The Bridge (Golden Lycans Sequel)

Fragmented & Distracted

***Ella***

"Well that was a nice couple of hours in the garden," I say to Austin as we emerge from the portal tree into the lower garden of the pack house.

"Yeah, Serena seems so different every time I see her these days," he replies wistfully.

"People change. I remember changing a lot at the same age, even from week to week," I say as we start walking back up the slope to the house.

"So, to address the elephant in the room. Is it Finn? Is he the one Serena has a crush on? He was the only one not there and you said it wasn't the movie star and the other guy Theo is clearly with that girl Alice," Austin says to me. I stop and I look at him.

"It is whoever Finn is, yeah...and I am now worried. She's got the signs of an emerging mate bond in her aura, Aus," I sigh sadly.

"Emerging? What do you mean by that?" he asks, frowning. I shake my head a little, because I'm not entirely sure myself at this point. It had been six years but I still had a lot to learn about auras and definitely between species to species.

"I can't explain it. How it usually appears, it's not quite the same as that. It's almost like she can't really feel it, but she also can? How it looks different is also in the colour. Everyone else in your family has always had gold in their aura because...you're the Golden Lycans. Of course you have gold. When there is a bond and even an incomplete bond, that is also gold. It's always gold. Serena has the Landry gold in her aura too, but the signs of the bond I think I'm seeing? It's white. White has always represented light in any aura I've ever looked at. The way Sen talks about it and the way I just feel about it whenever I see it; I think white also means they're following a purposeful path of the divine. There is something...special, about whatever Serena's bond is doing. That's the impression I get. It's special and yet she can barely feel it."

Austin is looking at me with a worried expression, "Is she doing okay, though?"

"She is largely...great. She was so happy tonight and she is very content. But she is also very confused and conflicted about what's going on inside her in regard to this bond and her feelings for Finn. I can completely understand why, though."

"Yes, I can imagine. But at least she's happy...for now. We will see if she comes to us to talk about any of it," Austin says thoughtfully.

"Yeah, well it'll have to be that. Sen told me earlier that she wants to respect Serena's privacy now and she won't tell me anything further from their bi-w****y chats," I sigh, "Sen is right in that decision, but I am now just worried for Serena."

We are just about the enter the patio doors to the kitchen diner when my phone starts to ring.

"Will? Is everything okay?" I ask urgently. A chill always goes through me when Will rings, because I worry that something has happened to Sebastian.

"Yes...you're not going to believe this, Ella," Will says, and my heart takes a leap at his words. Could this be IT?

"Will?"

"So...unfortunately a scan last week showed that the cancer had spread a little more and a deposit had been picked up in his upper arm. That unfortunately fractured this morning. You gave me SC4 earlier today and I passed it to the doctors. Ella. That has entirely healed his fracture. Not only that, they just did a scan and it looks like it's eradicated all the cancer from his bones," Will explains, sounding a little emotional down the phone.

"Every trace? They need to biopsy, we need to be sure," I reply, my heart pounding as I turn around and sprint straight down to the greenhouse where my hydroponics are.

"It looks like it, but yeah they're doing a biopsy tomorrow. Ella...you must be so close. Anything that's had a good reaction so far has involved whatever 'C' represents," Will says as I open the lid of one of the incubators.

"Carphallus," I said simply, looking down at the innocent tiny blue flower. Inside the flower were stamens that had tiny little black gel-like beads on the end. It was this little black bead that I had used.

"This is amazing, Ella. At the very least we have now got a cure for bone cancer, or even in its most basic form, something that heals broken bones," Will says. I am speechless, my thoughts going a mile a minute as this incredible discovery sinks in.

"I know how you must be feeling right now, you don't need to say anything. I will speak to you again once the biopsy results are back. Goodnight."

I hear him hang up, and I drop into the chair, breathing heavily. I now feel one much bigger step closer, on the other project that I work on.

...

***Serena***

"Wakey wakey!" I hear Christa saying as she pats me across the cheeks.

"What the heck, Christa," I mumble as I stir awake.

"You ignored your alarm. Aren't you teaching a combat class in ten minutes? One that we are all coming to?" I hear her say.

Shit.

Ten minutes?

My eyes snap open immediately and I spring out of bed. I had heard my alarm. I was too busy in my dream- immersing myself in the crystal blue water, wrapping myself up in the intoxicating scent of bergamot and patchouli. I was too involved in that to evencare about getting up.

