Chapter 9
Noelle
I stare up into Lucian’s pretty face for exactly two minutes before I burst out laughing.
“Me? A Lycan?” I shake my head at his ridiculous claim. “Please. In short and tiny while every member of the Cleopatra pack is strong and robust. And they are the only lycan pack that exists.”
“In this world, yes,” Lucian says. “But in the magical world, there are plenty of lycan families. There is even a royal lycan family, and while their human forms aren’t huge, they are enormous as lycans. Think of polar bears, but bigger.”
My eyes widen. “Bigger than polar bears?”
“Yes. A male polar bear can reach up to ten feet in height standing on its hind legs, but I’ve heard the pure–blooded members of the Alpha family are even bigger. But in their human forms, they are slender and beautiful, just like you.”
I almost choke and have to place my hand on Lucian’s chest to keep myself from falling forward. “Okay, slow down. First, you call me a lycan, and now you’re trying to tell me I might be a royal lycan from the magical world?
Lucian cocks his head to the side, not seeming to understand I’m close to passing out. “Yes?”
I laugh again. “How? Why would you even think that?”
His face finally turns serious and he grabs my hands, pulling both of them to his chest as he explains himself. “Because I made a background check on you, Noelle. There are no records of you ever being born in the Midnight pack, but there’s plenty of records of your parents traveling to the south continent where no sane human would go.”
My blood freezes over when I hear that. “The south continent is where the fairies live…” I mumble.
“Yes,” he smiles. “And while they are vile creatures, they were sent there by the royal lycan family to guard the portal that leads to the magical world. That’s why the fairies have made the southern continent their home.”
“And you know this because?”
“My mother is one of the fairies living there, and while that woman is batshit crazy and someone who eats humans for dinner, she also sent my father a concerning letter a few years ago.”
Lucian falls silent, his eyes taking on a distant look as if remembering something painful. Then he shakes himself loose. from the memory, his gaze focusing back on me.
“My mother wrote a letter that made no sense to him. She was furious that two of his pack members had visited the dangerous island with a baby, which left my father confused because he couldn’t remember the woman being pregnant when she left the pack to go on vacation.”
“Are you suggesting…” I start trailing off when the importance of his words hits me.
It doesn’t go unnoticed by Lucian. He looks at me as if understanding the unspoken question in my eyes.
“Your parents,” he continues, “might not be your real parents. I think they are the ones behind the lycan princess’s disappearance from the magical realm.”
I scoff disbelievingly, my heart pounding in my chest, “But that that’s impossible!” I argue, “Why would they do that? And why wouldn’t they tell me
Lucian shrugs. “Maybe they were trying to protect you?”
“Protect me?” I snort. They have been mean and abusive since I was a child! Why would they treat me unkindly if they had
gone through so much trouble to kidnap me?”
“They were fearful,” Lucian responds, his voice steady and calm They knew they had stolen a royal child, and maybe they thought if they distanced themselves in those ways, it would keep you hidden. Or perhaps they thought they could suppress your lycan nature by being harsh.”
“I’m supposed to believe all this based on a random letter from your fairy mother?” I retort, my anger rising. “You could be making all of this up, Lucian!”
For the first time since we’ve been talking about this, there is a hint of hurt in Lucian’s gaze. “Do you really think I would lie about this, Noelle?” He asks, his hands still holding mine against his chest.
“I don’t know,” I answer honestly. “I don’t even know who I am anymore.”
“Then let me help you find out,” he pleads. His eyes are carnest and hopeful when he adds, “Together.”
I want to believe him; I really do. But the idea that iny entire life has been a lie is too overwhelming to accept immediately. As much as I want to trust Lucian, a voice in the back of my mind cautions me to be careful.
“I… need some time, I finally decide, pulling my hands away from him. He looks like he wants to argue but doesn’t say anything.
“Alright,” Lucian finally says after what feels like an eternity of silence, “Take all the time you need.”
As he walks away from me, leaving me alone with my racing thoughts, I can’t help but wonder if what he’s saying is true. Could I really be a lycan princess? And if so…what does that mean for my future?
I’ve always been the Midnight pack’s weak Omega: unable to shape–shift or defend myself. The shape–shift instructors were all pissed off with me as a child, but could it be that the reason I couldn’t change into a wolf is that a lycan transformation is different?
no, that’s bizarre. I couldn’t possibly be this lycan princess Lucian spoke about. I’m not that special. I’m just a normal and weak little Omega, barely surviving in this harsh world.
But as these thoughts continue to whirl inside my mind, a sinking feeling begins to settle in my chest. The ‘what ifs‘ are too strong.
What if I am the lycan princess? What if I was born to rule, not cower? What if I was meant to be more than just the weak Omega of the Midnight pack?
A memory then flashes through my mind: a beautiful black–haired woman singing an otherworldly melody. She is looking down as if I’m small, perhaps a baby, and my heart clenches.
This isn’t the first time I’ve seen that woman. I’ve dreamt about her before, seen her in snippets. I’ve always thought she was created by my imagination, but now, thinking about it. The lullaby in my dreams isn’t sung in the common language of the packs. It sounds more like…..
Everything inside of me goes tense at the realization. It might be a coincidence, but…
That woman definitely used the ancient wolf language–a language mostly forgotten by the werewolves and only spoken by the lycans.
Suddenly, I’m filled with a sense of longing. For years, I’ve felt out of place in the Midnight pack. I always thought it was because I was weak, but could there be more to it than that? Could my feeling of displacement be due to the fact that I was never really meant to be a part of this pack? That I am, in fact, a stolen lycan princess destined to rule over the magical kingdom?
It sounds far–fetched, but so do a lot of things in our world: hurrans who shape–shift into wolves, a magical realm hidden away from mortal eyes… Why couldn’t this be true as well? Could Lucian be right about me?
