The Private Lives of Werewolves, Pt. 2

After Sevora and Aindrias went to grab something to eat in the area, a mournful silence descended over the Sobel home, though Lucien always knew where Jace was in the house with the sound of his heartbeat. Sevora let Lucien and Jace know that, for the first two weeks, Jace would not be able to visit Lucien at the Bridgebane Chalet. Spouses tended to hover while their counterparts were settling in with the pack, and it added unneeded stress for the newborn. Lucien could understand that, just like he understood why Sevora and Aindrias were taking so long to get their food—they were giving him and Jace time to talk and say their goodbyes.

Lucien and Jace didn’t talk for some time as they both took showers and got dressed for the day. Jace helped Lucien pack clothes for his stay at Bridgebane, though Lucien was starting to wonder how much help Jace could have been when he had just folded the same pair of pants for the fourth time.

“Babe, let me. I got it,” Lucien said, finally breaking their silence. He touched Jace’s hand softly before taking the pants, folding them, and neatly placing them in his suitcase.

“Luci,” Jace replied, “I didn’t know that they wouldn’t let me see you while you’re getting used to things. I’m sorry, I—”

“You have nothing to be sorry for. I hurt you. I have to do this...whether they would let you visit or not. Besides, it’s just two weeks. We can handle that.” Lucien was trying to be more optimistic as he cupped Jace’s cheeks and kissed his forehead.

“They probably won’t even let me come around for your first full moon.”

Lucien stepped away to sit on the foot of their bed, tugging his beard. “I damn sure hope not. I could hurt you. Any of us could. And…I looked into how the first change works when I was in the hospital. I hear it’s really…painful. I don’t want you to see me like that.”

Jace laughed pathetically, sitting next to Lucien. “What have I told you about Googling your symptoms.” It was the first time they shared a laugh that day.

“I mean, I get that. Google will basically tell you that you’re dying. But, this is different, y’know? My first full moon is coming and I was curious. This isn’t something that could be happening…it is happening. And I’m just—”

“Scared as fuck?” Jace pitched in.

“Yeah…besides, you wouldn’t be able to handle the sight of my bones cracking and shifting.” Lucien grinned, nudging his shoulder against Jace’s own.

“Hey, I can take it! Kind of…”

Lucien made a sound, holding back a laugh. “You visibly cringed when you first met me and saw the scar over my eye. And all that time I thought it made me look pretty.”

“It’s just because I was imagining how painful it was to heal…yeah, you’re right. I’m so soft,” Jace chuckled.

Lucien lifted a hand to run his fingers through Jace’s hair. “You’re not soft. You just…don’t like seeing people in pain. And I don’t like seeing you in pain.” He made a point to look at the bruise that was on Jace’s jaw. It was loud; it mocked him. “I could carry the weight of a loaded M27 and the death that comes with it…still could never quite handle your tears.”

“Then don’t make me cry again with all the sweet shit,” Jace mumbled, carefully laying his head on Lucien’s shoulder. Lucien chuckled quietly.

A comfortable silence came between them, and Lucien started listening to Jace’s heart again. However, it was short-lived as the doorbell rang. Jace jerked slightly; Lucien tensed. There was no going back. Lucien never had that choice after he was attacked and infected.

“C’mon,” Lucien sighed. “Help me carry my bags, Jeeves.” He gave a small smile.

“I would have if you hadn’t called me Jeeves.”

Lucien came out of the house carrying his duffle bag and suitcase to Sevora’s truck. They stood, leaning against the car before Aindrias opened the trunk for Lucien to put his bags in. Jace came to give Lucien a hug.

After they kissed, Jace grinned and said, “Two weeks and I’ll come bearing gifts of chocolate.”

“No!” Sevora and Aindrias spoke in unison, and Jace looked at them, startled.

“What? What’d I say?”

Sevora sighed and stepped forward to speak. “While Lucien’s body is adjusting, his digestive system gets…picky. It doesn’t know whether to take into account the chemistry of the human or the wolf. So, it’s best if newborns do not consume chocolate until a little after their first change. Not everyone gets sick, but…we don’t want to chance it.”

“How long am I off chocolate?” Lucien asked with a raised brow.

