“Don’t worry Benedict. This will not cause any problems worse than we’ve met in the past. If anything, I can finally tell the story of how we met and not heavily edit it so your father doesn’t look like an evil monster.” “Me! You’ve been lying to me and everyone for decades, Loni. How am I the evil monster? I would have been out there ready to rip him apart. Gone to war with whoever harboured him.” “No one harboured us. He kept us moving around and in territory assigned to lone wolves. He had a fear of any type of pack organisation. I think the loneliness made him take his life in the end.” There was a silence in the room for a while before Hayle spoke. Hayle blew out a breath and ran his fingers through his hair. “Of course, he did. The selfish prick. He couldn’t allow her to leave, even though your mother was my fated mate. Something wasn’t right in his head, Benedict. I’m sorry. I don’t know if you have some kind of bond w
Once they settled everyone into their rooms. Then they ate lunch. Hayle grumbled because he couldn’t put off the Council anymore. They wanted to meet their missing pack member and assess who he was and where he fit. Talk of prison or killing him was now on the back burner with the test results. The reason they didn’t toss out those options was because they feared Benedict might bring some sort of mental instability with him from his kidnapper or some twisted understanding of reality. Hayle wasn’t sure which, but he took offence to it reference as a possibility. He saw the three she-wolves interacting with his pack. Hayle had to remember these three were litter mates and now members of the McConnell Packs. Well, all but Ebony. They were nothing alike. The extremes in their personalities were fascinating. Sapphire and Ivory appeared to have a truce of some sort going on between them. Ebony appeared friendly with both, but distant at the same time. Hayle won
The large screen television masqueraded as a painting over the fireplace in the study, now held several images of the Board members of the McConnell packs. They headed the McConnell Clan around the world. These were elder McConnell pack Alphas. One of which was Hayle, Benedict’s father. Now he saw why no one feared what would happen to him. They had someone on the inside with a personal stake in his survival. But it explained why Hayle didn’t want to let his indiscretion become known. He’d found and lost his mate. Now he learned he’d fathered a pup who stood there as a lone wolf. His parents didn’t look good because he wasn’t that small pup anymore, nor had he been for many years. “So, you’ve gone by a false name for most of your life and you were unaware of your connection to the pack. Is that what you would have us believe?” “Sir, I don’t know what else to say about that. My father, or whoever he was, never told me we were members of the
Ebony stared at those around her after the meeting ended. How was this supposed to be now? Where did they go from here? What did they all mean? They mentioned several trivial things and addressed nothing. Where did they start? Because they made it clear, they didn’t care whether anyone resisted or objected to their wishes. Or were they demands or commands? This seemed so odd to her, and now she understood her father’s resistance to joining them. Everyone chattered away to each other. No one appeared happy with everything they heard from the council. Alpha Hayle and Luna Loni were both raked over the coals for not disclosing Benedict’s true paternity, as the wolf who raised him wasn’t a McConnell wolf, but a wolf adopted in and known to have a grudge with the McConnell clan. Most appeared happy with the decision to keep Benedict within the pack. Even though they’d not accepted him. “They’re being careful. Benedict, the council is assessing you. We’re
Ebony watched Benedict sit at the dinner table and realized that he wasn’t used to this kind of thing. Sitting down with family wasn’t something Benedict had any experience with. She’d grown up with family coming in from all over the place. Some days, it felt like they came crawling out of the woodwork like a cockroach. Not a description she’d say to Benedict or use it to describe family. He’d run for the hills in seconds. But here he was with his little sister, chattering away to him about who knew what. She was a pup still. So much of what she said didn’t pertain to anything based within reality. Ebony thought she was speaking about a television program or something from the internet she saw. Benedict tried to stay patient and polite as she spoke to him. He didn’t understand. He could ask her to stop. His brothers may have had something to do with encouraging Sofie to talk to him like this, because they were sitting there pretending not to listen
“I know they said you must have a mate by the time the council reconvenes Benedict. Ebony, I don’t have a problem with you as his mate, so please don’t take offense because it’s not about you I have any objections about. I have a problem with them pressuring you at this moment to mate. You lost someone close to you and another left you. That means you are grieving, and it’s not right or fair to force you like this. It muddies the waters, so to speak, about how you feel about your relationship going forward and the ending of the other two. That’s what concerns me.” Alpha Hayle said. Dinner had finished and everyone was leaving. His words stopped everyone in their tracks. This wasn’t something their father did often. Speak out about his dislike for a decision or command from the council. A council he was a member of. “I understand, and I’m sure Ebony won’t hold it against you. We know that every day we wait could complicate the mating process and cause it to fail
