Monday Morning, January 10th, 2011. Somewhere near Beacon Hills, California....
Somehow, the sun didn't burn as hot as the moon on his skin. Except for one spot on his shoulder….
Lucas woke up. Once again, on the ground. But it wasn't cold. He'd been there too long for it to be cold.
The morning winds carried scents of deer, roaming mountain lions, the smog of the city and….. death.
Death was all over him. He wore it like a second skin.
Instead of gagging, his stomach growled.
"I should be ashamed. But no one was around to hear that." Lucas thought to himself.
It was then, as he looked around and truly took in what his senses gave him that he saw it.
A glimmering Diamond-like glint hanging off of the ends of an orange leaf on a tree above him.
A water droplet. Over two hundred feet above him.
In it, he could see his reflection. A testimate to how good his vision had become as a Lycan.
It was his first time seeing himself in his new form.
For the most part— he was still himself. Lucas Corvan. He was mixed. His mother was Spanish and Afro-Dominican. His dad was Russian— and an asshole. It was the explanation for his tanned skin, full lips, broad nose, high cheekbones and dark-blue eyes. His flowy black hair was a tousseled mess around his head.
The differences were as present as the similarities. He was older. No, matured. Back in his old life, he was unfortunately stuck looking sixteen. Five foot six, pale soft skin, little to no musculature. Now he was at least six foot two inches and corded with muscle. Thick rope-like veins ran down his biceps and the v-line at his waist looked deep enough to damage.
The sight wasn't all that pleasant.
He was covered in dried blood and dead leaves.
The sight of it along with his ultra-faint scarring around his shoulder seemed to trigger a memory.
Back to when he was fighting the beast alpha.
No, back to when he was brutalizing the beast alpha.
It all happened after he tasted Peter's blood after the headbutt.
"Oh yea…. Lycan's from the Underworld universe were pretty cannibalistic. They ate vampires…. Which were kinda their cousins, other people and sometimes werewolves as well. If I remember correctly. So, I defintely ate Peter."
He stood up. Not at all groggy or sore anywhere aside from his shoulder— which reminded him, "I didn't eat Peter until after he bit me. After he passed on the curse of Lycanthropy to me— and became my alpha. And if I remember correctly, killing your alpha in this world makes you…. the new alpha."
Lucas raised his hand up to the sun. He remembered Lycan's of Underworld could transform fully at will— with way more ease than werewolves of Teen Wolf usually— even easier if angered.
So, he summoned a small portion of the seventeen years of abuse, failure and rage he'd built up in his past life.
Immediately, his body responded. The veins in his arms darkened. The muscles expanded and fortified under harder darkened skin. Claws extended from his fingers— sharper than before. Better than before.
He looked back up at the water droplet in the trees. As it fell, he could see himself more clearly.
He could see his eyes.
The whites had once again turned to a dark bluish black. But the wolf-gold ring of his irises were now red-gold.
The water droplet splattered on his forehead.
"Yep. Im an alpha." Lucas looked down at his transformed forearm again, "I wonder if this is possible because im an evolved third generation Lycan. First generation Lycan's couldn't fully transform specific parts of themselves like this. And second generation Lycan's didn't have eyes like mine in the movies or books. Not to mention last night, I replicated Marius's hybrid evolved lycan form from that last Underworld movie…. what was it called? Blood-Wars….. and I'm doing it without supplements."
He took a deep breath and watched his arm return to human form. It felt like painless cramps and the growth of goosebumps all at the same time.
"So, I'm a Third Generation Evolved Lycan of two known variant forms without the need for Underworld Antigen's or Corvinus strain cell-supplements. I'm at least distantly a vampire. And now I'm also an alpha werewolf. There's someone somwhere looking at my circumstances and saying this is the most convoluted and braindead shit ever."
A bird screeched as it flew overhead. But it sounded more like someone laughing.
He wondered if ROB had anything to do with that.
He hoped not.
That would ruin his immersion.
