The Golden Lycans (Ella) novel Chapter 102

<You’re Not Alone Anymore

You’re Not Alone Anymore

Austin***

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The overwhelming sadness and grief seeping through the incomplete bond I share with Ella made it nearly impossible to concentrate in my morning politics class. I was still adjusting to the way can sense her emotions, and today, it was more challenging than ever. The frustration of knowing there’s nothing I can do to ease her pain, truly gnaws at me. An unfamiliar anger smolders deep inside me, directed at the hybrid-not just for what he did to Fern River, but for what he intends to

do to Ella.

If he gets what he wants from her… then what?

What does he plan to do?

Could he really be her biological father?

How could a father want to hurt his own daughter?

What was his endgame? Why was he like this? What had happened in his past to shape him into

what he was now?

At lunch, I absently take a bite of my tuna jacket potato, my eyes fixed on Will from across the hall.

Could we really trust him?

He’s the only one here with any real connection to this man, the only one with any connection to

the man.

Ella has made it clear how much she trusts Will, regardless of how he came to be at Exton. She despises the idea of fate dictating her path, yet even she can’t deny how neatly everything has fallen into place. The realisation that the Coven-our best hope at concealing her steadily growing power-just happened to be near our upcoming ski trip to Chamonix, only reinforces the feeling that a greater plan is unfolding before us…whether we liked it or not.

As I watch Will now, I try to ignore a nagging feeling that’s been lurking in the back of my mind for a

while-the suspicion that he and Ella might have been more than just friends in the weeks before

she realised we were mates. I had no right to ask, no right to judge, but I can’t shake the thought of

how easily things might have turned out differently.

Do I owe my relationship with Ella to fate?

How was all of this going to end?

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Will laughs, his easy charm on full display as he jokes with a group of witches and warlocks. I know I should cut him some slack-he was a rock for Ella when she needed one, a teacher when she felt

ast. A dear friend and a protector. But as I watch him now, I can’t help but think back to the first

time we met…

It was the summer after I turned fifteen when my father took Freya and me to the annual Lycan

summit for the first time. That year, it was hosted in the Lake District by the Dalston Lake Pack, as they often did-being the largest pack in the country, they had the resources and facilities to accommodate everyone.

On the first full day, Freya and I were introduced to Will and his older brothers, Marcus and Kyle.

The summit had arranged lighthearted activities for the pack heirs and their siblings, designed to encourage early networking and leadership skills. Thinking back now, I regret not recognizing at the time just how dejected and withdrawn Will seemed-something that had everything to do with

how his brothers treated him.

His eldest brother, Marcus, had made a snide remark, calling Will an “unwanted runt” and questioning why he would even bother taking part in the activities.

“It’s a waste of time,” Marcus had also sneered, “he’ll never amount to anything.”

When I shook Will’s hand, his response was sullen, his scowl making it clear he had no interest in small talk or pleasantries. Still, I tried to be friendly, to include him.

Later, we were split into groups to discuss our recently awakened wolf spirits-well…not all of us. Will revealed that while he had briefly shifted once, he had lost control and involuntarily returned to human form, a fact he was clearly in distress about. He then said that he knew he had a wolf, he could feel his presence, but he didn’t yet know his name and couldn’t communicate with him the way the rest of us could. A vital part of himself was just out of reach, taunting him with its absence. Perhaps he ought to have lied? Perhaps he was too naive to consider how teenagers

would respond to what he was admitting to?

I immediately felt sorry for him.

I had tried to talk to him about it, even offered to help him connect with his wolf using insights

from Atlas, because he had wanted to help too. But Will’s reaction was anything but grateful. He

became jealous-of my bond with Atlas, of his wisdom, and, most of all, of the influence he had

over me.

The next evening, there was a games night, but the tension that had been brewing over the past two days finally boiled over. Someone, having grown tired of Will’s attitude, angrily called him a “poi

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ntless half-breed.”

Will had snapped.

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Magic had flared from him in a way none of us had expected – not even him. Before anyone could

react, the room was engulfed in flames. Most of us managed to get out unharmed, but one wasn’t

quick enough. They suffered severe burns-wounds that, for a Lycan, were survivable and

eventually healed, but the real damage had already been done.

…and that damage was to Will.

We didn’t see him for the rest of the summit, and I didn’t see or hear much about him again. Whispers, generally, between those of us who had been there. He seemed to fall off the face of the earth after a time-until the morning he arrived at Exton last November.

Looking back now, I feel ashamed that I had been too young and naïve to grasp the lasting damage those cruel words must have inflicted on Will’s self-esteem. Sitting here, eating my lunch, the realisation sinks in deeper-I am appalled by what he had been told, not just by his own brother, but by the other heirs as well.

I wish I could go back, try harder with him, show him kindness when he needed it most. Maybe then he wouldn’t have run away. Maybe he wouldn’t have crossed paths with Erebus.

Maybe all of this could have been prevented.

Now, watching him across the hall, I see a man entirely different from the boy I once knew.

But was this version of Will the product of Erebus? Or was this who he was always meant to

become?

If life truly followed some greater plan, had Will always been destined to endure everything he had? To suffer at the hands of his family, to cross paths with Erebus?

Thinking like that makes my head hurt, and I begin to wonder if that’s why our pack Seer so often

complains of migraines.

The thoughts churn inside me as I finish my meal. Then, with a deep breath, I stand and head

toward Will’s table.

“Will, may I have a quick word?”

He looks up, momentarily surprised, but nods. Politely excusing himself, he follows me to a quieter

part of the hall.

“How is Ella? Her aura was more of a mess than I have ever seen, when we left your grandfather’s

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office. I didn’t want to lie to he. Never again. But now I feel like I should’ve just kept my mouth

shut…” Will blurts out anxiously, the sadness evident in his eyes.

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He truly does care for her; that is evident. There is no disception in his body language, nor his eyes,

Atlas comments.

He does care for her. My gut keeps telling me that we should trust him, just based on that alone.

“She didn’t go to classes this morning,” I reply somberly. Will’s eyebrows raised a touch.

“That’s not like her at all.”

“Nope, it certainly isn’t. I need your help, Will,” I say briskly, clenching my jaw nervously as I consider

what I am about to ask.

“With what?” Will asks suspiciously. I look around us for a moment to make sure no one was

listening.

“We need to come up with a plan to get rid of Erebus. Soon,” I say darkly. Will narrows his eyes at me for a moment before he lets out a short laugh. He collects himself, realising that I am serious, and he regards me cautiously.

“Austin, I understand you might be feeling more bushy-tailed recently, due to whatever it is that Ella has been doing to you. But it’s not as simple as it seems on the surface. Last night, he sat there in the pub with a beer and a bag of crisps and looked like any other guy in his late thirties. Except…he had used blood magic to drag me naked for three miles in excruciating pain, in order to meet him. He’s got my number, he could’ve text, he couldn’t called. But he went the psychotic route. He may ook normal but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s a very powerful hybrid who deals in some very dark magic. You might be feeling like you can take on anyone right now, and maybe you could? But I don’t think I need to remind you that he took out an entire pack,” Will reminds me, his voice

methodical and even.

I clench my fists and exhale angrily.

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