The Bridge (Golden Lycans Sequel)

Bergamot

Finn is noticeably absent on Wednesday morning and I assume he's gone back home to be with his family when his mum gets back her test results.

"What's on for you today?" Christa asks, looking pensieve herself. I can tell Finn and his family are weighing on her mind.

"Law...Law...Sociology with the sociopath," I rattle off, staring at Finn's empty chair.

"Law twice eh? Off to study in the library?" Christa jokes.

"Yep, something like that," I reply, stretching my limbs excessively. I am starting to feel it.

"Are you okay?" Joel asks, watching me shift around in my chair lots. I look over at him and I feel a surge of energy as I take in every aesthetically pleasing aspect of Joel's face and body. Oh good grief, stop it Serena.

"I am hungry," I say, my breathing getting a little deeper and my mouth getting wetter.

"You just ate, but you could just go up again?" Christa says, looking at me with an odd expression. I nod, pushing my chair away from the table. I am still hungry, but for a moment then my Lycan instincts were very much drawing me toward Joel in a rather primal way. It was momentarily confusing when my human side which is commanded by feelings and thought, is only interested in Finn.

We need to get a grip, I say to Hera.

I know. I'm sorry, I told you we had this...but it's been a bit of a crazy week, Hera says.

I know. Maybe more food will help. We will shift during my free period later, and as much as it takes this evening. I know everything about Joel's physicality is very enticing right now but he is our friend, JUST our friend, we are not f*****g up a friendship to satisfy a fleeting craving, I remind Hera.

I go up and get more food, feeling very much in the mood for something tasty and greasy.

"Er...okay...are you bulking before a shred?" Joel asks as he eyes up my plate as I sit down. I look down at the six sausages and large pile of bacon I have selected.

"Must be deficient in something," I mutter to him as I tuck into my plate of meat. I am secretly glad Finn is not here to witness this lunacy. Christa is watching me with mild amusement.

..

In human law class later on, I am perhaps a little more fiery than usual, when putting my argument across as the class discusses actus reus. The good news was that my teacher was loving it.

"I don't know what's happened to you this term Ms Landry, but keep it up," Mr Summers says with a chuckle as I make an irrefutable point to one of my classmates in a particularly tenacious way.

I am the same in my Lycan law class, except it's a little obvious to my peers in that class why I am acting the way I am. My teacher in that class cares very little.

"Yes, yes, thank you Miss Landry, just make sure you shift later and expend some of that excess energy," Mrs Crabbe says with a roll of her eye.

I quickly eat lunch before dashing off into one of the clumps of trees near the pond. It is raining heavily but I don't care as I hurriedly undress and shift into Hera with a mental sigh of relief. I had a free period after lunch, so Hera had a good hour and a half of dashing around the surrounding fields and forest areas. It's a little trickier to do this during daylight, but I am pretty good at being stealthy at the best of times.

I wasn't too happy when I got back to my uniform to find that it was a little damp. Apparently the tree canopy wasn't as good as I'd hoped at shielding my clothes.

Thankfully, my body heat seems to have gone into relative overdrive today, and my uniform doesn't stay damp for long. It is almost dry by the time I stroll into my sociology class.

Today is not the day for Kate to decide she can speak to me again. But apparently, she likes to tempt fate.

"Oh, look, it's the so-called alpha she-wolf who now surrounds herself with a little pack of humans," Kate sneers, tossing her hair as she directs the comment to the newest narrow-minded twit she’s latched onto, since we stopped being friends.

I don’t have the patience for this. I certainly don’t have the patience for her running her mouth about my friends. Without hesitation, I step up behind her, close enough that she can feel the weight of my presence. She’s still ranting.

"Yeah, I mean, she blatantly snitched on us that night at the barn. Probably realised she was never going to get with Louis and decided to ruin it for everyone else," she says with that insufferable smirk.

I let a low growl slip past my lips.

Kate turns, smug and expectant—until she meets my gaze.

I tilt my head, voice dropping into something smooth, sharp, lethal. "It was your f*****g heels scuffing up the sports field that tipped Ollie off, you absolute imbecile. And Louis? I turned him down. Because he was never—will never be—worthy of me."

Hera flares inside me, her power a tangible force behind my emerald glare as I lean down towards her.

Kate shrinks, but I’m not done.

"As for my friends? They may be human, but they have more Lycan about them than you ever will. And if you doubt my alpha status, if you truly think you can challenge me"—I let a smirk tug at my lips, a promise rather than a taunt—"then by all means, PROVE IT. Tomorrow. Full moon. Before I even come of age, if you dare. Hand to hand, wolf to wolf—I’ll take you down with one arm tied behind my back."

