Ebony took Franco out with her the next day for their search through the woods and just like Benedict and Peter. It was a waste of time and effort.The poachers appear to have dropped off the face of the map, except for the abandoned pieces of their kills. They’d not had the decency to bury or burn the remains.The animals had long since claimed what they left, so there was no point in doing anything more than trying to retrieve the bullets and shells if they could. The last thing they needed was another animal dying because they choked on a bullet.With information from tracking numbers and such, Ebony could record and track how many monitored creatures were victims of these poachers. The worry Ebony had was, did they leave on their own, or did the wight interrupt their hunting trip? “I’d like to stop near the river on the way back. Peter says there’s some wild onions he wants us to collect. He didn’t have room for them when they were out yesterday. He could fi
“Any interesting happen while we were gone?” Ebony asked once they’d settled with coffees in the tower. She watched a concerned look be exchanged between Peter and Benedict before Peter responded to Ebony’s inquiry. “Nothing interesting except we got a rather odd call from Alan while you were out. The report concerns him, but his list of rangers that he could send in here is a little too slim to really pick anyone from. So his solution is that we temporarily stop monitoring from the tower and focus on finding the poachers. Until we have more concrete information, his hands are tied.” Peter’s words were like a godsend in one aspect, but Benedict appeared to think otherwise if Ebony was reading his face correctly. Franco was helping Peter with lunch and staying out of this conversation right now. Ebony could understand that. “What? That’s crazy. They did just sent you three here. Why close the tower down? That defeats the purpose of training you on how to deal
“Benedict, can we talk just the two of us? I have a few questions and I don’t want this to get out of hand.” Ebony approached Benedict later that night. It bothered her how fixated he was on the McConnell pack. There wasn’t exactly a particular thing he said or his reaction. What bothered was Franco’s words. ‘It’s not my place to tell it.’ That triggered something in the back of her mind after their conversation about the pack representation in her family. “What is it, babe?” With night falling and the sounds dropping as the night life settled into place, it was like a blanket lay over the night, giving them privacy of a sort. “I’m sorry, but it’s been bothering me all afternoon, but I didn’t want to pry in front of the others and cause a scene. But will you tell me what you have against the McConnell pack in general? I think having them coming here and being related by a couple of matings. I should understand what’s about to hit the fan.” Ebony tried to be as i
“Benedict? Why are you looking at me that way?” The only way Ebony could describe his expression was that of guilt. “I was joking. Never mind, let’s just get back.” She didn’t like the look. Brains wouldn’t cause this reaction, so why would he react like that from the words ‘brood mare?’ Was that what he saw her as? She wasn’t going to get into that just yet. How would that work? No, it was too soon to work out the logistics for something like that. “Ebony wait. I’m sorry you just caught me by surprise with that.” “Yeah, well, it’s too early to figure out how that would work out. Forget I said anything. Okay?” “But.” “I’m not ready to have pups. My career has just started. Then there’s trying to figure who’s going to father them. If there’s a lot of pups, I’ll need help to raise them. What if I’m a bad mother? See lots to talk about as a group and we have lots of time later to work out how it will happen.” “Fine, as long as you aren’t angry.”
“Ebony? I know you were talking to Benedict last night, but he came into the tower worse than when he left. What happened? Or is asking that overstepping the bounds?” Franco cornered Ebony as they walked the trails, checking on the trail cameras and such to update their notes with. Ebony sighed. “I said something wrong, and I was joking. He took it badly, and I didn’t respond well to his response when he finally gave it. It just went downhill from there.” “Look, I don’t know what you two talked about, but you have all of us rethinking what this all means and how everything will play out. Whatever you said to him has him reassessing what it means for you to have three mates and how it will work out in the future. I’ll admit when he started talking about how many pups we could have, well. I have to admit that it was an eye opener in more ways than one.” “What do you mean?” “Well, I don’t think any of us thought about what would happen if you
Peter found Benedict in the tower with binoculars to his eyes, watching something. “Anything interesting I need to know about?” “Franco is calming Ebony by having her bounce on his cock.” “Well, let’s hope it works. But she’s not the only one that’s out of sorts. Do you want to talk? Or can I do something for you to help you?” “I’m fine. Really, there’s nothing I need.” “Benedict, you haven’t been with me all that much since Ebony’s been here. You’re avoiding something. That’s what you do when something’s eating at you. So I either blow you or you talk to me. But hey, I’m flexible and we can do both.” “Seriously? I’m working.” “You’re spying on our mates while they fuck. That’s not work. I can see you straining your zipper. Come here. I’m dying to get my hands on you.” Peter stepped close and leaned against Benedict’s back, his arms wrapped around Benedict, and found his balls. Squeezing them gently, Peter teased Benedict. The evid
