Back to Life in the Big Woods

       Ebony Rose Kilburn returned to her beloved station after visiting for a few days with her family. She was eager to look at the new video footage of the local wildlife. But she got a rude awakening. The door was open, her things scattered everything.

        The red-haired beauty growled and cursed in annoyance. She was deep in the provincial park for the work of vagrants. There were two kinds of people. Both types were bad news, poachers, or rogue shifters. Officially, rogue shifters weren’t an explanation. As a wolf shifter, she was well aware of their existence. The reason she believed it wasn’t a pack of roaming raccoons is they don’t go into your fridge, take a can of cola out, open it, and leave the empty can on the table. She’d have to report this. 

        Ebony looked at the door. She knew she locked the door. When she left for more than a few hours, she locked it. They didn’t force the door open. That most disturbed her. How did they get in?

       Ebony reviewed the video footage outside of the station. It pointed away from the building. What it picked up was an enormous wolf and movement beyond the tree line. There was no question. It was a male shifter. Someone who knew better invaded her space.

       Annoyed, she stripped out of her clothes and shifted. Ebony must learn who she was dealing with; she might not have a name, but a scent gave her more information. 

        She settled to the four feet of her red wolf, her world shifted, her view sharpened, scents went from vague hints to detailed. Whoever he was, he’d roamed her space. She felt like the wolves in Goldilocks. But that’s where the similarities ended. 

      The scent profile was off. She couldn’t know how many wolves were in her territory. That made no sense. Whoever they were, their scent told her they were a lone wolf, and not a rogue wolf. Often the names were confused by those not of the wolf persuasion. A lone wolf was a wolf without a pack. They may live with other lone wolves in a loose-knit group. A rogue wolf is a wolf who’s lost their ties to all other wolves, and loses their ability to feel compassion, guilt, or remorse. They’re the supernatural world’s monsters. The criminal elements, it’s underbelly. They will do anything for their comfort and enjoyment. Murder and mayhem are nothing to them. These wolves found it a challenge to risk the secret existence of shifters to humans. They enjoyed the thrill of nearly revealing the existence of shifters. The fear made them enjoy it. They created the fear with their actions.

       This was one or more lone wolves and one laid down in her bed to leave her a deliberate message. She’d been found, and he was interested in her. She knew that’s what his scent in her bed meant. Annoyed, she shifted back and tried to make sense of the information she had. It was dark now. She’d have to wait until the morning to call this in. After all, it wasn’t like she could call the cops. Out here, she was the closest thing. A murder must happen to drag the feds out here.

      Tossing her clothes back on, she headed outside. Now that she knew what she was smelling, Ebony followed the vague scent. Ebony was unsure how many were involved. 

       She lost the scent in the river. The shifter entered the river here. She didn’t know if they went upriver or down. She wasn’t going any further in the dark. 

      It could be her imagination, or she had a set of eyes on her. From what direction, though? Whose eyes, were they? Annoyed, she returned to the station and climbed back up. 

      Ebony pulled a box of supplies over to the trapdoor before she started straightening the place. Her weapons were still secure, first aid kit untouched, but her clothing, food, notes, and bed were touched. This was a personal invasion. He wanted to know her and leave her a message that he liked what he found. Creepy even for a shifter.

         Male wolf shifters were often territorial of more than land. If they claimed someone, it could become obsessive and border on what a human would call stalking. If they thought the person was in danger, they wouldn’t leave their side. They would abduct them, then take them to a safer location. This was often a potential mate, new mate, or offspring. Alphas were a different breed. This extended to others the Alpha believed were his.

       Ebony didn’t know if he was an alpha. But she was sure now that someone was watching her. What did he know about a threat? She didn’t? When would he make his presence known?

        Annoyed, she changed the sheets on her bed. Sure, he smelled divine and in his prime. But she wouldn’t accept his scent just yet. Before anything happened, she needed to be aware.

        She settled for the evening with a cold dinner. It was too late to cook, and she ate her dinner on the balcony that ran around the glass and wood structure; she called home. Ebony felt the eyes again. She grabbed a set of binoculars off the hook by the so and started searching the land around her for the telltale sign of a wolf watching her. It took some time to find him. He could have left, and she’d not found him. But there he was in all his glory in the moonlight, watching her as she watched him. She gave him the finger before she returned inside the station. Ebony would not encourage him. She’d call in first thing in the morning to report what she could, and then she’d get her job done. After that, she’d try again to hunt him down to school him in manners and tell him exactly what she thought of him. 

         Benedict watched the sweet red wolf go about her business. Gods, her scent didn’t do her justice. This was not only their new co-worker, but their mate. 

       Franco was the first to point out what her scent was doing to him. Benedict and Peter had to immerse themselves in her scent. He’d been correct. She was the one female they were looking for to complete their unofficial family pack. 

        The three men bonded years ago through trauma and hardship. Now they worked as one. Their lives were too intertwined to the point it felt isolating, almost pain, to live without the others. 

     Now, if only this perfect female would accept them, as they were. Then life would be perfect. The moon hung low in the sky and her day was ending. Tomorrow they’d arrive on her doorstep ready to work. Unknown to her, she finally got the team she wanted. Benedict and his chosen brothers were there to work in the forest as completely trained forest rangers. So? They’d also find the time to enjoy their new co-worker, too. They didn’t have a problem with sharing anything. It was up to the sexy Ebony Kilburn. Time would tell as the next six weeks played out.