Havermouth, Two Weeks BeforeRhett stared at the coffee machine as it buzzed and gurgled through the pod. “I don’t want f-king coffee,” he said as the brew hit the bottom of the cup, filling the air with coffee scented steam.“Me either,” Cameron replied dully. He hated the f-king hospital, he thought, after waiting at it with his dad whilst his mother died. He knew this coffee machine well. It was central to all the waiting rooms and wards, where all the visitors came for their brews, or just to spend a few minutes hiding away from the eyes of their sick or injured loved ones, where they could cry without that loved one seeing. The steam was an excellent excuse for red eyes and wet cheeks.“It doesn’t feel right to be drinking f-king coffee whilst Aislen’s in surgery. Oh, my f-king god,” Rhett braced a hand against the counter and doubled over, sucking in deep breaths. “Aislen was f-king shot.”“She will be alright,” Margaret, the mother of the boy, Stephan, who Aislen had saved, sai
Havermouth, Two Weeks BeforeThe werewolf policewomen were arguing at the door with the reporter again and Talen and Heath hung back. The reporter, however, saw them and began to call out Heath’s name with sharp demand.Heath sighed heavily. “If I give her a statement, she might leave. I am running for mayor,” he added. “It’s the right thing to do. Address the public when there’s been a significant event, and all that…”Talen shrugged slightly. “If that is your wish.”He followed as Heath crossed to where the reporter and her camera man were focused on him.“Heath Gale, can you tell us what is going on inside the hospital?” Tabitha said into her microphone. “Can you confirm the identity of the injured and the severity of their injuries?”“I cannot say much, Tabitha,” Heath said to the reporter. “As I do not know much. I have not officially been spoken to by the hospital or the police.”“Are you here to support Aislen Carter or the family of Stephan - ”“I can, however,” Heath interrup
Havermouth, Two Weeks BeforeIt was a small hospital, and the recovery room was all but empty, with only one other patient at the far end recovering from surgery. The boy who Aislen had saved was being wheeled out and the Triquetra and Talen step aside at the door to let them through. His parents followed behind their son and Margery smiled and waved as they passed, before leaning in to speak to her husband in an undertone. Rhett saw the human man glance back, his expression surprised.F-k, he grimaced. His comment in the coffee room hadn’t passed unnoticed.He didn’t have time to dwell on what humans were speculating about their sex life, however, as the nurse stopped by where a curtain screened a bed from the door, but left it open to the nurses’ station further into the room – a precaution against reporters, Rhett thought grimly.Aislen lay on the bed connected to several machines. She looked so small, he thought, wrapping his fingers around the bars of the bed guard tightly, feeli
Havermouth, Two Weeks BeforeThe hours dragged, and, with the lights dimmed and the intensive care ward quiet, Heath caught himself dozing on the seat when his head rocked back, jerking him awake. He sat up, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth and flushing as he met Talen’s eyes. The vampire had one hip resting on the mattress by Aislen’s side and one arm braced above her head, his other hand resting on her arm and his thumb stroking gently along the skin exposed by the hospital gown that she wore.Cameron had fallen asleep, his arms braced against the mattress near Aislen’s calves, and his head cushioned on them, his cheek smooshed by the position, whilst Rhett had sunk into his chair, resting his head against the back, chin to chest. He appeared to be asleep, his eyes closed, but Heath knew his mate well, and could read that his body language wasn’t consistent with sleep.“We should discuss the night,” Talen said quietly.The nurses had made noises about them leaving for th
Havermouth, Two Weeks BeforeRhett left Cameron to fetch bedding from inside Aislen’s house and sat on the rocking chair where Talen had seduced Aislen in front of them, rocking and blowing out smoke. He could hear Cameron answering Tyler’s questions, and the TV in the background. It was shitty of him, he knew, to leave Cameron to take care of everything by himself, but he just couldn’t handle the questions, or holding a conversation with Tyler. He felt ragged, raw, and on the edge of breaking.He smoked three cigarettes whilst Cameron made trips into and out of the house, before his red-haired mate pulled the door closed and ran his hands through his hair. “I think I have everything,” Cameron fretted.“It looked like half the house,” Rhett flicked his butt into the gravel and rose to his feet, crossing to put his arms around Cameron, his hand stroking up Cameron’s neck to cup his skull, bringing Cam’s head to his shoulder whilst Rhett pressed a kiss into the disarray of his curls and
Havermouth, Two Weeks BeforeThey passed the night and the morning in rotating shifts, taking turns to nap, to go for food, to return home and shower, with at least two of them staying with Aislen at all times. Returning home for a quick shower and a change of clothing had helped his alertness, Cameron thought as he made coffee in the hospital coffee room upon his and Rhett’s return.He glanced around to make sure there was no one to see, before adjusting the fit of the pair of Rhett’s underwear that he had stolen from his mate’s drawer. Rhett’s underwear ran to close fitting briefs, probably to accommodate skinny legged jeans that he liked, whereas Cameron was used to looser boxer briefs. Still, he grinned, thieves couldn’t be picky, and there was something kinky about wearing his mate’s underwear without Rhett knowing about it.As he returned to Aislen’s room, a partially opened door revealed Stephan on the bed with his mum reading a book in the armchair. Cameron paused and knocked