“At least a month.”

Lucien grunted. “Fuck.”

********

Lucien sat in the backseat of the truck, looking out of the window. The truck smelled strongly of lemon, coming from the car freshener tree that hung from the rear-view. They had only been on the road for 10 minutes with Aindrias driving, but it had already grown awkward with silence…at least for Lucien. He wanted to speak, but he didn’t know them well, so he didn’t know where to start.

“You gonna sit and look out the windowlike a sad music video or you gonna say what’s on your mind?” Sevora spoke up.

“Hm?” Lucien turned away from the window to look at her in the passenger seat, smirking. “I’m just wondering…is there a reason that I had to ride with you guys?”

“It gives us time to talk. And I can lay down some rules before we get to the chalet.”

Lucien rose his brows at rules. He liked to have rules; it gave things some sort of structure, something to lean on. Before they got into that, he said, “Um, before we talk about that…I’m not anti-lemons, but…small space, y’know?”

Sevora made an O-shape with her mouth before taking the car freshener down. She opened the glove compartment and buried the thing between the papers that were inside before closing it. “Sorry, the senses progress faster for others. Better?”

Lucien nodded with a small smile. “So…rules?”

“Well, first,” Aindrias pitched in with his thick accent, looking at Lucien through the rear view, “we require all Omegas to stay at the Chalet until they’ve reached Beta. It’s hard to say when you’ll reach Beta because everyone progresses at their own pace. It comes down to your own will.”

Sevora twisted in her seat to get a better look of Lucien. “We need you at the Chalet because that’s where our surrogates are housed.”

“Surrogates?” Lucien tilted his head.

“The surrogates,” Sevora began, gesturing with her hands, “are equipped to calm you when you’re under a lot of stress. Whatever triggers you have, they will train you to be able to endure it so that you do not shift in unexpected times and potentially hurt someone. Since you will be directly under their care, you will be required to show them respect upon greeting with a bloodpoint, but we’ll talk about that a little later.”

If Lucien wasn’t so used to being given instruction, he may have felt overwhelmed by the information. He wasn’t so much overwhelmed as he was deeply curious about what he was hearing. It was a new world he was stepping into. He didn’t understand everything that Sevora was telling him, so he didn’t know how to take it all just yet; he had to empty his cup to fill it with new experiences.

“Okay, I can handle that. Anything else?”

“Yes…no sex.”

Lucien blinked a few times, pressing his lips together for a moment. “Mmm, ‘scuse me?” He could see Aindrias shaking his head with a big smirk on his face.

“No sex,” Sevora repeated, “It’s the number one cause of unexpected shifts because Omegas think they can handle it. Their partners end up turned if they weren’t already…or dead. So, we need to put a pause on that until you reach Beta.”

Lucien slumped back in his seat, crossing his arms. “Fine.” It shouldn't have come as a surprise to him, but it was a different thing to hear it aloud. This was real, and his ability to move forward with his life with some semblance of normalcy hinged upon his dedication towards reaching Beta.

“Good. I won’t overload you on a car ride. Now,” Sevora turned back around in her seat, “tell me about yourself.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Anything you want to tell us.”

“Uh…my middle name is Moishe?” Lucien said as if it were a question.

Sevora grinned. “Revision: anything you want to tell us that isn’t generic.”

“Hey, my name isn’t generic…I take pride in my name.”

“Oh? Tell me about it.”

“It comes from the Hebrew Moses, y’know? I was raised Jewish—adopted.” Aindrias and Sevora seemed surprised by that as they shared a look, but Lucien ignored it and continued. “I was 17 when my mom told me why they named me that, since Moses was technically adopted. When they named me…it was like a promise they made to raise me as if I was of their blood. Since then, I stopped wondering who my bio-parents were and what my name would have been if I hadn’t been adopted. I wasn’t meant to have any other name. I wasn’t meant to have any other parents. I stopped needing to know.”

Sevora turned her head and gave Lucien a look of consideration. Then, she nodded slowly. “That’s really beautiful.”

Lucien gave her a smile before turning to the window, watching the road pass as they grew closer and closer to Bridgebane.

previously posted to an LGBT+ Amino under my own account