Connection - Golden Lycans Sequel 3/3 [Complete]

You Just Bring it Out in Her

***Ophelia***

I turn to hurry back into the building before I manage to cause yet another thunderstorm. But I can't get back to the palace without someone to take me back there. I enter the foyer with a lump in my throat, the sounds of the band getting louder and louder as I near the ballroom.

I spot Serena at the side with James, chatting to another couple, and I approach them rapidly. As I pass, many faceless people are suddenly whipping their heads around to stare at me as I walk through; probably because I am now maskless. Serena glances over to me letting go of James' arm immediately as she takes me to the side.

"Lia? Are you okay? What has happened?" She asks. I shake my head and bite my lip.

"It's Aurelius. Katz's son is ARES, Ser. My roommate has been some sort of...vampire prince, all this time. He’s pretended all evening to be someone else! Serena...did you know this?" I exclaim passionately, on the verge of tears. She shakes her head at me and looks bewildered.

"No, Lia, I had no idea. I have only met him this evening myself!" she assures me, "gosh. Well, that explains why you are back so soon."

"Soon? Surely it's almost time that we were leaving?" I say in distress. Serena looks surprised at me, like I've said something daft.

"Ophelia, it's only a little after ten o'clock. We will not be going for perhaps another three hours," she tells me. I look back at her in total confusion, shaking my head in disbelief.

"I-I don't understand...I danced with him for a while, and then he took me on a tour around this place. I've been with him for hours."

"We finished eating perhaps one hour ago. I watched you leave with him only twenty minutes ago..." she informs me, before her expression then changes to sympathy, "maybe you are unwell. Would you like me to return you to the palace?"

I nod; was I going insane?

How had it only been twenty minutes? It had definitely been a few hours. It couldn't be a coincidence that I had also been with Ares in the butterfly enclosure, when my perception of over half an hour was a mere two minutes for Ash.

Serena briefly lets James know what she is doing, and he looks sympathetically at me also. I avoid his gaze, feeling like a complete and utter fool. Serena takes my hand and leads me out of the ballroom and back toward the foyer, and it is there that I see Ares again. His mask on once again and his eyes and teeth are now back to normal, as he watches me walk through the foyer to the back entrance.

Our eyes lock, and a wave of conflict washes over me. A significant part of me longs to return to that vibrant garden, to relive the carefree yet exhilarating feelings that I had just experienced. The feelings of newfound attraction, and the unfamiliar feeling of desire that had blossomed intensely within me.

Yet, I can’t brush aside the embarrassment, the sense of betrayal, and the hurt that now swirls within me. The enchanting vampire who inspired a rush of excitement had, in truth, been the very same individual who had evaded me without so much as a word.

Why had he done it?

Why spend two weeks avoiding me at Vale, only to effortlessly flirt, dance, and then guide me through his home—all while concealed behind a mask?

I needed time to think.

As I tear my gaze away from him, I trail after Serena into the courtyard, where heavy sheets of snow cascade from the sky, mirroring the turmoil that I feel inside. With each crunch of my heels against the salted walkway, I am more than aware that I am leaving something very important behind me.

…

***Ares***

"YOU KNEW!" I exclaim loudly, approaching my father in the pantry where the blood is kept.

He looks at me as he unscrews a bottle, saying nothing. He takes several gulps of the thick liquid, before he dabs his mouth daintily with a napkin.

"Knew vot, Ares?" he asks calmly.

"The king's niece. Ophelia Landry. You've met her before. At Vale. You’ve known all along that she was my roommate, that it was HER I was experiencing a bloodlust for…and it’s because she is Fae, isn’t it?" I demand. He smiles at me a little and tilts his head as he contemplates his response.