Havermouth, Two Weeks BeforeTalen almost laughed out aloud, relief crossing into hysteria, exacerbated by a restless night with little sleep. He stroked Morgana’s hair almost compulsively, needing to feel her under his hands.The nurse took the jug off the tray table and poured a small amount of water within, before offering Morgana a straw to drink through. “Here, just a little and we’ll see how you go,” she let Morgana take a mouthful before withdrawing it, taking it cautiously considering that Morgana had a stomach wound, Talen surmised. “How are your pain levels?” She distracted Morgana from the fact that she hadn’t be able to quench her thirst.“Hurts,” Morgana’s complaint was mild, the lingering effects of the sedative tugging at her consciousness so that she was bewildered and heavy eyed. “But okay. Fuck, the police shot me,” she was affronted by that.“Friendly fire, they said,” the nurse replied matter-of-factly.“Wasn’t very friendly from this side of the bullet,” Morgana r
Havermouth, Two Weeks BeforeTalen had taken Cameron’s Ute to return to Aislen’s house, presumably to feed from Tyler as well as shower, whilst Heath returned to the river house. The sky was grey and cloudy, and the world looked dull, as if the colour had been bleached out of the greenery. His footfalls on the boards as he approached the rear door creaked and groaned the wood.As he entered the darkened kitchen, he could smell that Rhett and Cameron had been there recently, which he knew as he had just left them at the hospital. They had been the first to leave the hospital in order to bathe and have a break.The break was much needed, he thought as he made his way through the hallways to his bedroom. The intensity and stress of the last few days was wearing on him. He felt physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted.His bed was an open invitation, but he knew that if he laid upon it he would fall asleep, and he did not want to leave Rhett and Cameron alone at the hospital too lo
Havermouth, Present Time Heath woke into darkness. His werewolf sight could not even determine a pinprick of light. The darkness was heavy, smothering. “Talen?” He asked. His voice sounded muted, as if he were in a closed, tight space. He reached out and felt nothing however… And that was terrifying. There was no floor, no walls. He did not understand how it was that he was not falling… or perhaps he was. His breathing was rasped through lungs constricted by panic. “Shh,” a woman murmured. “Hush now, do not fear. Nothing will harm you here. Indeed,” there was amusement to her voice. “There is nothing here to harm you.” “Who are you?” He demanded, fear turning into anger. “Some Van Helsing trick?” “Hmhmhm,” she chuckled softly. “No, white wolf.” “Where is Talen?” He sat up slowly, relying on his stomach muscles as there wasn’t a floor to brace his hands against. “Where are we? Why… isn’t there a floor?” “So many questions. We are in the beginning, the aether, the place where we
Havermouth, Present TimeCameron and Rhett stood by the front window of Mr Claymont’s house with the lace curtains pushed back, looking out at the street as the crowd began to clear. A riot had broken out in response to the explosion of the school and had blocked the Van Helsings’ efforts to reach their destroyed base. The Havermouth rioters had destroyed several of the Van Helsings’ vehicles until guns had been drawn and bullets had been fired.Just as things had been on the verge of turning into a massacre, the fire had begun to spread out from the school, and Havermouth’s residents had rushed to help the homeowners save their property whilst others had dragged those injured by the Van Helsings retaliation into nearby houses.Into the chaos and mania of it all, the fleeing werewolves had just been another strangeness of the day, with people shrieking and screaming as their fur brushed against them, but otherwise taking no action against them, too occupied with the fire and gunmen, a
Havermouth, Present TimeThe f-ker!Aislen woke angry and sore. Her whole body ached, but her head and throat most of all. She was f-king going to kill that arsehole of a torturer, she thought.She was lying on her back on a bed, but not somewhere private. Around her she could hear the murmur of voices, groans and moans, the rattle of metal against metal, and crying. It stank. Layers of sweat, urine, faeces and… rotten meat.She opened her eyes and looked through a mesh of metal bars at the pressed tin tile design within the coffered ceiling high above her and the elaborate chandelier that dangled from it. Not what she’d expected having smelled the room, she thought, sitting up.It was a large long room, with a heavy velvet curtained stage set on one end and a wall of double doors at the other. In between the two ends, rows of cages had been set, each one only long enough to fit a trundle bed and twice as wide. Many of the cages were empty, like the one directly next to Aislen’s bed,