Ebony trotted out behind Benedict. It appeared most, if not all, of the pack were there for the run tonight. That meant the field behind the packhouse was full of vehicles and a mixture of wolves and humans. They were all wolf shifters or mates of shifters. It looked much like a tailgate party except for the excess number of partygoers wearing fur. The back patio had built-in barbeques and even a food preparation space. A metal shuttered window to the kitchen lay open, which created a safe pass-through space for food and supplies. Everyone milled as snacks were prepared for the run. Music played on speakers, and it appeared everyone was happy. Benedict, however, stopped when he saw the sheer number of pack members. Ebony forgot how he’d reacted to her family appearing at the tower, and later when he met her pack. He’d not met them on mass like this, but he’d not felt comfortable within a crowd of shifters. These were a lot more wolves in a single space than he’d probably ever seen
This wasn’t how she ever thought her mating could go. Lots of sex, focused on each other to excluding others, and an earth moving knowledge that everything was. Ebony didn’t question if Benedict was her mate. Even if she hadn’t felt that intense, that’s how it should be. She knew they were mates. Maybe Franco and Peter muddied the water for them? But she didn’t have it in her heart to blame them or felt any anger toward them for this. Tonight, they were going to make it final. From now on, mate. The stories Ebony knew that referred to mating were always mentioned it as spontaneous and memorable. The council forced them to plan it. Could it ruin their experience? Could it set their relationship in the wrong direction for the rest of their lives? She didn’t want to hate her mate in the end. Benedict deserved better than that. She deserved better, too. They got ready for bed and sat there on the bed beside each other. “We’re doing this.”
TWO YEARS LATER Ebony stood there watching as the last of the vehicles left for the day. This was the first year their rescue training center was in full swing and opened to everyone including the human population. Today had been the first day people could be present to do physical registration. The human turnout had been greater than expected. Which surprised them with an interest they hadn’t expected. It turned out the human forest rangers sent representatives to learn from and to make connections. They wanted to ensure that the different systems didn’t conflict with each other. There was now an an awareness of not just wolf shifters but other shifters, but other types of supernatural creatures. Before all this the creatures would struggle as they hid in silence. Now, they could speak up and get the recognition they needed to thrive.The supernatural beings who attended the registration were still using the portal grove to leave for the day after the mass registration and intr
FOUR WEEKS LATEREbony awoke feeling uncomfortable or different. She wouldn’t call what she felt like she wasn’t in full labor so she said nothing to Benedict. Instead she tried to go about her day and wrap up everything she could. Finish what she could and hand over other things without others noticing why she was doing it now and not in a few weeks. No one mentioned why she was doing this but they didn’t push back either. Benedict took projects and gave them to others to supervise. He hated being trapped behind a desk, but he wanted to be close to Ebony when her time came. His nerves had been running tripwire tight lately and everyone knew not to mention or ask about Ebony’s health, wellbeing, or how close she was to her time. Various family members were calling nightly to check with them. Though they didn’t ask directly. Ebony’s mother said they’d call but wouldn’t come until they were requested to with a specific reason. His mother said the same thing. It appeared to be what
Ebony was relieved when they returned to their territory a week later. Benedict was fully healed now and the needed parts were on the way. The supernatural government and human government had come to an agreement.“I’ve never said this before but I’m going to say it now. I’m glad to be home again love. Look at this place it’s real. I can see it. Not just in the land, but in the wolves. How they interact with each other and function together. Their seamless communication and the emotional bond I can feel it now.” Benedict said as they settled back into his place beside Ebony after the last of their pack had greeted them and gave them reports. “It’s great to know we can step out a few days and things don’t fall apart.”Ebony smirked. “Really right now I don’t think it’s got far to fall apart.” “Ebony it’s not like that anymore.” Benedict looked about in disbelief as they both realized they were both wrong.“No, I guess not. The pack’s not a group of strangers anymore either an
