Connection - Golden Lycans Sequel 3/3 [in progress]

This is Where We're At

***Austin***

Straight from the tree in our lower garden, I casually emerge into a lush, green park at the side of a large and rather beautiful lake.

I have promptly arrived in Zürichhorn park in Zurich, Switzerland, straight from my home on the south coast of England.

Gotta love Tree Travel, Atlas comments.

I take a deep breath of the clean Swiss air, and I head to my usual pitstop- the coffee vendor located here in the park. His coffee is somehow far superior to what our pricey machine at home can manage, so it is always my first stop before I get to the office.

"Guten Morgen, Austin!" he says joyfully as I hand over my clean thermos to him.

"Guten Tag, Hans," I reply, pushing my sunglasses up onto the top of my head to engage with him properly.

"Today is ze big day, jah? Your little girl iz not so little," he asks as he starts to deftly work his machine.

"Yep. My eldest is somehow now an adult," I confirm, still not quite believing it myself. Her birth seemed so fresh in my mind, still.

"How iz she? Any change?" Hans asks lowly, leaning in. It was strange that outside our immediate family and higher ranks of our pack, no one aside from my coffee guy really knew what was going on with Ophelia.

Ella and I had decided early on, particularly when Gaia had become a household name, that we would do what we could to shield our children from media interest and the like.

Largely, we had managed to do that quite well. They had all attended Exton, of course, which had made it hard to hide their recognisable surname, but Ophelia especially had stuck her head down and cracked on with her schoolwork, managing to fly under most people's radars.

She came home for the night at every full moon, so people simply assumed she shifted at the pack. There had been no need for patrols at Exton nor at our pack, for at least ten years, now, all of which helped stave off any curiosity over Ophelia and her non-existent wolf.

Hans shortly hands me my thermos, and after we exchange goodbyes I am soon striding across the rest of the park toward the street where the General Council headquarters are located. I had become head of the entire Council just nine months ago, which had resulted in working at the main office in Zurich, as opposed to the European office which was based in London.

It wasn't what I had ever envisioned for myself as a career, but I was annoyingly good at it. Doing this job as well as being our pack’s alpha was often quite demanding, but the tree travel helped a lot with that.

Ella had grown roughly an extra two hundred or so additional trees in various places over the years, as well as discovering ancient ones grown by Fae thousands of years ago.

As such, teamed with Atlas’ insane speeds when in our golden form, I could be almost anywhere within mere minutes, or even moments. They were used by many, and the best part was they were safe, because only well-intentioned people could ever use them to travel. The fact that light had throttled back into the world since disclosure had happened, meant that most normal, good people could use them.

Stepping through the front doors of the building, several people immediately descend on me. It was like this every morning. I wanted to remain approachable, though. My door was open unless it wasn't and that was how it was. Although it wasn’t ideal for some of us…

This is ridiculous. Let me growl at them and they'll soon leave you alone, Atlas grumbles to me, his patience for these morning ‘meetings’ having grown thin.

Ten minutes later, I am finally in the lift as it rises up forty floors to the penthouse level where my office is located.

My office here is big.

There is a private bathroom, a conference room, a comfortable seating area, a bar and my main desk was right by a huge set of folding glass doors just like the ones we had at home, leading to a rooftop patio.

The patio has a comfortable seating area for entertaining people and conducting meetings in the sunshine. It is also the place where Ella could easily land without having to use the front door.

I sit down at my desk and boot up my laptop, taking that first glorious sip of my coffee. It was an hour until an important meeting was due to occur, one that Ella had thankfully got back in time to join me for. I knew she’d never miss Ophelia’s birthday, but her arrival home was a little later than I had imagined.

All I had to do was wait for her to arrive.

Around forty minutes later, I look up and out toward the patio, having sensed her approaching presence. As my bonded mate, I was aware of her at all times, but moreso in proximity, and I could feel her getting closer and closer. I get up from my chair and go out to the patio, smiling broadly at my beautiful mate as she lands so gracefully on the patio, dressed casually in leggings and a tank top.

Her great silvery wings flutter a little in the breeze before they disappear into her shoulder blades. She unclips her backpack from the front and takes it off her back as she smiles at me fondly.

"You could've just come in with me," I remind her. She laughs.

"Not a chance! I adore the flight from Geneva. I wish I were strong enough to take you with me so you could see it. It's wonderful making a quick diversion to spend a minute standing on our mountain.”

She strides past me, undressing on her way into my office. I love the complex hit of emotions I get whenever she mentions 'our mountain'.