His scent only came to me as Hera, or in my dreams, and I couldn't live my life as Hera all the time.

I rapidly remove my clothes and drag on my tracksuit bottoms and my combat t-shirt.

"Come on, once we get down there I'll have five minutes to drag the mats out and bring out the dummies," I say, sliding my trainers on and heading to the door.

"Dummies?" Christa asks as she follows me down the corridor.

"Can't really kick the crap out of each other," I try to say as joyfully as possible, as we head down the staircase. I don't particularly want to do this, right now. The more awake I feel, the further my heart sinks, the remains of the scent and the feeling of my dream, evaporating more and more with each passing minute.

We get to the sports hall and there are twenty people there already, including everyone in our little group except- for Finn, who I assume is still at home after his own birthday.

I'm touched to see that Joel and Theo have taken it upon themselves to put the mats out already. I give them a hand to bring out the combat dummies.

Bang on seven o'clock, we start the class.

"Welcome back to many of you and welcome to several new faces across the room... I am Serena Landry and today we are going to concentrate purely on combative moves. Once again I'm going to enlist the help of my friend Joel," I begin, smiling down at Joel as Theo chuckles at him, playfully punching his arm, "so please can everyone pair up and keep a close eye on what we do."

Everyone pairs up. Christa pairs with Stacey, Alice with Theo.

"Guess you're going to be kicking my butt today," I say happily to Joel. Really, I ought to use a Lycan to pair with, but Joel was just as good as they were.

"Ohhh, after mashing my face into the floor last Saturday, it'll be sweet, sweet revenge," Joel laughs. I turn to the class.

"First up, is the roundhouse kick. Beautifully effective for any weight, any ability, as long as it's done correctly," I say to the class, beckoning toward Joel.

I taught him this over a week ago so I know he knows how to do it-and well. I slip some boxing pads onto my forearms and get into the typical judo stance.

"Bring it on, Joel!" I tell him.

...

"Why the hell haven't we gone to do that before now? That was an amazing way to start the day! I feel so awake...but I am starving now," Christa says happily as we all enter the hall together at twenty past eight for breakfast.

"It doesn't just have to be Saturdays, or in a group. I'm happy to teach you guys anything, anytime," I say warmly.

"I am feeling so confident about my audition now, thank you so much Serena," Joel says.

"When is it again?" I ask, dropping some naughty greasy food onto my plate.

"Next Saturday afternoon. I need you there so please don't forget," Joel replies with a nervous laugh.

"We can do an hour session every day before then, if you want? Perhaps a session later this afternoon?" I offer.

"You'd do that?" he asks in surprise. I nod and shrug, as it's not like I have anything else to do. It would distract me from my mad hunt for my mate, if anything.

"Yeah, I'd do anything to help a friend, Joel," I reply with a smile.

..

Christa is too busy throwing herself into coursework to notice that I spend the majority of Saturday afternoon outside. Hera I race around the perimeter of the school grounds maybe fifteen times over the course of four hours

...but we don't smell a damn thing.

Nothing.

I head back in and change into some gym clothes to meet Joel for another combat session in the gym.

It's packed full of Lycans right now and I wish I could just shift into Hera in a cupboard or something; surely he's come in here?

"Are you okay? You seemed a little distracted this morning, but moreso, now," Joel asks as he manages to pin me to the floor for a third time. The fact it's happened even twice shows how fragmented my brain is feeling right now.

"I am fine, I have just got a few things on my mind," I mutter as he helps me off the floor again.

"Ah yes. The clear guy issue. It is isn't it? I mean that much was obvious from your reaction the other day. Who is it? Does he happen to look like a skinny Viking? Tall...blonde hair...blue eyes?" Joel presses with a knowing smirk.

I gulp down a cold cup of water and scowl at him.

"Come on...talk to me," he says with a c****d brow.

"Joel. I am not doing this," I tell him, taking off my gloves and leaving the gym, feeling tense and annoyed as I head back up to the room for a long shower. I enter the room and Christa nods at me briefly before I disappear into the bathroom.

"You seem really tense again, is everything okay?" she asks as she watches me brush some knots out of my wet hair a little too vigorously.

"I am fine," I lie, my mind going over why I couldn't smell my mate this afternoon.

Four hours and nothing.

Meanwhile I have Joel barking up the right tree in regard to Finn.

He reminded me a little of Will; he appeared to be incredibly good at reading body language...or perhaps I was lousy at keeping things hidden? Perhaps it was something he'd honed during acting?

