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Chapter 80: Sarah
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2021-07-25 23:50:08The flat seems empty with Aiden gone, yet twelve hours ago I was not at all sure that I ever wanted to see him again. Twenty-four hours ago, I was terrified for his life. I’m self-aware enough to know that my feelings about him, and my reactions to him, have swung alarmingly from one extreme to the other and back within only a handful of time. It seems we have had no time to just exist around each other. No time to do all the mundane and everyday things that allow two people to learn about each other. Every time we stop to draw breath, some other calamity befalls one of us.
I do not have time to slow down even now. I start up my laptop to confirm my recollections of the names Aiden mentioned, and to find out how many of yesterday’s adventures have made it into news and social media. The names in my spreadsheet match my memory. It makes sense, I suppose, that vampires are as diverse as the humans they prey on, and that they have their own rivalries among themselves
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Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 81: Aiden
I haven’t thought this through properly. I’ve been thinking like a werewolf, not like a human. I shouldn’t even be here. I should be at the college office, letting them know I’m safe and I’m back. I don’t know how much Reese knows or guesses. The only person from college who knows I’m a werewolf, that I’m sure of, is Shelley. Jade too, if she manages to find a way to come back. I should have checked with Shelley to find out if she’s told Reese anything.“Did you know that werewolves run a degree or two hotter than humans?” Reese asks. They’re trying to sound casual, but I can pick up the tension in them. They’ve got something tucked in their hand and sleeve. There’s silver on them, somewhere. I can sense it, all werewolves can, but I haven’t been paying attention since I got to London. So many people wear silver jewellery that the sense would be bugging me the whole time if I didn’
Last Updated : 2021-07-26Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 82: Sarah
“Make. Them. Stop!” Watch his chest. I remember my instructor’s voice. Watch his chest, not his hands or his eyes. The chest telegraphs your opponent’s moves. I don’t want to give away how much training I’ve had, but I’m not about to let Amos hit me. His hand, clenched in my clothes, bunches more tightly. I relax and let my weight sink into my toes. “Stop it!” The demand is snapped at us from right beside us. Francesca has come storming up to us, waving her mobile phone. “Back off, Amos, or I’m calling the police to report an assault in progress.” Amos’s head turns abruptly to glare at Francesca, but he doesn’t let go of me or lower his other hand. “It’s not an assault-” “Looks like assault from here,” Francesca says, starting to tap numbers in on her phone. “Where’s your fist, Amos? What exactly is it doing there?” It’s still in the air, and it might still come my way. I’m not taking my eyes off hi
Last Updated : 2021-07-27Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 83: Aiden
“Seriously?” Reese looks like they just found a winning lottery ticket stuck to their shoe. “My parents would really, really hate that. I’d love to! So… do you have to ask permission, or are you the Alpha?” “I’m not Alpha,” I say automatically, then heave a sigh. “But people keep putting me in charge anyway.” Reese gives me a weird look. “So… you are the Alpha?” “It’s complicated. I don’t have a proper werewolf Pack. There’s a London Pack that asked me to join, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to so I didn’t. Then… well, long story, and that Pack’s miles away anyway. The only other werewolf who might count as Pack keeps calling me ‘boss’,
Last Updated : 2021-07-28Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 84: Sarah
The complaint to HR doesn’t take long, but it serves as a distraction. A distraction from the problem I now have. I should laugh at myself for it: suddenly having my friends back has presented me with more of a problem than suddenly being without them. I had all but made up my mind to leave the orchestra. The music is not exclusive to the Britannia. I could readily find orchestral work elsewhere, if I wished. I have other options. The company was one of the reasons to stay, and without that it was a much less desirable possibility. If I leave now, it will be so much harder to keep in touch with Francesca and Holly. Charlotte. Amos. The others who, with that one rather large road-bump and a few notable exceptions, have been companionship and support for a long time now. Aiden will be staying in London for years, of course, if he keeps up with college. Th
Last Updated : 2021-07-30Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 85: Aiden
What I’d really like to do is to get home… to get back to Sarah, and talk things over with her. What Reese and I have come up with, between us, could become huge. It’ll need her support, because the ghosts will be part of it too, and Blackmarsh. Not directly, not if they don’t want to be, but it’s bound to have some sort of effect. If one group of vampires has thought to infiltrate the place, it’s likely other groups will have the same idea. What I have to do instead is get on with the day at college. I take myself to the office and let them know I’m back, then get with the timetable. That means tutor group. I wish I’d remembered sooner. Everyone is full of questions. What happened, where’s Jade, do the police know? Mrs Bird is brisk about it rather than motherly. Guess that’s a good thing. I haven’t had anyone be properly motherly over me for years. Even my mother treated us more like adults than k
Last Updated : 2021-07-30Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 86: Sarah
There is no race tonight. No contest. Neither of the pieces are extraordinarily demanding. They are not easy, of course, but nor are any of them beyond the skill of any reasonably proficient musician. Despite this, I can feel weariness tugging at me by the end. Or perhaps because of it, and not in spite of it. An audience can fill you with its energy and carry you along if they are caught up in the performance. If they are merely observers, the performers carry all the weight.The rave reviews for the previous night will not have affected audience numbers. The tickets will have been sold days or weeks ago. It may have set the audience expectations, however. We set the bar very high with that little tiff. Ironic that anger and misery should produce a result greater than that of accord and peace.“I think I’d rather be playing your piece,”
Last Updated : 2021-07-31Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 87: Aiden
I’m not sure whether Sarah will welcome me at her place. She seemed to have forgiven me for Jade, just a little bit. To understand better, anyway. I’m hoping I can tell her all about the parcel, and the magical tracker, and how I’ve let my friends go off with it without having me there to help. I’m hoping she can tell me I’m an idiot for not getting their numbers, and soothe my worries that they’re all in terrible danger.I don’t know exactly what I expect, but I do not expect to be shoved up against the wall and… oh. Oh!&*&%@$$*#£$!$%£#@%^**&%^%&**&*!!!I might have blacked out there for a moment. All my blood has run south. I think Sarah just sucked my brains out through my cock. There was something I was worried about, but I can&rsq
Last Updated : 2021-08-01Rhapsody for a Wolf Chapter 88: Sarah
I’m not completely sure that I am awake. I feel loved, as if I am wrapped up in a soft, warm, fluffy blanket of tenderness. Awareness dawns slowly, one sense at a time. The enveloping sensation of adoration and intimacy. The scent of pine resin and fresh snow mingled with jasmine and cotton sheets. The faint sounds of traffic and distant aircraft filtering through the window. The puffs of warm breath against the back of my neck. The gentle trail of fingertips across my ribs and waist.I finally open my eyes.The light in the room is dim and blue-tinged. My curtains are thick but not perfectly light-proof. Yawning, I flop over a little, my shoulder pressing back into my bed-mate’s chest and my head rolling onto his shoulder in a cloud of unruly hair. “Morning.”
Last Updated : 2021-08-03
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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