She is referring to the mountain we had stood on when I had told her I loved her for the first time, and later that night, had sealed our bond. The same spot where I became the Golden Alpha and where I had eventually proposed to her.

"It's always a fond memory, huh?" she asks flirtatiously, standing there in her underwear, opening up her backpack to remove her more formal clothes.

"I love feeling how we both remember it," I answer. It was one of the best things about being bonded to someone. Being able to relive moments through each other's emotions was just a greater level of reminiscing.

I can't help but smile as I watch her run a red-hot hand over the creases of her white shirt and her navy-blue pencil skirt.

"You always enjoy this bit," she laughs as she then rummages around in a cupboard at the side of the room, removing a pair of high heels. She slips them on and then unclips her long blonde hair, allowing it to cascade down her shoulders to just past her waist.

I knew while she was largely accepting of it- the fact that time and five children had taken some toll on her body did bother her at times.

But boy...she still had me hooked, more than ever, it seems, as I cannot help but come up to her and put my hands on her hips and growl lowly at her.

"You are the most beautiful thing in this world, I don't need to fly over Chamonix," I tell her. She gives me a lopsided smile and smooths her hands down the front of my chest.

"Maybe you're right. The sight of you last night after only a few days, was most definitely on par," she says quietly.

"What else could I do with you gone for six long months? Ollie was very happy with my increased gym time," I joke.

She leans up and gives me a soft kiss, which probably could've turned into much more, except a sound from outside indicates that our guest has arrived early.

A helicopter passes by, close to the building, its roaring noise coming from the patio as we turn our heads to watch it. It circles back around over the nearby buildings, coming in slowly over the patio, hovering there as the down-draught knocks over a few of the patio chairs.

"I did wonder how he was getting here," I mutter as I head out onto the patio, leaving Ella in the office.

The side of the helicopter opens and a figure leaps out of it, landing so neatly on the patio from over ten feet up.

He turns and waves up at the operator of the helicopter, and it shortly turns and flies away around the corner of the building.

"Welcome to Zurich, your highness," I say formally, taking a bow before I straighten up and look at the imposing man before me.

He is tall and heavily built with shoulder-length black hair. It frames his beautiful facial structure, which reminds me oddly of Ella's.

His eyes are a very dark red and his expression is intense.

Before me is Augustus Katz, the King of the vampires, the very first vampire, as we understood it. No one was entirely sure how old he was, but he was definitely well over five-thousand years old.

The man was recognisable before the vampires outed themselves, shortly after Ella went public with her cure. He was the CEO of several multinational companies.

Having lived for thousands of years and having the power to persuade people and blank their memories of him entirely, he was a very rich and incredibly powerful man.

But underneath he was a shrewd man, a patient man and a man I had grown to respect over the last seventeen years.

"Guten Morgen, Austin Landry. Did I not zay, friend, to call me Augustus venever vee meet socially like zis?" he says in an amused tone.

His accent is just so strange.

His English was very good, but he had a thick Central European accent that didn't sound like it was from anywhere in particular. I laugh shortly and nod, shaking his hand.

"You did. However, you didn't tell me the purpose of this meeting. Only that I needed to bring my wife," I point out.

"Ah, yes. Dat ist true," he concedes, "und vere is your vonderful vife?"

"Just through here," I reply, gesturing for him to enter my office. Augustus sweeps in, pausing a little as he comes face to face with Ella.

"Augustus Katz; it is an honour. A meeting I have been waiting for, for many years," she says warmly, stepping forward and shaking his hand. I can see her doing a rapid check of his aura and her resulting expression is a little fascinating.

"Indeed. Vee are far too busy, are vee not?” he agrees as he looks her up and down, "oh mein gott! Und as beautiful as any of ze Fae before you. You look as good as you smell, my dear."

Smell? Atlas pipes up.

Fancy fae blood, perhaps, I suggest.

"I would love to have a long conversation with you about your people and your experiences with the Fae, sometime," Ella replies warmly.

He smiles but says nothing, likely because he and his people were remarkably quiet about their goings on. We now knew they existed, but in truth, we knew very little else.

"Please, let’s take a seat," I gesture toward the comfortable seating area. Within a few minutes, I have received some refreshments from downstairs for our guest, and our meeting can officially begin.

"Vell, I shall get straight to zee point. My vife and I had a natural-born son, all thanks to your medicine, my dear," he says promptly, looking at Ella. Her expression is surprised, but she looks rather joyful a second or two later.

"Oh! That's wonderful news. I hope your sired sons are as thrilled," Ella replies, referring to Atticus and Amadeus Katz; two men he had turned in the far distant past who he referred to as his ‘sons’, and helped run several of his companies. Augustus nods slowly in response.

