Concordia, Seven Hundred Years BeforeThaelen shielded his eyes from the glare of the sun as it sparked off the machinery of the humans on the other side of the mountain range. Were they, as the lookouts had suspected, preparing for another war? Not another war. The same war, he thought grimly, fought over and over and over again.Every new generation of human seemed determined to crush Concordia and take everything that they possessed.His efforts to get the humans to forget about their history of raiding their coasts through his trade with Astreau had been unsuccessful - although the trade itself had been incredibly productive. Ships travelled constantly between Concordia’s port and Astreau, although the import of human beings only occurred once or twice a year. Concordia’s artisans were kept busy producing products to trade with Astreau, who could not get enough of skills and techniques developed through centuries of practice.Their relationship with Astreau remained the only posit
Concordia, Seven Hundred Years BeforeThey agreed to meet the Lord Jermyne the following morning, to give the Lord time to make his arrangements, but also to allow Thaelen to make his own. He was not inclined to trust the humans too easily, he thought, nor to allow the Lord to spy upon Concordia. He would control very carefully what the Lord saw, and what he learnt.He spent some time considering the problems ahead of him, and then wrote a letter to Sigrid, giving it to Jaylin. “Take this to Sigrid,” he instructed firmly. “Do not delay. She needs to make these arrangements before I arrive with the human Lord.”“Couldn’t I…?” Jaylin protested. “Surely someone else could do it?”“Jaylin,” Thaelen raised his eyebrows. “This is not a punishment, but because I trust you.” In truth, he needed a few days break from the man, and the fact that it was becoming tempting to just f-k him.There were shades of Gera to the relationship that concerned him. If he let himself indulge just once with Jay
Concordia, Seven Hundred Years BeforeThe watch tower accommodations were far from luxurious in scale. In the mountains, the flat space was limited, and each tower had been selected for its outlook over the human lands more than for the comfort of those who spent their time within it, therefore the courtyard space was small, and the buildings around it were designed around the ungiving stone with rambling levels and cramped corners.Water was restricted to that collected from the run-off from the rooves, and therefore bathing was limited to a bowl of water and a washcloth – which suited the soldiers who worked in shifts from the tower, returning to civilization between, and the miners whose labor ingrained into their skin making daily bathing seem pointless.The Lord Jermyne and his squires were escorted to their accommodation for the night, and Thaelen left them doing their best to repair their appearance using the washbowl and cloth in the chamber. As he returned down the stairs Hae
Concordia, Seven Hundred Years BeforeAs anticipated, Lord Jermyne woke in the morning with a sore head and no memory of the night before. Unmercifully, Thaelen pushed on with his time schedule, and they all met in the courtyards just before dawn, with the Lord visibly held upright between his squires.Thaelen and Haethnir exchanged a smothered laugh, but, in truth, Thaelen thought, for all the Lord Jermyne’s apparent intoxicated open-ness, he did not feel that he understood the man, or his people, completely. There were things that did not quite add up for him, and that made him suspicious of the ambassador and his squires – although their searches of their possessions, persons, and the prized chests, hadn’t revealed anything that wasn’t appropriate for an ambassador approaching an unknown people in the hopes of making an alliance.Was it possible that Thaelen was misinterpreting a genuine overture of peace towards his people?They walked the jagged mountain terrain towards the coast
Concordia, Seven Hundred Years Before Their meandering journey through the tunnels took three days, during which Thaelen felt that he was able to get a grasp both on the Lord Jermyne, and on what his people sought from Concordia. Thaelen wished to be cautious, however he found himself liking the man and his squires and enjoying their company. When they stepped out into Concordia’s side of the mountains, all three humans stopped to gape. “It is… stunning,” Lord Jermyne exclaimed. “Simply amazing. I have seen the coast from the ocean, and the mighty wall with which you control entry into your bay, but to see it from within… Amazing. The development and cultivation of the land… The castles and cities…” “We are primarily artisans,” Thaelen explained as they began to pick their way down the mountainside. “We hone our skills over generations and our craftmanship is highly sought after by Astreau. They send their young to us to teach. But,” he chuckled. “Rarely do they return. They like
Concordia, Seven Hundred Years Before Jaylin made a hasty retreat, passing Sigrid in the bedchamber as he did so, his expression bewildered and alarmed. Thaelen followed him out of the bathroom, drying his hair on a cloth, and paused in the doorframe between the rooms when he saw Sigrid as he wore nothing but his own skin, but then shrugged. Whilst it had been many years since they had been young together, and society had changed much in that time, with vampires becoming accustomed to private rooms, private bathrooms, and private bodies, he had not changed much in the centuries between and there was nothing on him that she would not have seen before. She watched him cross to the bed and begin to dress. “That was kind of you, Thaelen,” she observed. “Kind?” He glanced over his shoulder and arched an eyebrow. “What gave you the idea that I was being kind?” “They are happy, the three of them, Willa, Luos, and Jaylin,” she replied. “It is an unusual arrangement, as he is not their mate