"Yes, I knew," he replies simply, before clearing his throat, "I knew zat Ella Landry put you both into ze same flat. I knew zat her daughter voz attending under a different name, zat she vanted to be anoneemous. Just like you. Ven Atticus and I came to Vale, I voz…curious. Vhy vudn't I be curious of a Fae hybrid? There has never been vun of her before. But, Ares, I voz even more curious, ven I saw ze vay that you looked at her. There voz more zan bloodlust in your eyes."

"What do you mean?" I ask, my eyebrows knitted. He chuckles a little and sighs tenderly.

"Oh, Ares. You may have meezed a lot ov your adolescence, but you are still a young man, and she is a very beautiful girl. You crave her blood, but you feel a much deeper connection to ‘er, vich voz evident to Atticus und I, evun back zen. I truly did not fink you vud crave it, just like uzza naturals; but clearly, you take after me a little too much. I know zat you crave it, because I craved your muzza's heavily for a short time. It got ze better of me, of course...but zat short time of drinking such richness...the richness zat only Fae blood affords. It voz transzending, und it sparked ze beginning of our species. Truly. But it voz the end of the voman zat I fell in love viv, und over time, it voz the end of ze Fae. People blamed ze Lycans, but it voz our species that hunted ze Fae into extinction. Over time, I resented vot I had done, und I vud hate for you to make ze same mistake. I still have your muzza, but I lost her many millenia ago. Fae blood iz just too intoxicating to ignore, Ares," father replies, his expression sombre.

"I would never hurt Ophelia for my own gain, and such a momentary gain, for that matter. She hurts enough because of what is missing from her," I say defiantly, "I have been fine all evening! You should never have told me to stay away from her. I hurt her by doing so, not by being myself. I wish I had trusted myself enough before now.”

He only laughs at me again.

"Yes. You controlled yourself rarza well tonight, eh? Because you EMBRACED yourself. You did not shy avay from yourself. Maybe you can control it? Maybe the vay you are different will change your outcome. But you know zat it does not haft to hurt, Ares. Atticus proved that right in front of you,” he says, before he comes closer to me with a mild smile on his face.

“Bezides; now you know ze truth about her...you know she is also Lycan. Volf or no volf. So conseeder zis; part of her craves to be bitten by a lover. It iz written into her DNA. To have your fangs pierce her neck vud give ze highest pleasure, to any female Lycan. An Alpha, moreso," he says with a definite smirk. I say nothing at his comment, because I am a little unsure of what he is saying. But then, the idea of Ophelia deriving pleasure from me biting her is both an awkward but strangely exciting idea, if I were being honest with myself.

"Ze Fae scent on her iz far stronger on 'er today zan zat day at Vale, und more and more throughout ze evening vile she voz viv YOU. Only YOUR persuasion vorks on her, Ares. Vhy zat iz, I do not know. But vot I DO know, iz zat you could have erased her memory of this entire evening, but you made ze choice NOT to, this time," he then adds, leaning closer again, "perhaps it iz because, deep down, you vant her to know vot you are. You vant her to know all of you. You…simply...vant her. So, do me be angry viv me, Ares. You vere not honest from ze start, when now, you know she vud have embraced you. Zat is vot is really upsetting you, right now.”

He then leaves me to contemplate the meaning of everything he has just said to me.

I go up to my room, the music almost dulled completely, now that I am in another wing of the house. I change into my pyjama trousers and lay down on my bed, contemplating the evening and what I had learned, and also what I had felt.

My friend Lia, who I had recently realised I was attracted to, was actually Ophelia Landry. Her father was the famous Golden Alpha, and her mother was the equally famous pharmaceutical genius behind many recent cures and was a true pioneer in modern healthcare. She was even related to the king and queen of this country. Her world and family was notable and intense....but at Vale, it wasn't.