I push Hera’s authoritative aura forward, letting it crash over Kate like a tidal wave. The colour drains from her face as she quails in her chair, her body betraying the fear she refuses to voice.

Hera and I are satisfied. My smirk turning into a sickly sweet smile.

"Your move."

..

"Are you okay? You seem really..." Christa begins to say, observing me across the table at dinner

"-tense," Stacey offers.

I shrug and try my best to put on a vaguely normal expression as I stare once again at the empty seat at the table.

I don't feel like I need to shift again, I do just feel...tense. Maybe it was due to finally saying something to Kate, I am not sure.

...Or is it the absence of who would be occupying that chair?

"You were actually amazing in law class today, Mr Summers was dead impressed," Christa says diplomatically.

"Have to make up for last year somehow," I mutter.

"Well, just relax this evening, yeah? I'm hanging out with Stacey this evening so the room is all yours. Have a nice bubble bath or something, have some solo girl time," Christa shrugs. I nod and stand up.

"Yeah, that sounds good actually," I agree. I go back to the room and I do run myself a bubble bath. Most of the rooms at Exton have showers, so we are pretty lucky to even have a bath.

I bundle my hair up into a messy bun and I lay there for at least an hour, thinking about the last few weeks and about what was to come when midnight rolls around after the full moon tomorrow.

By the time I step out of the bath, the tension in my muscles has eased—just a little. My body temperature is still rampant, so I slip into my dark blue chemise, the silk cool against my overheated body. It’s always been my comfort piece, and tonight, I need all the comfort I can get.

I take my guitar out onto the balcony, craving the crisp night air, hoping the familiar weight of it in my hands will help ground me. The first notes are barely forming beneath my fingers when a knock at the door startles me.

I pause, frowning. Christa, maybe? Did she forget her key again?

Setting my guitar down, I step back inside and pull the door open just a crack.

And freeze.

Finn stands there, wearing his usual baggy jeans and a several-sizes-too-large red t-shirt, his guitar clutched in one hand. His dark eyes flicker over me, widening slightly before he catches himself.

"Finn," I say, surprised—but also... something else. A flicker of happiness, an instinctive warmth, until—

Until the realisation slams into me like a cold wave.

I know why he’s here. And it can't be good.

My smile fades, my expression shifting as I meet his gaze properly. There’s something raw there, something painful. The usual light in his eyes has dulled, once again.

I nod, a quiet acknowledgment.

"Come in."

This time, my voice is softer, the walls lowering just a little. I step back, holding the door open as he strides past me without a word, straight onto the balcony, sinking into the same chair he sat in last time.

I lower myself into the one opposite, elbows on my knees, chin resting in my hands.

Finn doesn't speak. He just sits there, his guitar resting on his lap, one hand covering his mouth as he stares into the dark. His breath is visible in the chill, curling like ghostly whispers into the night.

I don't say anything.

I know he will—when he's ready.

After a few minutes, I start to wonder if Finn needs a nudge—just a little push to bring him back from whatever place he’s trapped in.

So, I reach for my own guitar.

I pause, fingertips grazing the strings as I let a song drift into my mind. I don’t know if Finn knows it, but it doesn’t matter. He knows his way around a guitar well enough to fall in, to weave something of his own into the melody if he wants to.

I begin to play.

At first, I let the music speak for itself—no lyrics, just the steady movement of my fingers over the frets, the soft, rich notes filling the night air. My eyes stay down, focused on the rhythm, on the way the tension in my body slowly unravels with every chord.

This was what I’d meant to come out here for anyway.

The last remnants of strain from earlier begin to dissolve, seeping away like mist.

Then, as the music settles into me, I close my eyes. I let myself feel it, let it wash over me, through me.

And finally, I begin to sing.

"...telling myself I won't go there, oh, but I know that I won't care, tryna wash away all the blood I've spilt....This lust is a burden that we both share, two sinners can't atone from a lone prayer, souls tied, intertwined by our pride and guilt..."

It feels...good. It's a soulful song and oddly pertinent to my current internal drama. I guess my brain picked it out for me on purpose. I close my eyes and strum a little stronger.

"...there's darkness in the distance, from the way, that I've been livin', but I know I can't resist it..."

A little voice in the back of my head is asking, though, am I feeling less tense because Finn is now here with me? There is darkness in the distance, if I continue to let myself do this...the way I've been living lately, allowing myself to have feelings for someone who categorically cannot be my destined mate. But here, now, with him sitting just across from me, his presence sinks into my bones like warmth in the cold…

I wonder how much longer I can keep pretending.

How much longer I can stop myself from diving in...

