Havermouth, Present Time“Do not fear,” Verina, Leighton’s mate, said from the doorway. “You will know if you begin to turn. First there will be a hunger and thirst that food and water cannot sate, and food and water will become nauseating. Then you will find your sense of smell heightened until you can smell the meat and blood of the people around you. When that smell becomes irresistible, only then do you become a danger to others.”“Yay,” Rhett said with a grimace. “Good to know.”“I’m sorry,” Verina’s expression was saddened. “I truly am.” She closed the door behind her leaving Rhett and Aislen in the room alone.There was a desk pressed against the wall with an old-fashioned typewriter and a black and white photograph in a frame. The wall behind the desk had old articles about Havermouth and the surrounding areas pinned to it, and Rhett walked over and pretended to read them, his palms on the table surface, and his shirt straining over the tension in his shoulders. The white of t
The Concordia, Twelve Hundred Years BeforeThe bow of the ship was carved into the shape of a ferocious bare-breasted woman, her sharply pointed vampire teeth displayed by a savage snarl and her twisting hair blowing out around her in exquisite detail.“She is beautiful,” Sigrid exclaimed in awe looking up as their rowboat skirted the boat. “I did not see her… Or was it another ship?” She looked at the other ships anchored in the bay around them. Like ant-trails across the water, the rowboats transporting passengers and supplies wove through the waves to the other vessels.“It was this ship,” Thorarin told her.“I do not remember,” she confessed softly.“It has been ten years,” Thaelen shrugged. “Childhood memories lose clarity.”“Childhood memories,” Thorarin chortled with amusement. “You are still a child, Thaelen.”“Old enough to make annual sacrifice to the temple, and old enough to take a mate should I find her,” Thaelen replied with a smirk. “Old enough to accompany my father on
The Concordia, Twelve Hundred Years BeforeThe human girl had hair like fire and freckles scattered across skin so white it gleamed like a pearl in the moonlight. The veins below the skin were an inviting rich blue roadmap laid bare for Thaelen as he stripped her of her gown and eased her onto the night-cool sand. The campfires further down the beach danced as bright as her hair, and the ropes holding the long boats into the shallow water groaned with the tug of the tide against the anchors.Her hair, freed of the braid, slid through his hands like a skein of silk. He spread it out onto the sand around her, admiring the way it caught the firelight. She watched him, desire, and fear in her eyes.“They say that it will hurt,” she said uncertainly. She was shy and awkward, her body stiff and unwieldly. “No,” he promised as he stripped off his shirt and trousers. “Only if the man does not take care. I will not hurt you.”She nodded. “That is what she said,” she whispered. “When she sent
Havermouth, One Year BeforeCameron fumbled the tie. The knot was bad, too small, too tight, the tails of the tie crooked. He ripped at the tie impatiently and began again, tugging and twisting at it, growing more and more frustrated as the knot remained imperfect. He was beginning to sweat in the fluster and knew that his cheeks would be getting patchy and his eyes red.“F-k it!” He cried out, tears overflowing, throwing his head back and dragging in ragged breaths.“Cam,” Heath said softly from the door.Cameron opened his eyes, prepared to snarl at his mate, his eyes hardening and his lip curling back from his teeth as he rolled his head in Heath’s direction.Heath was perfectly put together, not a crease out of line, not a fleck of lint on his charcoal grey pinstripe suit. The suite was perfect too, Cameron thought irritably, not as severe or cliched as black, the charcoal grey was nonetheless sombre and respectful. Even the cuff links that Heath wore were f-king perfect.And, unl
Kabramatta, One Year BeforeAislen ignored her phone and email for three days, throwing herself into her work, and surviving on take-away deliveries.She wasn’t stupid, she thought. The local coven was on a recruitment mission, targeting her and Bianca, and Bianca had thrown Aislen to them, like a sacrificial lamb. She knew that Aaron was bait. Sure, maybe he was interested in her, but he might not have been as interested had she not been trained as a witch.Even though she couldn’t work most spells, three years of training combined with her ability to read minds made her very interesting to covens. She’d never reach the rank of priestess within one, however, and would always be somewhat of an oddity, on the outskirts of their community, but that didn’t mean that they weren’t keen to have her as part of it.Bianca, though, knew that Aislen wasn’t interested in being part of a coven, or in a relationship. To foist both on her in a trap like she had done, was just… mean.On the evening
Havermouth, Present Time“We’ll be back as soon as we can,” Aislen stood on her tiptoes to kiss Cameron, and clung sliding her fingers into his hair and resting her body weight against him so that he could feel the softness of her curves around the hard ridges of her corset. He breathed in the rose and rain scent of her skin, catching the lingering scents of sex and Rhett, his c-ck immediately hardening in response. Her mouth was soft and lush against his, and in his aroused state he immediately pictured her lips wrapped around his c-ck.She shook her head with a rueful laugh as she leaned back, her eyes glowing purple-blue with warmth and affection as she read his mind. “Horny bloody werewolves,” she said fondly, cupping his cheek. “If I had time, I’d take care of that for you, poor puppy. Wait until I come back, and we’ll find a corner to cuddle in, okay?”“Aislen,” he nuzzled his cheek against hers. “I…” His fears lodged in his throat, rasping the word as it caught.“I know,” she w