At Vale, she liked to play basketball with me, she carefully tended to plants on the balcony, she gazed at stars, was good at bowling, liked to go jogging when the weather was nice, often made her flatmates hot chocolates and she loved to cook mouthwatering roast dinners for everyone in the building. She worked as hard, if not harder, than anyone, and also had a lot of knowledge about a wide variety of things. She was kind, always thought of others, and was often funny and warm to be around. She didn't judge anyone, and she had one of the most open minds I had ever come across. She was wonderful, and I still had to pinch myself when I reminded myself of the fact: we both felt the same way about each other. She saw something in me that I wasn't able to see in myself, that was for sure.

Tonight, she had finally met the real me, and opted to stay with me for several hours—and she had actually kissed me.

She, had kissed me.

This thought brings an excited smile to my face. I was now far more enchanted by her than I had been after our interaction on the balcony back at Vale. My first kiss with Madeleine had been an interesting experience, but what happened out in the garden earlier on, was an entirely different one. The two were not even comparable. I look down at my fingers, rubbing the fingertips against my thumb, remembering the strange, almost electric feeling that had gone through them.

What did it mean?

I sit up and frown, as a startling thought now pops into my head; did my two weeks of avoidance mean that I, as Ares, now meant so little to Ophelia, that she could just meet someone entirely new and kiss them all in one evening?

I am not sure how to feel about that, considering that the new person to her, had also been... me.

…

***Ophelia***

I sigh loudly, for probably the fiftieth time, causing more bubbles to pop in front of me as I lay in the bath tub.

It had just gone one o'clock in the morning, and I had topped the water up twice since I got into the bath, laying absolutely still...just...thinking.

There is a sudden knock on the bathroom door and I jump in surprise. I sit up suddenly, water sloshing everywhere, as I wonder who is hoping to come in.

"Who is there?" I call out, my voice echoing around the room.

"It is your coolest aunt. Can I come in?" I hear Serena say calmly on the other side of the door.

"Umm, I am kind of naked...aunt Freya," I reply jokingly, feeling self-conscious about the idea of an audience. The door opens anyway, and I slide back under what little bubbles remain, a little irritated that my aunt has taken it upon herself to barge in like this.

She has taken off her amazing dress and is now in a silk chemise instead.

"Do not look at me like that. You are Lycan, for heaven's sake. It is just nudity," she sighs with a slight eye roll.

"Barely lycan. No one has ever seen me strip off and shift, have they!" I mutter.

"Pftt. You have nothing that I have not seen countless times before," she says, leering over the edge of the bath, "in fact, you have a very beautiful body, Lia. Do not feel ashamed of it."

I draw my knees up against my chest and hug them, covering myself up as much as possible. I may be Lycan, but I wasn't used to flaunting my naked form.

"Why are you here, Serena? I've not exactly had the best evening," I say with a pout. She laughs lightly and sits down right next to the bathtub, her eyes excited.

"On the contrary, my dear Ophelia, I think that you did. In fact, I think you had a rather incredible evening," she says seriously, "we all saw the garden on our way out."

I sigh, again, feeling my cheeks flush rapidly, causing Serena to stifle a giggle.

"Okay… fine. I kissed him," I state shortly and quietly, avoiding her gaze. She immediately leans closer.

"Oh, well, I had already figured that out. You are Fae, after all. But...which version of him did you kiss, Lia?" She asks pointedly.

I purse my lips and continue to stare down at the end of the bath.

"Aurelius," I admit.

"Wow. Kissing a guy you had one dance with. I think that is the most Lycan thing you have ever done!" Serena exclaims teasingly.

"We danced twice, actually, and I was with him for hours, Ser. I do not care how long you felt it was, it was definitely several hours. But...yes, it was uncharacteristic of me, but that was also the point," I explain, flicking at the water with my fingers, "it was...thrilling, and it felt so comfortable and just so right as well as exciting; and that's when I realised why..."

"What made you realise it was Ares?" she asks curiously.

I smirk a little and finally turn to face her, "the way he smiled at me."

She chuckles and nods her head in agreement.

"I would know James' smile anywhere. Some smiles just affect you more than others. They have the ability to bring real joy to your heart, just by the mere sight of it. Especially when a smile is meant only for you," she says warmly. We both say nothing for a few moments.