Havermouth, Present TimeTalen’s eyes were only for his mates, and Meguitte pressed back against the wall, her heart in her throat as she watched him pull them to him. The expression on his face… She felt a painful ache of envy, sorrow, and happiness for him. And she wanted to sink into the floor, to evaporate, to simply disappear…Connery peeled her away from the wall, putting his arm around her shoulders, and capturing one of her hands in his. He spoke no words, did not look down at her, and drew no attention to his actions from those around them, but simply offered his touch in comfort.And it was comforting. In Connery, at least, she had an ally, someone who would stand with her whilst she made her confession to the man who had saved her life and given her a new one, to whom she had made a promise and then broken it.She swallowed hard. “Thaelen,” she said, barely a croak of his name, and yet he heard, turning his head slightly so that he caught sight of her out of the corner of h
Havermouth, Present Time“Talen,” Heath protested as Talen drew Meguitte towards the stairs. “We can have this conversation later when we have found Aislen and know that she is alright.”“No, Heath,” Talen shook his head. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Point Crest Triquetra head towards the reception, and he frowned. He could not prevent the werewolves from leaving, but he did not like the sneakiness in which they had done so. He turned his mind back to the problem at hand, and Heath’s protest. “We will find Morgana, but we need to understand what has happened, what Meguitte knows. We will keep it brief,” he promised. “Believe me, I feel the urgency to find Morgana just as you do.” It was clawing at him that need, the ticking of time passing adding pressure to be out and looking for his missing mate.However, Talen also could not ignore Meguitte. Her involvement with the Van Helsings, the creation of the cuffs when she had promised not to use that magic again, both needed
Havermouth, The Present Aislen sat on the bench seat of one of the Unimogs whilst Talen and the Heath met with Rohan. There were lot of hand signals gesturing beyond the destruction of the farm and solemn expressions on their faces. When she looked up, she could see that Rhett and Cameron were busy helping to carry injured to the waiting vehicles and that the vampires and werewolf soldiers were destroying what remained of the farm’s buildings, ensuring that there was no way that the Van Helsings could return and continue to use the site. The crashing and shouting as they tore the buildings to pieces was giving Aislen a headache and she paused in her poetry writing to pinch her brows. “Here,” Bianca climbed nimbly up the Unimog’s ladder and offered Aislen a bottle of water and two pills. “Paracetamol. You’ve been sitting here rubbing at your head, so I know you’ve got a headache.” “Thanks,” Aislen took the pills and washed them back with the water. “Ah shit,” she said after she’d sw
Havermouth, The PresentRhett and Heath shifted into human form and the Triquetra threw their arms around each other and him, their hands smearing mud and blood onto each other unheeding in their relief that all four had made it through unscathed. Over Heath’s shoulder, Talen saw Morgana slip and slide through the mud, her cheeks streaked with tears as she saw them, and he held out a hand, welcoming her in, the Triquetra pulling her into the center of the embrace.It was where she belonged, Talen thought as he leaned his face into her hair and breathed the scent of his female mate into his lungs. Morgana had always been the center, the heart of their family, the piece that made the rest of them make sense together.“Everyone’s in one piece,” she pivoted slowly round the circle of her men, inspecting each for injury, smearing away blood and mud with her hands in order to make sure that they didn’t hide wounds below.“We’re fine. We are fine,” Heath laughed wetly. “Really, Aislen, we’re
Havermouth, The PresentTalen kept watch as Harry set the explosives under the last of the guns. Of all five machine gun stations, this one was the most exposed, and Talen could feel the prickle of stress sweat between his shoulder blades. They had debated leaving this one completely and hoping that the explosions from the other stations would be enough, but the Van Helsings on duty there had been called to help load a helicopter that was waiting to take off, leaving the station as an open invitation for sabotage.When Harry eased out from under the station and slunk through the shadows to Talen’s side, the relief dragged through Talen’s muscles like the heavy refractory period after sex. He was exhausted, and that terrified him as he knew that the battle was ahead. Get through it, he told himself. Win this battle, and then take your mates to the river house, as Cameron had suggested, for three days and nights of f-king and feasting upon his mates as he turned them.It would be bliss.
