The Lost Lycan Princes: A Journey Home

Heading East

Jonathan POV

Dave and Linda were almost as excited as we were about the results being exactly what we’d expected them to be. After we talked to them for a few minutes, Jameson and I went into the bedroom to get our things together and call Mom and Dad to update them. I was honestly a little worried that they might be upset, being that we now had two sets of parents, but if they were they hid it very well. They were all smiles and simply congratulated us on having found our biological parents so quickly. Jameson and I both made sure to let them know we loved them and always would. They had raised us with love and kindness when they’d had no obligation to, and we would never forget that.

After we called our parents, we decided to call Sarah. Even though I knew Mom had been keeping her updated on us, we’d only actually talked to her a couple of times since leaving home. We video chatted her from Jameson’s phone. She must have been almost on top of her phone, because it only rang once before her face filled the screen.

“Hey, guys!” she exclaimed. “Gosh, it’s good to see your faces! How’s the search going?”

“Hey, sis!” I greeted her, and Jameson smiled and waved. “Actually, the search is over. We’ve confirmed that the king and queen are indeed our parents.”

She squealed, almost blowing out the phone speakers in her excitement. “Oh my gosh! That was so much faster than I thought it would be. I need all the details!”

We talked to her for about a half hour or so, filling her in on everything that had happened since we’d left Mom and Dad’s. I watched how her expressions changed as we told the story, from hopeful, to horrified, to relieved, then to pure happiness. We’d been blessed to get her as a sister. She’d never been anything less than supportive of us, and I know Jameson was just as grateful as I was to have always had such a loving family.

After the call with Sarah was done, we took turns getting our showers then got all of our stuff together. We wanted to have as much as possible already packed when we got up in the morning, so that we could get on the road bright and early. We’d figured out that it was about 32 driving hours from where we were to Ogunquit, and we were hoping we could make that drive in three and a half days or so. We were hoping we could make it to Kansas City, KS, the first day, but that remained to be seen.

We were up by 5 a.m. the following morning. After shaving and brushing our teeth, we packed the remainder of our things into our suitcases and lugged them out the SUV. I momentarily lamented about missing my Mustang, then we went back inside. Linda had insisted on feeding us breakfast before we left, and I was more than happy to let her. Honestly, I would miss her cooking when we left.

While we feasted on pancakes, bacon, sausage, and eggs, we told them about our plans to try to be at the castle within three and a half days or so. Linda told us about a small, family owned motel that they’d stayed at a couple of times that was just outside of Kansas City, KS. She told us that the family that owned and ran it had lived near some wolf packs for years, so they were some of the few humans that were familiar with werewolves and Lycans. We looked it up online and the rooms were within our price range, so we went ahead and reserved a room for that night.

Finally, it was time for us to get on the road. It was 6:30 a.m. by then, which was honestly about thirty minutes past when we’d wanted to leave. Linda and Dave walked with us out to the SUV to see us off. After a round of hugs and promises to keep in touch, we were finally in the truck and moving. We waved and beeped the horn as we pulled out of the driveway, and we were off. After a quick stop for the coffee we’d forgotten get from Linda and Dave’s house, we were on the highway. Jameson was more of a morning person than me, so he was driving the first leg of the trip. I sent our parents a quick text, letting them know that we were on the move again, then dug through our DVD collection until I found one I wanted to listen to. Luckily, Jameson shared my love of the oldies, so we were rocking out to the Beach Boys in no time. Something about belting out the lyrics of “Kokomo” always sent my stress flying out the window.

As Jameson sped down the freeway, I was watching the Colorado scenery fly by, then the Kansas scenery. As I did so, I let my thoughts wander. I couldn’t help but wonder what was ahead for us. Now that we knew we were the royal crown princes, it seemed that all of the plans that we’d had for our futures would be changing. We had both been star football players all throughout high school - I guess now we knew exactly why – and we’d both been offered full scholarships to play at UCLA. We’d been pretty excited about that, but now it looked like we’d probably have to turn it down. Somehow, playing against humans when we were supernatural creatures just didn’t seem right.

‘Damien?’ I called to him.

‘Yeah, buddy?’ came the response.

‘When King Sebastien either retires or, well, you know, who will be king? Jameson or me?’ I asked him.

‘Well, you are technically older by seven minutes, so in most cases in would be you,’ he told me. ‘But a few years ago, King Sebastien had the laws changed to state that if the two of you choose to run the kingdom together, you can do so. Co-kings, I suppose you could call it.’

‘Has that ever been done before?’ I asked him.

‘No,’ he told me. ‘There have been cases of kings having an identical twin and sharing a mate with them, but never have any of them changed the laws so that they can run the kingdom together. King Sebastien is the first to change those laws.’

‘So if we decided to leave things the way they are and only I take over the kingdom, would Jameson’s title remain royal crown prince, or would it change to something else?’

‘Well, since he would be the first in line to the throne until your children are born, he would remain the royal crown prince. After your children are born, he can choose to step back from the title if he wishes, since your child will automatically become next in line for the throne at that point. Or he could choose to keep the title, even though his place in line for throne will have been bumped down. Or he can choose to simply be ‘prince’ and not ‘royal crown prince.’ Basically that means that while he would still be royalty, he’d have less duties he’d have to perform. Or, if you wanted, you could hand the crown to him and you would be the royal crown prince instead of him. It’s up to the two of you.’