"Zey ver ecstatic. Although he technically now supersedes them as my biological 'air, ov course, venever I finally choose to exit zis life, but he cares very leetle about running companies und leading our proud people. My son instead vishes to study at ze Vale Medical Institute," Augustus explains. Ella and I look at each other in surprise for a moment.

"Uh... that is quite surprising, after how poor your people's experiences have been so far in our educational establishments," I reply candidly, for it was true.

When disclosure of our supernatural community had occurred just under eighteen years ago, the vampires had chosen that time to come forward with their own existence perhaps a year later, which they had previously kept secret even from the rest of the supernatural community.

Naturally, just like the rest of us, there have been myths about them in lore and in popular culture.

Unfortunately, this only served to negatively affect how they were viewed by the wider population.

It took a lot of hard work, some incredible strategic PR and many years of even more hard work to reach the point where we were now.

Humans were now aware of us, we had seamlessly merged into their daily lives, and we separately governed ourselves where necessary and worked well in governments alongside humans to maintain harmony.

Disclosure had been strangely straight forward, and it had largely gone well.

For us.

For the vampires, they were still too much of a mystery to everyone, and they did little to dispel the rumours and myths by continuing to be tight-lipped about their people. They maintained a very secretive community, with Augustus and his two sons providing the only point of contact. He regularly came to the Council meetings, and he also attended royal events, being the king that he is. This secrecy did nothing to squash the view that our community and the larger human community had of vampires.

They were still looked down on in society as life-sucking soulless creatures such as depicted in the media.

But, as with anything in life, there was always the token group of strange people who were obsessed with the idea of them. There were many across the world who offered themselves as blood donors to the vampires and some even wanted to become one of them. I found the idea a little weird, but each to their own. But, I much preferred the idea of people wanting to offer themselves, over it being forced on unsuspecting people like it once had.

I had met with August numerous times over the years and I knew this view of them was largely untrue, but I did feel he could be doing much more to improve how the rest of us viewed his people.

As such, the small handful of natural-born vampires who had joined Exton, did not stay for long at all.

They were shunned, called names and physically assaulted a few times by some of the more hot-headed pupils...it was a smear on the history of Exton, in reality. .

Ophelia had been one of the few to reach out to them, but even my daughter's sunny and kind disposition hadn't been enough to prevent them from leaving.

The vampires had created their own educational establishments, so it was just accepted that they'd likely continue to use their own in the future. Therefore, Augustus’ son wanting to join Vale sounded rather intriguing.

"Yes, vell, eee takes after iz mother var more zan his father. Eee has a very keen interest in medicine and considers your vork, Eliana, to be most impressive. As for your conzern, Austin...eee vishes to attend ze institute under a different family name. Dis should not be 'ard given his existence az been entirely secret zo far. No one would ever suspect him of being my son," Augustus replies.

He reaches inside the inner pocket of his suit jacket and withdraws a tablet. He taps on the screen a few times before he hands it to Ella. She looks at the tablet and starts reading what is on the screen, her eyes going wide with shock for a moment.

"Uhh," she says, her eyes fixed and wide as they started at something on the screen, "where was he born?"

I'm surprised at this question, as is Augustus. He clears his throat.

"Coincidentally, the hospital you vunce vorked. I ehh, figured zat if any problems arose, near you vud av been best. But it voz all fine," he replies. Ella looks back at the tablet, her expression quite strange and her heart racing. I can't quite figure out what she is feeling at whatever she is reading, or why. She shakes herself off a little and then continues to read.

"He is very young," she says as she continues to scroll, "exactly how has he taken these tests at his young age and done so well? He is just a child."

Augustus laughs.

"Age ist not a concept vee conseeder much. In person you vud regard him as an adult," Augustus replies.

"How does that work? Blood?" I ask, confused.

"Ee does not drink human blood. Never tried it. Ze naturals do not crave it like zee rest of us. But...he has aged faster zan ze ovvers. How…I vill not attempt to explain," Augustus explains.

"Even so. His test scores are very impressive, aside from Chemistry. I would have at least interviewed him based on these results alone; why did he not applied formally?" Ella asks.

"You vud immediately disregard a ten-year old, no? Besides, he missed ze deadline. Just. A mutual friend suggested I come to you directly. He suggested ze personal touch, because he knows you vud vant my son, " Augustus explains. She smirks at this comment and continues to read more.

"I see. I mean we are near full capacity," she says, suddenly looking thoughtful as she now delves into her bag and produces her own tablet, "I actually have just one place left."

