Havermouth, Present TimeThe scent of incense layered over that of the richness of the flowers that hung in rope between the buildings and laid upon the stone, creating a flower-lined and petal scattered pathway to the temple.The goddess had passed that way already and the crowds were thinning around Samuel, humans returning to their daily tasks now that the excitement had ended, and Samuel walked in the footsteps of the procession unhindered, the sun glinting down through the thick flower garlands, and with the incense smoke drifting back towards him drawing him onward.Humans glanced his way frequently, young women giggling behind their hands and veils and young men running their eyes over him, evaluating his origins and intentions. He was taller than most humans, and many hours in flight had carved his man-form so that the width of his shoulders was emphasized by the narrowness of his waist, and his clothing was far simpler than theirs, although the fabric was of good quality.Ahe

Havermouth, Present TimeAlong one wall of Connery’s torture dungeon, he had fitted chains to the wall. The other held three cages. They put the oldest she-wolves in the cages where they could sit, and secured the younger ones to the other wall. All the she-wolves were weeping, their eyes red and cheeks flushed and raw from being rubbed. In the cages, they huddled and comforted each other, their sobs wrenching at Meguitte’s heart.It was not what she had expected, she admitted to herself. She had anticipated angry, defiant alpha male werewolves, and instead had received a dozen women.“I knew it,” one of them wailed. “I knew something terrible had happened when Andy didn’t come home.”“Where are your menfolk?” Meguitte demanded of them.“Dead, apparently,” the shewolf who had spoken in the car park did so again, her tone resigned. She was among the ones chained to the wall and watched Meguitte and Connery with weary eyes.“Not all of them,” Meguitte pointed out. She knew it from the j

Rideten, Present Time Aislen smiled as she drifted awake. She could hear the trickle of water from the river through the open window, the call of birds, and the fragile bleating of lambs. She’d been napping a lot recently, she thought as she tried to decide whether to slip back into sleep or wake, and that normally meant one thing. One of her men had slipped one past the keeper again. Damn it. She’d only just weaned Julius and had been enjoying having her body and time back to herself again. But even as she thought it, she smiled and rubbed her hand over her belly. The more the merrier was the family theme, and her men would be excited about the new addition… If they didn’t already know from her scent. She opened her eyes and looked up at the stained-glass windows set amongst the rafters of her turret room. It was a new addition to the house, part of the recent renovation to the river house that they’d all agreed was necessary. When the Triquetra had originally designed the renovati

Havermouth, Present Time“What now, my love?” Connery asked as he followed Meguitte through the hospital to where her jungle had taken over the laboratory and hallway.“I tried playing nicely,” Meguitte told him as they entered the laboratory, the twisted veins of root and vine making their footsteps cautious. “And I got housewives. The mothers, and sisters of those responsible. So, I need to take a more direct approach.”She parted a tangle of vine in order to open a refrigerator and withdrew one of the failed experiments at concentrating vampire blood.“Be careful with that,” Connery’s voice was tight.“Very careful,” she agreed. She filled a syringe from the blood red contents of the vial before returning it to the fridge, and then crossed, trailing her fingers along the golden veins in the forest. “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe…” She said and then plunged the needle into one of the veins. “Stick a needle in his toe.” She compressed the plunger and watched the contents of the syringe empt

Rideten, Present TimeHeath held out two towels. “Cameron remembered that he’d used the last towels and sent these up for you,” he explained.“Thanks,” Rhett wrapped one around Aislen and then grabbed the second, rubbing it roughly over his hair and body. “Aislen wants to go out and test her new abilities. I was saying that I didn’t think you’d approve.”Heath looked down, his face pinching into thought, and then he looked up and met Aislen’s eyes. “Okay,” he said softly. “But I’ll take you and you will listen to me.”“Just okay?” Rhett repeated, pausing in his drying scrub, and stared at Heath through the wildness of his hair.Heath shrugged a shoulder. “I remember the first time I went out with Talen after changing. The thrill of it. You and Cameron ran around the river house and farm like loons when you were changed. It’s only fair that Aislen gets to go and have her time. I need to talk to you, anyway,” he added to Aislen.“Talk talk, or talk talk?” Rhett clarified.“I’ve been tal