"...oh, I love it and I hate it at the same time, you and I drink the poison from the same vine, oh, I love it and I hate it at the same time, hidin' all of our sins from the daylight..."

All my tangled, conflicting emotions swell under Finn’s gaze, amplified by his presence, by the quiet intensity he brings just by being near.

I want to run—from this, from tomorrow, from the inevitability of coming of age.

Because I don’t want to lose this.

This feeling—like something monumental, something life-altering, is just within reach if I were only brave enough to seize it.

So, I play.

I pour everything into the music, letting it consume me. I lose myself in the melody, in the rise and fall of each note, in the raw emotion vibrating through the strings beneath my fingertips and the words as they issue from my throat.

When I finally strum the last chord and open my eyes, Finn is watching me. Not just looking—watching. Studying. His expression is unreadable, but there’s something there, something curious, something...knowing.

Heat rushes to my cheeks as the realisation dawns on me.

This wasn’t supposed to be about me.

But, apparently, I had needed this just as much as he did.

I bite my lip, eyes darting away from his, embarrassed.

"I'm so sorry, I—"

Finn raises a hand, stopping me before I can finish.

"I’d like to set a rule for what we do out here," he says, his voice steady, deliberate, his gaze locking onto mine, "no one ever apologises... especially when it sounds like that."

His words knock the breath from my lungs, but he isn’t done.

"I wanted to join in," he continues, his voice softer now, almost contemplative, "it is more in my range than most, but...that? That wasn’t just playing. You felt that song."

His words settle deep inside me- because he’s right. I did.

I stare back at him and take a deep breath in.

"I would have loved for you to have joined in," I say honestly, feeling my heart beating significantly faster.

He smiles warmly at me for a second before it fades from his face as quickly as it came. He sighs and starts finger picking little notes on his guitar.

"My mother does have cancer, just as they suspected," he says bluntly, still playing his light notes, "Ovarian. There is minor spread to the borders of her abdomen. It is currently treatable, but it could quickly become aggressive if it spreads to her brain or lungs, so I am still very worried. Luckily, she has access to the best doctors and facilities in the world. The best medicines. We are very fortunate for that. She had keyhole surgery earlier this afternoon and she is doing well. The next few weeks are going to be tough, but she is a strong woman and I feel optimistic, because of how strong she is."

I look at him sadly for a moment, wondering how it must feel.

"I couldn't imagine having to just...come back to school, so far from home while my mum went through something like that. So, I think it is clear that she passed some of that strength on to her son," I say quietly. He shoots me a little smile as he switches now from the light notes to the chords for a song I immediately recognise.

"Drops of Jupiter."

A song Finn knows—one we both know. A song that never fails to lift the spirit, to ease whatever weight lingers on the heart. One of my favourites. He knows that.

I pick up my guitar and fall into rhythm with him, our voices blending together effortlessly.

I don’t know what the next few days will bring. But whatever happens, I want this.

I want to keep making music with him.

When the final note fades, Finn sets down his guitar, his expression thoughtful, as if he’s weighing something in his mind.

"I want to go sailing," he says at last, his voice steady but deliberate, "with you. Soon. If the offer still stands…before the weather turns."

I inhale sharply-I hadn’t expected him to take me up on it.

"Amazing, that’s…yeah, let’s do it," I reply, unable to stop the surge of excitement rising in me. My heart kicks up a notch, and as I push myself up from my chair, Finn immediately stands too.

He towers over me. I feel…small.

I’m never small.

I tilt my head up, meeting his gaze, and suddenly, Sen’s words echo in the back of my mind.

"Don’t be afraid."

But I am.

I am so afraid.

A warmth spreads through my chest, curling deep as the tension between us thickens, crackling like static in the air. We’re just standing there, looking at each other, but it feels monumental.

My heart is pounding.

And I just can’t deny it anymore.

I like Finn. More than I ever meant to. More than I should.

How could I not?

He’s become something quietly breathtaking to me—not in an obvious way like Joel had been, but in a way that sinks in slowly, deeply. The way his eyes light up when he smiles, how effortlessly I find myself smiling back. His sharp wit, the dry humour that always makes me laugh when I least expect it. The way our minds seemed to align, the shared passions, the music—goddess, the music.

Being here with him, singing with him, feeling with him—it's sublime.

And it terrifies me.

I look up at him, a nervous smile tugging at my lips. I want to touch him. To close the space between us.

...To kiss him.

...To dive in.

To let myself feel this—fully.

But I can’t.

I come of age in just over twenty-four hours. And when that moment arrives, my destined mate will be waiting.

When? I don’t know.