Havermouth, One Week BeforeTony had the police officer tied by his wrists and dangling over an open oubliette in the barn when Talen arrived, and looked up from a toolbox which was set on the pushed back stone lid. “Alex, this is Talen. Talen, meet Alexander Grennith.”“F-k you,” the werewolf was in the policeman’s eyes, but with his weight on his shoulders, and his wrists tied, he could not shift without risking tearing his arms from the joint, an injury that would be both intensely painful and potentially life-alteringly disabling.“No thank you,” Talen replied as he rolled up his sleeves. “Did you have any trouble?” He asked Tony.“No,” Tony was amused. “I took Sigrid with me, and she distracted him at the front door whilst I took him from behind. He did not know what happened. We bundled him into his own car, and I wore his jacket and hat. Anyone who saw me would have thought he was going on a date. I dropped Sigrid at the Ute and she drove it home for me.”“I didn’t know that Si
Havermouth, Two Weeks BeforeCameron creeping out of the bed and around the room getting dressed woke Heath. He was pressed tightly to Talen’s back, half drowning in the vampire’s blonde hair, with his arm over Talen’s waist and he was disinclined to move from the position. Used to Cameron’s early mornings, once he’d registered what the movement was about, he closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep only for Aislen to mutter a complaint as Rhett wriggled out from under her.“I have a client coming at nine,” Rhett explained his movement. “I have to go set up.”“Too early,” Aislen grumbled.“I know, but they work afternoons, and it will take a good three hours,” Rhett yawned widely as he slid out of the bed.Talen shifted in order to pull Aislen back against him, snuggling her into the spoon of his body. “Sleep some more, Morgana,” he murmured. “You need to rest in order to heal.”Rhett cursed as he stumbled and Cameron smothered his laughter. “Careful. F-k man, you’re not a good m
Havermouth, Two Weeks Before“I could do with a cigarette too,” Aislen announced. “And a glass of wine.”“It’s not even midday,” Heath protested immediately.Aislen’s eyeroll said it all. “I wasn’t asking for permission. I’ve had a pretty shitty couple of days, and I want to f-king have a cigarette and a glass of wine on the porch of my house and so that’s precisely what I am going to do,” she began to get dressed. “If you’re all going to be bitches you can leave.”Heath spotted her underwear tangled at the foot of the bed and retrieved them, untangling them as he handed them to her. “I’ll go open a bottle.” He stepped out into the hallway and closed the door before leaning against the wall and heaving out a sigh.Rhett and Cameron now knew about the miscarriage, but he felt as if the Triquetra had narrowly avoided disaster with the discussion that had followed, and the adrenaline spike had left him shaky with his heart racing against his ribs. The conversation had also shaken free a
Havermouth, Two Weeks BeforeRhett laughed. F-k this was going to be fun, he thought lifting up onto his elbows in order to improve his view.“Oh.” Aislen had realized that the double-sided dildo was for her.Talen’s shoulder shook with his silent laughter as he helped her into the harness and eased her end of the dildo into her.“F-k that’s hot,” Rhett groaned as Talen tightened the harness around her waist. There was something so naughty about Aislen with a c-k, and the leather straps compressing her soft skin, the contrast of white to black and soft to hard… “F-k,” he groaned, and Heath compliantly gripped his c-ck, stroking from base to tip so that he sighed out his pleasure.“Very nice,” Talen approved leaning back to inspect his workmanship. “Who would you like to f-k, little demon?”“Choices, choices,” Aislen’s response was pure devilry.“Me,” Rhett gasped out rolling up to sitting. “I want to try that.”“Why not?” Aislen was amused by his eagerness and by her new accessory, re
Havermouth, Two Weeks BeforeRhett used the trolley to herd Tabitha and her cameraman away from Cameron and Aislen so that they could make their escape, his vindicative ramming of the reporter’s heels fuelled by the nasty volley of questions she had just thrown at Aislen.“This is assault, Rhett Salem!” Tabitha snarled at him.“Oh, f-k off Tabitha,” he replied. “For a f-king desperate ambulance chasing vulture you are pretty righteous. F-king chasing down a woman who was just shot, and shouting out her personal business… You are slime. The worst type of slime. Just own it and shut the f-k up.”He abandoned the trolley inside the doors of the hospital and trotted across the carpark to where Heath was picking up shards of broken vase and ignoring Tabitha’s attempts to engage him into an interview. Heath surprised Tabitha by passing her the broken pieces. “Throw these away for me, please, like a good girl,” he told her.“Ah, shit, Heath, don’t call her a good girl,” Rhett laughed as he h
Havermouth, Two Weeks BeforeCameron almost stopped dead. From the corner of his eye, he saw Rhett fumble a vase of flowers that he was loading into his car, the vase shattering with a loud crash as it hit the ground and distracting the reporter and her cameraman.Miscarriage? What miscarriage? And… if Aislen couldn’t have a child… what did that mean for their Triquetra?“I don’t hit women,” Heath growled down at Tabitha. “But you are testing my resolve. Get the f-k away from us, and stay away.”Cameron pulled himself together and crossed the last distance to the Ute, easing Aislen into the passenger seat, and closing the door before turning back to help his Triquetra drive off the reporter and her cameraman. Rhett drove the now empty trolley directly at Tabitha and the cameraman, forcing them backwards, and used it to herd them towards the hospital and away from the Ute.“What the f-k?” Cameron asked Heath in shock. “What the f-k was that?”“Take her to her house, Cam, I’ll meet you