I thought for a minute. ‘I’ll talk this over with Jameson, of course, but I have a feeling he’ll feel the same way that I do. I think I would much rather run the kingdom with my brother by my side. We’ve done most everything else in life together, so why not this too?’

I told Jameson what I’d been talking to my Lycan about, and he smiled.

“Funny you say that, because I’ve been talking to Donovan about the exact same thing,” he told me.

I laughed. “Great minds do indeed think alike,” I replied. “Did he tell you all the options we have?”

He nodded. “Yeah.” He told me what Donovan had told him, and it lined up perfectly with what Damien had explained to me.

“So what do you think we should do?” I asked him.

He shrugged. “We’ve done everything else in life together up until now. Why not this too?”

I grinned at him. “That’s exactly what I told Damien you would say, and I was right.”

He laughed. “Well, you should know me better than anyone at this point.”

I laughed too. “True that.”

By that point, we’d been in the car for three hours, so it was a time to make a quick bathroom stop. We stopped at the next gas station we came to, topping with car off with gas while we were stopped. Neither of us was very hungry yet, so we decided to just grab some snacks, then drive for a couple more hours before stopping for lunch.

We spent the next two hours cracking jokes, insulting each other, listening to music, and just basically doing something we hadn’t been able to do for a couple of weeks – being teenaged brothers.

Finally, about two hours after our first stop, we stopped for lunch at a diner in some small Kansas town – I don’t remember the name of it. Dave had helped us map out our stops to some extent. He explained that, once everyone knew that we were the long-lost princes, we could basically travel where we wanted, but that since no one knew that the princes had been found alive and well, much less that we were them, we would have to be careful not to stop for more than a few minutes on another pack’s territory.

“Granted,” he’d said, “you guys are Lycans and Lycans are much stronger, but you guys can’t shift yet. Best to lie low until you can.”

So we’d picked this town ahead of time, since it appeared that no packs had any claim to any place.

When we walked in, the friendly redheaded waitress greeted us in her midwestern drawl. She looked like she was only a couple of years older than us, and she was cute, so of course we had to flirt a little. She blushed a little a first, but flirted right back.

After lunch – a veggie plate for Jameson, since he’s crazy about deep fried veggies, and a steak and potatoes for me – and a little more friendly banter with the waitress, we were back on the road, this time with me behind the wheel. This time it was Jameson’s turn to choose the music, and I suppose he was in one of his rare country moods, because the next thing I knew, we were singing along with Kenny Rogers to songs like “The Gambler” and “Coward Of The County.”

I was more of a lead foot than Jameson, so we were making even better time now. I can’t explain the feeling that was running through me as we put more and more miles behind us. The only way that I can explain it is to say it’s like every nerve in my body knew that we were headed for something that was going to mean everything to us and change us forever.

We made one more stop to stretch our legs and use the bathroom, then it was a straight shot onto Kansas City. We called both sets of parents as we got closer to the motel Linda had told us about. We promised all four of them that we would let them know when we made it there, and then again when we got back on the road in the morning.

Finally, I saw the sign for the exit that we wanted, and gratefully left the freeway and drove towards the sign for the motel, which was just a mile or so from the freeway. We decided that Jameson would go in the lobby and check us in while I waited in the car. But when he got to the doorway of the lobby, he paused, then turned back to me with a strange look on his face. He walked back over to the SUV and tapped on the window. When I rolled it down, he said, “I’m not sure why, but Donovan is telling me you need to come in with us.”

I groaned. ‘What’s your twin talking about?’ I asked Damien.

‘Just trust him,’ he replied.

I groaned again and got out of the truck. We’d been driving for a little over ten hours at that point and I was tired and ready to lay down. But I knew that Donovan and Damien would drive the both of us crazy until we did what they wanted.

As we were approaching the door, a guy walked out, and as he did, the most enticing scent I’d ever smelled came wafting out of the motel lobby. It was like a mixture of cinnamon and vanilla. Damien started flipping out in my mind. I glanced over at Jameson and he looked just as confused as I felt.

“Bro, do you smell that?” I asked.

“Yeah, it smells like roses and vanilla,” he replied.

“Really?” I was surprised that he smelled something different. “I smell cinnamon and vanilla. And Damien is freaking out.”

“So is Donovan,” he confirmed.

‘Mate!’ Damien yelled. ‘Our mate is in there! Go get our mate!’

I felt my eyes go as big as saucers, and my jaw dropped. Jameson’s expression was identical.

“Did Donovan tell you - ?” I started to ask.

“Mate,” he finished for me. “He says our mate is in there.”

I felt the worst bout of nerves I’d experienced hit me like a ton of bricks.

“Oh wow,” I told Jameson. “Oh. Wow. I feel like I just got handed a final exam that I didn’t know about or something.”

Jameson nodded. “Me too. Damien has told me that once we find our mate, we won’t be able to bear being without her. And now....oh wow, I so wasn’t ready for this.”

“Me neither,” I told him. “But you know these two won’t let us leave without her, so....well, here goes nothing.”

We both took a deep breath and started walking again, headed towards the girl that had no idea she was our future, and we were hers.