They were on a pause between healing sessions. Benedict needed to have several sessions before his bones were completely healed again. Until they were healed then he wouldn’t be able to shift into his wolf. “How are you feeling now?” Ebony came to sit beside Benedict. She hugged his arm and rested her head on his shoulder after she left a kiss on his cheek.Benedict blinked. The healers had left minutes ago, neither healer was happy with each other. They had left to deal with their issues while Benedict’s body needed time to recover. So, here they were for the first time in seemed alone. Quiet and alone together. “I swear everything hurts more than it did before. But I was told I had several bones that hadn’t set perfectly in the past so they’re fixing them too.”“You had broken bones that weren’t set correctly.” Ebony pointed out with a sympathetic wincing look of pain on her face as she said this to her mate. She tried to keep it light but how could she? It’s obvious he must n
Ebony took Benedict to the closest healing center she had her Beta call ahead to explain the situation to explain that they weren’t having an emergency but they did need extensive healing for a leader. Her Beta sent a file that Benedict’s Beta received from the healer about his condition so that they could understand what to expect when they arrived. They wouldn’t book an appointment until the healer received it. But when she received the file it took minutes to receive a response. Ebony wasn’t happy that they didn’t seem to accept their words and explanations. It wasn’t until someone recognized Ebony’s last name and connected it to her mother then things changed. “Why did you have no one say anything about it Luna?” A junior healer who worked as a senior administrator and was working as the leader of the group managing Benedict’s needs while was there. “I love my family but I’m not a shadow or a facet of anyone of them. I’m
“When when last spoke and I told you I hadn’t received injuries I wasn’t lying. We had a freak accident nothing that we could have predicted or accounted for. They misplaced truck and the ground was too wet under it. When a second vehicle moved out while they were moving a skid of equipment into place. The earth under the rear wheels shifted off the back of the truck in seconds and I was beneath it. The skid was no longer full but heavy enough to break my femur and three ribs.We had a healer there, so they patched me up. The planes needed several repairs that would take days. I didn’t want them to take time away from the repairs to take me to a healing center then it would take longer to get home. Before you say anything, I didn’t believe I was that severely injured.” Benedict hadn’t believed he’d been that injured until after the Druid had stabilized his breaks and the pain had settled in when his adrenaline had faded. He’d been embarrassed by his response to that, but it was to la
Benedict didn’t tell Ebony that he stayed away an extra two days because he had gone to the front lines to review the damage to their equipment and vehicles. Fate got him and he ran right into a freak accident and a human skid slid off the back of a flatbed truck. There was no question about it the accident being an accident. Wolves and humans were working together to pack the truck at the time. But the mud under the truck shifted when another vehicle started and moved out.He’d left with a broken leg and three ribs. At least they’d had a druid healer here who could start his healing process. But he wouldn’t be able to shift for a week. Benedict would walk home though a little slowly.Benedict knew he’d lied to Ebony, but he didn’t want to explain it on the phone. Not when she was so close to giving birth. His people had to make several repairs on their vehicles there in the field to get it home anyway. It took a day longer and it didn’t hurt Benedict’s recovery. Even though h
Ebony waited at the Pack house. It had been three days since Benedict and their team had left for the fire. The pilots had come in for fuel and repairs. Several vehicles had come in baring injured people on the way to get care. They’d been found trapped within the fire or were injured during fighting the fire. But so far, their wolves, mages, druids, bears, and such had stayed safe and were still working toward stopping the fire. However, Ebony had heard complaints that magic was a disappointment by the human fighting contingents and not nearly as powerful or magical as they had believed it should have been. Which received sighs, warnings, and reminders of their that there were limits like anything within reality. Ebony used the time, or she tried to, to finish the pups’ suite. It wouldn’t be used fully right away. They would have the pups in their room first before they would use their suite. She wondered who these pups would look like. Ebony h
Benedict was teasing Ebony with names over dinner when the call came through. The first real call. They’d been watching a storm for the last three days. It’s winds were pushing thirty-five miles an hour and lightning was flashing randomly throughout the mountains. The problems they were having was the area the storm was in had been a dry zone for the last eight months. They were waiting for the lightning to start multiple fires, flash floods, landslides, and car accidents. Humans would need help it’s how these things worked. Extreme weather was becoming worse not better. Humans could handle a lot but it was adding up.“Go on, this is what we made this place for. Show them why we’re here and what we can offer.” Ebony all but pushed Benedict out the door. “I have enough people here to help me. I’ll be fine here missing you. Now go.”“Right. Don’t do anything crazy while I’m gone okay?” Benedict begged. He wasn’t sure what she would do. But she was pushing him out the door when he w