Havermouth, Present Time Heath was chafing at the bit by the time Talen and Aislen returned to the house. Talen parked his Ute in the driveway and then walked to the passenger side, scooping Aislen out and carrying her to the door. “Hey,” Aislen said sleepily as Talen transferred her into Heath’s arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned against his chest burying her face into his neck. Heath felt some of his tension melt away as he pressed his face into her hair and breathed in her scent – she was okay, despite what the day had held for her, she was in his arms and unharmed. “I’ll grab the things out of the tray,” Talen said, already turning. “Talen,” Heath said, his tone carrying every iota of warning, that there was going to be words between them. “In due time,” Talen was unflustered, casting a look over his shoulder. “Patience, Heath.” Heath blew out his breath but turned into the house. “Patience Heath,” he muttered and felt Aislen shake with her laughter, her br
Havermouth, Present TimeHeath slid out from under Aislen. It had been nice to lie there holding her and he had lingered breathing in her warm, sleeping scent. Just lying in each other’s arms was not something that happened between them frequently, both in the past and the present. He had been tempted to stay, to let himself slip into a much-needed sleep, but he had things to speak to Talen about that would be easier said without her hearing, so he eased away very carefully, and tucked the sheets in around her so that the loss of his body heat wouldn’t wake her.He pulled on his jeans and shirt and carried his shoes out into the hallway with him, padding down to the kitchen. Talen and Tyler were watching a documentary on the Pyramids and drinking wine. Heath paused in the doorway in order to observe them. He had not had the opportunity to gauge their relationship to each other, to work out its dynamic.There was a comfortable familiarity between the two men, in a non-sexual way. Heath
Havermouth, Seven Years BeforeHeath was dressing in his bedroom when Charlie entered. Heath tucked his shirt into his jeans and turned, picking up his knit top from the bed. He could remember precisely five times since Heath had entered his teens that one of his parents had entered his room. Other than the housekeeper, Heath’s room was his own territory, and he guarded it like any alpha guarded his den.Charlie saw the flash of wolf in Heath’s eyes and sighed. “I am here to speak to you.”“Yes, dad?” Heath remained where he was.“Your hostility is not appreciated, Heath,” Charlie reproved.“I would have come to your office. This is my room.”“Your territory,” Charlie concluded for him, wryly. “It is perhaps fitting that this conversation starts this way, on the night that you become formerly recognized by the pack as an alpha, something that is normally reserved for older werewolves.”“I am only two and half years off,” Heath replied defensively.“A lot can happen in two and half yea
Havermouth, Present Time“There is a saying that a man’s reputation is like his shadow,” Talen observed calmly. “It sometimes follows him, and sometimes proceeds him, but it rarely fits him like a glove. Come sit on my knee, little demon,” he held out his hand.Aislen slipped onto his lap and put her arm around his neck leaning into his comforting warmth and size. “I know all about reputations,” she agreed nuzzling in and breathing in the scent of his skin. “I have quite a reputation myself – the Triquetra’s whore.”“Hmm,” Talen refilled his wine glass and offered it to her. His thumb stroked over the skin of her thigh, a small caress that melted her heart in its absentmindedness. Even when distracted by something else, he touched her with a gentle intimacy. “It is rare for a vampire of my age to be unknown, especially if they frequent the same area for some time. I have preferred not to leave this continent for the last couple of centuries, and therefore my reputation, like my shadow
Havermouth, Seven Years BeforeRhett hung in the doorway and watched as Phillip Salem moved around the elegant and modern kitchen making toast and coffee. Rhett’s mother was making herself scarce, as was normal when Phillip was in Havermouth. She rented office space above Deborah’s florist, giving herself both the excuse to see her lover, and a retreat from Phillip.Phillip looked up, sensing Rhett’s gaze. “Want a coffee?”“I’ll make it,” Rhett edged into the kitchen warily. Things between him and his father tended to explode unexpectedly. There was a direct correlation between other things happening in Phillip’s life and his tolerance for his son.“For f-k sake Rhett,” Phillip said with disdain as he dragged his eye over Rhett. “You look like you dressed in the dark in clothes that you found in the bottom of the laundry hamper. How the hell you manage to have the reputation that you do looking as you do, I don’t know.”“It’s the school uniform,” Rhett hunched his shoulder as he poure
Havermouth, Present TimeGuy stood on the porch. He looked up slowly taking in the mass of Talen with shrewd assessment, before his eyes went beyond him to Aislen and he smiled. “Hi, Aislen.”“Umm,” Aislen was scattered, her focus still on the scurrying noises all in the walls around her. “Hi Guy.”“You look real good. I’d heard you got shot.”“I did,” Aislen lifted her top to show the scar. “But the hospital patched me up.”“Oh, wow,” he gawked. “Nice tatts.”Talen shifted slightly and Aislen dropped the hem of her top realizing that Guy was staring at her with more than morbid interest in her wound.Guy’s eyes went back to Talen, and then returned to Aislen. “I was out running errands for June, and thought I’d pop by and make sure you don’t need anything, save you from driving in this weather,” he turned and assessed the stormy sky. “Won’t be long until the rain starts.”“Oh, that’s really kind,” Aislen replied. “But I think I’m good. Talen, this is Guy. Guy this is Talen.”“Hi,” Gu