"Anyway—" Lucas began walking, naked and not afraid at all, "It kind of makes sense to me. The Lycan's of Underworld exist because of a virus. The Werewolves of Teen Wolf exist because of a curse. Shout out to Zeus. Not really. Weird ass. So, the two don't interract directly or against eachother. I'm a Lycan cursed to also be a werewolf. Or a Vampiric Evolved Lycan-Wolf Alpha. Word-salad of absolute doom. I sound like a child's first character concept. Fuck it."
Lucas came to a stop at a river that split the high hilled forest. He could smell the fish and plant fibers inside the mineralized waves.
He stepped inside, noticing the small spirals of steam rising as the cold water embraced him.
"I could make a twilight joke here somewhere as a shapeshifter with a high body temp but I don't want to end up there. Unless Alice feels like cheating…"
Lucas bathed in the river— if only just to wash the blood and dirt off of his body.
Somehow, it felt better than showers he'd had in years. The water was rich with fresh scents and cool— centering his mind while also energizing him. As fish whistled by, he dove and grabbed them up to eat as they squirmed. He could taste the waste and microplastics in their flesh— but he could also taste the vitality in their blood. It became his own. His senses sharpened. His strength and focus grew.
He stuffed himself on fish— remembering that overfed Lycan's healed the fastest.
He'd need it for his next plan.
A plan that was in motion as he jumped out of the river, soaking wet and cleaned. Relatively.
"I think now is a good time to test my hybrid potential. I know I've gained new benefits as an Alpha. Anyone I change from this point makes me stronger. Literally. That's not a thing with Underworld Lycan's. But now, I need to worry about being weak to silver AND Wolfsbane. So, it's time to test. After I killed and ate Peter I'm sure the Hunters… and Derek will be shifting their sights. I need to know my weaknesses before they do."
So naturally, Lucas took off at a sprint. He was a blur in the forest. The wind ran through his dark hair with invisible hands. Sounds echoed from miles away and smells lingered, telling him unseen secrets he listened to intently.
Until finally, with a freshly killed buck slung over his shoulder, he reached a collection of bushes in a deep woodland brush near a cave.
"I could recognize those purple petals anywhere. And the smell. Not a good sign." Lucas thought as his nostrils faintly burned.
He grabbed a handful of the wolfsbane and shrugged off the buck. His partially transformed body shrunk down to normal size.
"Alright. If this goes south, I've got some heals in the form of venison…. and a cave to take cover in. Let's get to it."
Lucas took the handful of Wolfsbane and ate it whole.
Then he spit it out, "Why would I do that? It's like I can't wait to squander my second chance at life."
With a calming exhale, Lucas plucked a purple petal off of the vine of Wolfsbane and ate it.
He chewed.
He cringed.
But he didn't cough up white fluids or start sweating profusely like the native werewolves of Teen Wolf did.
Instead, he gagged.
"Aweigh! This shit….. tastes like shit!" Lucas spit out the Wolfsbane and coughed loudly for a few seconds before looking at the rest.
He groaned— mustering up the courage as best he could before ingesting the rest.
Like he said before, it was nasty. Acrid and bitter. Like sour brocolli dipped in old milk and eggs. It burned his throat on the way down, but only for a few seconds.
After that, and a few stomach gurgles, he was fine.
Maybe in desperate need of a breathmint, but otherwise fine.
"I think— at least when I'm overfed, I heal too fast to be affected by Wolfsbane. At least when I ingest it in its base form. The Hunters here are creative with it. I remember Alison's mom using it as a mist infused form which probably makes the Wolfsbane enter your bloodstream faster. I'll have to test other ways when I get the chance. But I know one thing for sure, when I died, I died thinking how I'd want to live if given another chance….."
Lucas could smell the city in the distance. He was a ways away, but not anything he couldn't cover in his new form. In good time.
"I haven't lived yet. I might not get a better chance after this one. Hell, I could end up having to face Geralt in the Witcher Verse next. It's like ROB said. Finish the seasons, the game, the book whatever, I have to finish it and then I have to move on. While I'm here, I need to live. Truly. So I think that's what I'm gonna do next."