Havermouth, Present TimeTalen watched from down the hallway as Heath knocked on a door. His mate had gently suggested that he wanted to go alone, and so Talen and Rohan had fallen back respectfully. The door did not open, but Heath moved closer to the wood, resting his cheek against it to listen to the other side.“It’s me mum,” he said just loud enough to be heard on the other side. “I’m alone.”After a moment, the door opened, and Heath slipped inside.Talen met the eyes of the other alpha, Rohan, who flushed uncomfortably and shrugged. “Some alphas use a heavy hand with their mates,” the werewolf mumbled. “Mr. Gales’ hand is heavier than most. Mrs. Gale won’t come out if there’s, you know, obvious signs, or he might be embarrassed.”“He should be embarrassed,” Talen replied grimly.“Yeah, but she will bear the brunt of his embarrassment,” Rohan said. “So, she stays inside. There’s a saying that what happens within an alpha’s home is that alpha’s business.”“Even if he’s beating hi
Havermouth, Present TimeHeath had not returned from his visit to his mother; however, Cameron and Rhett had completed their shower, and both, dressed in matching green uniforms, were working their way through the food on the table.“Talen!” Cameron half stood when Talen entered and then caught himself as Rohan followed Talen into the room, exchanging a wary look with Rhett. “Never mind,” he said as he sat back down. “Did you have a nice walk?”“We interrogated the prisoners,” Talen told them as Rohan closed the door. “Nothing too surprising.” He sat next to Cameron and placed his hand on Cameron’s thigh, giving it a squeeze in acknowledgement that his mates had something that they wanted to share but that they did not intend to do so in front of Rohan. “Rohan is going to share with us August’s plans.”“I guess I am,” Rohan agreed sinking down into the seat next to Rhett. “We are in contact with packs throughout the country who have been preparing for war under August’s direction. Bet
Havermouth, Present TimeSigrid drove. When she had headed to the driver’s side of the car, she saw Greg do a double take and had smiled to herself in amusement. He hadn’t protested and had gotten into the passenger seat. She had debated the wisdom of using the car lights but had decided that a Van Helsing would do so, and so seeing the 4WD pass without lights was bound to cause interest.The route took them past the hotels where the Van Helsings had established their home base. Sigrid kept her speed unhurried. She could feel Greg’s tension as he twisted in the seat, his eyes scanning the lit buildings and the vehicles parked out front.“They think that have won,” she said softly. “They are there in their comfortable hotel rooms, with the lights bright above them, and they think that they have this town on its knees. But we know that this town has some fight left in it, hmm?”“You’re right,” he agreed relaxing as they left the hotels behind them. “They are about to get the surprise of
Havermouth, Present TimeAs the night darkened outside the window, Harry moved around the room lighting candles and Jules tried to concentrate on the map of the town that was spread out before him and not on the spectacular beauty and grace of his mate. He wasn’t the only one distracted by it, he thought, catching Jacob Rever with his mouth hanging open tracking Harry’s movements.Sensing his gaze Jacob’s eyes met Jules’ and he flushed. “Sorry Jules. Right, so you were saying, we’ll hit these roadblocks here, here, and here. Diana?”Diana Boyston nodded. “I’ll use the distraction to move the children to the new safe houses and reunite them with their parents.”“James Jones took a crew to the MegaStore earlier,” Casey Donald told them. “They’re planning on taking out the Van Helsings’ generator and as many of their cars as they can. It’s only fair that if we have to get by without power, they do too.”“That should keep them busy,” Jules’ smile was vindictive. “We’d best finish up for t
Havermouth, Present TimeSweat darkened August’s armpits and slicked his hair to his scalp. A drip hung from the tip of his nose, shaking with the inhale and exhale of his breath. The room stank, stale urine and sweat overwhelming any lingering residue of Aislen’s mates and her time in the room, and mingling with the dust and ancient smoke that had permeated the wood.Aislen rolled her head on her shoulders, stretching out muscles that were stiff and aching. After her initial revulsion, she had dug deeper into August’s brain. Tyler had excused himself, but Toby had remained and still leaned up against the corner, watching with an unreadable expression on his face.Aaron had joined them with a notepad and pen and had sat in the corner to take notes. Something which Aislen found useful as some of what she was getting from August made no sense to her, but she didn’t know whether it might be meaningful to someone from the pack, or someone with more military experience.“Well?” Aaron asked
Havermouth, Present Time“Park around the back,” Sigrid told Greg.“It’s further for Tom to walk,” Dan protested.“But out of sight,” Sigrid told him over her shoulder. “And we do not know how far away pursuit is. Better for us to carry Tom to where we go, than for the car to be a flag pointing to our destination.”They couldn’t argue with that logic and rounded the ancient warehouse to it’s rear, where similarly abandoned vehicles including those from Zeus which had carried her across the rickety old train bridge had been abandoned.The warehouse itself was bereft of life. As they got out of the car, the night air picking back Sigrid’s hair and dragging at her skirt, looking up at the shadowy building, she thought there was nothing about it that would make her think that there was life within.She paused a moment, looking around, remembering Harry’s werewolf’s advice that they had spread out. She could just faintly see light through a warehouse to one side and behind. Perhaps that wa
Havermouth, Present Time“We should make the trip to the MegaStore and get some sleep,” Harry’s werewolf, Jules, decided as the group shuffled back out of the narrow hallway and into the night. He ran his hands wearily through his hair, his eyes shadowed and tired.“Can’t,” Aislen shook her head, although like Harry’s werewolf, she looked about ready to fall over from exhaustion. “My boys aren’t back yet. The werewolves haven’t responded to my demand for hostage exchange, and the werewolves I sent with the message have been gone for hours.”“I’m sorry?” Jules frowned. “I feel like I’m missing something. Cameron isn’t back?” He looked up at Harry and Sigrid could see his mind working frantically. “Something’s wrong if he’s not back,” he said grimly.“Yeah, what’s wrong is that the werewolves at the bunker decided to take them prisoner,” Aislen replied crisply. “And August and his goons came to try to take me back to them but got themselves caught. So now August is enjoying the comforts
Havermouth, Present TimeThe stairs groaned beneath Jules and Harry’s footsteps as they headed to the second level with Aaron. Toby hung back, waiting for Aislen’s attention. “I have to go to the MegaStore,” he told her. “Tyler and Izeikiel have been waiting for me and if we’re expecting trouble here… I need the things from there.”“Okay,” she agreed, distracted by her own mission.“Aislen,” he reached out for her arm, but stopped himself from touching her. “You should stay here. Don’t go to wherever it is that you are going. What you can do to people’s heads… It’s scary and dangerous and if the wrong people find out what you can do, they will use it to do worse things than you can even imagine.”She paused. She had known that he was disturbed after watching her search August’s head for details of the war and that she should have spoken to him, offered some reassurance. “I don’t use it that much, Toby,” she said, feeling guilty. She should have sent him from the room, she thought, rat