Havermouth, Present TimeLunch was served in the conference room. The control room buzzed with energy as the werewolves monitored whatever it was that they monitored, and Aislen watched them through the open door as the kitchen staff placed a plate of sandwiches and fruit onto the conference table along with coffee and juice in a sweating glass jug.“What are they doing?” She asked Rohan as he helped himself to the food.“Monitoring the outside world, mostly,” he replied offering her coffee. “Listening to the news reports and broadcasts of parliamentary meetings. Others are communicating with other branches of the army. Some are monitoring the Van Helsing’s communications.”“Anything interesting?” Heath wondered.“It’s all interesting to someone,” Rohan offered the plate of sandwiches around the table. The Triquetra and Talen declined, shaking their heads. “More for us, eh, Aislen?” He set the plate between them. “Something needs to happen and soon,” he continued answering Heath’s que

Havermouth, Present Time“Aislen’s worried about you, puppy,” Rhett said under his breath as they walked down the hallways toward his father’s room.The passages were busy with soldiers, civilians, and service staff and he hesitated to reach out to take Cameron’s hand as he spoke, the habit of hiding that they were mates making the gesture feel uncomfortable under so many eyes. It wasn’t a secret anymore, though, and everyone knew that the Triquetra were each other’s mates, as much as they were Talen and Aislen’s. Still, Rhett hesitated.Aislen wasn’t wrong with her suspicions. Despite warning her off when she had spoken to Rhett about it earlier, she had echoed what Rhett already knew. Everything wasn’t alright with Cameron. It was subtle, but it was there. Cameron was just more withdrawn, rising earlier to tend the farm, skipping morning sex, and was lingering in the fields rather than hurrying to return.Rhett had let it go, mainly because his head was so fucked up, he wasn’t sure

Havermouth, Present TimeThe moment Heath strode away from Aislen, he regretted doing so, but the alpha in him kept going. “Damn it,” he wrung his hands through his hair as a corner took him out of her line of sight. “Damn it, Heath.”Yes, Aislen had been in the wrong. Watching her use her power on the broken and fragile Abigail had felt so wrong on so many layers. There was no justification for it in his mind. But he’d handled it the wrong way, as he always seemed to do with Aislen. He’d pushed them into another argument.He had to do better. He had to think like Talen.“Fuck.”His path took him to August’s door. Might as well get it done, he decided and knocked.It did not take long for the door to open and August sneered as he dragged his eyes over Heath. August wore the green army uniform, whereas Heath, having come from the river house, was dressed in jeans and a shirt, but the sneer was not about Heath’s fashion choices.“Good afternoon, August,” Heath ignored the derisive sneer

Havermouth, Present Time Jules stopped by the red-haired woman’s room, knocking at the door. Harry leaned against the wall and watched their mate speculatively through narrowed eyes. Now that the merman was conscious and in the care of his mate, they intended to lure Jules to bed and waited patiently for him to complete what Jules considered required checks around the house so that they could take their mate where they wanted him. Harry had liked the silver fox that Jules had been when they had first met. Age to a vampire did not mean the same to humans or supernaturals who aged like humans. Whilst Jules had looked the senior of the two, Harry had outlived their mate by centuries, and in comparison to Harry’s experience, Jules was just a puppy, innocent and wide-eyed. But it had been wonderful also to see Jules’ youth recaptured, the aging process reversed, and the werewolf now looked almost the same age as his son. The frequent small doses of vampire blood would help when Harry tur

Havermouth, Present TimeRhett kicked off his shoes and lay out on the couch. He was bored, and that surprised him. The last few weeks had been so full of activity and danger, and the last few days with sex and blood, that there had been very little time to get bored in, and yet, with Aislen and Heath at the dining table trying to translate Phillip’s notebook, Talen escorting August and Samuel to the surface, and Cameron searching for a charger for the phone they’d found in August’s room, there was suddenly nothing to do.He took out his cigarettes and tapped his fingers on the box wondering if he could sneak to the surface for a smoke without having to get into a full-on conversation with Heath about whether or not he should be smoking. He doubted that Heath would accept that the cigarettes were replacements for what he actually wanted - a joint, but weed was a bit hard to come by in the chaos of Havermouth.“Got one!” Cameron announced his return. He took the phone over to the kitch