Connection - Golden Lycans Sequel 3/3 [Complete]

Pause and Rewind

***Ares***

"I need you to protect Ophelia for me. Can you do that?" Austin Landry asks me, his unblinking eyes glowing brightly green.

I knew from our lectures that Lycan eyes tended to glow brightly in their associated pack colour, whenever their Lycan was exerting themselves more.

Austin's Lycan, Atlas, clearly meant business.

This was not an easy question to answer, though.

"To be honest, I do not know," I say, my brows knitting as I look steadfast into his glowing eyes, "if you are referring to physical protection, I have never needed to test myself in that regard. Ophelia told me after our first week, that her father worried about her, that she felt like she ought to be stronger. I told her then, that I would protect her, and I will certainly try. Can I protect her the same way the golden alpha could, the same way her father could? No, I do not think anyone could."

He leans back, looking satisfied with my answer.

"I appreciate your honesty," he says, looking contemplative, "Atlas liked that you maintained eye contact."

"It is the respectable thing to do when talking to someone...even if they are intimidating," I reply.

He laughs heartily at this.

"Please do not think that way, Ares. You're a vampire who was covered in my hybrid Fae daughter's blood and your only goal was to save her life. You need not find me intimidating," he smiles. I nod and give a weak smile back, "but...perhaps we should try you out?"

I look at him blankly.

"Try me out? I am sorry, I don't understand," I admit. He laughs again.

"I am going to send Ollie to your campus in a fortnight's time when things have calmed down-" he says before he pauses, appearing to catch himself with a slight frown, "-if you are amenable to it. Forgive me, I am used to talking to destined mates of family members and friends. This is new territory and I am making rapid assumptions."

"What assumptions?" I ask, not wanting to admit that I am confused by his language once again.

"That doesn't matter right now. But, have you not wondered what you are capable of?" Austin asks curiously.

"Sometimes, but not often. I do not like that I am vampire, Mr Landry. Last night I was thankful for my ability to run very fast, and my strength, but further than that..."

He nods in acknowledgement, his expression kind. He then looks off to the side for a moment, as if alerted by something. His eyes begin to glow brighter and brighter as he does so, and I am a little perplexed.

I knew Natalie often looked like this when conversing with her wolf, but her eyes hadn't glowed like his.

"Excuse me, Ares. You may want to remain in here," he then says, getting to his feet and suddenly removing his jumper. If I had thought Ash was in good shape, he has nothing on Austin Landry, "it's about to get rather turbulent outside."

He strides to the door and peels off what remains of his clothes, opening the door and stepping outside into a rapidly gathering darkness....a darkness that doesn't seem right.

We had seen a video of a shifting Lycan, but nothing prepared me for the rapid transformation from Ophelia's tall and heavily built father, into the hulking golden form of his wolf.

I had no idea Lycans could get that big, and the effect on me is immediate; THIS was the truly intimidating aspect of Austin Landry. His wolf is enormous, each strand of fur appearing to be made of pure, shining gold. Impervious to elemental magic, and physically impossible to harm.

The shift is quick as the great form seems to burst from within, jumping gracefully from the cabin steps and out onto the frozen ground outside. His huge paws hit the ground with a thud that I feel from inside the cabin, and he is gone from sight within a split second.

I get to my feet myself and go to the doorway, a little worried at first at the sight of the tremendously dark storm clouds that have gathered in the sky above.

It reminds me of the darkness that had covered the other realm like a veil before I had arrived here, right before the portals stopped working.

But this doesn't feel sinister.

It feels angry.

...but, wait...does the storm feel angry, or...

It's Ophelia...she is angry.

Had people come back for her? Was this place under attack again, is that why Austin ran off?

I was sure that I was of absolutely no use, but I feel strangely compelled to answer Ophelia's emotional outburst-because she is feeling incredibly angry.

There is a momentary flash of blue light in the sky before the heavens open, a deluge of rain now pouring down from the sky, reminding me heavily of the storm that ended Madeleine's party.

Just like at the party, there is a deafening crash of thunder from above, along with yet more lashes that pierce the sky, and more low, grumbling noises that shake the ceiling of the cabin. The lights flicker briefly behind me and I make a decision, running down the steps from the door and out onto the wet ground. I am soaked within seconds by the amount of rain from above as I follow some strange tether-like sensation; something that I know is steering me towards wherever Ophelia is.

I run down the pathway through the woodland that leads back to the main house, and feel directed in a different direction from the way I'd come not too long before. A stone pathway around the outside of the house leads around to the very front, near a large driveway much like the one we had at home.

