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Chapter 123: Aiden
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2021-10-11 02:50:23“Well, that could have gone worse,” Tom remarks from his sprawl in the corner of the cab. The little window into the cab driver’s compartment is shut. I can hear music through the plastic, turned up pretty loud. It’s a pretty safe bet that she can’t hear anything we say unless we shout it.
“It could have gone better,” I sigh. “It wasn’t supposed to be a formal visit.”
“Aiden, my poor dear, you’re their king,” Sarah tells me, like she’s breaking bad news to me. “If you insist on acting as if you’re just their beer buddy, you’ll worry them. They have expectations. They need you to be someone they can look up to.”
I never asked for this. If someone else was doing it, I wouldn’t have to. “I don’t
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Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 124: Sarah
“So, uh.” My fingers close more tightly around my phone. I take a breath. “I’m, uh. Kind of. Engaged? I mean. I am. Oh g*d, Aiden’s babbling is contagious. I proposed, Aiden said yes.”I don’t know if the dead silence at the other end is a good thing, a bad thing, or a sign that the call has been cut off. “Simon? Katie?”“You’re not p-” Simon’s voice is abruptly muffled, and I hear Katie’s hissed “Don’t you dare!” in the background.“How about you don’t patronise me by assuming I am either unable to remember to take one pill a day, or that I would base my decision on who I want to spend my life with on a poor memory, a
Last Updated : 2021-10-14Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 125 Part 1: Aiden
The wooden frames of the canvasses click on the polished wooden tabletop. It sounds very loud, even though the room is huge. All dark wooden panels, and a real fancy ceiling. The carpet’s so thick you can’t hear your feet. I can’t hear Cavendish either, but he doesn’t have a pulse or need to breathe so I guess that makes silence easier for him. Makes it easier for hlm not to show a reaction either. No little gasp of breath or increase of heart rate. I put the canvasses down as I planned them. The separate frames make one page. Together, they’re the size he asked for. Bigger, I guess, if he spaces them out. I used paint, but colored it like a printed comic, just dots of three colours and black, so you only see the image when you step back a bit. Comic-book pointilism. They call them Ben-Day Dots after the guy who invented the printing technique, but I’ve taken i
Last Updated : 2021-10-22Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 125 Part 2: Aiden
That wasn’t what I expected. The guy looks like he’s about to bolt. The woman I was talking to looks shocked. “Mr Hunt!” “It’s okay,” I say, mostly to the woman, but the next part is for the vampire. I don’t know what he thinks he knows about me. Looks like I’ve got a reputation now. “I’m only here about a commission. Nothing else. You have my word.” “I don’t remember a commission,” Hunt stutters. “That’s because we haven’t talked about it yet.” Having people scared of me could get annoying. I take a breath and try to sound calm and reassuring. “It’s a new commission. You’ve been recommended.” I can tell from his expression that it’s one time he’d rather not be quite so well thought of.
Last Updated : 2021-10-27Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 126: Sarah
In hindsight, it was my fault. I forgot to pass along one vital piece of information. The only good thing is that the Goldhawk werewolves were travelling to Blackmarsh in their own cars. That means they’re not there when the irate giant leafy plants erupt from the driveway in front of the house, envelope Jade and lift her right off her feet, amid an almost overwhelming scent of mint sauce. Everything is noise and movement and confusion. Voices shouting. A thick, sticky rushing sound, like a mudslide arriving. A seven foot tall wolf-man with a bronze sword and a shield to one side of me. On my other side, Mary looks transparent and insubstantial in the sunshine, but she has a meat cleaver clenched in each hand and her teeth are bared. I catch a flash from the corner of my eye. Tala or Reese, I can’t tell which, but the soft chanting from behind me is Shelley, and this could go so very wrong, very, very qui
Last Updated : 2021-11-15Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 127: Aiden
My Mate is amazing. The best Mate on the whole planet. Stepping up, taking command. Defending Jade against her own brother. Her insanely powerful brother. Only a few weeks ago she was terrified of any vampire. I could hug her. I could drag her off into those trees we passed on the way up the drive, take all our clothes off and show her just how much I love her, but that will have to wait."/Thank you,/" I tell my Pack, because they were all awesome too, trusting Sarah. Trusting me. Our decision. “I was ready to fight, we all were, and we didn’t.”"/Hey, conversation not conflict, right?/" Tom replies."/First proper test of the Pack principles,/" Shelley agrees."/I think we did okay there,/" Reese says, "/and Sarah, your brother is fuckin
