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Amongst the Leaves
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56
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The Pack's Emissary Blood and Sandwiches
Havermouth, Present TimeTony arrived home as Fatima escorted Sigrid and her mates into the kitchen. “Oh, just in time,” Fatima lifted her face for Tony’s kiss as he set two heavy eskies onto the kitchen bench. “Our blood supply was getting low, and we have visitors.”“Sigrid,” Tony grasped Sigrid by the shoulders and air-kissed near each cheek. “It is wonderful to see you well, and congratulations on successfully turning your mates.”“It worked both ways,” Sigrid demurred. “I turned them, and then they turned me.”“This hybridism is catching on, hmm?” Fatima began to unpack the eskies, setting the bags into neat rows on the fridge shelves. “Talen and his mates, and now you and yours.”“Interesting that it hasn’t been done before,” Tony agreed beginning to help her. “I cannot recall hearing of it before Talen turned Heath.”“It has been done before,” Sigrid replied. “Samuel.”“Ah,” Tony’s eyebrows lifted. “I forgot about Samuel.” He left several packets on the benchtop, and as the esk
The Pack's Emissary The Mystery of Jules
Havermouth, Present Time“As I was saying just before your arrival,” Fatima said to Meguitte. “Harry has been…” She shook her head in admiration. “Devoted. They did not leave Jules’ body… Jules,” she amended. “I was sure that Jules was dead. We kept the supply of both human and vampire blood flowing to Harry, who insisted on feeding Jules despite there being no response. Harry also tended to Jules’ wound…”“Who fed Harry?” Leighton wondered and Meguitte glanced his way. He was watching attentively, his eyes sharp and his expression thoughtful. “You said both human and vampire blood.”“Well, it might have been werewolf blood. There is little difference in my opinion,” Fatima amended with a slight shrug. “We are supplied from the volunteers at the hospital as our normal supply chains have not been re-established. In addition, the ancient retirees in the safe houses have been coming to feed Harry and offer blood for both Harry and Jules’ wounds. I have also fed Harry,” she added, with a
The Pack's Emissary Snack Time
Somewhere outside of Rideten, Present TimeAfter the dragon demonstration, the reporters and their teams were a lot more respectful, Aislen noted smugly as their group made to return to the house. Talen started in the other direction, heading towards the sheds, and after a moment, she saw Rhett pick up his pace into a trot to fall into step with him.“Where are you going?” Addison was sharp-eyed.“We did offer to demonstrate how we feed, but it didn’t seem like there were any takers amongst you,” Talen said, pausing and raising an eyebrow. “So, we will speak to the werewolves and see if there are any volunteers amongst them.”“Let’s go inside,” Phillip encouraged the reporters and their teams, his eyes meeting Aislen and widening. He did not want emphasis placed on how they fed and didn’t approve of her suggestion to involve the reporters. She wondered where, precisely, he thought they were going to get the blood if not from the people around them. “Leave them to it.”“They will have
The Pack's Emissary Setting Up For The Night
Somewhere outside of Rideten, Present TimePhillip led the way into the rear of the house. Rhett glanced in at the bedrooms with curiosity. They were cluttered with suitcases and backpacks, and most had bunk beds. The house wasn’t lived in. It was clear it was kept for accommodation.“This is where everyone is sleeping?” He wondered and hoped that Talen found somewhere more private. His mate had left Rhett collecting the blood donations with a whispered explanation that had left Rhett disguising an awkward erection.“Some I imagine,” Phillip wasn’t interested. “There is a barrack in one of the sheds.”“Lovely,” Rhett wrinkled his nose. If they ended up in the barrack, there would be no tying Cameron down and making him bleed, as Talen had suggested. He’d been looking forward to that and knew his mate needed it from their conversation in the shower the night before.“Hmm. I have claimed my bunk,” Phillip replied. “You would be wise to do the same.”There was a bathroom to Rhett’s left,
The Pack's Emissary A Family Who Grooms Together…
