“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’,
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
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
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,”
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
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.”
I step out of the door, and all the worries of the day before come crashing back. I have to tell myself not to run. I’m walking a lot faster than usual. The first thing I will do when I see my friends, I promise myself, is to get their numbers. I did remember to get Sarah’s, finally. I think she was as embarrassed as I was that neither of us thought of it sooner. The subway… the tube, I must get used to calling it that… seems to take way longer than usual. The final walk to the college has gained an extra few miles. Maybe I should have gone to Shelley’s first. I could have left earlier. I’ve probably put Gabriella in danger, not just Reese, Shelley and Tala. I’ve only just started as Alpha and I’m making mistakes already. I’m saved from worrying myself into a total mess because they’re all there hanging about near the front steps. My… it’s getting harder not
The flat seems empty once Aiden has gone. I am starting to resent our other commitments. His college, his job, my orchestra. Our conversations are snatched moments of time that we end up… not wasting, never that, but spending on our physical connection rather than that of our minds. There is so much we have yet to learn about each other, and I cannot help but feel there will be many more misunderstandings and arguments until we have a chance to learn each other inside as well as out. An innate sense of what we are each feeling is less useful than one might guess. I have the entire morning stretching ahead of me. I pull on joggers and trainers and go for a run, then spend an hour practicing scales and arpeggios, which, to the disgust of many a learner, you never get to leave behind. I keep Eddie ready to use and get out the manuscript sheets with my Rhapsody. I have a whole orchestral version to work on, a
Nothing horrible happens on the way to the drive thru. Well. Nothing worse than the usual London traffic. We get extra, because of Ella, and we’re going to have to work out what to do about her. The way things are at the moment probably isn’t even legal. I’m kind of out of good ideas, because trying to ask Ella for straight answers isn’t going to work, but maybe the others can come up with something. The others have met Ella already, of course. There’s no need to work out how much to explain to them in the cab. We stop on the corner of Shelley’s place, and watch the cab drive off before we go any further. I know I’m on edge, alert for another ambush like that in the park. The others don’t seem so bothered. Maybe they’re right. Maybe the threat is over now that Whitfield is gone. On the other hand, maybe Sutcliffe and Ewing will want revenge.