The main, immediate feature is Atlas, the brightest and largest object around, standing at the junction where a narrow road meets the driveway. He appears to be confronting a much smaller Lycan with glossy chestnut coloured fur. Both have an aggressive stance, the hackles along their backs raised menacingly as they growl at each other.

Ophelia is standing a little way behind them, her face like thunder. Aside from her outburst at Madeleine once before, I had never seen Ophelia angry.

Her fists are clenched, and as I draw nearer her aura shimmers into view. It is turbulent like the sky above, with dark patches of stormy navy, the bright gold she usually had shimmering wildly alongside intense, bright turquoise- looking like a thunderstorm in the Pacific.

She is soaked through, her mother's hands desperately on her daughter's arms as she appears to be trying to calm her down.

Ella looks fiercely concerned, her eyes darting repeatedly up into the sky, until they fall on me. Her expression turns pleading as shes nods at me.

"Ares! Please...see if you can calm her!" she exclaims loudly over another thunderous rumble.

I am very confused as I come to stand by Ophelia's side, her sea-green eyes wide and intense as she stares out at the Lycan standoff.

"Who is that?" I ask Ella, looking back at the chestnut Lycan.

"That is our son," she says briskly, nodding at me impatiently as if I had a magic wand to make Ophelia feel better.

I can understand Ophelia's anger, though.

Her brother treated her poorly and made her feel inferior due to her circumstances. He had been grounded, and circumvented it on a technicality, leaving his home and vulnerable sisters at the hands of rogue attackers.

I can feel how intensely angry she is, and also how sad she is at the state of their relationship. She feels a different kind of loss now, as she stares at him, and I can tell she feels like she's lost him.

I reach out, my fingers slowly entwining with hers the same way she'd done to me in the butterfly enclosure. Her fingertips feel like highly charged static, and that static feeling only spreads to my own hand as I lock my fingers tightly through hers. Her eyes soften, and her head turns towards me, a solitary tear escaping her eye as her eyes find mine.

I say nothing, because I truly don't know what to say.

Her hand squeezes mine a little and she lets out a long sigh, the thunderous appearance of her aura beginning to soften. The jagged lines and harsh tones smoothe out and mellow, and I can feel the rain slowing with each passing second. Ella breathes a sigh of relief, evidently seeing the resulting change to her daughter's aura.

"Ophelia...caused this?" I mutter at Ella, glancing up at the dark sky as the various stormy greys start to brighten and soften just as Ophelia's aura done. Surely not?

"Well, you might remember it happening once before. It took me hours to fix the electrical grid at Vale, and that one wasn't as strong as this one was set to become," Ella says gently, letting go of Ophelia.

Ophelia's eyes are full of tears threatening to flow as she looks back at me. The static in our connected hands ebbing away as her aura continues to brighten. She feels as surprised as she looks, and...ashamed?

"Oh...why are you feeling like that?" I ask her, unlocking yet another perplexing chain of emotions that I am struggling to understand.

"Ares, perhaps you could take Ophelia back inside. I think it would be a good time for her to pack," Ella says pointedly, "I am about to have my hands rather full."

I look back at the growling Lycans and nod, tightening my grip a little more on Ophelia's hand as I lead her back inside.

...

***Ophelia***

Ares shuts my bedroom door behind us and I slowly lower myself onto my bed.

What was wrong with me?

I'd definitely been angry and upset before, but that was somewhat uncontrollable.

As soon as mum had sensed he was near we'd both run outside, but it was me who had brought a thunderous anger, generating another storm over the top of the house.

I had felt it brew rapidly inside me, unable to stop it or gain any kind of traction on it, my hands feeling alive with the now undeniable feeling of magic. My emotional turmoil over my brother had caused chaos within me, which could have quickly escalated to chaos overhead.

Except...

I look up at Ares as he stands against the wall of my bedroom, by the door. His expression is unreadable.

His touch had grounded me far more than the pleading look and loving touch that I had received from my mother.

She had been scared.

I was now becoming a little scared.

As I look at Ares and contemplate a variety of things all at once, something I'd said to my mother not too long ago, comes to the surface.

'...What if I was just really unbalanced?...'

As a child I had scoped Ares out. Some unknown sense had led me to a tiny baby down another corridor, and something had happened when I'd touched him.

That baby was now a full-grown man, whose touch had pierced through the anger I was feeling, and I had felt the tension inside leaving me rapidly. Whether it was purely emotional, physical or magical, he really had helped.

"Ophelia...what are you thinking? I cannot..." Ares says, frowning in confusion, "I do not know and I am still very new to this. Still new to being able to tell you that I can feel you in this way. It feels complex, but..."

