m not sure. My guess would be that he was going to attempt to somehow brainwash the two of you into going back to the kingdom, sweet talking your way inside, then letting him in. I’m not sure how he planned to take the throne, as the two of you are the rightful heirs and you’d have to be dead for someone else to take it over. I doubt a bunch of rogues could take down even one Lycan, let alone the two of you, your parents, and whatever other family members happened to be there. He’s obviously delusional, or he’s got something on the king or queen that he’s planning to use as blackmail, or a little of both. I’m going with the last option.”

“What do you think he could possibly have on them that would be bad enough for him to be able to blackmail them?” I wondered.

“There’s no telling,” Linda replied. “I’ll be interested to find that out myself.”

By then we’d reached the packhouse. Alpha Terrance, freshly showered, met us at the door with his Luna, Ana. After we’d greeted the two of them and their children, who were giggling and doing figure 8s between the two of them, Alpha Terrance turned to introduce us to the older man standing behind them.

“Jameson, Jonathan, I’d like you meet my dad, Anthony,” he introduced us. “My mom will be down here shortly, so you can meet her then.”

Anthony shook first my hand, then Jonathan’s.

“It’s nice to meet you, Alpha Anthony,” I told him.

He smiled at me. “It’s nice to meet you too, but none of that ‘Alpha’ stuff. That’s my son now! I’m too being grandpa to these pups to worry about Alpha stuff anymore.”

I laughed. “Yes, sir!”

“So my son tells me the two of you are needing information about King Sebastien and Queen Havannah?”

I nodded. “Yes, sir.” I wanted to ask what he knew right then, but there were too many other wolves milling around to have a conversation about it right then.

As if reading my mind, he said, “I do have some information I can give you, but there’s too many others around right now. We’re still meeting after dinner though, right?”

Jonathan nodded. “Yes, sir. We can’t wait to hear what you’ve got for us.”

He smiled. “And I can’t wait to see how this all plays out.”

He and the Alpha and Luna had also greeted Dave and Linda, and the pups all thrown their arms around both of them. Linda explained later that she often helped watch the pups at pack meetings, so they were all comfortable around her.

“Laura just mind linked that she’s going to be a few more minutes,” Anthony told us. “She’s going to meet us in the dining room. So, let’s eat, shall we?”

I smiled as he turned and walked toward the dining room. I could already tell that I was going to like him. I couldn’t wait to find out what information he had for us. That meeting seemed like it was still forever away.