She taps a few times on her tablet and then types something before handing it to Augustus.

"I can't say your son's name is very...mainstream. He might want to consider a different name?" she says as Augustus reads it.

"Uhh....Eliana, ist zat not your daughter on zis residential list?" he asks, looking apprehensive.

"It is...but coincidentally, Augustus, our daughter Ophelia is attending anonymously, herself. Her name will be displayed differently to the students," Ella reveals. Augustus frowns at her.

"Vhy vud she do such a ving?" he asks, confused.

"She hates nepotism and wishes to have the opportunity to forge her own identity separate from the weight of our family name. She applied nine months ago under a pseudonym and she got through our admissions process with flying colours. We didn’t need to interview her. We wanted her," Ella replies. Augustus nods, his expression in agreement.

"Zen you understand. My son ist also just keen to learn, vizout ze burden of my name. He has high 'opes for what he can achieve in medicine and research vith ze right teaching, the right environment. He is an empathic and very caring man. Exactly like eez muzza."

Ella takes her tablet away from Augustus and takes a deep breath in before a long pause. She then does something on it.

"It is a seven-year course, is he aware of that? It is not going to be quick, nor easy," Ella asks, looking surprised.

"He is vell avare. Degree vollowed by accelerated doctorate, eez it not?" Augustus replies.

"It is. A solid biological, physiological and sociological foundation is required before the application of medicine. It's our most intensive course. It's taken a good while to formulate."

"Vell, ee knows. He just vants to heal, Eliana. He simply vants to help others and to understand zem. Var more than he vants to have any dealings viv my companies," Augustus says with a sigh.

Ella nods and takes another deep breath, tapping a few times on her tablet.

"Your son is enrolled," she says to my great surprise. I turn my head to face her immediately.

"Whoa, really? Just like that? No interview?" I interject suddenly. She nods and shrugs while staring at Augustus.

"Yes. Because of Vale's first aim in its charter. Convenire," Ella says with a slight smile.

"To come together," Augustus says with a smile of his own. Ella nods.

"Vale aims to be for everyone and to be about everyone. There are no healthcare professionals in the entire world who currently specialise in being able to help everyone. THAT is where Vale comes in. Healthcare needs to broaden its horizons. Medicine, surgery, radiological differences, nutrition...there are many realms Vale is going to be exploring, to expand on current knowledge, which is mostly around humanoids- including research. How can we be for everyone if we don't have him? I...hoped but honestly didn't ever think, that a vampire would ever apply," Ella replies. Augustus simply smiles at her and looks very happy.

"Um...so can I just recap, just so I know that this is where we're at? Your entirely secret natural-born son who is apparently only ten years old yet looks like an adult, wishes to study at Vale when it opens in September, anonymously. Then you, Ella, are planning to do...what?...are you actually rooming him with Ophelia? Why?"

"Because, Aus, you and I both know she would help him if he struggled or got discovered. It's in her nature. That was also where the final empty residential spot happened to be," she adds with a meaningful smile toward Augustus.

"But you von't tell your daughter vill you?" Augustus asks bluntly. Ella shakes her head.

"No. Because I think that if anything, Ophelia will be far more comfortable if she believes she is in a room with people who she perceives to be normal humans," Ella explains. Augustus frowns and narrows his eyes considerably.

He looks pissed off.

"Hardly convenire. I vould av thought your daughter of all people vud be more accepting. Ow can you accept dis?" he exclaims, his brown furrowed. Ella glances at me briefly, and she sighs sadly as I give her a quick nod.

"Admittedly...there is a good reason for that. Ophelia...is experiencing something a little complex. She is Lycan but has not yet blended with a wolf. She is a faerie, but has no abilities that suggest as such. Since a sickness she had as a child, she bizarrely has no light, no magic, no wings, no strength or increased senses. Essentially, she is entirely human herself. We don't really know why this is happening to her, but we do know it causes her immense grief. Now you know her secret and the main reason why our daughter wants to remain anonymous herself, if she can. So as much as we won't tell Ophelia about Ares Aurelius, please do not tell him about her," Ella explains.

Augustus looks at Ella sadly and nods warmly.

"Ov course. How upsetting that must be for 'er. Now I understand completely, vhy she vud vant to forge her own path. The expectation on her must be so great. Ze daughter of ze golden alpha and ze voman who created ze cure…" Augustus replies.

"Exactly. We still hope that things will change. But, she is still my heir, and none of that has ever changed anything for me," I tell him proudly.