I sigh. I didn't particularly need someone else in my life being able to read emotional subtitles. I know he can't help it, as he can't switch it off- yet.

"Thank you," I tell him, rather than go into details of what I was thinking. In truth, I really just want to get out of here, right now. I didn't want to see Joshua in human form, and I really didn't want to feel that kind of anger again.

"For what?" he asks.

"Balancing me," I tell him with a little smile, before I head to the other side of the room for my suitcase, "this won't take me long. I didn't bring much back here."

...

***Ella***

The growling going on between my husband and son is more audible now that the thunder clouds have dispersed.

I was heavily intrigued by what had just happened to Ophelia with a simple touch from Ares, and she was indeed feeling more...levelled, now. But I needed to shelve that intrigue and focus on the other problem at hand.

I walk forwards towards them, which I am sure would look like the worst idea to an outsider. But there was no way Atlas would ever cause any harm to me.

I would hope to say the same about Joshua. But these days? Anything could happen.

I am not sure what is being said between the two of them, but I can imagine choice words are being fired from both. But, this standoff is wasn't going to end well or any time soon.

I know this is a pack matter, but both of you are too highly riled up to make any useful conversation right now. Perhaps a motherly intervention is needed? I tell Austin.

I am in agreement, I immediately hear Atlas say, and I suppose that Austin is really the angrier one of the two, right now.

His form suddenly shifts back to his human form, and Austin's annoyance is immediate; Atlas had forced it.

"Good idea," I say, saving face on behalf of Austin.

"Now stop hiding behind your Lycan," Austin growls angrily, his fists balled at his sides as he stares defiantly at Calix.

Calix continues to growl angrily at Austin, and I sigh, before reaching out and touching his upper back. I hadn't done this much, but it was a useful skill I had acquired over the years. I could force someone to shift back, and at a time like this, it was necessary.

It provided a simple, brief disconnect between the two halves of a Lycan and as such, Calix shivers momentarily before he changes rapidly into the smaller form of our sixteen year old son. His eyes are wild and he too has his fists balled tightly at his sides.

I once again wonder where my sweet boy had gone; he had since been replaced by a tall, muscled young man with anger too often in his eyes. Anger I had never expected him to look at his father with.

I haven't even told him. All he has done is lecture me on how poorly I worded his grounding, Austin tells me.

I step forward between them both and I look at Joshua.

"You have very important issues to sort with Ollie, Aus. Far more important issues than dealing with our son," I say, while maintaining eye contact with Joshua.

I feel Austin turn away, begrudgingly. He really does have important issues to sort, but he doesn't want to drop this.

I cannot blame him, but sometimes, only a mother can make their child see the hurt that they've caused.

"You're staying here with me," I tell him quietly, "how was Cornwall?"

He senses my question is a trap, so he says nothing.

"I want you to engage your sense of smell and have a little wander around the car port, Josh. Tell me what you can smell."

He furrows his brow at me and rolls his eyes at this seemingly strange request.

But, he does as I have asked, and I can tell by his face when he has smelled the remaining scent of the rogues who had come here. He wanders more, and more, his expression changing before he finally looks back at me; a slight semblance of my son underneath.

This has him concerned.

"Rogues," he says bluntly, his voice deeper than ever, now. I nod.

"IF you came back into the house - and I say IF - because you have conducted yourself so poorly of late I am sorely tempted to make you live outside. If you did, however, you would smell more. You would smell the scent of the man who gained access to your family's home. You would smell the scent of even more rogues who chased your younger, terrified sisters through the tree," I calmly inform him in a harsh whisper, feeling the guilt hitting him at my words as I continue to stare at him, stone-faced.

"You would smell the enormous amount of blood your older sister lost, after she was viciously bitten by multiple of those rogues. Your human sister. Who ensured the safety of her younger sisters above her own. Like any alpha would do," I say a little coldly.

His face shifts a little before he shakes his head.

"Bullshit. She was standing right there ten minutes ago," he says.

"Trust me, after having to fly all the way back here from Austria, the sight of a huge pool of my first-born's blood is rather hard to forget," I tell him bitterly, feeling my eyes tear up, "and we can thank her faerie genetics for being the only reason why she IS still with us."

He clenches his jaw and says nothing, his eyes drifting away from mine.

"So, next time you DARE question HER worth, and I know that you have- you best remember that she almost DIED protecting her sisters. All because her brother ran off to Cornwall for a quick shag," I add, before turning on my heel and heading back into the house.

...

