Outside of Trayrock, Present TimeHunting rabbits was just plain fun, the way they scattered and bounced and changed direction in a flicker of an eye. Rhett had always enjoyed it as a wolf, the feeling of power seeing the whites of the rabbit’s eyes as they freaked out and fled, and the enjoyment of his own strength, speed, and skill as he chased them down and closed his jaws over them.Chasing down the rabbits in human form with his mates was a moment of much-needed levity. Even Aislen and Cameron were laughing as they made their kills, giddy with the endorphin release.It was a relief to see them both shrug off their moods for a brief respite. Cameron’s anger had burned brightly - but it had burned itself out, Rhett hoped. Aislen’s sadness over her mother was complicated and heavy, and Rhett knew that it wasn’t going to go away quickly. Aislen held onto her feelings far longer and far harder than Cameron did, but after his dad’s concerns over her pregnancy due to her hysteria, he wa
Outside of Trayrock, Present Time“I’m not sure that I like rabbit,” Aislen admitted as she sucked down the second one that she’d caught. “The blood is watery. It’s like the dieter’s version of blood. And,” she paused to pick fur from between her teeth. “The fur gets stuck between your teeth.”“There are worse animals,” Talen said with the certainty of experience as he tidied their kill pile.“Like what?” Heath asked - as much to keep the conversation going as out of curiosity.“Bear,” Talen said without hesitation. “The taste is not so bad, but the smell…” He pulled a face. “If you catch them after hibernation, they’re slow, skinny, and rank, but even on a good day, there is something about the odor and getting your face right into it…”Aislen made a gagging noise.“Precisely,” Talen agreed. He too was trying to keep Aislen engaged, Heath thought as their eyes caught. Although she had pulled herself together admirably, she was far from her usual self. Hopefully though, even the diete
Outside of Trayrock, Present TimeAislen knew it was a dream and not an ordinary one. This was one of THOSE dreams, which meant she needed to pay attention.She was not in the aether, and unlike many of the dreams before it, this dream wasn’t full of chaos, smoke, and bodies, that much was clear. She hoped it was another nice dream of the future, like the time she’d caught a glimpse of how the future might be with her mates. She needed another dream like that, she thought, and maybe that was why this one was so peaceful.She was lying in fragrant grass with the sun warm on her face, so bright against her eyelids that even with them closed she saw halos of light. She could hear people’s voices, the activities of every day, but there was a difference… A missing white noise. It wasn’t the only difference. There was also a difference in the air. It was more fragrant in the way of a garden in spring, with all the flowers in bloom and the earth rich and ripe.She opened her eyes and squinte
Outside of Trayrock, Present Time“Did you get some sleep?” Samuel asked Ember in concern as she joined him in the sky. She looked pale and weary.“A little,” she said watching the road below as the human news crews crawled out of the undergrowth they had taken shelter in and began to hobble up the road behind the dozens of other Trayrock refugees. “More than they did,” she added.“It was a cold night to be out with so little,” he agreed. He felt bad for the parents with children amongst them. The children were used to heated homes, TV, and food readily available. The sudden frightening deprivation of everything came as a shock to them, and the uncomfortable sleepless night added to the children’s distress, making it hard for the parents to get their families moving along the road. Many fearful glances were cast over their shoulders towards Trayrock as if fearing that the Mer would come after them.“There is a Mer encampment closer to Havermouth,” Ember cautioned him. “They have vehic
Outside of Trayrock, Present Time“What do you think about what my dad said last night?” Rhett asked Cameron as they hunched over the tap and did a hasty upper body wash, mostly, in Rhett’s case, to wake himself up. The night had not been the most comfortable one he’d spent. Although he hadn’t been cold – which Phillip had been from his restlessness and teeth chattering through the night which Rhett might have enjoyed more if it hadn’t kept him awake and if Phillip hadn’t been strangely reconciliatory in Trayrock – the ground had been unforgivingly hard, and although Rhett was comfortable sleeping with four other people, the lack of privacy had kept him on edge and unable to sleep.If they made it to Havermouth during the day, he hoped for a more comfortable and private sleep in the night coming.“About the Mer?” Cameron didn’t try to act coy. “And our chances?”“Yeah,” Rhett pulled his top back on although his skin was still wet, and the material stuck to him. “And bunkering down.”“
Havermouth, Present TimeSigrid had debated whether to leave Mercy where she lay. If Leighton discovered her missing, there would be trouble. However, she also did not want to risk him moving Mercy to a new location and losing her. She couldn’t have her Triquetra monitor the mortuary constantly – it risked them being discovered, but it also prevented them from being useful elsewhere and there was a lot that needed doing.In the end, she selected a sleeper that had a similar build and coloring to Mercy and switched their clothing, placing the sleeper where Mercy had lain. She hoped that if Leighton came by to check, he would not look closely.She put Mercy in the backseat of a car and drove her to the tidy little house that Tabitha Marie called home. The reporter leaned against the doorframe as she watched Sigrid cross the pretty garden to her.“Doing house calls now?” She arched an eyebrow.Incense wafted out of the doorway along with the murmur of voices.“I need to hide something he
Havermouth, Present TimeAs Sigrid reached the street, she heard screaming. She broke into a run and arrived at the edge of the bridge, where the dragon had landed, at the same time as a half dozen werewolf soldiers. Civilians, caught by surprise and with the very natural reaction of panicked fear by a dragon landing in their midst, cowered back against the shopfronts.“Stand down!” Sigrid yelled as she came to a stop between the soldiers and the furred dragon. She held out her hands, palm forwards. “Stand down, soldiers. This an ally.”“It’s a fucking giant winged wolf,” one of them yelled back. “What the actual fuck?”“It’s Jules Edison,” she told them firmly. “A hybrid.”She felt the current of air moving and the familiar pull of her mates and was not surprised when they ran down the street, a blur too fast for the humans to see, coming to a standstill before her.“Please don’t point your guns at our pregnant mate,” Greg’s polite request was belied by the tightness in his tone and
Just Outside of Havermouth, Present TimeIn hindsight, it was a relief not to have to carry anyone Aislen thought as they took another break, and she braced her hand in the small of her back trying to counter-balance her stomach. Supernatural hybrid or not, running whilst pregnant was no joke and she was struggling to keep up with her mates.The reporters, despite not physically exerting themselves at all in the process, were exhausted from the way they collapsed onto the ground. “It’s like jetlag,” Aislen heard Addison say to Jacinta. “With a side of wind-burn.”“Great for volumizing the hair though,” Jacinta joked as she tried to tame hers back into place.Rhett lit a cigarette crumpling the packet in his hand. “Want to share?” He offered it to Cameron.“No, you have it,” Cameron declined, knowing that Rhett didn’t really want to share, but was still trying to get on Cameron’s good side. Cameron wasn’t in the mood for cigarette’s anyway, his eyes on the sky searching for his father.