But the risk—the inevitable heartache—it’s too much to gamble with.

The thought sinks into me like a cold stone, and my smile falters. I bite my lip instead, warring with myself.

Somewhere out there, my mate exists. My perfect match. My missing piece.

Then why do I feel this way?

Where is the sense in this?

Why would She allow me to start to feel this way for a human?

Finn shifts slightly, stepping closer, his gaze locking onto mine with something fierce, something almost desperate. His expression flickers—anxiety, determination, hesitation all at once.

"I need—" he starts.

But before he can finish, a voice cuts through the charged air.

Christa.

Standing in the doorway.

We both turn to look at Christa, and heat rushes to my face again.

I already know she’s going to bombard me with questions the second Finn leaves.

Finn steps back, clearing his throat as he picks up his guitar.

"Christa," he acknowledges her politely, "I will text you what happened…it is late. I will see you both at breakfast. Goodnight."

I follow Christa back into our bedroom. I set my guitar gently on its stand, but before I can fully process everything, she’s already giving me a once-over.

"Were you not freezing out there?" she asks, gesturing at my nightdress.

Oh, hell.

I hadn’t even thought about what I was wearing when I’d opened the door.

Good grief...that must’ve looked very interesting.

I clear my throat, trying to shake the thought.

"The cold doesn’t really bother me," I say, brushing it off, "I had just gotten dressed after my bath when Finn knocked—very unexpectedly."

I pause, shifting slightly, "he didn’t seem great. He just walked straight through and out onto the balcony. His mum got her results today…I think he just needed someone to be there. I didn’t even realise I was still dressed like this."

Christa holds up her hands, laughing.

"It’s okay, Serena, I’m not interrogating you."

I shoot her a look, but she only grins.

"I just think it’s great that he feels like he can come to you for comfort."

I hesitate.

"I’m sure he talks to Joel too, but…you know. Joel doesn’t play, and…" I trail off awkwardly.

Christa just raises an eyebrow.

"Like I said last week, Serena…I don’t think it had much to do with the guitar..."

I don’t reply. Instead, I climb under my covers, letting her words settle uncomfortably in my chest.

For a moment, silence stretches between us. But then—

"Did you know you talk in your sleep?" Christa asks suddenly, her tone far too amused.

I blink, frowning.

"No… I did not know that."

She grins- I immediately feel concerned.

"What do I say?"

She smirks, her expression downright devious.

"I’m not going to tell you..."

...

The next morning, a quiet awkwardness lingers over me at breakfast. I deliberately sit a few chairs away from Finn, but it doesn’t stop him from placing a mug of Earl Grey in front of me with a smile. A smile that sends a fluttering warmth through my chest.

Oh, Goddess…

The thought of sailing with him should excite me—and it does—but a nagging part of me knows I shouldn’t be letting this go any further. No matter how I feel, I should be pulling back.

But it’s not that simple.

Because when I think back to last night—to the way he stepped closer on the balcony, the energy that was clearly between us—I can’t help but wonder.

Does he feel for me too?

And what was he about to say before Christa interrupted?

I barely register my surroundings as I pick at my breakfast, my mind already lost in tonight, in what comes after midnight.

Austin’s experience had been different, but Freya had tried to explain—what it really feels like to come of age, as an alpha. There aren’t words for it, she had said.

You just know.

But I already know one thing for certain.

If my mate were anywhere near this school, I would have sensed them by now.

...

The rest of the day passes without incident. Hera is under full control, but the closer and closer we get to sunset, the more urgent the urge to shift is becoming.

At the end of dinner I look at the clock on the wall and am shocked to see that it will shortly be seven o'clock.

Dinner has taken a bit too long and there aren't any Lycans left in the hall now. It's just me with my human friends. The need to shift suddenly becomes unbearable as full sunset nears and I stand up suddenly.

"I need to go, right now, I'll see you guys in the morning," I say with some effort.

"Serena are you okay? You look a little...ill?" Alice asks with concern.

"Yeah just a bit of a headache, I'll go get something from the nurse, I'll be fine," I say, as reassuringly as I can. I am so close to shifting right here in front of them and I absolutely cannot do that.

"We're all heading straight to the movie session anyway. They're playing some classic films, plus there's popcorn and other snacks," Christa says excitedly as they all stand up in unison, "you should join if you feel better."

"Maybe, I'll catch you guys soon," I say before walking away as casually as I can. I head straight for the main entrance and sprint through the open doors. I manage to get behind one of the nearby bushes before I can't hold it any longer. I shift into Hera within seconds, shredding my leggings and t-shirt.

We both feel a momentous relief.