Last Updated : 2021-12-08Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 128: Sarah
I don’t know what I am expecting. After the Pack’s reactions to Anthony’s shouted threats, I was dreading the worst. Anthony really is all bark and no bite, but he is a master at verbal combat and seldom takes prisoners. I could easily see him winding someone up enough that they’d think about lashing out. I don’t know the others as well as Aiden does, although I think they would all keep their temper. If only I could be completely certain. Anthony is in the center of the sand school, propped up on a mounting block with a cane for balance. I am so focussed on him that I only register what the rhythmic thudding sounds are when Crystal rounds the end of the school at a canter, right in front of us. Her poor, sweet bay gelding catches sight of us and goes rigid. Nostrils flared, eyes bugging out, ears stiff as boards. All his forward momentum is suddenly passed to his rider as he skids to a halt with a horrif
Last Updated : 2021-12-14Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 129: Aiden
I’m already in the kitchen, the rest of the Pack following, when I hear Jade’s “Oof!” I stop and turn, Tom nearly running into me. Jade’s right behind Tala, still outside the doorway. She’s got her gloved hand lifted to her scarf-and-hat-shielded face. Her eyes are wide and startled.“What’s up, Jade?” I ask. Shelley and Sarah come up behind her, peering over her shoulders.“I…” Jade puts out her other hand towards the doorway, then pulls it away again. “I… can’t.”“Hmm,” says Shelley, before anyone else can voice a response. “This is an old house, right? It might have protections on it.”“Protections?” Tala asks, sounding suspicious. I he
Last Updated : 2021-12-28Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 130: Sarah
“Do you know, I haven’t seen him for a few days,” Katie says. “It’s not that unusual,” I add for the benefit of the Pack. “He’s the groundskeeper, he hasn’t always got any reason to come to the house. There’s a lot of land to cover. If he’s checking the fences he could be busy out there for a week. Tim?” I look at my brother, who’s the one most likely to know where Baxter is if he has been working around the outer edges of the estate. “We did a full perimeter check about a fortnight ago,” Tim reports, frowning. “I think he was planning to check the wooded areas. There’s been ash dieback disease reported a few miles to the east, and he wanted to look for any signs it had spread over here too.” “I’ll try his number,” Tony says, pulling out his mobile. If Baxter’s running around as a wolf I don’t suppose he’ll be ab
Last Updated : 2021-12-29
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Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 140: Epilogue
*** Some Time Later...*** “/Aiden? Can you hear me? Aiden? Please?/” “/Huh? Who? Imogen? That you?/” I really wasn't expecting to hear from my sister. Not this way. A text, sure. I’ve been bad at texting her, despite my promises. A message from her complaining about it wouldn’t surprise me. “/Aiden, thank the Goddess!/” Is she crying? My little sister? “/Imogen, what’s wrong
Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 139: Aiden
Everything is downhill now. Goldhawk’s mission is over pretty much as soon as they arrive. Everything else for them is just meeting people, and that doesn’t need much organisation. It’ll happen, with Badger’s Den giving them somewhere to stay for the night. The two new Mates are going to want the visit to go on longer, but Mark will need to get back. Either Paul will stay behind, or Caroline will visit London, probably. I hope it forces Ian into doing something. Join, Challenge, I don’t care as long as it becomes his job to keep the kids out of trouble until they’re a couple of years older. I finally get a bit of time without someone wanting me to do something,or decide something, or explain something. I prop myself against the wall of the building, and stuff my hands in my pockets. There’s a papery crinkle. I pull out the folded sheet, and remember why I put
Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 138: Sarah
“Never rains but pours,” I sigh, linking my arm through Aiden and kissing his cheek with sympathy. “Or is it no rest for the wicked? My poor sweet Mate, pour yourself onto the quadbike, Reese can drive you to meet them, and I’ll come on one of the horses. Timothy’s perfectly capable of seeing our unwanted guests off, we can leave Shelley, Mary and Tom with him. Baxter too, unless he’s already seen more of Black than he wants to.”Aiden leans into me. I can fee him collecting himself before he speaks. “Goldhawk are here to talk to Badger’s Den anyway. I’ll talk to Caroline, or that other one, the one they had as spokesman. Let them know to expect guests and see if they can put the visitors up somewhere.”I elect myself to update Timothy and put him in charge of things in the village, and to give T
Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 137: Aiden
“Fly?” I swap a puzzled look with Sarah. “That’s not one I know about. Command any werewolf, speak to any werewolf like a Pack link. And immunity to silver. Sort of. Still hurts like a… still hurts, but it’ll heal up as fast as any other wound, won’t knock me out. Been like that since forever.”Ian harrumphs. First time I’ve heard someone actually do that. “How long is forever?”“Few thousand years at least. Far back as I can remember any lives. Not that I’ve remembered all of them, there's way too many.”“That’s not a problem most werewolves have,” Ian says quietly, frowning. “What’s your… plan? Your intentions. Your Majesty.”I can feel my sho
Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 136: Sarah
The earth is cool under my butocks and Aiden is a furnace above me. I’m pinned on the ground with my jeans around my ankles and I can’t quite remember how I got there. Rough bark tugs at my hair and prints itself into the back of my wrists. Urgent, demanding hands ruck my shirt and bra up and free my breasts.“Please. I need you.” Aiden’s voice is soft and pleading. His hands, his body, they are anything but. They don’t plead. They demand, they take. One hand tangles with my hair and wrists, yanking stray hairs, splitting fragments of bark from the tree bole beneath and behind us. The tang of sap fights against the musk of sweat and desire. Aiden’s hips thrust between my legs and my back scrapes against the dirt and leaves and brown pine needles beneath us.He’s inside me already, driving hard and fast. His sweat
Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 135: Aiden
An angry opponent makes mistakes.That’s what my father and Caleb never understood. Anger is a weapon to their thinking, not a liability. Black is cast from the same mould. I’ve wound him up by staying calm, by being polite, and most of all by humiliating him, and he can’t see clearly through the red mist of fury. He’s three hundred pounds of muscle and rage, as unstoppable, dangerous and terrifying as a runaway locomotive, charging down on me. His free hand is out with claws ready, blocking any escape. Blinding sunlight flashes from the silver of his blade as it sweeps down.Now, Frost whispers, lending me his speed. I slip beneath Black’s raised elbow, drawing a line of fire across his exposed stomach with my sword. I spin and dance backwards as Black skids and stumbles before he crosses the outside edge of the duelling square. &
Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 134: Sarah
Black’s arrogance wins out over any caution he might have. He signals to one of the werewolves with him, announcing his Second.“What’s he playing at?” Baxter mutters when he realises that Aiden isn’t just buying time with Black’s Challenge, but is actively looking to fight that way.Baxter isn’t Pack, not yet, not officially. I doubt I can speak to him with the Pack link. It’s Aiden himself who can do that. I don’t even want to risk whispering. Werewolves have good hearing. I nudge his arm, to get his attention, and take my phone out.Aiden is considering Baxter as a Packmate. Blackmarsh trusts him. I don’t think Aiden will mind. “immune 2 silver” I type. “knows sword”. I turn the screen so Baxter can see it but, hopefully, nobody e
Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 133: Aiden
Nothing’s ever simple. Now I’ve got Caroline to look after. It’s irresponsible to bring her along, but it’d be worse telling her to stay out of it and expecting her to obey. There’s Alphas that nobody would dare disobey. My father, for example. I’m not him. “/Am I a bad Alpha?/” I make sure it’s just my Pack hearing that. The Peace Seekers. They’re not the right people to ask though. None of them are werewolves. “/You think we’d let you stick around if you were, boss?/” Sarah reaches over to give my hand a squeeze. “/If this is about Caroline, you said it yourself, if you tried sending her away
Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 132: Sarah
I’ve never really watched war films. I’ve never really been that interested. It feels as if I’m in one now, although I have no idea how accurate that thought is. We’ve crossed the nature reserve as if it’s enemy territory, constantly on the alert even though we’re keeping to the public paths, so we’re not, technically, on Badger’s Den territory. “If we’re talking technicalities, that would be Aiden’s territory anyway,” Reese points out when I mention it. We see neither hide nor hair of the Pack that claims the surrounding land, and veer out of the reserve into farmland where we are coming up on the small coastal village where Baxter says he’s being held. It looks like one of those lost-in-time places where cosy TV murders are set, except half the houses are holiday cottages now and empty for most of the year. It’s ever so slightly spooky, riding past bl