"I am not buying it," Christa says, coming up behind me, "I haven't known you that long but I can see something is really bothering you. Is it anything I can help with?"

I shake my head and look at her somberly in the mirror.

"Just having trouble finding something, that's all. But I will," I reassure her.

"Well I am officially sick of coursework. I need to get out of this room," she replies, checking her watch, "it isn't too long til dinner, fancy getting a hot drink?"

"Hmm yes, that is probably what I need," I reply, thinking it's probably the only time today that I'll smell bergamot.

..

After dinner I dutifully shift into Hera once more.

I haven't run this much in a very long time, Hera remarks as she takes off around the perimeter.

I am not sure if you're complaining either way, I joke.

It's nice, but...I hope it's worth it.

I hope it will be too.

After eight rabbits, one badger, two stream swims and one tree climbed, Hera shifts back into my human form.

We have smelled nothing.

It's half past nine when I return to the room. I snatch my guitar off the stand and shut myself out onto the balcony, walking straight past Christa as I do so.

I finger pick absentmindedly, as I realise how down I feel.

I haven't smelled my mate since yesterday.

And...Finn hadn't been around.

It was hard to tell what was making me feel worse.

My new guitar feels off- the strings are brand new and they need breaking in. But I am not in the mood to do it right now.

I trudge back into the room, depositing my guitar on it's stand.

"Must be bad if you haven't even played one song," Christa accurately assesses. I glance up at her and shrug.

"Tomorrow is a new day," I tell her.

..

Sunday is a lost cause. Most of it disappears beneath another grueling law assignment with Christa, a fate I wouldn’t wish on any day—especially not one bathed in golden sunlight.

That night, my dreams are filled with endless stretches of crystal-blue water. They call to me, beckoning...and I realise, they've been foreshadowing my mate all along. The realisation grips me with an urgency I can’t shake. If I don’t find them soon, I swear I’ll lose my mind. The thought lingers at the edge of my consciousness, a constant, nagging distraction—even when I’m not actively thinking about it, I know it’s there, hovering just out of reach.

I shift in my seat, clearing my throat as I finish reading aloud the closing argument I’ve spent the last hour perfecting.

“How was that?” I ask Christa tentatively.

She frowns, lips pressing to the side in a way that tells me exactly what I don’t want to hear.

“No. I’m not buying it,” she says finally, "it’s off. Like you don’t believe what you’re saying. You need to make the jury feel it—what’s in your head, your heart.”

I blink at her.

“So...my heart doesn’t sound in it?”

She tilts her head, assessing me in that sharp, too-perceptive way of hers.

“Your heart and your head are somewhere else. You’ve been off since your birthday.”

She’s right.

Painfully so.

I sigh, tapping my pen against my rapidly dwindling notepad.

“Yeah, I’ve got a few things on my mind, that’s all.”

Christa arches a knowing brow.

“Yeah… I know.”

I raise a brow right back at her.

“Oh yeah? And what exactly do you know?” I ask, half amused, half wary.

She smirks.

“I told you—you talk in your sleep.”

With a wink, she gets up and disappears into the bathroom, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

...

That evening at dinner I feel a jolt zip through me- Finn had returned from spending the weekend with his family.

"Did you have a good birthday?" I ask him as he sits down in front of me.

"I did, thank you. It was very chilled, which is all I ever really want. It was lovely to see my little sister and of course, my mother," he replies, looking downcast. I have to stop myself once again, wanting to reach for his hand as it sits there in front of me on the table.

"I am really glad that you spent some valuable time with them," I tell him, starting to look around the hall once again. It was becoming a habit, now. He could easily be in this room and I just wouldn't know it. Why couldn't I find him as a human?

I slowly tune back in to what is going on down the table.

"...so yeah, if anyone fancies a trip to London next Saturday with Serena and I, please come with me. I could do with some moral support for my audition. Lunch is, of course, on me after. Probably somewhere plush like The Ivy."

Joel says, piercing through my hazy thoughts as I push pieces of beef from my red Thai curry around my plate.

"He really doesn't need it, he's going to absolutely smash it," I pipe up. Joel looks at me warmly across the table.

"I'm really looking forward to it. The posh lunch you're buying afterwards, that is," I joke. I get up and head to the drinks station and start brewing myself a tea, contemplating the route Hera and I will go later this evening after dinner.

"If you are off to London on Saturday...are we going sailing on Sunday?" I hear Finn's deep voice ask. My breath catches, for he's snuck up on me for a second time now.