“Right. Why are you wallowing in bath water, Lia?" she then asks.

"Because he lied to me, Serena. He lied the entire evening. He knew who I was, and he allowed me to believe he was someone else the whole time. I feel very foolish," I say sadly. Serena makes a sound of disagreement and looks at me sternly.

“Technically…James lied to you too. He met Ares twice in the summer, and it was he who suggested to Augustus that he approach your mother about him going to Vale! Then, Ares was introduced to us as someone else. James knew he was Ares under that mask, and he knew it was the man you were in a bit of a state over,” Serena says, looking serious, “but James knows, Lia, that deep down, you are both going to get through this.”

“Get through this? All we have done is deceive each other,” I grumble.

"Sure. From an outside perspective? Two people started at Vale, both pretending to be someone else. You both got to know each other, you realised after some time that you had feelings for him, then you realised you both had feelings for each other...and then he ignored and avoided you for two weeks," Serena sums up.

"Exactly, I can't figure out why he did it. It makes no sense. I didn't discover what he was, so why? And in reality, he could've just admitted what he was all this time. I'd have been fine with it, and Ares should've known that!" I exclaim, feeling impatient.

"It was because HE did, Lia. He discovered what he was. TRULY," Serena points out, "his father spoke to us before we left, after he escorted us to the tree. He made a comment about you; about how your blood has changed, specifically."

I wrinkle my nose and look back at her oddly.

"My blood changed?" I mutter, remembering how Ares had spent all evening with his fangs out, and had hesitated when we had gotten into position to dance with each other. He had tried to pull away then, and I had brushed off his discomfort, suggesting he wasn't that scary at all. He had looked so uncomfortable, now that I think about it...

"Lia, your blood smelled more inviting to Augustus and Atticus when you arrived tonight, compared to when they first came across you at Vale...and moreso before you left tonight. Do you not see why?" Serena asks. I shake my head, feeling impatient again.

"To be cared deeply for, and to care, is what gives a faerie her power, right? The more you have gone down the wonderful rabbit hole of developing feelings for someone that are also reciprocated, the stronger your blood smelled to him. The closer you two got to each other, the harder it has been for him."

I nod, my mind zooming ahead with this knowledge.

"....Ares was afraid that he was going to hurt me...he wanted my blood," I finish, realisation washing over me.

"Natural borns are not meant to. But, he comes from the first, Lia. Maybe he is just a little bit different to the others. But it is just your blood he craves. Only yours," Serena points out, her brow knitted intensely.

"He did not need to lie, though!" I point out, exasperated.

"Ophelia…do you not think, that maybe he wanted to see how the evening might go, under the guise of someone else...yet in actuality, being entirely himself with you, for the very first time?" Serena suggests with a sigh, “trust me, I get where your head is at right now. But you’re young, and you’re impulsive, and all I’m asking you to do, is to slow down, take a step back…and really think about this.”

I take a deep breath and nod in acknowledgment.

"Perhaps, a bit like me, he was enjoying the visual anonymity," I agree quietly, before a sad pang strikes me, "and all I've done is call him a liar before I ran away."

Serena makes an agreeing noise this time before she stands up.

"Ares avoided me for weeks, because I smelled too tempting to him…he had just been trying to protect me from himself,” I then realise, sadness running through me as I realise what I’ve ruined.

"Exactly that. But, you might want to mull over this new information outside the bathtub, though. You need to get some sleep, Lia," she says with a wink before she exits the bathroom. I continue to hug my knees for a little while longer.

My mind drifts back to him nuzzling my neck on the balcony, his lips against my skin. Had I unwittingly been close to being fed on by Ares? That had been enough for him to stay as far away from me as he could.

That is why he had pulled back and ran, and that is why he’d avoided me for two weeks.

Why he said he was so sorry…

My heart aches....

...