Somewhere outside of Rideten, Present TimeThe garage door was open, and a 4WD was parked to the side. For a moment, Aislen paused, staring at the car. Her brain had come to associate modern black 4WDs with the Van Helsings. However, she realized that black must just be “non-descript” to whoever bought vehicles for armies, as this one had been parked inside of a werewolf garage.Past it, she could see that Talen and Heath had laid camp-bed mattresses out on the floor. It wouldn’t be the most comfortable of beds, with only the thin mattresses between them and the concrete, but it was better than nothing, and definitely better than sleeping somewhere squashed in with the werewolf soldiers or news crews.As they entered, she saw that Talen was inspecting several lengths of different types of rope, and she slid a look at Cameron, whose face was flushed as he began to make the bed.Rhett laid out some items on the workbench where Talen was placing the rope that met his approval – wooden sp
The Pack's Emissary Unprecedented Hybrids
Havermouth, Present Time Harry stirred as the door opened immediately alert to the intrusion although they registered that it was Sigrid, Meguitte, and Fatima who entered the bedroom. They eased away from Jules carefully, rising to cross the room to where a dressing gown was draped over a chair. They pulled it on before turning to where their sisters and the vampiress waited, their eyes discretely averted. “You can come in,” Harry told them. “You know I am not modest.” “You don’t possess a modest bone in your body,” Sigrid agreed, keeping her voice low as she led the way into the room. Fatima collected the empty cups of blood, and left, pulling the door closed behind her. Sigrid paused by the foot of the bed, looking down at the still-sleeping Jules, but Meguitte crossed to Harry. “Let me see,” she reached up toward their face, and they leaned down so that she could examine their eye, her fingers gentle and soothingly cool against their skin. “Oh, Harry,” she said softly, and they
The Pack's Emissary Tasty Policewomen
Havermouth, Present TimeAs Sigrid coated Jules’ hand with her blood before splinting and bandaging it, Meguitte took samples from Jules and Leighton and collected them into little zip-locked plastic bags. Nail clippings from Jules’ good hand, a lock of his hair (which Harry started to protest until she ruffled the brunette curls and the part she’d snipped disappeared in the disarray, swabs from his mouth, venom from his teeth, and a bag of blood.“Not too much,” Harry kept a sharp eye on the proceedings. “He needs blood, not to lose it.”“I know, Harry,” she said soothingly. “I won’t take more than I need.” She exchanged a look with Leighton of weary patience. “We don’t want to run out and have to draw more.”“He can feed from me,” Dan was watching from the ajar door. “Sigrid said that hybrid blood might help?”“From the wrist,” Harry didn’t like the idea but accepted it as it was best for Jules. They seemed to remember their manners as they added a belated. “Thank you.”Dan stood by
The Pack's Emissary Merciful Ends
Havermouth, Present TimeThe torture room stank of fear, sweat, and piss. One of the werewolf policewomen stood in a puddle, a look of resignation on her face. As they entered, Connery pulled a face and took a floral embroidered handkerchief from his pocket to cover his nose. “Oof,” he complained. “Disgusting.”“Where did you get that?” Meguitte was amused. Only Connery would be able to source hand-embroidered handkerchiefs in the midst of a war.“Verina,” he told her. “It is an art form truly. I have another if you like, my love. They’re lavender-scented. Real lavender, not that artificial stuff humans use.”“I’m fine, but thank you,” she fought the urge to laugh at him.“Do vampires piss?” The werewolf Patience spat at them. “Do you shit? Do your muscles ache from being forced to stand for days against a wall in chains? Does your skin chafe, blister, and bleed? At least the Van Helsings cage their victims with bedpans and provide food and water. We are dying here, without dignity, a
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The Pack's Emissary If You Choose
