Return of the Lycans (part 1: The Lycan's)
Christmas Eve

We sit down at a gorgeously adorned dining table in the living room. Mom just serves the turkey breast and sits down across me at the table. My plate is filled with two slices of turkey, a lot of green beans, mashed potatoes and a delicious cranberry sauce. We eat in silence and I’m enjoying the food.

My mother asks, “Is it tasty, my daughter?”

‘Yes, very tasty,’ I reply cheerfully. My mother smiles, but her eyes don’t smile.

“I’m happy,” she sighs as she cuts into her piece of turkey with her knife. We continue to eat in silence. A little too quiet, in my opinion.

‘Mom, what’s wrong? You’re so quiet this evening?’

‘Uh, yes,’ my mother reacts, confused. She puts her cutlery next to her plate and wipes her mouth with her napkin. She shifts uncomfortably in her chair and clears her throat. ‘I have something to say. We...we. Promise me you won’t get mad?’ My mother looks intensely into my eyes.

‘Yes. I promise, I guess?’

“Well, we’re moving to the pack not far from here this weekend,” she says. She then takes her cutlery and continues to eat without looking at me. My heart starts to beat faster. ‘Why? Why are you telling me this now? Mom, I’m in my senior year of school, and I have my friends here. Why go back to that world?’

“Your wolf is almost here. You must be with other wolves to understand how it all works. Lana, it’s a good pack. And their Alpha and Luna are my best friends for...”

“Before you ruined your life with that bastard, Jan.”

“Lana, that’s not how we talk about your father.”

“Mom, he was your husband. He disowned you because I wasn’t a boy, and you couldn’t have any more children. The entire pack never contacted us again or fought to keep us with them. Then why go back to another pack? I don’t need one. I am happy here among the people.”

‘And yet we go. I miss... I miss living in a pack, and I know my old pack will welcome us with open arms. The Black Wolves are a peaceful pack with a Black Wolf as their Alpha. Erik Black is his name, and Vera is their Luna. The others, including me, have white in their coats. His beta and gamma have less white than the omegas. Lana, I know I’m asking a lot of you, but I don’t want you to shift in the human realm. With wolves, you are safe.’

‘May I leave the table?’ I ask in annoyance.

‘Yes, go ahead,’ sighs my mother. I go to my room and slam my door. I’m crying myself to sleep this night.