Havermouth, The PresentIt was one thing to ride a Unimog through town, and another to travel on one long distance for over an hour, Aislen thought grimly. She was certain that most of her bones had been shaken loose and that when she eventually did stand up, she’d collapse in a jumble of limbs like in a cartoon. She’d been trying to work on another Secret Keeper post, working in a notebook that she’d stolen from one of the desks in the bunker, but her handwriting was so shaky that she wasn’t sure she’d be able to read it afterwards.She also wasn’t sure if she was being optimistic in it’s message.However, if she wasn’t writing, then she had to focus on what was happening around her, where they were going, and the fact that they had to be getting close, and there still was no sign of Talen. Was he okay? She would know, wouldn’t she? She asked herself. If something had happened to him, she was sure that she would feel it somehow, like a wound to her heart.“He’s fine,” she said out lo
Havermouth, The PresentThe farm’s vegetable gardens had been trampled underfoot, without any care for the vegetables and fruits left unharvested, the Van Helsings having abandoned any pretence of the site being anything other than what it was – a military facility. Entrance into the farm from the main road was controlled by guards and cement roadblocks, however, away from the public side of the farm, the security relaxed. There were flood lights set at key points, but their focus was inward and in daylight, they had been turned off.One field contained neat rows of tents, and a portable shower and toilet building which was in use as Harry and Talen crept around it’s edges, someone singing an atrocious rendition of a popular love song as they showered.It made Talen pause, hearing that singer, and a fury began to burn in the pit of his stomach. The Van Helsings at this site were so at ease, so comfortable, that they sang in the shower, where he and his mates had spent nearly every mom
Havermouth, The PresentHeath woke to discover that he had slept through Talen leaving and that pissed him off as whilst he recognized the vampire’s seniority and experience, Heath was faster and stronger, and he felt that it just made sense for him to be included in the mission, and that if anyone should have been left behind, it should have been Harry.Sigrid and her Triquetra had control of the bunker by the time Heath’s Triquetra left their room with Aislen. They met briefly in the room and ran over the sparse information that Talen had given to Cameron and Rohan before his departure and to try to piece together a plan of attack with Rohan – something which was difficult as they had no idea the total size of Haven Farm, and Heath could only roughly sketch the areas that he had been admitted to when visiting Charlotte, and on the times he’d been on the escorted tour.None of the maps that they had showed property boundaries, and even Sigrid’s Triquetra’s fancy toys didn’t have any
Havermouth, The PresentTalen slipped out of the bed when the wait staff arrived in the morning, pulling on yesterday’s trousers in order to open the door and pressing his fingers to his lips to indicate that they should be quiet as they delivered the breakfast and clothing. He admired the efficiency of the bunker, despite the disruption to the leadership everything continued to run like clockwork and thanked the staff quietly as they departed.He showered quickly and dressed in the clean clothing, before creeping back out into the main living area.Cameron looked up from the table. “You’re up early.”“Shh,” Talen placed his finger on his lips as he checked to make sure that Cameron had closed the bedroom door behind him. “You should be asleep, Cameron,” he said quietly as he crossed to ruffle the werewolf alpha’s russet curls.“I smelled pancakes,” Cameron told him with a bright smile as he uncovered them. “Ahhh,” he sighed in satisfaction. “Would you just look at that? Blueberry pre
Havermouth, The PresentHeath rose from the bed as Rhett lifted Cameron’s face to his and kissed him, pushing Cameron’s hand away from his c-ck so that he could take hold of it, causing Cameron to moan into the kiss as Rhett stroked him.Talen released, Morgana’s leg, leaning over to suck on the nipple that was exposed as she lowered her knee to the mattress. He teased the tips with his teeth, knowing that the pinch of the clip would make them sensitive, and slid his hand down her stomach to rub against her clit as Heath positioned himself.“Would you like some Edison brand lube?” Rhett’s grin was wicked. He had wrapped his arm around Cameron, holding his redhaired mate by the throat, just under the jaw, and Cameron’s face was slack with pleasure as Rhett’s other hand jerked his c-ck viscously.“Hmm,” Talen laughed through his nose. “Go on then,” he encouraged them. Cameron would have time to recover from the orgasm and be good for a second round before the night was through, he predi
Havermouth, The PresentThe moment the door opened; Rhett jerked Aislen to face him, his eyes intense. “Play time,” he growled his wolf shading the amber of his irises with an oily sheen of green and gold. He pulled her top up and off her without breaking their gazes, and then lifted his own top up slowly in a delicious display of tattooed skin and muscle made more striking by his leanness.Heath and Cameron fell in behind him, assuming the Triquetra formation that she had seen them take so many times, an unconscious werewolf move, hunters stalking their prey, and she caught her bottom lip between her teeth as she backed towards the bedroom, Rhett keeping pace with her, the distance between them precise, his eyes locked on hers.Talen closed the door behind them and strolled nonchalantly towards the kitchenette.Rhett unbuttoned his trousers, his c-ck pushing against the fly so that the teeth opened little by little with every throb. “Undress, Aislen,” he purred the words, his smirk w