Havermouth, Six and a Half Years BeforeRhett lay on his back on the grassy knoll with his arm blocking the sun from his eyes and tried to ignore the annoyance of Rohan and the footballers beyond Heath and Cameron.There were only two good things about football in Rhett’s opinion, and that was how f-king hot Heath and Cameron looked whilst they played it, and cheerleaders. There were a lot of things wrong with football, and most of them were offering a lewd commentary on the girls that Heath, Cameron and Rhett had f-ked over the weekend.The last girl had run from the room crying mascara black tears with the shreds of her clothing flapping behind her and only one shoe.They had been at a pool party at Rohan’s and her dramatic exit had been witnessed by half the school, adding a new level of notoriety to the Triquetra’s reputation.Rhett was getting bored of it though, he admitted to himself. The mindless rutting had lost its novelty and had begun to feel shallow and unsatisfying. He d
Havermouth, Present TimeLightning flashed through the room and for a moment the light flickered. Aislen looked up from her sketch pad in irritation. “I finally get a couple of hours to work, and the lights go on the fritz,” she complained. Rain hissed against the windows, and sky was so heavy with cloud that she couldn’t see a star in the sky.“Which is why I recommended that you not work on your laptop,” Heath replied from the kitchen where he was washing the dishes from dinner. “All it takes is a tree branch falling across the power lines and the power will be out for a couple of hours.” There was a generator at the river house, his tone reminded her.Damn it, she scowled at the page. She had agreed to go to the river house the next morning and she just knew that the Triquetra were hoping that if the storm set in, she would find it harder to justify not staying there once she was at the house. If the power was cut, she might have no option, and she hated feeling as if she were bein
Havermouth, Present Time Talen and Aislen were quickly called to a stop as they approached the busy area directly in front of the town hall. The police and the firies were packing up, she noticed, frowning, and none of them looked happy about it. “We are encouraging civilians to stay in their residences and off the streets,” a stern voiced soldier told Aislen and Talen disapprovingly. “There are many hazards left after the storm, and our men need free access to clear the roads of debris and make repairs.” Aislen swallowed back the words that she wanted to say, and instead smiled sweetly. “We’re from Boyston’s coffee shop,” she lied showing him the box that she held. “Making a delivery. Cakes and slices that are going stale, to help fuel the forces here. They’re free,” she added with a bright smile. “See, that’s our coffee van, over there,” she nodded with her chin. “Oh,” he was non-plussed, looking over his shoulder at the van, and then back at the box that she held. “Let me look,”
Havermouth, Two Years Before“Aislen Carter graduated from Rideten School of Art with honors on the eleventh of the month, and vacated her school accommodation four days later,” the PI’s report stated blandly the words that sent icy shards of fear and horror through Heath’s soul.“Her vehicle was placed for sale at North Rideten Car Sales one week prior and sold on the fifteenth with deposits made into bank accounts that were, in turn, closed on the twentieth. We have seen this sort of behavior before, in victims of domestic violence, where the subject is escaping an abusive spouse through the help of an organization. It is our companies ethical position not to pursue such cases further.”“Sure,” Heath snarled at the email. “But you f-king charged me the full price.”He was tempted to throw the laptop against the wall in his frustration, but he gripped the table edge instead and blew out his breath, controlling the anger, turning the heat to ice, and focusing on the house around him t
Havermouth, Two Years Before The Rideten night club was overflowing with patrons, and Heath had to fight for the standing table where he could look out across the dance floor and keep an eye on Rhett, who was having a fantastic time with his co-workers celebrating the end of his apprenticeship and the purchase of his own shop in Havermouth. It was the happiest that Heath had seen him in a long time, and that thought pained him, but did not surprise him. The Triquetra pretended well, most of the time, however the waiting was slowly tearing them apart. They were spending less time together at the river house, and it often felt more like they were house mates than mates, as they rarely even shared a meal let alone a bed. Cameron was spending more and more time on the land now that he had graduated university, Rhett had thrown himself into getting as much experience as he could before starting his own shop, and Heath was working part time at the law firm he had purchased in Havermouth i