Havermouth, Present TimeAislen was looking down at a chessboard. She was holding a little statuette of Verina in her hand. She shook as she set it down on her side of the board and looked up at the woman who sat across from her. This time, the handmaiden or goddess, whatever she was, wore gold. Not some cheap and tacky replica, or some misleading named yellow, but true gold.An elaborate metal headdress began on her forehead, framing her face and covering her hair, continuing from just below her chin to spread over her shoulders and down her chest. The dress was made of fine chain link that draped like material, clinging to her curvaceous body, before dripping away into the aether that crept around their feet. Her lips were painted gold, and so were her eyelids and eyebrows. Golden rings encircled her fingers, and her wrists and arms were heavy with bracelets and cuffs. The tips of her fingers were dipped in gold.She was magnificent and regal and there was a formality to the way tha
The Pack's Emissary Preparing for Leighton
Havermouth, Present TimeThe room stank. They could smell it the moment they started down the hallway. Old blood, rotten flesh, and rodents. Connery made a noise in the back of his throat and fished in his pockets producing a handkerchief and stuffing it full of herbs from a pouch. He held it out to Meguitte who smiled and shook her head ruefully. She had smelled this particular scent before, many times over the centuries, during plagues and in the dungeons where people were tortured and left to rot.“I guess it’s a good thing that no one has been here to clean up after Leighton, as the ward will be untouched,” Connery commented, his voice muffled by the handkerchief.Blow flies greeted them. The cages were empty, but no one had scrubbed the room, and there were buckets sticky with congealed blood, stains of it on the floors and walls, and other biological matter in the corners of the cages where the prisoners had relieved themselves. The room rustled with bugs as a result.“Hmm,” Meg
The Pack's Emissary Gera
Havermouth, Present Time“You’re doing great,” Heath was breathless. He and Rhett had run, dragging with them several screaming witches. They had been pursued, by Mer, by zombies, by the few Van Helsing soldiers who had survived, but they’d been able to put some distance between them with help from the dragons in the sky. It had been very weird to see the dragons sending bolts of lighting and fire to hold off pursuit. One of them had done something that had made the earth beneath Heath’s feet tremble with a clap of thunder that had his ears still ringing.The timing had been perfect. They’d headed towards Leighton’s warehouse, and just as he’d started to debate which warehouse was likely, the door of the Stock Feed and Animal Supplies warehouse had opened revealing Phillip Salem. When he’d entered and seen Aislen on her hands and knees in a clearing within the filthy warehouse, he had not known whether to be relieved or despairing. The warehouse was so precarious a place for his mate
The Pack's Emissary Birthing Suites
Havermouth, Present Time“Stella was anticipating that your mates would attack the ward,” Phillip commented mildly as he riffled through the cupboards. “I am curious to see what happened when she found Leighton instead of them. He did not seem happy.”“Leighton was there? Shit,” Aislen’s heart picked up pace. “We really don’t want him to find us, Phillip. We tried to turn him over to the Mer, but it failed. Verina died though, and Leighton’s pissed in a big way. He came to kill me.”“Possibly, or to steal the baby,” Phillip agreed indifferently inspecting a steak knife before returning it to the drawer. “I think you over value yourself, Aislen, and undervalue what you’re carrying.”“Gee, thanks. Hopefully, Stella took Leighton out,” Aislen added thoughtfully. “She was well set up there, with a massive coven behind her. However powerful Leighton is, I doubt he’s as powerful as them.”“That is true. But then, Stella will have discovered that you are not there, and will know that I betra
The Pack's Emissary The Spell Trap
Havermouth, Present Time“I’m fine, my darling, truly, cross my heart,” Connery pressed the heel of his hand to his chest earnestly. Meguitte narrowed her eyes at him with suspicion. He was still paler than normally, with shadows pressed deep into his under eyes.“Have a sandwich and a cup of tea,” the werewolf Diana insisted offering both from a tray. She was going around the lower floor exchanging food and drinks for blood, and Meguitte sent her a side-eye. “I won’t take his blood,” Diana added hastily. “I can see that he can’t spare it. Perhaps you could, though?”“Me?” Meguitte was astonished by the suggestion.“It won’t take more than ten minutes, and I’m very gentle, I promise.”“It’s not that,” Meguitte explained. “I’m just… not an ordinary vampire. I have none of their normal powers.”“All blood is good blood at the moment,” Diana had sensed surrender and was preparing the kit.Meguitte sat next to Connery and rolled up her sleeve.He smiled at her. “How generous you are my be
