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Chapter 109 Part 1: Aiden
It turns out I get a chance to speak to the Goldhawk Pack before the shopping trip. It’s kind of by accident. Mr Patel mentioned that we were down on stock because the delivery van had broken down, and I recognised the road name where the van was stuck. He was worried that someone would break into it overnight, because they couldn’t get anyone out to fix it until the next day. I volunteered to go check on it.
So that’s how I come to be in Goldhawk territory for work. Paid to be there and everything. I’ve got a list of the more valuable stuff that’s still small enough to fit into the backpack I’ve been given. I don’t have to get it back to the shop tonight, just make sure it’s safe.
I should track down that liquor thief and thank him for helping me land such a great job.
I go tap on the door of the Pack house. I h
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Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 109 Part 2: Aiden
That was probably a stupid idea. The threat level in the room just jumped from zero to eight. Maybe nine. Not ten, because nobody has attacked me. Yet. “Just so you know,” I say out loud, “anyone can choose not to hear me. I can’t force you to listen. You can block me out. I’m here to help, not to take charge.”Russel in particular still looks furious. Christy places her hand on his arm.“Think about this,” I say quickly, before someone tries taking a swing at me. “Haven’t you ever had to meet with a werewolf from another Pack to talk, when you’d much rather have been able to do it at a distance? Had times when things went bad because someone snapped and lashed out, mostly because the other person was right there in front of them? Or wanted to be able to talk to someone, couldn’t trust the
Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 110: Sarah
The afternoon is disconcertingly normal after Mary’s visit. I have no new music of my own, and Roberto wants to spend the time on perfecting the pieces for the evening’s performance anyway so that works out well. The break between the rehearsal and the performance has, to my relief, returned to something like my pre-Holly-dating days, but with Holly’s friendship more prominent than before.It is not until the intermission on the performance that anything unusual happens. Then, for the first time, Aiden talks to me mentally while I am in public. I’m not right in the middle of a sentence, but I am in the middle of a conversation, so it’s not the most convenient of moments.“Sarah? Do you think if you asked, Bellmouth would appear to me? Right now, where I am? Not to fight, just to say
Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 111: Aiden
I’m avoiding the whole Werewolf King thing by ignoring it. I go to college, I work on my scent project for Accessibility, I get the camera figured out for Photography, I hang out with my Pack, I work, I go home to Sarah. The Pack have figured out that something’s not quite right, of course. I tell them it’s a werewolf thing. I need to tell them about it, but it’s a long term thing. It will wait a bit. I’d like to just forget about it for now. Sunday rolls around quickly, grey but dry and likely to stay that way. Overcast is good. Jade’s hoping she can join us, and sunshine would make that impossible. Other than being able to catch up with Jade, Sunday is something else I’ve been trying to put off in my mind. Until now, Sarah has been one little world for me, and the rest of the Pack has been a different one. Now they’re bumping into each other. I roll out of bed early, too keyed up to stay lying around an
Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 112: Sarah
I want to get this right. I know how important these people are to Aiden. They are not only friends, as Francesca and Holly are to me. They are also family to him. They have fought beside him. They have accepted all of him, not just the human parts. They are not purely human themselves. I hope they can accept me, too. For the moment, all I hope for is that we can get to know each other a little better on this outing. I could probably have placed names to faces even without Aiden’s introduction, from the descriptions that have crept into his conversations about them. It’s interesting to see how his descriptions contrast with what my own would have been. Tom, with the sort of white-boy tan that suggests holidays in expensive sunny locations and the accent of private-school-education privilege, in-your-face and brash; Tom, who has gone through life trying desperately to be seen because his Fae
Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 113: Aiden
We’ve been shopping for an hour and only Tom has bought anything. Behind me, I can hear Shelley and Tala in deep discussion about theology, ethics and morality. In front of me, Jade, Sarah and Reese are discussing martial arts in movies and how realistic they are. Or not. Because of that, I might finally believe that the Pack really will work. They’re just chatting, like friends. Sarah’s had some combat training, I’m pretty sure. She’s talking about it like someone who doesn’t just know the theory.I eye Tom, who’s scuffing along beside me. “So, how ‘bout that Chelsea transfer?” he asks.I know I’m squinting at him in puzzlement. “The what now?”“Football? Wait, American. Soccer?”&
Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 114: Sarah
A sudden chill washes over me. This will be harder to fix than a little bit of “Do you know who I am?” I have no doubts that Aiden is the better negotiator, but depending on who these people are, and what they think of werewolves, he may be at a disadvantage. It could be up to the humans. I feel inadequate. “We’re in public,” I say, fighting to keep my voice calm and steady. “Let’s keep this civil. We are here to solve problems, not to cause them. Or to be the problem.” Aiden has come up behind me, a solid presence at my back, helping me keep my mind clear of panic. I rummage through my memory for more of Rupert’s lessons. I never thought I’d be more grateful to listen through his grumbling about the amount of “interperso
Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 115: Aiden
“I don’t need a suit!” I squawk, and wince at how squeaky my voice comes out. I don’t need a suit. I really don’t. I don’t like the way the rest of the Pack is looking at me, either.“Oh yes,” breathes Reese.Tom is also giving it an admiring look. “Can’t fault the style.”“Very Bond,” Jade says, the first I’ve heard from her for a while. I wonder what it has to do with Sarah and I being Mates. Most humans don’t have a Mate Bond.
Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 116: Sarah
I cannot claim that I know the rest of the Pack that much better as a result of the shopping trip, but it has broken the ice. The situation with Jade, in particular, is less strained. I would not call her a friend, but she is a person to me now, not a cardboard cutout villain. She has a sense of humour. She also has a passionate desire to make the world a better place, which I cannot fault. We are all sprawled on the grass of St. James’s Park, licking our fingers and trying to decide whether we will burst if we eat any more. Seven Dials Market, just along from Covent Garden, has enough food stalls that I think you could try something different every day of the month, and between us we’ve probably bought one of everything. Even Jade has managed to find czernina and blotplättar, which she can tolerate. Now she’s carefully within a patch of tree-cast shade, helping to guard the small mountain of shopping bag
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