Havermouth, Three Weeks BeforeHeath and Cameron were gone for a very long time. Long enough that Rhett had time to cry his self-pity out and pull himself together to face his mates when they returned. He washed his face in the sink and packed away all signs of Aislen’s imprisonment from his bedroom, before brushing his hair back into a pony-tail and inspecting himself in the mirror. It was ridiculous, he thought, to dress up to fight with his mates, but after he’d changed his top and added some jewellery and a leather jacket, he felt better equipped to defy Heath.In the spirit of defiance, he poured himself a glass of wine and took it and a smoke out onto the balcony, leaning against the handrail and looking over the river, listening for wolf howls. He was three quarters of a bottle down by the time that he saw his mates in wolf-form streak through the grasses on the other side of the river and plunge into the water. They shifted as they reached the bank, with Heath leading, and wal
Havermouth, Three Weeks agoThe car ride was silent, which was not helped by Rhett turning off the stereo. Cameron sat in the middle back seat looking between his two mates, trying to decide how bad things were. Bad, he sighed and leaned back in the seat, his chin to his chest. Things were f-ked as f-ked could get, with Heath’s attention focused inwards no doubt turning lawyer-y things over in his head and mentally preparing to fight, whilst a storm cloud of depression had settled over Rhett as he prepared to lose.“When we get there,” Heath said eventually. “I will do the talking.”Rhett blew out his breath. “What’s new?”“We wouldn’t be in this situation if you hadn’t let her go,” Heath growled.“Whose idea was it to abduct, hold her prisoner and tattoo her?” Rhett’s voice was dark and the look that he slid to Heath accusatory.“You agreed to it,” Heath’s lip curled, and his eyes were dangerous.“I was f-king desperate, and you took…” Rhett trailed off shaking his head.“I what?” He
Havermouth, Three Weeks Before“She doesn’t want you.” Abigail’s words sat heavily on the air.Cameron couldn’t resist flicking his eyes to Rhett. Aislen didn’t want Heath and Cameron, but she wanted Rhett. She couldn’t have him though, not whilst he was part of the Triquetra. For the first time, Cameron felt fear grip his heart icily. What if Rhett chose Aislen? Would he reject the Triquetra, would he reject Cameron and Heath, in order to have her?Would Cameron if he were Rhett? He wondered. The thought had never crossed his mind before, but once it was there, it lodged deep. He pictured walking around Havermouth hand in hand with Aislen as they had done years before, just like everyone else, just a boy and a girl in love… He had never been able to walk around Havermouth like that with Rhett or Heath, and probably never would, he thought sadly.He looked at Heath and Rhett next to him. Heath had been part of Cameron’s life since childhood and Rhett… Rhett was Rhett. He remembered ho
Rideten, Three Weeks BeforeTalen shook his head ruefully as he strolled across the road to the witch’s house.Searching Kabramatta had been unsuccessful, and even stalking Morgana’s yoga teaching witch around the town for half Sunday had done nothing but cause him to marvel at the amount of self-grooming the woman did. Tony’s contacts in and around Havermouth had been unsuccessful, and Sigrid had advised him that her call to Abigail on Sunday morning had been met with assurances that they knew nothing of a Morgana Ivy.He had left Kabramatta for Rideten arriving late Sunday night, intending to see August, only to find that he was not there, and the man who had answered the phone had refused to say anything further.Exhausted, Talen had hired a room for the night and actually slept peacefully for the first time since Morgana had gone missing. The panic that had been a nagging backdrop to his thoughts inexplicably eased by the morning, and he felt clear headed when he woke.He hired a
Havermouth, Three Weeks Before“Nice place,” the driver said with admiration as they approached the safe house. The setting sun caught in the windows in a spectacular display of pinks and oranges. “Beautiful view from here.”“It is,” Talen agreed.“Town’s on the creep-list though,” the driver added as he followed the curve of the driveway. “Story is that the family massacred the natives when they took over the land here, and were cursed as a result. Then, not ten years later, beau from Rideten hadn’t heard from his dearly beloved for over a month, and decided to ride over with the regular traders who made the journey, and found the place abandoned.“A lot of old dried blood and a big bonfire with charred human bone, all the farm-animals, horses, chickens, and wandering free, and not a living person to be seen. Some think there was a plague of some sort, but then, if everyone died, what happened to the bodies of the last ones to cark it?” The driver said with relish as he parked. “So,
Havermouth, Three Weeks BeforeTalen held her tightly to him, using his hold to lift her so that he could walk into the house and kick the door shut behind him. “I am happy to see you too, little demon,” he said as he did so. “When I came back on Friday, and you were gone…” He had despaired, panicked, and feared the worse, but he wouldn’t lay that on her. If his suspicions were correct, she was already carrying a heavy burden. “I flew to Kabramatta looking for you,” he confessed.“I know,” she was wrapped around him pressing her face into his chest. “My friend told me that she had seen you.”“Mhm,” he cupped her skull, lifting her face so that he could see her. “You decided to stay in Havermouth?” He needed to know her plans, to assure himself that she wouldn’t be taking off to Kabramatta without telling him.“I have stuff I need to do here before I leave.”“Hmm,” he used the pad of his thumb to wipe away her tears. “It just so happens that I’ve been asked to stay on for a while longe
Havermouth, Three Weeks BeforeTalen waited to see if Morgana would tell him what had occurred, however she simply clung to him and wept herself to exhaustion. Alright my mate, he thought. He had not won her trust yet, and that was fine. Like making a vampire, some things were simply better when time was taken in their creation.He sat against the bedhead and held her cradled on his lap whilst she wept, stroking his fingers through her hair. The new position revealed a tattoo that he had not realized existed. Unlike the ones on her stomach, this one was just the outline, the color not yet filled in with the shading and detail that would bring the griffin alive.“Hmm,” he wondered if it were a sign that the tattoo artist intended to return. Well, that would not do, he decided. He would have to do something about that. As beautiful as the griffin would be, if the other artwork on his mate was anything to go by, Talen did not relish the idea of a man who possibly had taken his mate by fo
Havermouth, Three Weeks BeforeRhett’s bedroom door was still shut Cameron saw as he got home. He paused in the hallway, wearing nothing but his underwear as he’d taken off his clothes on the balcony and carried them straight through to the washing machine, starting the cycle as his mother had taught him to do.With Rhett sulking in his room, and Heath at work, there was no one to frown disapprovingly at him when he changed into his running gear and tiptoed back out of the house.They had stayed away from Aislen on Sunday night, knowing that Abigail would be watching them to make sure they obeyed, with Rhett shutting himself off in his bedroom, Cameron had slept in Heath’s bed, clinging to his mate, but both of them rendered silent by their loss.On Monday, Havermouth had buzzed with news of the Secret Keeper, but Cameron had been distracted by the nagging question of whether or not the Carter house was empty… He had driven by during the day, doing laps until he saw her car return fro