***Ares***

"Oh... oh my...," I hear the awe in my mother's voice from behind me. It is the morning after the ball, and also Christmas Eve. I turn to face her, my heart feeling some semblance of happiness when I see the joyful expression on her beautiful face.

"You need to tell me exactly what happened to you last night, Ares," she says, bending down to smell a velvety red rose.

It is all a rather impressive sight, particularly now that it is daylight.

The enormity of what happened last night has since hit me fully since I have come out here. It wasn't just the butterfly flower garden that had bloomed; the entire estate had done so, in spite of the freezing temperatures.

"I do not want to talk about it," I admit, puffing my cheeks out before I let my breath out in one hit. I was still a little bowled over.

"Ares...I know there was a young faerie here last night, one that Atticus tells me you spent part of the evening with," she says lightly behind me. I utter a short laugh, as I had heard a similar thing from Amadeus earlier.

"See, this is the miraculous thing, mother. I spent the entire night with her. I was with her for hours. But according to everyone else, it was a little under an hour. How is that possible?" I ask her.

"Well... some Fae, were known to be able to manipulate time. Did I not tell you many times, that whenever I saw butterflies, I would slow time down so I could appreciate the experience more?” she reminds me. I vaguely remember her mentioning this, but I had thought she meant metaphorically speaking.

"Perhaps you may take after me a little after all, Ares."

"The faerie I was with last night? I found out that she is my flatmate, mother, the one I…the one I avoided. Her name isn’t Lia, it is Ophelia, and she is Ella Landry’s daughter. She is an alpha Lycan and faerie hybrid. Except, she isn't whole, mother. Parts of her are missing."

She steps forward and rubs my arm affectionately with her warm hand.

"What happened between you both, last night?" she asks, looking me knowingly in the eye. I have a feeling she suspects already.

"She kissed me," I admit with a warm smile.

"Did you kiss her back?" she asks, and I smile even more.

"Oh, very much so," I admit happily, "and straight after, the garden... it looked like this."

"For how long?" she asks, looking concerned.

"How long?" I repeat back in surprise.

"All of this... it would take a significant amount of power and time," she says, her brow remaining furrowed as her eyes drift around the coloured flowers.

"I cannot explain it. She says she has no magic, mother, that is what is missing. She has no wolf or magic. She is essentially totally human," I explain.

"This garden, now in full bloom, would suggest otherwise," mother says delicately.

"I cannot explain this, then," I reply, while holding back on an idea that I know is absurd. Mother continues to smell the flowers, her expression happy and relaxed.

I had not seen her this alive in a long time, and despite what was going on in my personal life, this was making me feel very happy.

"Well DONE, Ares," I hear a voice call from the main path.

Atticus is wandering down it with his usual swagger.

"For what?" I query.

"Slipping a bit of tongue to the Golden Alpha's heir after just a short dance? I'm almost proud, and THAT is rather hard to accomplish," Atticus says with a cheeky grin, "except of course, everyone knows that she ran away from you. Kind of embarrassing."

I knew it was hard for Atticus to be a good brother for too long. I smile smugly back at him, though.

"Why the smug expression? One simple kiss is nothing to write home about, Ares, believe me," he laughs. I gesture around the garden.

"A simple kiss does not do this," I tell him happily, "this is wonderful."

"I agree," mother chimes in.

"Well, you might have to get in line. Every other vampire who was here last night now remembers Ophelia Landry VERY well. She removed her mask, and they saw her lovely face—fleeting as it was. But above all, Ares..." Atticus says carefully as he looks me seriously in the face, "that unique, hybrid blood of hers isn't something they're going to forget about... ever. She was turning heads on her way out of here. So maybe it wasn't such a simple kiss after all; because she didn't smell half as good when she arrived. I guess you just bring it out in her.”

He walks off back to the house, leaving me a little confused.

"I bring it out in her?" I wonder out loud.

"Ares, a faerie's power is only as strong as the love she has for the world, and for the love the world has for her," my mother reminds me.

