The Sudden Changes

"Lucas?"

A voice, so sweet and endearing, snapped him back to reality, making him look behind the dominating man.

"Is that you? Oh my god, you looked so tall and brute! What happened to the skinny eight-year-old kid I had known?"

Lucas was still quiet. His eyes kept shifting back and forth between those dangerously glaring blue eyes and his friend's eyes.

"Lucas? Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Lucas heaved a deep and trembling sigh as he emptied his mind — a dangerous hobby that he had to learn during his childhood days — before looking back at Beatrice.

He showed her a full smile, hiding away the uneasy feeling that he had for the other man.

"Yeah. Yeah. How are you?"

Beatrice laughed at him, well giggled, as she bit her lips and gave him a tight smile.

"I am good. Come on in, my dad is making spaghetti."

Lucas, who felt not welcomed, shook his head and stepped back until he reached the last step of the porch's stairs.

"No, I'm good. Just checking in whether Lucian and Maximus were telling the truth. They-uh-saw you by the port."

Beatrice hummed in response.

An awkward silence engulfed them when Calvin, Beatrice's dad — god bless his heart, called out for her to help him set the table.

Lucas watched her go before a brooding figure overshadowed his line of sight, glaring at him. Lucas could feel a heavy tension and the dark aura the man was emitting. He gulped quietly as he made sure to look away from the man.

"What did you do, huh? Do you think I will ever accept you?"

Lucas' eyes flattered back at the man and stared at him. His face filled with confusion and pain. He felt his head swirling and his chest aching for no apparent reason.

"Listen here, you mongrel. I don't know what you did and what you are but I will never accept you. So stay away from me and Beatrice. You are not welcome here."

Lucas gasped inwardly.

Something in him swirled into a fit of anger and confusion. He looked at the man for the last time before stepping away slowly, his eyes speaking the truth.

He smiled at the man, who only rolled his eyes, and went back to Calvin's house. He shut the door down. Lucas took a deep breath before hopping onto his motorbike and flew through the streets.

Lucas passed through the forest and went straight to the lavender meadow that his mother gifted to him when he turned fifteen. The same place where his transition will happen on Sunday.

He dropped onto the lavender field and looked at the brooding trees that surrounded him.

"What the fuck just happened? What was that?"

Questions kept pestering his mind as he tried to remember what his father told him about. It was this weird feeling of being gravitated to a certain person. A feeling of being attached to a stranger that fate would destined him to have.

"You damn mongrel! Did you imprint on me?!"

His eyes opened widely, making him sit with his right arm prompted to his right knee.

"Wait. I-I imprinted? But that's impossible."

Tears swelled in his eyes as he realized what happened on that front porch.

"Wait, so that means, we can imprint even if we haven't transitioned yet? But Father and Timothy said that we will only be able to mate after transitioning."

He scrambled his thoughts and lost track of time. The next thing he knew was it was getting dark and four pairs of eyes were staring at him at a distance.

"Oh Lucian, Max! Hey guys!"

Lucian carefully walked over a distance from Lucas. His eyes were dark and his teeth were baring. They were in their wolf form.

Lucas was about to run up and greet his friends when he saw who was behind them.

'Timothy? What was he doing here?'

The dark wolf hid behind the trees and transitioned back to its human form. Timothy emerged from the other side of the tree, face contorted with confusion.

"Hey Tim, what's up? Is everything okay?"

Timothy, who was still unsure of what was happening, walked up to the younger man. "How did it happen? What caused its trigger?"

Lucas, who was more confused than before, tilted his head — indirectly asking Timothy what he meant.

"You transitioned, Lucas. Way earlier than intended. Are you okay? Do you feel any kind of pain?"

Timothy searched him up, looking for any type of injuries that might've shown signs of his transitioning. But there was none.

"Hm, you seem fine. No injuries or any broken bones. You look intact which I find intriguing. Whatever triggered the first phase of your transition must've been something your great great grandfather had bestowed to his descendants."

Lucas, who was stunned and frozen in place, was nudged by Lucian. Maximus moved forward as well and sniffed the air as the new scent of lavender and sandalwood covered his nose.

He followed the scent until his nose landed on Lucas.

"Hey stop it. Your breath tickles me."

Maximus, who was more confused, suddenly transitioned back to his human form — followed suit by Lucian.

"What the fuck, dude? Why do you smell different?"

Lucian smacked Maximus' head as he shook his head. "Were you not listening to Timothy earlier, you damn bitch? He clearly said Lucas already surpassed the first phase."

Maximus, eyes now widened open, looked at his friend with his mouth agape. "What?! How did that happen? No one had surpassed that thing before their eighteenth birthday!"

Timothy, who was just right behind him, grabbed a huge leaf that just fell from a tree and covered Maximus' mouth with it.

"Shut up and let me handle this. Go home, you too. I will take care of Lucas."

Maximus gave him a look before stomping away in the meadow, sulking. "But —" Timothy gave him a firm look, making the younger wolf pout and scoff away.

Lucas bid his friends goodbye before looking back at Timothy.

"Well, I have no answer for you right now. But my advice to you is to try the second phase after Sunday. It's better that way."

Lucas nodded and walked out of the meadow first, followed by Timothy behind him. Timothy was staring at the youngin's back as he sighed.

Looks like this will be another all-nighter.