Havermouth, Five Years BeforeHeath and Rhett watched Cameron’s Ute creep up the driveway.“F-k,” Rhett sniggered. “They might be back next week if she drives to town at that pace.”“She’s getting more confident,” Heath observed. “See, there she goes. She just had to adjust to the Ute. She’ll be fine. Did you know that she’s not eighteen?” He added, trying for offhand.“No,” Rhett lit a cigarette, frowning. “She’s not a she-wolf – does it matter?”“I don’t know,” Heath admitted. “I mean, it didn’t really matter with Cameron, did it? But maybe she’s so difficult because she’s…” He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter,” he dismissed it. “Give me a drag of that,” he stole the cigarette and took a puff, blowing it out before throwing it to the floor and crushing out the ember beneath his shoe.“Hey,” Rhett protested. “That wasn’t done!”“It’s done now,” Heath leered and caged his mate against the balcony railing by placing and arm to either side of his hips.Rhett’s pupils dilated and he smirked.
Havermouth, Present TimeHeath led the way back into the hallway, but Talen caught Aislen’s hand, holding her back when the Triquetra left. He cupped her cheek. “Little demon.”Aislen shook her head, answering the unspoken question. There was a bitter lump of grief that twisted in her chest, a whole suitcase of emotion that she had to unpack, but she knew that she couldn’t even begin to take those feelings out into the light without melting down, and the timing was wrong for that.“I can’t talk about it, daddy,” she said with raw honesty. “I just have to deal with the shit-show happening right now and think about how I feel about it later.”“Alright,” his eyes were gentle. “Sometimes in war, we must ignore our wounds until the battle is won.”“Exactly,” she said with relief. “And this f-king battle is f-king f-ked right now.”“Everything okay?” Cameron had backtracked.“We’re coming,” Aislen told him.Heath and Rhett waited by the door into the foyer, in a huddle of their own, and bro
Havermouth, Present Time“What is it?” Aislen searched the darkness.Rhett started to shake his head when there was a thud against the front passenger window. For a moment, Aislen couldn’t comprehend what it was that she saw, it was just a mind-boggling impression of blood, gore, and teeth that was accompanied by a terrible scream that was echoed within the car as Lauren and Aislen jumped and clutched at each other.The man pressed his face against the glass. His cheek had been torn away revealing the white of bone and teeth. “Help me!” He pleaded, his breath steaming against the glass. “Please. Help me!”“Oh my god!” Lauren cried out fumbling for the lock. “It’s Thomas Riley. We have to help him.”Thomas turned his head suddenly. “They’re coming! Let me in, let me in!” He hammered on the glass, smearing his blood.Talen released the lock on his door and was out and around the car before Aislen could react, the light coming on in the cab, sending haloes through her vision as her eyes
Havermouth, Present Time Rhett paused in the shadows of Rohan’s rose garden. He felt the warm weight of Cameron against his side as his mate crouched and could smell the distinct scent of their wet fur warmed from their body heat. He badly wanted to shake, the drag of his rain-heavy coat uncomfortable although the wet had not penetrated the undercoat to the skin, but he knew that he would be fighting a losing battle – the rain was coming down too heavily for him to shake himself free of the annoying wetness. Wolves were not rain-friendly, usually preferring to den and wait for the weather to clear. The rain affected his sense of smell, he didn’t like the wetness of the bitumen under his paws, and his coat would only hold up for so long before the cold and wet penetrated. Cameron whinged, as unhappy with the weather as Rhett was. But, better in wolf form than human, Rhett told himself. Not only were wolves more resilient against the weather than humans, they were faster and able to
Havermouth, Five Years Before Taylors road was blocked off, and Rhett was forced to park some way down from the police barricade. Heath’s heart was racing in his chest and his palms sweating. He had never heard that tone in Cameron’s voice before, and it tugged at him viciously, creating a need to hold his mate that was almost overpowering his rationality. He was out of the car before Rhett had completely stopped and hurried to the barricade where a police officer held out his hands to indicate to Heath to stop. Beyond the police officer’s barricade, past two police cars and an ambulance, he could see Cameron’s Ute, facing toward the lookout. Cameron’s bright hair was easily spotted, shining in the sunlight, and Heath felt some of the tension release from his chest. Cameron was pale faced and, as he saw Heath, fought back tears, grimacing under the strain before controlling himself. “Ah, shit,” Heath whispered under his breath. “You need to stay there,” the policeman told him. “Th
Havermouth, Five Years BeforeCameron had held it together all night at the drive-in, letting the distraction of beer, Rhett’s almost-fight with the university pledges, and sex push the memory of that plastic wrapped body from his mind. They’d f-ked themselves to sleep, and for a few hours, the alcohol and physical exertion had given him ease, but as the night turned to morning, the change of tone in the sounds of the wildlife around the house woke him, and he lay, looking up at the ceiling, and saw the little shoes in the darkness.He was going to be sick, he thought, if he didn’t get some fresh air.Heath was wrapped around Aislen, and Rhett had his back to Cameron, so Cameron eased off the mattress carefully. None of the three reacted, and he grabbed someone’s jeans and top off the floor, and a bottle of water, before making his way out of the bedroom.The floorboards creaked underfoot as he made his way down the hallway, but the whole house creaked and groaned in the night, the ol
Havermouth, Five Years BeforeThroughout the match, whenever there was a brief moment in which he could take his eyes from the game, Cameron scanned the sidelines, hoping to see Rhett and Aislen waving at him. He looked at the Ute several times and could not see anyone standing on the tray and watching.He tried to ignore the niggling feeling of unease between his ribs.In their usual spot, he saw his mum and dad, and grinned at them as if nothing was amiss, because he told himself, there was nothing amiss. Maybe every time he looked for them, Rhett and Aislen had gone for food or coffee, or the toilets. Maybe they were sitting with others of the pack, and he couldn’t pick them out from amongst the others in the group. Maybe they’d moved to somewhere with more shade…At three quarters as he grabbed a drink alongside of Heath, he looked again. “I can’t see Rhett or Aislen anywhere,” he said, hoping that Heath would point them out and settle that worry. Even if Heath had grumbled about
Havermouth, Five Years BeforeThe Triquetra met at the lockers before the first bell. Heath reached out and fixed Cameron’s collar and tie. “You have first class with her, right?” He murmured.“Yep,” Cameron wiped his palms on his trousers. “You have second?”“Mhm,” Heath nodded, his eyes going to Aislen’s locker.“What if Aislen doesn’t come to school?” Rhett wondered, leaning against the locker, and dragging at his lip piercing with his teeth. “We’ll be stuck with the decoy human bitch for no reason.”“She’ll come,” Heath replied confidently. “Yesterday was just Aislen being defiant. She’ll come, see us with Charlotte, and she’ll beg us to forgive her, which we will, of course, do on the condition that she stop f-king around with us and follow our rules.”“There’s the target, let’s get ourselves a decoy,” Cameron grinned and ran his hands through his hair, before grabbing his bag from the locker. “I’ll see you at recess.”Heath and Rhett watched him swagger over to a group of girls,