"Ophelia is very loved, I am sure. Her family must hold her dear; is that not enough? Why would she have no magic, in that case?" I ask.

"This is a different kind of love, Ares. My magic was at its peak when I fell in love with your father," she explains, before her face falls, "and the more I grew to care for him, the more he was enticed by my blood. Until..."

I stare at her in horror.

"So, she IS in danger?" I ask urgently. She steps up to me and holds onto my arms in a loving manner, looking up at me with an expression that I find alarming.

"Not from you, Ares."

...

***Ella***

"Did you feel it?" I hear Will ask, as he steps into our kitchen.

I wasn't expecting him, so I jump a little while chopping vegetables ready for the Christmas roast tomorrow.

"Feel what?" I ask nervously, wondering if something awful had happened.

Will leans onto the worktop and looks around the room.

"Where is Ophelia?" He asks.

"Staying with Serena, but she's back later today. I'm confused, Will," I reply.

"So she isn't at Vale?" Will clarifies. I look at him impatiently and shake my head.

"Why?"

"You know I can feel when you use your magic, Els, well, when you use a lot of it. But, this wasn't you. It felt different. Last night around ten o'clock, I felt a short, but very strong burst of magic. Fae magic. Surely, it's Ophelia?" He says, looking excited. I stare back at him for a moment and consider what he's just told me.

"I went to bed early. Long day, didn't get to see any sun," I mutter, "but...I did wake suddenly around that time, and I didn't know why. You think it was Ophelia? She's in London."

"Are you sure about that? I got so good at honing my senses to find you, Els. It came from Dorset. Somewhere near Vale," Will says, folding his arms.

"Somewhere near..." I repeat, a strange idea forming in my mind, "...you know who lives near Vale?"

"Nobody I know," he says with a shrug.

"Augustus Katz does. Around ten or twelve miles north of the campus."

"Vampires don't have magic, Els....and they definitely wouldn't have light magic," Will laughs.

"Katz has a natural-born son, Will. He attends Vale, and he lives with Ophelia, but she doesn't know he is Katz's son," I explain.

"Oh. Well that's been kept under wraps, hasn't it? Again, I still don't see—"

“There is something undeniably different about him, though. I can’t quite put my finger on it, Will. But in any case, Ophelia was in London last night, staying at the palace," I reply, just as Austin strides into the room, looking rather pissed off.

"—No...no she wasn't," he says, his eyes glowing bright green.

"Aus?" I ask, concerned what his anger is about.

"Serena took Ophelia to Augustus Katz's Winter Ball last night," he says, his face fierce. Will and I look at each other in surprise.

"So she WAS there last night," Will exclaims. I look back at Austin and sigh as I make a face.

"Oh god...what happened? Is she okay?"

"She is fine. But, she has figured out she lives with a vampire," Austin says before he looks pointedly at me, "a vampire that I've just found out she has feelings for."

I bite my lip and raise my eyebrows a little.

Busted.

"Uh huh," I admit, “that’s…new…”

"I wouldn't say new..." Will says, something clearly dawning on him, "I could tell there was something going on between her and her friend, during my lecture. I could see something subtle in their auras and perhaps a little in their body language. Damn, Ophelia. A vampire. Your family like to be different, huh?"

I shake my head at Will, in awe. I am still impressed with how intuitive he could be, even while lecturing a hundred people. I had not seen it myself. But then, I hadn't spent time with the two of them at once.

"So...Ares was there?" I ask Austin.

"Yep. Masquerade Ball. Both of them in masks. She had no idea he was her roommate and she ended up kissing him in Katz's garden," Austin reveals. I turn to Will and look at him in shock.

"Oh my god...that must be what it was!" I exclaim, "OHHH does this mean she has her wings?"

"What?" Austin asks as Will nods and looks like it now makes sense.

"Take a seat, Aus. I should probably tell you a few things..."