***Ophelia***

I shut the car door, and stare out of the front window at the driveway ahead. Too many things had happened since I last sat in this car and definitely since I had last driven away from here. I breathe in and out a few times as I position my hands on the steering wheel, feeling strange. With the still silence and close airspace in the car, it all seems too....small.

Stifling.

"Ophelia," I hear Ares say softly next to me. I turn to look at him, still wondering how all this happened.

I really do need to slow things down.

"I'm just feeling...odd," I admit. He nods as if in agreement, as if what he can feel from me is indeed, odd.

"I would offer to drive, but I cannot even ride a bicycle," he says. This doesn't particularly shock me, given what I know, but at least I do know why he is like this, now.

"I think you'd make an excellent driver, for the record," I tell him, as I turn the car on. I was thankful Ollie had remembered to charge it.

"I absolutely would, yes," he agrees nonchalantly.

"So...I need your address," I tell him with a light smirk. He reaches toward the navigation at the front of the car and puts in post code similar to Vale's.

"It is the only house, and thanks to you, you cannot miss it," he says with a smile spreading across his face.

"How so?" I ask, driving the car forwards down the long sloped driveway.

"You will understand when you see it," he replies.

Once we are on one of the longer country roads, Ares clears his throat a little.

"I sense you may not want to discuss what was happening around the front of your house," he begins, and I am grateful he has figured this out, at least, "but...your mother mentioned that storm the night of Madeleine's party. I knew something was different. You acted and seemed different since her party and I could not understand why. But...did you really cause that thunderstorm?" he asks. I scrunch my face up while I continue to watch the road ahead, but I nod a few times.

"Is it always anger? You seemed irritated at the party. Definitely about-" he pauses and I see him make a gesture in my peripheral vision, "the outfit! Madeleine made you dress as a faerie. But then, as upset as I know you have chronically been about your circumstance, I don't know if-"

I take a deep breath in and cut him off.

"-it was because Maddy kissed you," I say succinctly, glancing at him briefly.

"That made you angry?"

"No! It was emotional turmoil, Ares," I say anxiously,

"I had no idea I felt...the way that I felt. That I feel. It hit me like nothing else ever has. Seeing your hands all over her...I...wanted it myself."

"Oh....ohhhhh," he says, coming to a realisation, "the next morning was when I saw something new in your aura for the first time. And...the bad weather improved drastically once I had interacted with you. I remember now! I did make you feel better!"

His expression adjusts as he comes to this realisation.

"Yeah...well...I looked at you and you were just...different," I explain, going around a roundabout.

"Different? I do not think I changed," he states. I utter a short laugh and shake my head.

"No, Ares, I saw you differently. One minute you were my friend, my good friend, and then...I...didn't want to just be just your friend anymore. I wanted...more," I say candidly, feeling oddly capable of admitting all this to him without a shred of embarrassment. He makes a sound of acknowledgement.

"Ohhhh. Now, I know exactly what you mean. When you encouraged us to be closer during the time we first danced at my father's ball, I appreciated your breasts for the first time. You are female and I have known you have them, but I truly saw them that night and I was incredibly captivated," he says conversationally, "I saw you differently too. Watching you arrive, before I knew it was you, I was very taken by the beautiful young woman the king brought with him. I have always thought you were pretty since the day that we met, Lia, but that night you were breathtaking. I truly thought of little else for days after. Mostly I wondered how I could possibly explain everything..."

I laugh a little at what has tumbled out of his mouth.

"My breasts?" I laugh, looking over to him in amusement.

"Yes, but I do not understand why. Perhaps it is because they are the very definition of perfect curvature? Artists and sculptures throughout time have known that there is true beauty in the soft curves of a woman's body, and I understand why, now. Yours are visually very appealing to me, moreso than anyone else's. You, are like art, to me," he admits. I smile broadly as we drive along, enjoying this oddly charged yet rather innocent conversation.

"That's good, because I happen to be very taken with how you look, too," I reply, finally feeling myself blush, now.

"You are?" he asks, sounding surprised.

"Yes...very much," I reply.

"How?" he asks, as innocently as he always does.

"I cannot explain nor describe it, Ares, but I do enjoy looking at you," I tell him with a smirk.

...

Forty minutes later we are a mere two minutes away from our destination, and the roads have gotten narrower and more curved. The snow is still in existence around here, but it is looking patchy, now.

"I am used to travelling by tree, but I believe it is up ahead," Ares says, soon gesturing towards a set of large metal gates as they come into view. All I can do is park in front of them. Through the gates is a view of a long and winding driveway flanked by tall, well maintained conifer trees, still covered in clumps of snow here and there.