The Pack's Emissary The Fked Up, The Fkers, and the Fish
Havermouth, Present TimeRhett and Heath did not speak as they wound their way through the streets of Havermouth. There was little opportunity to talk, slinking through the shadows, down the little alleyways between houses, and cutting through back gardens, but there was also a heavy sense of silence between them so that Rhett knew that even if they had been able, they both would have been too lost in their thoughts. Or lost in their worries, would be more accurate.They had searched the area around the smoke thoroughly, even venturing into the still-burning buildings. There had been no sign of Aislen. And no response to their mental calls for their mate. An icy fist of dread had a tight grip on Rhett’s heart. Why was she not answering? She had to be unconscious or…They would know if she had died. He refused to believe otherwise.Had Leighton found her first? What would Leighton do if he had found Aislen? He still struggled to see Leighton as dangerous, whatever mental voodoo the man
The Pack's Emissary Sigrid and the Mer
Havermouth, Present TimeThere were some languages that were universal, Sigrid thought grimly as she examined the Mer weaponry and made sure that she was familiar with its function. She could tell from the way the Mer moved, from the set of their shoulders, that they were uneasy with the alliance between herself and Niarthen. Their tolerance was thin, and only their respect for Niarthen, and the other two Mer generals, Benethin and Aeylira, kept them obedient. The moment word was received from above that Havermouth was to be destroyed, her life was forfeit.“Do not fear,” Niarthen said quietly. “Aeylira, Benethin, Lyric, and I will ensure that you reach your mates. There is a building which has been declared sacred. Lyric thinks it’s the hospital. That is where your mates are, yes? You should be safe there.”“I am with child,” she told him. “Triplets. The life of four rests on your promise.”“I understand,” he was grim. “Lyric also carries our child.”“If the tide turns,” she regarded
The Pack's Emissary The Dragon’s Battle
Havermouth, Present TimeMagic was in its very nature an invisible thing. You did not see a spell cast, but rather the effects of the spell once it found its victim. Therefore, the warlock Leighton appeared to do very little other than stand with his hands pressed to the surface of the ward, the energy blowing back his hair and causing sweat to break out on his forehead, but Samuel could FEEL the power, and see the reaction of the ward, its opaque surface shifting like water, areas clearing so that the dragons caught brief glimpses of the witches below scurrying about like ants as they tried to reinforce their magic by scattering herbs and arcane objects, and drawing runes on the bitumen.Samuel’s memories of the gloves were still fragmented, but he could recall the power they had given him – not just increased speed, strength, and stamina, but also a magic that was unnatural to him. He could feel a similar magic burning through his veins towards his heart and brain, poisoning as it b
The Pack's Emissary Good Monsters
Havermouth, Present TimeIn the front yard of the witch’s house, Jules caught Harry’s hand, pulling them to a stop. “I should shift,” he explained as he released Harry’s hand and began to strip off his clothing. “We can fly over the trouble.”“Aren’t you the clever one, my beloved,” Harry reached out and began to collect Jules’s clothes as Jules undressed. Jules looked up from stripping off his jeans to find Harry’s eyes hot and his smirk smoldering, and laughed, pulled from the seriousness of the war around them into a moment of pure joy as they celebrated what existed between them.“Okay,” Jules blushed as he finished undressing. “A moment.”Harry stepped back onto the porch and Jules focused on his shift. It was still a foreign experience, one that his body and mind told him shouldn’t be possible despite his entire life as a werewolf. Becoming a werewolf was a redistribution of his body – what existed simply moved to a position more appropriate for the shape that he wished to posses
