Trayrock, Present TimeCameron followed Aislen to the bathroom. They had to stand in a queue of other pregnant women, but the toilet cubical was disability friendly, and when Aislen went inside, Cameron slipped in too.“I’m not going to be able to pee in front of you,” Aislen scolded him as she pulled down her jeans and hovered over the seat, holding the cup in position with a scowl.“I’ll turn my back and turn on the tap,” he replied, doing both, and then leaning forward to examine his face in the mirror, grimacing. “No one thought to tell me that I have… What is that?” He rubbed at his cheek before looking at his fingers and then back at his reflection. “It can’t be blood. It’s too dark. Isn’t life weird,” he went on cheerfully as he pulled a paper towel out of the holder and wet it. “It used to be – Is that shit or mud on my face? Now it’s – is that blood? You’re not peeing.”“I can’t pee,” she pouted. “It’s not fair. I need to pee when I don’t want to go and can’t pee when I do.”
Trayrock Present Time“What does it mean?” Rhett asked as they left the ultrasound room. “I don’t get this. Someone spell it out for me.”“We haven’t been back together for eighteen weeks. It’s not possible that Aislen has been pregnant for that long,” Heath explained patiently, scanning the hallways. He was looking for Van Helsings, Aislen realized, and for any activity that might be because of the water illness. Ronnie had said that people weren’t allowed in and out, and yet, this section of the hospital had no signs of any issues and they had been able to get in and out without any problems. “Aislen wasn’t pregnant before she came to Havermouth. The baby is definitely ours, which means it is growing at an accelerated rate. Was it growing at an accelerated rate from inception, or has its growth increased since Aislen was turned?”“That’s bad, right?” Rhett was trying to get his head around it, his fingers fidgeting with the cigarette packet he’d stolen from Allistaire.“It’s cute,”
The Werewolf Camp, Present TimeThere was no smoke or smell of fire in the air as she and Niarthen approached the werewolf camp. The squadron had arrived ahead of them, following the path of the river, and a couple of curious Mer soldiers were crossing the bridge as Lyric and Niarthen reached the end.They watched as one held out her hand, stilling the Mer man behind her. She knelt carefully onto the swaying bridge.“Trap,” Niarthen said in a low voice as there was a reaction amongst the Mer soldiers on the bank around them. “No one dares to get into the water for fear of its toxic effects. They need to either disarm the trap from the bridge or wait until a sub makes its way upstream.”“They were smart,” Lyric noted as the Mer continued to work at the trap. “Leaving a trap behind, in case the Van Helsings found the remains of the camp.”“Yes,” Niarthen agreed. “But we cannot be sure that they left until we access the island.”“Does it matter?” She asked warily. “If some remain on the
Trayrock, Present Time“Oh shit, that’s not good,” Cameron said as they approached the pub. The painted car parks directly before the pub were all filled, and Talen had to be inventive with his parking spot, positioning the car where there technically wasn’t a parking space beneath a tree.“I think this is a keep clear zone,” Heath commented.Talen arched an eyebrow in reply.“What’s with all the cars?” Aislen wondered. The street was filled with them. Talen wasn’t the only one creatively parking, more than one had slightly mounted the curb or parked bumper to bumper with those around them in order to squeeze in.“Busy night at the pub?” Rhett suggested. As they got out, music could be heard pumping out of the open pub doors and windows, along with the swell of voices.“Fuck,” Aislen winced. So much for keeping things hush-hush. For a pub that had all been closed according to Ronnie’s thoughts, they were having a busy day.They hurried along the pavement to the nearest door and had to
Trayrock, Present Time“Rhett! A word?”Cameron stopped, his attention caught by Phillip’s call, his eyes travelling from where Rhett had stopped just inside the door, to Talen and Heath deeper in the crowded bar, and back again. He made his decision, shrugged, and retraced his steps, meeting Phillip as he converged on Rhett.“Dad,” Rhett looked past Cameron at the busy interior of the pub, his eyes going to where Heath and Talen’s heads were visible through the crowd. Following Rhett’s gaze, Cameron realized with amusement that Aislen had entirely disappeared. He assumed she was near their blonde mates, as she had been with them when they’d entered, but she did not have the height to stand out as Heath and Talen did.“It’s not a great time,” Rhett’s attention returned to his father.“I had a visit while you were away, Rhett,” Phillip stalled him when Rhett tried to brush past him. “The Tenebrae Silvarum pack.”“Okay,” Rhett drew the word out into a question. “So what? They’re Trayro
Havermouth, Present TimeThe mood had changed dramatically in the bunker, with the werewolf soldiers almost petulant about Sigrid’s presence amongst them. Sigrid had the officers on duty walk her and her Triquetra through an update on all the packs and towns that they were in contact with, marking the ones of note on a map with color-coded pins. As the werewolf officers returned to their stations, she reviewed the result. It was not a positive sight she admitted to herself as she added red pins to where the population was supportive of the Van Helsings, and green where they weren’t.The further inland, the denser the red, but even on the edges, and around the river, green was sparse, and had not noticeably expanded since Havermouth had been taken. “What has everyone been doing?” She complained to the board. “Sitting waiting for us to come and tell them to fight?”“Although August managed to motivate the packs to create their own armed forces and bunkers in their locations,” Greg repli
Havermouth, Present TimeHarry woke on their side with Jules curled around their back, snoring gently into their ear. They smiled, amused by the dominance of the position. Jules, tempered by age and experience, had entered their relationship uncertain, concerned by his aged body, inexperience, and cautious due to a lifetime hyper-aware of the pack’s disapproval regarding homosexuality. He had grown in confidence since their first time together, and it had been beautiful to see the man blossoming into love.This Jules had returned to Harry missing pieces of himself. His memory remained fragmented. But those holes also healed the wounds of Jules’ life. He didn’t know shame in loving Harry, he wasn’t afraid of other’s opinions. He also did not feel unworthy of Harry’s love in return and wasn’t afraid of being demanding and every bit of a werewolf alpha and seemed to have embraced that side of himself.Harry had loved Jules with an intensity of acceptance they had never before experienced
Havermouth, Present Time“Is that so?” Jules’ grin was wicked. “Who am I to deny my angel of their desires?”Harry retrieved the lube that Fatima had discretely placed into their bathroom during one of her visits to their room. It had been gratefully received, Jules’ temporary solution of blood had been inventive, kind of kinky, and effective enough, but lube was just better Harry thought. He did not want to hurt Jules, after all. “How do you want me?” Jules asked, he was already on his knees on the bed, and asked the question over his shoulder. “Like this? Or,” he rolled onto his back and placed his heels to his arse. “Like this?”“Flirt,” Harry was amused. The moves were straight from their own playlist, they thought. “Naughty dragon,” they dropped the lube onto the mattress and grabbed Jules by the ankles, dragging him to the edge of the bed. “Like this,” they flipped him onto his stomach and stroked their palm down his back before squeezing the round of his arse cheeks. “Delicio