"I need a moment," he says, opening the car door and stepping out and over to an electronic panel on the wall the gate is connected to. After a short while the gates begin to automatically open inwards, and Ares returns to the car. I drive forwards, wondering how long this driveway is as we pass tree after tree. But within a few seconds the house becomes visible beyond the tree line up ahead, and Ares was right. The resulting effect of the night of the ball was evident, given the array of brightly coloured roses that adorn the façade of the house, totally out of season. Everywhere I look, now, I can see lush green foliage and bursts of colour here and there. Tiny colourful flowers have sprung up on climbers, and large, bright pink flowers have burst into life on a huge rhododendron.

I really do want to see the garden...but my mother's words are still ringing in my ears, and as I slow the car to a stop outside the front of the grand property, I make a decision.

"I have been thinking all the way here. You could come in and stay, or I could just pick up my things and come back with you to Vale?" Ares says brightly, the complete opposite on his mind, right now.

I only smile sweetly back at him as I shake my head. His expression drops, and he is now clearly confused.

"I...I'm sorry, I must have entirely misread-" he begins to say, before looking bereft at this apparent social impasse. But I reach out and put my hand onto his while it rests on his leg.

"You haven't," I assure him, "I want to, believe me. But...we need to press pause and hit rewind...a little."

"I am unsure of what you are saying," he admits after a few seconds.

"I...gosh what's the word you use in front of Mads? I want you to court me, Ares. I want us to date. I want...I want to feel excited and I want to feel anticipation. No balls, no masks, no running through another realm to save someone from mortal danger. Just a date. A few dates, perhaps. I want to wonder when I get to kiss you again. I want to be just a little distracted in class...again, because that's happened already. I want to do a normal thing, because we are people too. Do you understand what I mean?" I bite my lip as I look back at him, and his expression changes a few times before he nods.

"I think so?" He says, unsure.

"So...I'm going to drop you here, and I'm going to go back to Vale alone...and then I am going to count down every hour until I get to see you again tomorrow," I tell him.

"But, we could just....-" he says, trailing off as I shake my head. I lean towards him, putting my hand onto the side of his face and gazing into his dark eyes.

"I want to miss you, and then get to have you, Ares. I want you to know what that feels like, too," I tell him softly. He nods under my hand and looks down for a moment, before he quickly leans forward, grabbing the back of my head. He captures my lips rather unexpectedly, kissing me firmly for a brief but passionate few seconds.

"I think I'm getting good at that," he says out loud as he pulls away. I laugh heartily as I look fondly back at him, because that is such an Ares thing to say.

"Maybe," I grin. He arches a brow rather comically at me.

"Maybe? Your dilated pupils and flushed skin suggests as such. Classic hallmarks of physical attraction," he remarks back, being scientific as ever. I bite my lip and say nothing, though I am now smiling wider than ever, "but...I'll see you tomorrow."

I nod, trying to put on a composed exterior.

"I will look forward to that."

...

***Ares***

Watching Ophelia drive away makes me feel strange inside my chest, almost like an elastic band is being stretched to maximum capacity. It doesn't feel right, that was for sure. But, I turn towards the front doors and I let myself into our family home.

"And where have you been?" I abruptly hear the accusing tone of Atticus, from somewhere higher up on the grand staircase. I walk further into the foyer until I see him peering down at me over the bannister from up above.

"The Landry estate," I answer, much to his surprise as he narrows his eyes at me. He rapidly descends the stairs and comes to a stop in front of me as he looks me up and down with baited excitement.

"You..." he says before a long pause as his excited expression turns to a frown before me, "...were not there for pleasure, it seems." His behaviour is more bizarre than usual.

"Ophelia was attacked at her home by a group of rogues. She almost died from blood loss," I tell him bluntly. His eyes widen considerably and he says nothing for several seconds.

"The Golden Alpha's heir was attacked at his home?" he exclaims incredulously, "and...I'm sorry, blood loss? Her blood? Did you taste it?"

This information seems to be causing Atticus to do some mental athletics.

"Yes. I saved her, and no, I did not taste her blood," I tell him proudly.

"Well, you have FAR more honour and control than I, Ares. I'd have sucked my fingers DRY," he says dramatically, "so how did you get home? I assume you know the faerie trees have become dormant?"

"I do know, and Ophelia dropped me off," I shrug.

"Interesting...and despite you saving her life, she didn't want to come in?" Atticus asks delicately.

"No," I say curtly. He laughs and I sigh loudly.

"How curious. Well, you're lucky I've got some free time on my hands," he replies, nodding his head in the direction of the kitchen, "let's get you a beer and you can tell me what happened with your girlfriend."