Havermouth, Five Years BeforeThe little Redbank tattoo parlour that had agreed to take him as an apprentice had many things that Rhett liked, and many that he didn’t. The shop was tiny, with a staircase to the second level which was so steep that it kicked in Rhett’s phobia about heights, and, whilst the workstations were brightly lit for the purpose of the artists, everywhere else was shadowy and pokey. The little kitchen could only fit one person at a time, and the toilet was so narrow that cleaning it (which was one of Rhett’s duties as an apprentice) was a bit like performing yoga in a box.Mostly he divided his time between manning the reception desk, doing clean-up of the workstations, and making drinks for the artists and customers, but on the slow days, the artists would take turns working with his sketches, and he would sit with his pants around his ankles on one of the chairs and practise on himself, upside down.If he produced a decent piece, one of the other artists, Matt
Havermouth, Five Years BeforeHeath left the final class of the year feeling as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Just the exams left to do, and high school would be a thing of the past. He paused for a moment, his eyes adjusting from the artificial light of the classroom and his body to movement after two intense hours of mental activity as the teacher had taken the opportunity to run them through a practice exam.Cameron’s bright hair caught the sunlight over the heads of other students moving out into freedom. “Hey!” Cameron grinned as he headed over. “It’s done! We are free!”“Until exams,” Heath corrected. “And, then the pre-reading for university.”“Ugh,” Cameron’s groan of disgust was throaty. “Let me have at least today to enjoy the end of classes without filling my head up with more useless knowledge.”Heath slung his arm around Cameron’s shoulders. “Will you miss school?”“Nope,” Cameron leaned into Heath. “You?”“Nope,” Heath agreed. He gave Cameron’s shoulders
Havermouth, Five Years BeforeCameron’s dreams were filled with chasing Aislen through the fields. He could see her just ahead of him, her dark hair bouncing with the motion of her run, the weeds catching on the skirt of her dress and dragging long scratches along her legs that she didn’t seem to notice. “Aislen!” He cried out. “Slow down!”He woke with a start to the echoes of his own voice. It wasn’t yet midnight and he was alone in bed. He pressed his face into the pillows, breathing in, seeking the scent of Rhett and Heath from the fabric, but it had been too long since they’d slept there, and the scent had faded beneath his own.He couldn’t remember ever having fought with either of them. It left him feeling off-balance, and unwell. He’d thrown himself into working the farm with his dad, trying to distract himself from the anguish of it. Jules hadn’t questioned why Cameron wasn’t going to school, studying, or spending time with the other two members of the Triquetra, although Cam
Havermouth, Five Years Prior“I can’t go home - things are too bad with dad and he seems to be hanging around more than ever, and things are f-ked up with Aislen at home too, so I was thinking that Aislen and I could stay at the river house for a few days until we all find somewhere to rent in Havermouth. If we all go in to Aislen’s we can get her packed and out of there before her parents can do anything about it, right?” Rhett suggested, twisting in his seat to look from Heath to Cameron.“Sure,” Cameron leaned forward and gripped the front seats. “We can all stay at the river house. It will be fun.”“Exams next week,” Heath said softly, his heart sinking. “We should study more. But, sure, a few days at the river house won’t hurt. We can study during the daytime whilst there’s light.” What day would they take Aislen away, he wondered. Did she know that she was going to Rideten? Had that been why her suitcases had been under the bed?“Speak for yourself,” Rhett snorted. “I’m not f-ki
Havermouth, Five Years BeforeAs dawn pinked the sky, Cameron scuffed the toe of his shoe through the dust that was all that remained of the grass where cows had been killed. Now that he knew what caused these patches, whenever he was by the river, his eyes were peeled for them, and he was surprised by how many there were – patches where nothing seemed to grow, which he’d always accepted as just being randomly barren spots because he’d grown up with their occurrence.“Don’t play in the dust,” Jules reprimanded as he returned to the Ute.“Why?” Cameron wondered. “It’s just dirt, dad.”“It’s still dead. I don’t trust it until it grows green again.”It made sense that Jules would think that way, Cameron thought stepping away from the patch. Jules' relationship to the land was other level, as Jules’ father and grandfather had been before him. Cameron loved the farm. He loved and respected the land, the river house, and the work. He couldn’t imagine doing anything else with his life, but h
Havermouth, Five Years BeforeHeath fed some twigs into the ashes of the firepit knowing that below the layer of ash, there was enough heat to get the fire going again. They’d be grateful in the morning when they went to make coffee and breakfast if there were still hot coals, so he’d get the fire going again whilst Rhett got his drunk on, and then the three of them would go to bed, f-k it out, and get some sleep, he decided.Rhett winced his way through a swig of whiskey, drinking to the side of his mouth away from the piercing and then deliberately swishing the whiskey over the wound, using it as a disinfectant, the action betraying how much it was paining him and his concern over the damage. He met Heath’s eye and gave a little rueful shrug – there wasn’t much that he could do other than hope that it healed alright.Heath took the whiskey bottle from him and took a swig before returning it and leaning over to throw some logs onto the firepit as the kindling leapt into flame. “I got