Havermouth, Present TimeAislen finished stacking the frozen meals from the fridge into a bag. “I hope the boys are hungry,” she said. “These are starting to defrost and are going to need to be eaten quickly.”“Hmmm,” Talen chuckled through his nose as he passed through the kitchen carrying the mattress from the single bed under one arm as if it were weightless. Having watched him carry the mattress from the big bed in the front bedroom with a similar indifference to the weight and bulk of it, she wasn’t surprised by his strength. “Somehow, I think that the food will get eaten. The only thing that competes with a werewolf’s appetite for sex is an appetite.“Talking about appetites, little demon,” he laughed seeing the expression on her face. “You are looking at me - ”“As if I want to smother you in chocolate and lick it off?” She dragged her bottom lip between her teeth mischievously. They had time to waste whilst they waited for Heath, she reasoned, why not spend it pleasurably? “We
Havermouth, Present Time“This is just… f-ked,” Rohan announced. “There has to be a better way than to knock on every door. We’ve done two streets, and I’m over it.”“Me too,” Heath admitted. “But people are scared and need reassurance.”Havermouth had spent three days with the storm howling overhead, worrying if homes or businesses were going to be damaged or flooded, how much money they were losing whilst they could not work, how they were going to get medicine, and food. Now that the storm was over, rather than facing the already massive task of repairing and returning to normal, they were being told that their water was infectious, and to stay in their houses until otherwise notified by the black clad soldiers.They were scared, and scared people did stupid things - like try to cross flooded rivers in their cars. He dreaded to think what would happen in a few days when people grew tired of boiling their water and eating canned tuna.Far more dangerous than the frightened people, h
Havermouth, Present Time Aislen hit her head hard on the floorboards and lay for a moment with white noise ringing in her ears, staring sightlessly up at the beams of the roof. Her entire body ached. She could feel the sharp sting of the cuts across her torso and the wetness of her blood, and she knew that she was dying. She groaned and put her hand to her chest, surprised to encounter cloth and not skin, and lifted her hand, wondering at how it was not covered in blood and what the black chalkiness was that stained her skin. She slowly lowered her chin to her chest. There were no wounds. Oh, yeah, she wasn’t the one bleeding... The thoughts rolled through her mind in slow motion, as if she was thinking through treacle. “Shit,” she groaned. “Heath!” Where were her mates? “Cameron, and Talen,” she whispered, closing her eyes and then opening them again, her vision focusing, the beams coming into focus. She was on the floor of Leighton’s workspace, she realized, and recalled the salt
Havermouth, Present TimeCameron cried out and threw his arms around Rhett, gripping him tightly before catching his face between his hand and kissing him with a thoroughness that left Rhett breathless until the bathroom door suddenly opened, and he released him out of habit, both men breathing heavily as they stared at the startled intruder.“Ah, sorry,” Will Peters was wide eyed. “I can wait…” He backed out letting the door swing shut behind him.“Shit. Oh well, I’m not hiding anymore,” Cameron shrugged, turning back to Rhett, and pulling him back into his arms. “I’m so happy to see you. And you’re looking so much better. Skinny. But better.”“Wow, Cam,” Rhett laughed. “I should come to the rescue more often. Hey there’s power on here!” He added squinting up at the neon lights. “Who would have thought I’d be happy to see the flicker of neon again.”“Did Aislen send you?” Cameron asked, leaning back in order to look at him. “Did she do one of those portal thingies? Where’s Heath? And
Havermouth, Two Weeks BeforeHeath Gale and Rhett Salem, Talen turned the names over in his mind as he reviewed the details that Tony had sent through to him on his laptop. In one of those twists of little towns, Heath Gale owned the firm that handled some of Zeus’ legal work. A lawyer.Well, that explained the expensive suits and impeccable grooming.Young, he observed, lifting his eyebrows as he saw the date of birth. Young and rich. The rich wasn’t a surprise, most of the werewolf families did well by themselves, but this young man did better than most. Lived just outside of Havermouth, in a heritage home owned by another pack family, the Edison’s.Rhett Salem, the sexy tattoo artist, owned the tattoo parlor in town and made more than a decent living from the business, though the bulk of his wealth had been inherited.“Hmm,” Talen tilted his head and flicked back to Heath’s file.They lived at the same address. Interesting. But not necessarily remarkable, he decided. Young men ofte