How does he manage to do that?

"Yes, I'm sorry I should've said something about Sunday being the better day, when you first asked. I've got my class to teach on Saturday morning anyway," I remind him. He nods.

"Sunday is better weather than Saturday so it would be a better day. I think it is very kind, what you have been doing for Joel."

"Well he has accidentally hit me in the face quite a few times during our training, so I feel like he at least owes me a decent lunch somewhere fancy in London," I joke as I pick up my tea back to take back to the table.

"He has hit you in the face?" Finn asks, his voice a little irritated.

"Yeah, but he had gloves on, I barely felt it," I mutter.

"So, he did not hurt you?" he queries, still looking wary.

I am finding his reaction a little intriguing...

"No, but I am touched that you seem quite concerned about that idea," I reply, heading back to the table.

"So. Is anyone else up for London?" I ask cheerily.

"No, thank you," Finn replies bluntly, having sat back down, frowning at Joel.

"Yes! I love London and I want to support Joel," Christa replies brightly.

"Excellent, it'll be a good time," I reply.

...

After dinner, I go back to the room until dusk hits. Christa is doing homework for one of her other classes, so I make an excuse to leave the room.

"I'm off to the gym, I've had too many naughty breakfasts lately," I announce, putting on some basic gym gear.

This process is beginning to feel like groundhog day. I do the same thing I did the night before, undressing in the same spot, shifting into Hera and then allowing her to dart around the campus for two hours.

I feel relief; we can smell him again!

The scent is stronger today, encouraging us forward...but somehow still not enough for us to sense him in our human form.

I have no idea why that is, but right now I don't care. For my one singular thought when I am in Hera is to find him.

But sadly, after two hours, we are no closer to finding him.

We are more alert, the scent still so strong, that I can't think of little else until we shift back into my human form.

I dress and stand there crying in the darkness, feeling decidedly sorry for myself. I consider going back to the pack and asking for help, but I am far too proud.

Serena Landry, so skilled and usually so capable...but somehow unable to find one single person on a school campus, hindered by the flawed senses of her human form.

I go back to the room, feeling thoroughly down and miserable. I walk immediately to the back of my room and grab my guitar. I go out onto the balcony and I fling myself down into my chair for a few moments, doing nothing.

I start to play a song whose lyrics are so apt for how I'm feeling right now.

Unrequited feelings for a human, a destined mate out there somewhere, apparently totally unaware of me. I wish I could send them a message.

I strum the opening bars for the song over and over for a minute or so, allowing my mood to pick up a little before I finally dive into singing the lyrics.

"My song is love....love to the loveless shown.. and it goes on...you don't have to be alone.."

I start to play, the feeling of the brand new strings feel so rough under my fingers. I'll break them in soon enough and my fingers will one day flow effortlessly along the strings just like they did on my old guitar.

"Your heavy heart...is made of stone...and it's so hard to see clearly...you don't have to be on your own...you don't have to be on your own..."

My mate didn't have to be alone.

Where was he?

Why wasn't he trying to find me?

Could he even feel me?

"...you're the target that I'm aiming at..and I'll get that message home.."

I wished Hera could connect to his wolf, to deliver a message...that I was looking for him every day, that it was him that I was looking for.

"...and I'm on fire for you, clearly..."

I felt somewhat on fire for Finn, recently. The way I felt the other night when he was last on this balcony, telling me he wanted to go sailing...

The tension that I had felt build between us, the urge that I had to reach out for him...

...Why did this have to happen now?

Right when I'd sensed my mate?

"...you're the target that I'm aiming at, and I'm nothing on my own, got to get that message home..."

Why was I being punished like this? I felt incomplete now without either of them. I was nothing on my own.

With my eyes shut I strum the strings harder and sing a little louder, even though the music won't ever fill the void have had inside since I came of age.

...who is he?

...where is he?

...why can I only smell him as Hera?

"...on a platform, I'm gonna stand and say, that I'm nothing on my own...and I love you, please come home..."

What was I doing up here? I should probably be back down there, looking for him right now.

"..my song is love, is love unknown..and I've got to get that message home."

I strum the last few notes and I drop my head to my chest with a loud sigh, my heat beating fast within my chest.

When I look up at the empty chair opposite me, with a pang it just feels like Finn ought to be in it, playing with me.

Singing with me, smiling at me with that charming smile of his, the one that makes me feel so warm inside...why is my heart so torn?