Lucky you put on clothes you don't care much for, Hera laughs.

Gather them up in your mouth and put them into the plant pot, I say to Hera.

There is a large plant pot around the edge of the building where we can place the shredded victims of shifting. Someone checks it most days to ensure it gets emptied, and its there to help keep our community here a secret.

Well, have fun, go nuts. This is your time, so enjoy it! I say to Hera.

I generally say something along these lines every full moon, but tonight is different.

The amount of energy we have had has been increasing all week, and tonight it has definitely hit a peak.

Hera runs wild for hours, a blur of silver across the campus grounds. She plays with other wolves, darts through the trees, plunges into the cold stream by the north border, hunting with relentless precision—rabbits mostly, though to my absolute disgust, she takes down a badger too.

For the first time in what feels like forever, I’m happy...truly, deeply happy.

I feel free.

This—this untamed energy, this sense of belonging—this is what I’ve been missing. My friends, my chosen pack. The ones who see me as Serena, not an alpha.

As Hera dashes along the eastern border, a twinge of sadness flickers through me.

Why couldn’t I have met them sooner? But the thought is quickly drowned out by something stronger...joy.

Because...I have met them.

And just because the school year will end doesn’t mean this has to.

Friendships like ours...real, unshakable bonds...can endure.

I let that comfort settle in my chest, wrapped in the rush of contentment as Hera runs, lost in the moment.

Then...Midnight strikes.

I don’t even realise it...until we feel it.

The energy hits like a tidal wave, surging from the tips of our claws to the crown of our head, lighting up every molecule.

A full-body tremor grips us as the change unfolds. Our limbs lock up, quaking as raw power courses through us, reshaping us. Strength floods our muscles, our bones lengthen and solidify, denser, unbreakable.

Our senses sharpen into something otherworldly—scents I’d never noticed before assault us all at once, crisp and potent. We hear everything—the scuttle of field mice, the distant rustle of an owl shifting on its perch.

We are connected.

To the ground beneath our paws, to the wind through our fur, to the very essence of nature itself.

Hera steps forward, her paws pressing into the soft earth as she approaches the pond. She peers down at our reflection...and we freeze.

Because the wolf staring back at us is not the same one who started this night.

Gone is the soft, pale grey fur.

In its place is white.

Pure, dazzling...impossibly white.

Whoa...are we meant to change colour?

No...this is quite unusual, Hera replies, deep in thought herself.

A wonderful scent drifts into my nose.

Just a little.

A hint of...bergamot?

Hera lifts her head at the waters edge and sniffs the air. The scent is becoming distracting as it fills our nose and mouth; and we feel compelled to go towards it.

Hera begins to trot in the direction of the scent, which gets stronger the closer we get to the source. I want to embrace it, wrap myself up in it, it's the most wonderful scent and I feel compelled to find the source...and that's when it hits me...

We are smelling our mate, Hera.

I have just realised that too, she agrees.

How? We are alpha...we should've sensed them before now if they were at the school, I ask.

Honey...please don't be disappointed but it's likely an omega or a warlock without magic, if we are sensing them only now when we've been in proximity before today, Hera says gently.

I won't be disappointed, they are still made for us, and we are made for them. I know I've had complicated feelings for Finn, but I know I need to try and feel that for our mate too, I admit to Hera.

I know. To have had feelings for a human is unusual, but I am proud of you for looking deeper in someone and allowing yourself to do so. Hera tells me.

I just hope I can still be the person I am now. I want to be a good friend to them all and to Finn in particular. I care a lot about him. I hope I can still care enough to be there for him with what is happening to his mum, I reply.

You will. Because, he is part of your pack. You will continue to care, I know it, Hera replies kindly.

Hera slows down now by one of the corners of the school building. The scent is overwhelming here...but there is no one in sight. Hera shifts back into my human form and I'm standing there after midnight, naked in the moonlight, staring up at the building before me. This section is three storeys high, and it's the back wall of the boys residential wing.

He's up there, somewhere. Asleep most likely, I tell Hera.

He will soon sense us too. Tomorrow we will find each other, and we will claim him! Hera says enthusiastically.

With nothing that can be done right now, I head off to find some spare clothes that are hidden around the campus. I put them on and looking like an uncoordinated mess, I go back into the school and I go to bed.

My heart feels full, warm, alive and so awake as I lay there, wondering who he is and whether he is aware of me too.

I manage to feel excited to meet him now, to know him and his wolf-if he had one.

Yes, this is what I should be feeling as a Lycan....I should be excited about this!

I soon drift off to sleep...where I dream once again of the crystal blue waters...wrapping myself up in the safety, comfort and familiarity that they bring...