Havermouth, Two Weeks Before “I already knew what you all were, and I didn’t tell anyone.” Aislen finished her glass and held it out for Heath to refill.“Yeah, Rhett said that.” Cameron looked at Rhett.“If the pack knew that, though,” Rhett explained. “They would decide that you were too great a risk and kill you anyway, so we couldn’t let them know about that…”“And we couldn’t talk about it with you without breaking werewolf law,” Heath told Aislen. “Until you were officially ours, officially recognized as part of the pack, we could not openly talk about ourselves to you, or show you…”“I’m not part of the pack, or yours now,” she pointed out.“No, but things have changed,” Rhett let his hair fall over his face, avoiding looking at Heath. “You are in danger.”“You were an idiot,” Heath sighed out his frustration. “Arrogant and prideful as always and decided to show off what you knew with that f-king Secret Keeper poem.”“When you came back to Havermouth, we had another chance, be
Havermouth, Two Weeks Before The necklace around her neck was held together by a padlock. Heath hadn’t noticed it at Rhett’s tattoo parlor – things had happened so quickly, and he had been so angry, it was no wonder that the details of her outfit had skipped his notice. But he had seen it the moment they’d entered the kitchen, noting the workmanship of it and the glitter of diamonds.A love token from the vampire, he had decided straight away. It wasn’t until they were sitting across the table from each other and the infinity knot had slipped to the side, that he’d seen the padlock holding it closed at the rear. A tiny padlock, but a significant one. The necklace wasn’t a lover’s token but rather a declaration of ownership.Considering how the vampire had defended her against Heath the evening before, he wasn’t surprised that he had made sure to mark Aislen as his. A warning to Heath to back off, and a notice that the vampire intended to continue his pursuit of Aislen.Heath wasn’t s
Havermouth, Two Weeks BeforeJules leaned against the fence and wiped his brow on the back of his sleeve. “That’s done then,” he decided his eyes on the indignant wet sheep in the holding pen. They’d spent the day putting this part of the herd through the dip – a process that Rhett always found comical when he was drafted in to help, enjoying the complaints of the sheep as they treaded dosed water before being drained and released into the pen.Cameron had left him in bed that morning, however, as Rhett wasn’t himself. The sex the night before had been… strange. It had held shadows of the early part of the last five years, when sex between the Triquetra had been about hurting each other as much as getting off. Rhett hadn’t hurt Cameron precisely, but Cameron had known that the sex hadn’t been about him, although he was the recipient, but about Aislen.“Yeah,” Cameron agreed. “I’ll grab a shower, change and head home.” He headed towards the house.Jules checked the gate before followin
Havermouth, Two Weeks BeforeRhett couldn’t concentrate, so it was lucky that he didn’t have any clients booked – he had cleared his schedule anticipating that they would still be at the river house with Aislen. He pottered aimlessly in his office as a result, shuffling paperwork that he didn’t have the focus to read, and collecting up the empty coffee cups that clustered on every surface, pulling his face at those which had a skin of green over them.Coffee was a good idea, he decided, and the walk to Boyston’s and back would clear his mind, even if the trip risked him bumping into Heath. His blond mate had returned from work the night before in a foul mood having broken his own rules and gone to see Aislen, only to find the vampire already there.Rhett was the only one who hadn’t broken the rules so far, as Cameron had come knocking on his door the previous afternoon, still sweating from his run and reeking of sex with Aislen. Rhett had been trying to do something constructive with
Concordia, Eleven Hundred Years Before Thorarin looked out from the top of the sand dune. “A kings worth is measured not by his success on the battlefield during times of war, but in his daily judgements. It is too easy, my son, for a man to overlook the day-to-day in seeking glory, but the true glory of a ruler lies not in the battles won, but in the actions that he takes during peace time.” “Father,” Thaelen’s voice caught in his throat as he watched the wind string out Thorarin’s hair, the colored beads arranged in a pattern that only Abara had ever mastered and had taken to the grave with her. “How did you die? I must… I need to know. Were you…” He closed his eyes on the tears that burnt there, but they escaped anyway, sliding down his cheeks and into his beard. “Was it peaceful?” “Is death ever peaceful, Thaelen?” Thorarin replied without looking at him. “Especially for immortals such as we are? But, yes, perhaps. I recall little of it. We drank… and slept, and there was no mor
Concordia, Eleven Hundred Years BeforeThaelen was pleased to see Gyrd and his son leave through the stronghold gate as Thaelen led his army within the range of the archers on the walls of Gyrd’s stronghold – a move that required confidence that Gyrd would not turn traitor and shoot them from behind. The Lord’s presence was reassurance that treachery was not planned although the archers remained at alert, the top of the wall bristling with their strung bows.“My king,” Gyrd bowed. “You are a welcome sight to behold in the Gulgane armor.”“Gyrd,” Thaelen reached out to clasp the Lord’s arm. “And Timal,” he greeted Gyrd’s son and heir. “I thank you for your loyalty to the Gulgane family, and for holding this stronghold against the invading humans.”They turned to regard the campsite. The distance made the details difficult to make out, however there was no gathering of men, no readying of the siege machines that they had been constructing, and minimal activity. Thaelen narrowed his eyes