Did I even want to locate the source of the smell?

I did...but I also really didn't.

This was getting ridiculous.

....because...I actually just wanted Finn.

I hit myself repeatedly on the sides of my head with my palms as Christa walks out of the door and onto the balcony, her breath visible on the air.

"That was...quite a loaded performance," she says, sitting down on the chair and looking at me with some concern.

"Yeah, I er...just...need to break in the strings," I reply to her, looking out into the darkness of the night.

"Yeah, I think you did that," she then lets out a short laugh and shakes her head with a little smile before she gets up and goes back into the bedroom, sensing that I'm not going to divulge what is actually going on.

"Where are you?" I whine a little pathetically into the night.

Let me run ONE more time, Hera suddenly asks.

I sigh and stand up. It couldn't hurt to give Hera one more try around the perimeter and around the school.

Maybe he's shifted as it's a Sunday and he's out there somewhere?

I go back inside and put my new guitar down on its stand next to my old one.

"I'm going to go for a run. Don't think I did enough cardio in the gym," I tell Christa. She looks at me strangely and then nods silently before going back to watching something on her laptop.

I head back down to my usual shifting spot behind one of the bushes and I begin removing my clothes. Once I'm standing there naked, I shift.

The effect is immediate now, moreso than it was earlier. The scent fills us up from head to toe. It kicks our heartbeat into overdrive and all we can think of is finding him.

In Hera I am not torn at all, the need is specific and our mission is very clear. Hera takes off, and for the next half hour she does a full lap of the campus perimeter twice. The scent remains the same, however.

He isn't out here. He must be in the school, again, I sigh.

Incorrect. He's BEEN here. Recently, within the last hour I would guess, Hera says excitedly, her nose to the ground.

She runs closer to the building, the scent getting stronger and stronger.

It's so strong here. They must have stood here for some time...and just look at WHERE we are, Hera says, lifting her head higher up the building.

No way... that's our balcony up there, I say in shock.

He knows we were up there, he must've sensed us! Hera says, feeling more energised as she follows the trail of the strongest scent all around the outside of the back of the building.

Then why aren't they looking for us?

There...

Hera says excitedly, sprinting silently toward the domed glass building of the botanic garden. Hera is sprinting all around the edges of the domed garden, back and forth, all around the outside, sniffing the air over and over as the bergamot and patchouli scent becomes so overwhelming.

He is INSIDE the botanic garden. There is no doubt!

Okay, let's hope he stays there for the next few minutes, go back to my clothes! I tell Hera urgently.

She bolts toward my clothes at lightning speed, shifting seamlessly into our human form. The scent has vanished from my nose again, leaving behind only urgency. I yank on my clothes, barely pausing before taking off at a full sprint toward the school.

I burst through the entrance doors, my breath coming fast, my heart pounding. The atrium is empty, eerily so, but I don’t stop—I tear down the sports corridor, veer left through the doors, and barrel down the covered walkway leading to the garden. Not a single soul crosses my path.

The security door looms ahead. I slam my card against the reader with shaking hands, my pulse roaring in my ears. The moment the doors crack open, I squeeze through and dash inside.

Darkness. Silence—except for the soft trickle of water features. Dim lights mark the main path, but I don’t hesitate. I run.

He has to be here.

I reach the entrance again, breathless, frantic. No one. But there’s one last place to check.

The centre...the tree.

I dart down a narrow path, branches and leaves clawing at my face, my arms, my legs. Another turn. Another. Then—

Impact.

I slam hard into someone coming from beneath the wisteria tree. My hands clutch at strong, steady arms as warm fingers grip mine in return.

A spark ignites at the point of contact, heat spreading through my skin, my blood, my heart.

I lift my head, my breath catching in my throat, my gaze locking with a pair of crystal-blue eyes...

The realisation crashes into me like a freight train. I haven’t been dreaming of water—I’ve been dreaming of his eyes.

My heartbeat goes wild, my senses drowning in everything that is him, the physical contact t we have just made, bringing everything into absolute clarity now-all available in my human form. His scent—bergamot and patchouli—wraps around me, heady and intoxicating. His steady heartbeat echoes in my ears, anchoring me. That relentless scent I’ve chased for so long has finally led me here...and now, every fiber of my being is screaming the truth.

This man, standing before me, is my mate.

Disbelief steals my breath as I stare up at him, my chest rising and falling in ragged gasps. My lips part, the words tumbling out, raw and shaken—

“...It’s you...you’re him!”