Chapter Thirty-One

Havermouth High School, Five Years Before

Aislen made it through the first two classes, trying not to squirm on her seat, very aware of the chastity belt and the device within her, praying that Heath didn’t turn it on and humiliate her in class. At recess, it was a relief to hurry towards the grassy hill and see him sitting there. As he had instructed her, she sat between his knees and he put his arms around her without interrupting his conversation with Rohan, one of the football team.

She saw Rhett and Cameron arrive with the three unfamiliar girls, and Heath’s thoughts clarified in bright flashes. “… If the local pack doesn’t hold any interest to you, perhaps our wider community,” an unfamiliar woman suggested. “There are plenty of single she-wolves looking for their mates…”

“Hey,” Cameron said as they joined them. “This is Erica, Patience, and Helena, they’re from Dawson. Rhett and I are showing them around.”

“Hi,” the cheerleaders bubbled with enthusiasm and the jocks nudged each other with their elbows and exchanged laughing looks and sexual innuendos.

Rhett met Aislen’s eyes, his expression bland.

Aislen leaned back against the warm solidness of Heath and lifted her face to graze a kiss along his jaw. “Heath,” she whispered, and he bowed his head and kissed her, his mouth lingering on hers. “Can I have the key?” She barely breathed the words when he eased back.

He discretely placed it in her palm. “Put it back on,” he murmured, his lips against her cheek. “I will know if you don’t.”

“Okay.” She left her bag with him and hurried to the girls’ bathroom. She removed the chastity belt and the vibrator, her hands shaking, and used the toilet. As she stood there afterwards, the egg in her hand, she was tempted to shove it into her pocket but sighed and closed her eyes, trying to relax her body so that she could return it to place.

Once the chastity belt was secured and locked, she washed her hands and returned to her position between Heath’s knees. He took the key in such a way that she was certain that no one, not even Rhett and Cameron, knew about the egg and chastity belt. What was Heath up to? She wondered. The flashes of his thoughts made no sense to her.

When the bell rang, he kissed her, before heading off to his next class.

During the fourth lesson of the day, Ms. Grace knocked on Aislen’s classroom door. “If I can see Ms. Carter?” She asked.

Aislen followed her out into the hall and down towards the counsellor’s office. “I…” She started.

“I know,” Ms. Grace said, opening the door. “I said for you to come see me when you had the opportunity, and if you wanted to. But I wanted to talk with you. Come in. Would you like a drink of water?”

“No thank you,” Aislen sat carefully in one of the upholstered armchairs. “I’m fine, you know,” she said watching as Ms. Grace poured a glass of water and set it, and a tissue box, on the table before her. “I don’t need those.”

“How are you sleeping?” Ms. Grace sat.

“Alright,” Aislen replied defensively. Her dreams were haunted by the Triquetra, and she woke everyday aching for an orgasm, her body primed from the erotic content of her unconscious mind – but she didn’t think that was what Ms. Grace was looking for. “I sleep fine.”

“How are you feeling at the moment?” Ms. Grace prompted.

“Fine,” Aislen pressed her thighs together, very aware of the chastity belt that she wore. How did she feel, she wondered? Ever since the Triquetra had begun to focus their attention on her, she had been feeling confused, raw, and uncertain. Her body was in a constant state of arousal. She felt tired and overwhelmed, distrustful and unbalanced. But she couldn’t tell Ms. Grace any of that. “I feel fine.”

“Aislen…” Ms. Grace leaned forward on her chair, her expression engaging and open. “You’re turning eighteen soon, aren’t you?”

“Next week.”

“Hmm. It’s a very confusing age, isn’t it?” Ms. Grace said with sympathy. “There’s a lot of… peer pressure, social pressure. Parental pressure. Pressure from school… Your body is mature and ready for things that your mind may not be.”

Aislen stared at her. “Sure, I guess.”

“Several teachers have commented about your… relationship with the three boys known as the Triquetra," Ms. Grace continued. “Heath Gale, Carmon Edison, and Rhett Salem. They’re a bit older than you, aren’t they? Heath and Rhett recently turned nineteen according to their files. It’s only a small difference, but at this age, it can make a lot of difference, especially if… well, if all of them apply pressure on one girl, together.”

Aislen felt the cold ice of dread crawl over her back. Ms. Grace knew, she thought. The werewolf community, the adult werewolf community, knew that the Triquetra were fucking Aislen. The students, of course, already knew, and that was bad enough. She had feared that it would spread, that her parents would eventually find out, and here was the evidence that it was beginning.

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The bell went for lunch and Aislen tensed.

“I think you do know,” Ms. Grace replied. “I think you do know, Aislen. This sort of relationship that you have with the Triquetra… Well, it’s complicated on a variety of levels. It would be best for you if you broke things off with them, you know that, don’t you?” She smiled tightly. “Your teachers are already commenting about your attendance and schoolwork slipping. This is such an important time, scholastically, for students like you, Aislen. A mistake now could affect your entire future.”

“I have to go,” Aislen knew that she should be with Heath. Don’t be late, he had told her.

“Mr. Graynor has suggested that you might want to apply for a scholarship with an art school,” Ms. Grace continued. “That the school community might support you in this, combined with the annual donation from Zeus Forest Works. We could make this happen for you… Are you…” She paused, frowning, distracted from the conversation. “Are you vibrating, Aislen?”

“I have to go,” Aislen grabbed her bag and was out of the office, all but running down the hall and out into the school yard. She hurried through the covered walkways and pavement, until she reached the grassy knoll where the jocks and cheerleaders, and, of course, the Triquetra, spent their break times, weather allowing.

Heath’s eyes met hers as she crossed to him. The vibration stopped. She kissed him and sat between his knees. “You’re late,” he breathed into her ear as he wrapped his arms around her, flooding her mind with his annoyance and his… fear.

“Ms. Grace called me into her office,” she whispered. “About the old man.”

“Hmm.” He was silent for a moment, thinking, and she saw the woman from his thoughts at recess clearly. “Is that all she wanted to speak to you about?”

“And a scholarship to an art school.”

“A scholarship,” he repeated. “Somewhere outside of the local area, I am guessing.”

“Rideten,” she replied.

“Fuck them,” he barely gave sound to the words and his thoughts whirled with anger. He would speak with them again. (They had a deal, and they were breaking it by interfering.) “If anyone speaks to you about the Triquetra or this scholarship, Aislen,” he said under his breath. “You will speak to me about it immediately, do you understand?”

She didn’t. “Okay,” she shrugged. “Whatever.”

“It’s important,” he replied firmly. “More than you can understand.” (They will take her from us if I don’t put a stop to it.)

Aislen swallowed hard. What did he mean by ‘They will take her from us?’