Darkness fell, and they retreated to the cabin to get some sleep. The station was now expected to focus on the poachers come the morning. They settled down, ready to sleep but not sleepy. Benedict was the first to approach Ebony. “I’m going to hate not being able to touch you while your family is here.” He approached her from behind and wrapped his arms around her, then he was kissing her throat and she melted into his arms. Her head leaned away from him, offering him her throat. “Yes, I’ll miss being with all of you. My sex life was finally something I could enjoy. At least, we aren’t being kept away from each other. What do you boys want to do tonight?” “Well, I want you any way I can get you.” His hands slid into her shorts and explored the apex of her thighs. “Feels like you need it, too.” “Let me help you there.” Peter knelt at her feet. His hands caressed her thighs. Ebony shivered as his hands reached her inner thighs. As his fingers came clos
Of course, as soon as she awoke, the first thing, she heard was her mother’s voice telling her father what to do. Well, that cinched it. She was about to become a pelt for display somewhere. Her father was here, and all the guys were out cold naked around her. It didn’t help that someone’s hand was between her thighs and her breast was a pillow for Benedict’s head. She started shaking the guys awake as best she could. Once they each realized what was happening outside and who it was. The quietest mad scramble for clothes and to hide that fact they slept together occurred. “I’ll go greet them and stall so you guys can make it look like it’s business as usual. I’ll tell them you’re staying in one room so the other one can house my parents. The rest will stay out here.” Ebony scrambled to pull on clothes. “I’ll go make coffee for everyone.” “We’ll do our best. Just make sure your father won’t kill us or something crazy.” Peter reassured her and made one
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
Ebony couldn’t get comfortable. Her stomach was so large now. She struggled to get out of the bed and chairs. Ebony avoided standing for too long. It had been months since she’d shifted into fur, and she missed hunting. She missed running and there wasn’t any way she was going to run like this. But her balance was off like her pups decided they wanted to sit only on one side of her body. That’s the only way she could describe it in her grumpy upset mood.Benedict was distracted by Ebony’s distressed attitude. She still had two months until she gave birth. He tried to ensure she had everything she could want and if she wanted to move then she had someone with her to help her. Preferably it would be him. He hated anyone touching her but him now. They spent more time together. “I have a few gifts here from the families and the Pack wants to set up the pups’ nursery. Are you ready for that or is it too early for you?”“oh no I’m great. Go ahead and have them bring me in the gifts
Ebony had her staff enter and between her staff as Marian’s staff they worked with the school’s staff. They had to brute force at times to get the documentation completed and wait times waived. To gain the testing schedules at a specific date and location. But between Marian and Ebony’s joint effort they were able to overcome the bureaucratic mess presented to them. Marian used the media and the public eye to keep the gears moving. While Ebony had the eye of the supernatural government on her through Benedict’s father and her father. So, there was no room to falter and no time.Even so it took months to achieve this and get this far. Now they were able to step back into their everyday life. Ebony’s baby bump was beginning to show now. Benedict was managing the building of the healing center and hiring of healers as many would also work as teachers, rescuers, emergency workers, and such.Benedict knew he had to have a certain amount of medical foundation up and running fast sin
Benedict moved through the Pack house searching for Ebony. He’d received word that Marian had arrived at the gates and was headed there right now. This was the first time she’d visited their territory and Ebony along with many others were abuzz with trying to make everything perfect for her visit. “Ebony, Marian is here. She wants to talk to you about the results of her PTA meeting.” Benedict leaned into her study and saw the stress on her face. “What’s going on? Do you think it went that badly?”“Badly? I don’t know. I mean come on. It can’t get any worse than they say no, and we carry on with our previous plans. No, they might want to limit where out pups can and can’t go after this. They might fear our pups can’t control their aggressive nature and might cause problems.” “I don’t know about that wouldn’t she have said something on the phone if it had been a no.” Benedict asked in an effort to point out the effort Marian was taking to come to their home.“I don’t know Ben
“Marian, I know in a perfect world we could plan this between the two of us and we’d have pups and children learning together without a problem.” Ebony went to a meeting luncheon with Marian to speak about Marian’s idea of the pups going to school in the town with the town’s human children.“Right. It would never happen that way, would it? Alright, so how will we do this?” Marian said a little chagrinned. Ebony shook her head and shrugged. She cocked her head to the side as she got a sudden thought.“We’ll start with talking to the children’s parents. We don’t have to talk to them. A questionnaire or a phone call. A town hall meeting or a PTA meeting. You can choose what would make the community feel more comfortable. I would hate to hear someone a year from now say that they felt they were left out of the decision and didn’t feel like a member of the community.” Ebony gave a vague idea. A blush crossed her cheeks when she realized how random and unworkable it was. But Marian did