"Ov course she is, und OV COURSE it vouldn't!" he says fiercely. As such I feel quite grateful toward him.

He gets it.

"Well, this was not what I was expecting from this meeting, but actually...the more I think about it, the more I am excited to meet your son and see what he can bring to the community we will soon be starting," Ella says warmly.

...

***Ophelia***

"I guess...this is where we're at. As good as it's going to get," I say to myself as I look back at my reflection in the mirror. I'm wearing a simple white lace shift dress with lacey sleeves for my birthday dinner with my family.

"Look at you, so grown up," I hear a voice from my door. I look over and see the happy face of my Aunt Serena as she pokes her head through the door.

"Aunt Ser!" I exclaim happily, rushing toward her for a big hug. I didn't get to see her much; being the Queen of the Commonwealth and all that...

"Oh Lia, I cannot believe you are no longer a chubby baby," she gushes as she hugs me tightly.

"Still a little chubby," I mutter in a joking way.

"How are you doing?" she asks, looking at me knowingly as she wanders around my room, looking all over it. It used to be her room, once upon a time. I shrug and force a smile.

"I'm of age...apparently. In every way it counts for a garden variety human such as myself," I reply. She tilts her head and looks at me fondly.

"You know, there was a time, when I was your age, where I lost Hera for a long time. I did not think I would ever get her back, and I too had to face the reality of being human. It was only when I accepted that I was still worthy whether I was human or Lycan, that Hera came back to me. But, Lia, at the crux of it all, you are a wonderful person and that is what matters. Wolf or no wolf, you are your father’s daughter," she says sweetly, sitting down in the armchair.

"I don't want to be human," I reply sadly, "but...thank you."

"Some of my human moments are perhaps the ones I hold most dear, Lia,” she says with a lopsided smile, “I know how hard it is to only hear from people that everything is going to be fine...because it might not, and if it is not...you still need to know that you are loved and valued exactly as you are already. You are off to Vale soon, to be among the first in the world to learn what you will be learning. You earned that fair and square."

I nod and smile; because she isn’t wrong.

"I am really looking forward to it. Being around here just...it reminds me of what I don't have. Josh in particular," I add with a frown.

"I can imagine. We were lucky of course. Aus was always going to be perfect, even before his golden makeover. There was never any doubt who our next alpha would be and we all supported that," Serena says proudly.

"Dad treats me exactly the same as he always has. I don't deserve him. He's so optimistic all the time-"

"-because he knows, Lia. You are his heir and he feels that in you. He trusts his gut, which has always worked out for him in the past. Do not give up on yourself just yet," she says fondly.

"It's hard to remain positive," I admit.

"I know. You know, for a period of time, the Goddess used to converse with me about her great plan of disclosure. She wanted to bring us all together. The last thing she ever said to me before disclosure...was when I was holding you as a baby, Lia," Serena says quietly.

I sit down on the edge of my bed and look at her curiously, never having heard this from her before.

"What? What did She say?" I ask slowly, wondering if my Aunt is somehow about to provide the key to all my questions.

"That...I cannot tell you," she says simply.

"How incredibly unhelpful," I comment. Serena just smiles.

"She has a plan for you, Lia. So...just...be you. Be open. You never know what is going to happen," she says with a wry smile. She then gets up and goes over to the window, looking out wistfully at the island across the sea. She did this every time she entered this room, and I sadly knew why, not that we had ever spoken about it since she had told me.

"You look gorgeous, by the way. You definitely need to take that dress with you to Vale. University parties and all that. The lads will be all over you...”

I scoff at her comment.

“I gave lads 'a go' during senior year. Too immature,” I sigh.

“Oh come on. Just remember the key to a faerie’s power, Lia,” Serena says, sitting on the edge of the bed, “maybe what you need to produce those wings of yours is to…fly…”

She arches an eyebrow at me and I exhale short and sharp.

“Uh…yeah. I tried that already,” I admit, referring to an awkward encounter midway through my final year, “I dont think dad knows. Hard to hide from mum, though ”

“Oh…” Serena pouts, looking bereft.

“Trust me, Ser, I’ve tried everything.”

“You understand that lust is not love, right? Having s*x without feelings is not the same at all,” she says a little sadly.

“Yes, I get that, and lust wasnt even involved. It was after yet another full moon and I just got a little...desperate. It was stupid, and I even knew it was at the time, I just wanted to be the real me so badly,” I admit, avoiding her gaze.

“Oh, Lia…” she says sadly.

“It’s fine. There are worse things in this world,” I reply quietly. She nods somberly, her gaze going out to the island through the window once more.