The Lost Lycan Princes: A Journey Home

A Friendly Lunch

    Jonathan POV 

  In the days following our meeting with Alpha Terrance and the battle with the rogues, we focused our attention to researching everything we could find about the kidnapping case. We found articles saying that Arthur had been banished by King Sebastien not long after the kidnapping. Not because he’d been able to prove that Arthur was the kidnapper, but because he’d gotten proof that Arthur was plotting to assassinate him. The authors of the articles never mentioned what the proof was that he found, so we figured that must not have been made public. And it never did mention where Arthur went after he was banished. We weren’t sure if that’s because nobody knew, or the royal family was keeping that close to the vest too.  

  “You’d think King Sebastien would keep close tabs on him after the assassination plot,” Jameson mused as we pored through the articles, a couple days after the battle. “I mean, if someone wanted to kill me and I knew it, I’d want to know where he was at all times.” 

  “I would too, but then again, we aren’t surrounded by armed guards who can turn into fearsome beasts at the drop of a hat either,” I pointed out. “He may have just decided to wash his hands of him completely and pretend he never existed.” 

  Jameson thought for a minute. “You could be right. But I guess we’ll never know for sure until we meet him in person.” 

  I sighed. “You’re right. I know you are. But I hate waiting for that to happen. I want to know now.” 

  Jameson laughed. “You never did have patience. But in this case, I agree with you. I’m getting tired of this waiting too.” 

  “I hope Alpha Anthony comes home soon,” I replied. “And I hope he can give us some useful information.” 

  We kept looking through the articles, looking for anything that might hint at where the kingdom was actually located. It probably wasn’t thirty minutes after our conversations when my phone dinged, letting me know I had a text. When I looked at it, it was a text from Alpha Terrance.  

  ‘My parents are on their way home and should be here in a couple of hours. Dad has agreed to meet with the two of you tonight, if you’d like to.’ 

  I showed Jameson the text, then immediately responded that we’d definitely like to. 

  ‘Great! Meet me in my office after dinner. 7:30 OK?’ 

  I confirmed that we would be there, then slid my phone back into my pocket.  

  I grinned at Jameson. “Looks like we may finally make some progress after all!” I told him what the text said. 

  He glanced up at the clock on the wall. “Well, it’s only noon. Do you want to keep digging through these files, or should we call it a day and see what Alpha Anthony has to say tonight?” 

  I looked at the piles of folders in front of us. “You know, I’m honestly getting a headache from looking at all this anyway. I say we copy off the articles we wanted copied and call it a day.” 

  “Sounds good to me,” he told me. “And remember, Linda told us she’s going to be cooking for the families of the girls today, so we’re going to eat at the packhouse.” 

  I nodded. “I remember. And Dave tells me the food’s really good.” 

  He grinned. “I hope so. I’m starving!” 

  With that, we headed off to the packhouse to eat with Dave as we’d already arranged. It wasn’t all that far from the library to the packhouse, so we decided to walk. Terrance had cleared us to go pretty much wherever we wanted on pack territory, since he’d gotten to know us better and realized we weren’t a threat. He said that seeing us help them fight the rogues wiped out even the smallest trace of doubt he might have had.  

  Terrance and Dave were both waiting near the front doors for us. They both greeted us with smiles as we walked up. 

  “Ready for your first time seeing this many pack members in one place?” Dave asked. 

  “I honestly hadn’t really thought about it,” I replied, and Jameson nodded his agreement. “We’ve met so many of them already. It didn’t occur to me that there would be more here than we’ve seen other places.” 

  “With the exception of the battle, this is probably the most you’ve seen in one place,” Terrance told us, turning to lead the way to the dining room. “And for a lot of them, this will be their first time meeting you. Obviously, I can’t tell you guys what to do, but honestly, I’d keep on keeping your true identities a secret for now.” 

  “Why is that?” Jameson asked him curiously. “I mean, we planned on doing that anyway, but I’m just curious as to what your thoughts are.” 

  “Dad and I were talking a little about it over the phone earlier, and one thing Dad pointed out is that we don’t know where Arthur is, or if he’s even still alive,” Terrance replied. “Who’s to say that he won’t come after the two of you when he finds out that you’re seeking to find your way back to the kingdom?” 

  Jameson and I both nodded. “That was our thinking too,” I told him. “We haven’t even gotten to shift into our Lycans yet. Heck, we just found out who and what we are within the past few weeks. We’re definitely not ready to face him yet.” 

  “He could wreak some havoc on the pack if he wanted to as well,” Terrance told us. “I think we could eventually stop him, simply because our warriors are well trained and there’s so many of them, but I have no doubt we’d lose a few warriors in the process. I’d really rather not do that.” 

  We had entered the dining room by that point, and everyone stood as their Alpha entered.  

  “Hello everyone! For those who don’t know, this is Jameson and Jonathan. They’re friends of Dave and Linda’s that have been visiting us for a bit. These are the two that helped us out with the rogue attack. Please, make them feel welcome, and let’s eat!” 

  There were calls of welcome from the 60ish pack members gathered there, and everyone started toward the food that was set up buffet style at the front of the room. 

  “Where’s the Luna?” someone asked Terrance on their way by. 

  “Helping the ladies that are cooking for the grieving families,” he replied. “She’ll be here for dinner, after she picks the pups up from pupcare.” 

  After we’d gotten our food and sat down, I brought up our previous conversation. “So,” I addressed Terrance, “going back to what you were saying earlier, do you mean to tell me it would take an army to take out one single Lycan?” 

  He nodded. “If a Lycan decides to attack, there’s not much a single werewolf would be able to do to stop them. You guys are incredibly strong. It’s one of the reasons Lycans tend to stay to themselves. Lycans tend to go insane when they lose their mates, and while a sane Lycan is strong as h**l, one that has lost his mind is basically unstoppable. They can generally only be stopped by another Lycan. I’ve heard instances of Lycans who went insane and took out entire packs before.” 

  I was surprised. “Oh wow! I didn’t realize there was such a big difference in werewolves and Lycans. I mean, I obviously knew there were some differences, but I didn’t realize there was that much.” 

  Terrance and Dave both nodded. “There is,” Terrance replied. “We do have a lot of things in common though. Most Lycans prefer to live in packs, just as we do. We consider mates a blessing from the Moon Goddess, just as they do. There’s a lot more than that, but those are two of the biggest ones.” 

  “Wow,” Jameson spoke up. “I see we have a lot to learn still.” 

  The two of them smiled at us.  

  “You’ll get it down pat,” Dave promised us. “We’ve all had a lifetime to learn. You guys missed out on eighteen years.”