Ebony finally had the four relenting and accepting that they were the ones who would have to change. That the obsession was not going to gain her anything but disappointment and unhappiness. That she would not find pity or support. Nor would she find any satisfaction in gaining what she wanted. When Ebony pointed out if she gained what she wanted it wouldn’t be what she expected over the long-term. It didn’t matter if she believed in fated mates or not. What she wanted was a path toward unending misery. The promise that following the fated mate path or staying single were the only paths available to her that may hold a glimmer of happiness for her. But either option carried a long road of work on her social manners and actions. If Ebony thought, she was tired before this encounter. She was exhausted by now. But as she lay on the sofa in the trailer they were using as their temporary residence. Ebony wondered if this was wha
This morning the excitement met chaos as wolves moved from camps to finished buildings. Everyone hurried in a different direction. Some helped each other to move large crates and boxes. Pups ran this way and carried what they could. Most were happy, but others were showing signs of stress as they tried to make sense and order of the chaos. Ebony watched for a moment, and she realized these were hers and they were still getting to know each other. That’s why there were wolves annoyed with all of this. They were getting accustomed with each other’s emotional states and personalities. “No one’s thrown any punches. Claws? Or bitten each other?” Ebony asked Jade, her new Beta. Jade stood beside Ebony poking at a tablet that she juggled with a clipboard. “Surprisingly, none that I know of. Though we do have several noses out of joint and a few new den mates ready to call it quits.” She gave Ebony a side-eyed look that telegraphed e
Ebony sat back at her desk as she waited for the human mayor to answer the call. “Hello, Mayor Fort, you called you called to speak the Alpha.” She struggled not to call the man Major Fart. She knew it’s not funny, but the man’s not either. “I know Alphas are men. So, why are you calling me?” Mayor Fort complained as if Ebony were causing him difficulty by being who she was. He meant it to offend her. She didn’t know how someone like him could gain his position if he treated others like this. Ebony didn’t understand humans like this. “That’s what bothers you? Look, we send the person who’s best suited with the best skills. Each Pack has two leaders. You are lucky and have the rare luck of having the female leader, me, the Luna as the better skilled. You can call me Luna Ebony.” She’d used this type of talk with visitors to the park who weren’t comfortable with a park ranger guide who was female. Now she was happy to have developed this skil
“Benedict, he doesn’t want to talk to me at all. I’m not somehow defective because I don’t have the right reproductive parts. We’re animals and not smart enough. We go around threatening to beat and kill complete strangers for no reason at all at random times. He’s given me no proof or even how many times this has happened. So, I don’t know who’s involved. Or if anyone’s involved. Or how many wolves might be involved? If he was in front of me, I might have torn him apart for the insult for the garbage he tried to pile on me. How dare he use that on me? Does he think calling me an animal I’ll consider an insult? Can he say he’s researched who we are? Because I’ll call him a liar if he does.” Ebony said to Benedict. She paced the bedroom floor and waved her arms, expressing her words as she spoke. “Enough Ebony, I can see he’s a jerk of a human. We’ll deal with him when the time’s right. For all we know he’s making things up. Or someone else is. You did rig
The school and the rescue center finished even as Ebony waited for the human mayor to get back to her with the facts about the attacks and threats against citizens of the town. She’s about to contact the human mayor again to see if she could learn what he’d done or found out by now. Benedict had settled in the new rescue teams and the instructors for the school. Their training was just beginning in the coming weeks. For now, they would come into the territory and settle in before training begins. “I wonder if we’ll ever have a quiet day.” He sat down into the chair beside Ebony as she mumbled this to him. She watched as her second stalked off to have a word with several enforcers who were training in the wrong area. “Is that a question? I hope that’s not a question. Because I don’t want to answer that. If I answer it, I know no matter how I answer it. I’ll answer it wrong and in the next breath I’ll regret
Ebony took most of the morning to avoid making the phone call to the human mayor. But as time went by, she knew she must “Good morning, Mayor. Thank you for taking my call.” “Hello, Luna Ebony.” Ebony heard the mayor’s disgust as he spoke over the phone. She didn’t like the sound of his voice, or his attitude and she’d hear a story that would make this situation worse not better.“I was wondering how everything is going after our last conversation. Were you able to get those names, dates, and places? Or have things changed?” She didn’t want the mayor to confuse her instincts with her an awareness or guilt toward any new incidents that might have occurred between their phone calls.“My people are having a hard time getting the names of the people pestering them.”“I’ve been worrying while I waited for you to call. I hope no one else has had another confrontation.”“We have video of them. They’re all male wolves and very aggres
Ebony called the town’s head library, Mrs. Marian Fort. “Pine Grove Library Head Librarian Marian Fort speaking. How may I help you?” A no nonsense woman’s voice said. She sounded polite, but stern. Ebony wanted to laugh. Mayor Fort would be having fun when he arrived home tonight. “Mrs. Fort. Hello, I’m Luna Ebony.” “Yes, yes. I’ve been waiting for your call. Now what is going on that we need to talk about?” “I’m sorry to contact you like this, but I wanted to apologize ahead of time. I have tried my hardest to clear up the rumors I’ve received. Now, I must say they are downright alarming. It’s frightening how your husband and his staff are handling it. I don’t want to take things to an extreme on my end because it won’t look or end well for either your town or my Pack. I’m thinking of the young and innocent here. Someone’s attacking your people, and they are making it look like it’s my people doing the a
“Wow, this is a lot. There’re a few too many encounters here to be called incidents Ebony. These aren’t one or two individuals with problems. This is a group with an agenda. We must get serious to now. Someone’s disappeared and that’s concerned me. That means it’s gone too far now.” Benedict said from the chair he sat in as they looked over the report they’d received. “That’s why I called you here and asked for a full command structure meeting. This affects all levels. Everyone must be careful. Keep your eyes open. I don’t believe for a second, it’s anyone here. Someone doesn’t want us setting up shop here or doesn’t want us setting up shop at all. Well, it’s too late. We’re here and we’re not leaving. Now, I’ve spoken to the mayor’s wife. It seems we’ve stepped on a few toes in the human circles. Which means there’s a few egos that possess several cracks. We don’t want those cracks to get worse and if we can heal them all the better.” Ebony sa
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