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Chapter 31: Sarah
I don’t know where the pep talk came from which I gave to Aiden, but I needed it as much as he did, I think. I have a way forward. I’ve agreed to give this thing between us a chance, and I owe it to both of us to put everything I can into it.
My track record is not good, I have to admit to myself. I certainly didn’t put as much effort in with Brian as I could have done, although I very much doubt things would have gone any better if I had. Did I fail the same way with Holly? Perhaps not. I hope I gave it a fair shot. If Aiden really is right, everything else was doomed anyway. There’s a part of me that is now clinging to that possibility, because it eases the guilt I still feel from the trail of broken romances that I have left in my wake.
I don’t have any more time to myself to contemplate the way my world has fundamentally changed in the last twelve hours. My phone rings, and it’s my contact at MI5. My first thought is that it woul
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Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 32: Aiden
The last item on the timetable for today is our first Tutor Group session. Each student is assigned a tutor. Most of the Tutors are lecturers or other teachers, but the few postgraduates are also expected to each host a group. We get one session a week, and we’re going to have the same Tutor for our whole time at Grenville, but not the exact same group because the groups are a mix of years and change as students graduate and new Freshmen start. I’ve got the Fibre Arts teacher, Mrs Bird, who looks nothing like her name and resembles a cuddly, fuzzy, colourful cushion, but sounds like a sergeant-major. The Moon Goddess continues to smile at me. I have both Jade and Reese in my group. There’s an inevitable but short round of introductions and a quick explanation of what tutor sessions are for, and then Mrs Bird hands me a letter. A small parcel, really, one of those padded envelopes. It’s addressed to “Aiden Cooper, Grenville School of Art, London,” and a zip code. I sh
Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 33: Sarah
It is late for both of us, and neither of us got much sleep last night. By the time I’ve fed Aiden (who had no supper, and seems to be subsisting mostly on sweets and biscuits given to him by the customers at his shop), we’re too tired to get up to much apart from cuddling in bed. We’re still twined together when the morning sunlight filters through my curtains. I’ve woken before Aiden again, and he’s rutting up against my thigh as his dreams take a carnal turn.One part of him, at least, is awake, nudging at my hip with each thrust. I roll into him a little more and let it slip between my thighs, squeezing my legs together to enhance the sensation. Lazy curls of pleasure follow his tip as it rubs over my sensitive flesh, making me shiver.“Aiden, my wolf, it’s morning.” He should be awake for this, aware of what we are both doing.Mmm. Sarah.” Aiden’s hand curves around my buttocks and he pushes into m
Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 34: Aiden
I’m floating as I head to Grenville, my feet hardly touching the ground. I want more mornings like that. I want every morning to be like that. I have a key to Sarah's apartment in my pocket, food for the day in my bag and a smile on my face that probably tells everyone I meet exactly whet I got up to when I woke up. And then got up to again in the shower. And almost got up to a third time in the hallway against the front door, but couldn’t because we ran out of time. “Oh man,” Jade grumbles when she sees me, and shoves me in the arm. “New Girlfriend Syndrome. Keep your well-f***ed vibes away from me. Or find me a girlfriend too.” “Let him enjoy it while it lasts,” Shelley defends me. “Don’t go wishing a breakup on me already,” I plead. “Everything has an end,” Shelley intones gravely. “Pessimist,” Jade accuses her. Shelley draws a circle in the air with a finger. “You have to have an end, or you can’t have a beginning.” “Very Z
Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 35: Sarah
“Your boyfriend?” Tony queries at the same moment as Katie says, “Brian?”“Not Brian. I, ah, I have a new boyfriend.” I almost hesitate on the word, because it doesn’t really cover the enormity of what Aiden and I have together, even now with our relationship so new. “We met in a coffee shop near the concert hall. Then we met again in an alley.”I pause, trying to work out how to describe our second meeting without breaking my promise. It takes longer than it should for me to realise I only promised not to tell people what Aiden was. I said nothing about anyone else. “There was a werewolf in the alley. They exist too, it turns out. Aiden came running up to try and stop him from attacking me, but Bellmouth got there first.”“He’s seen Bellmouth?” That was Timothy.“He’s seen Bellmouth,” I confirm. “He didn’t run away screaming, or try to preten
Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 36: Aiden
A horrible crashing of bells drags me by my ears from a dead sleep. An explosion of movement right by my side sets me on the verge of shifting, my instincts screaming “Danger!” There’s a muffled curse and a soft thud beyond it, then a louder thump as the presence at my side disappears. Shaking my head quickly to dispel the confusion of sleep, I crawl over the bed. Sarah’s bed. I’m at Sarah’s place. The screaming of the bells cuts out, and I can hear Sarah’s voice. I peer over at her where she’s huddled on the floor, clutching her phone to her ear, and I feel her distress at whatever it is she’s hearing. If I concentrate, my ears are sharp enough to pick up both ends of the conversation. “If you’re safe, you don’t need to come.” It’s a woman’s voice, a little tinny through the phone line. “You might be safer where you are.” “What happened?” Sarah asks. She’ll be getting cold. I gather up the duvet, climber down beside her and bundle it about her as she listens
Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 37: Sarah
I know I’m arm-twisting Aiden into revealing himself to my family. They’ll figure out that there’s something unusual about him, even if neither of us say anything about it. “Was your boss okay with this? What about college?” It’s the least I can do to make sure he won’t lose his scholarship or his job. “Mr Patel was really nice about it. When I phoned the college, they booked me off on compassionate leave. They’ll let my friends know, so hopefully somebody will take notes for me. How are you doing?” Aiden looks into my face. He’ll know how I’m feeling, but not why. He’ll be picking up on my guilt. “How are you doing? I’m sorry. I am rather forcing you into something I don’t think you wanted to do. If you decide you don’t want to say anything, we’ll figure out a way to explain that avoids it.” Which might mean just telling my parents that it’s not something we’re ready to explain. My parents won’t like that, but they’ll accept it, I think. Aid
Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 38: Aiden
I can sense Sarah’s anticipation as the car turns off the freeway onto a wide two-lane road. The scenery quickly grows wild, rough and bleak and windswept. There’s something very primal about the land here. It feels both exposed and secretive. The low-growing grass and scrub is a thin skin stretched over bone. Ragged clouds chase across a hazy blue sky, and the sun is pale and watery. Sarah opens the window, letting the chill air flood in, and beyond the bitterness of dry earth and the faint spice of grassland flowers I catch the scents of salt and rotten eggs.The snake of a single-track rail line edges towards the road then runs alongside it, sun glinting off the rails. Up ahead I see a small train station building sticking up out of a line of pale rock, like a single tooth left in a jawbone.“This is the border of the estate,” Sarah says as we draw level with the station. “It belongs to Blackmarsh, but it isn’t Blackmarsh itself.&
Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 39: Sarah
The tradition in the countryside says that front doors are only opened for weddings and funerals. The front door at Blackmarsh gets a little more use than that, but the chances are that if it’s been unlocked then it’s a special occasion of some kind. It’s nice to have my return treated like a cause for celebration, but Aiden is a little intimidated. What he doesn’t realise is that coming in through the front door means he won’t get to meet Tony yet. That could be a blessing. Tony is easily the hardest to make a good impression on.Aiden is clinging tightly enough to my hand that it’s almost painful, but I don’t have the heart to mention it. I’ll give him all the support that I can, unless it means getting my fingers broken. If he squeezes any harder I’ll have to say something. He keeps up beside me as I head for the steps. Timothy’s struggling with the door. The hinges always are a little sticky, and creak like a hor
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