“It’s confirmed, Jack was not among the dead. Russell’s been found, and he’s been dead awhile. I won’t tell you where he was found or how. I don’t want you having nightmares. He hadn’t been burned or buried.” Ty and Rose were in the office of the Shadow Pack sorting out the information coming in finally from many sources. “That bad? He was my father either way. We should bury him, just to keep him from harming anyone as he… Uh… returns to the earth.” Old legends told of dead werewolves or wolf shifters dying and returning as a monstrous version of a vampire. It wasn’t true, but traditionally to prevent this, they cremated their dead or buried them deep in the ground. It was considered an honour to be cremated because there was nothing left to link the soul to, and they could continue their life’s journey. Burying the dead was punishment or torture. Because they believed it, the soul could linger here, attached to their body. “You’re comfortable with that option?” T
Ben had people all over the place in groups. This territory was not safe that he was certain of, and Tyler was walking right into it. The drone found a group of people encamped at the far end of the territory. It wasn’t an easy place to get to, which made it a safe place to hide. Someone set up shop there, and they took out the drone with a gun so he would put his money on the human hunters rather than Jack. Jack and his band of bungling aging fools were nowhere to be found currently. They’d fled, leaving their entire pack to sink or swim. Once they found them, it would be a slam dunk for Tyler to gain control of the pack. No alpha challenges or foolishness like that. He knew if Jack challenged Tyler, he’d have to cheat, because Tyler was a nice guy, until he wasn’t. Then he was a monster that tore through people to get what he wanted. It all came down to how much he wanted that something and how angry the people in the way made him. Tyler approached in a vehi
Dr. Michael Paxton, Heather’s father, tried to keep his mind on his work but what his daughter said and the confirmation he received from Roger. The apology was killing him, as were the memories he experienced, as he couldn’t stop thinking back to that time so long ago. The guilt and anger were just so much for him. He and Mae were having difficulty financially and in their relationship. Heather was just learning to toddle when Mae disappeared. The house, the practice, and the new pup were a lot on Mae and Michael failed to see it. With the care of multiple packs, his hands were full to the point of being overloaded. They were both exhausted and now Michael saw the struggle Mae had with depression after Heather was born. But, at the time, he’d been blind to it. Now it was all too late. There would be no way that he’d tell Heather about her mother’s struggles. He prayed Heather wouldn’t need to battle the same depression, too. When he started looking for Mae, it was pr
Amber looked around the packhouse. It was old and needed repair. She could see the character in the old place. But it was dusty and dirty. It needed repairs. She did not know how they all lived here right now. The noise for her was as unbearable as the dirt, but you wouldn’t hear her tell anyone that. Because right now she was out from under her father’s thumb and free as a bird. At this point, she’d live in a tent if it meant there weren’t people questioning everything she said or did. Her next problem, Heath. She needed to get him a position within Ty’s pack that was better fitting than just another enforcer. She couldn’t mate with a gamma; it was just too far beneath her. With everyone clamoring for a place within the Shadow Pack from the Hollow Wood Pack. Amber was sure she could get him moved up the ranks within the Shadow Pack quickly enough. Ty would need more deltas or even betas to manage the territory and people. Rose would need assistance, too. Amber de
Ty watched the Ruling Council’s engineer climb out of the tunnel. He dusted off his jeans and smiled at Ty. “It looks like they built this place to last. The tunnel is fine. The house? Not so much. But there’s a difference between the fire and the mostly wood structure of the packhouse. They cut the tunnels from stone and the fire wouldn’t affect them because it didn’t get hot enough if it had gotten down there. The fire didn’t go down there though, so it’s all a moot point. There are rooms down there on either side of the tunnel, but without a way to open the doors, I can’t tell you if they’re safe. Also, before you ask, I didn’t even hear a rat move down there. So, if there are people down there, they stayed silent. I’ll state my reputation by saying the tunnel is safe as far as I got. But it appears to go on for quite some time. The rooms off the sides are an unknown.” “What do you think they made them for? What was their purpose?” Ty hadn’t found anyone that was awar
Mikey didn’t enjoy being away from the packhouse and his control room. But he couldn’t work the drone or much else from that distance. Now he needed to come up with lights and cameras. What was this a movie production? “I have my phone and if it gets full, there’s always the cloud as backup, but we’ll have to take a break while I back things up properly.” Ty grunted and nodded, already distracted by something else. He had too many things on his plate, in Mikey’s opinion. Everything was just dragging them down and teasing them. The chance of a better life was right here in this town, but it was holding them back from immersing themselves in that new future. He wanted to settle down with his mates and live the life they wanted peacefully. Finally, a vehicle with everything he wanted from their place arrived and was offloaded. There was everything and a little bit more included. The small group trudged into the tunnel. The opening of the t
Rose took the information with her to the tour where the Hollow Wood Pack members were sheltering after fleeing Jack’s control.What she found wasn’t just people who could put names to the descriptions she’d developed, but someone located several photographs of them, as well. Most were photographs of these wolves caught in the background of a family photo that was being taken innocently. The wolves probably didn’t even know they took the photos. It was something extra that she could use.Another thing Rose learned about these wolves was they weren’t part of the pack proper. She knew they’d joined the pack over time, but she’d not realized her father kept these wolves separate from the rest of the pack. He treated these new wolves like they were the elite.Russell had met these wolves during his travels and partying. Rose now understood he was giving a home to like-minded wolves to himself. In other words, monsters he could talk to about the horrible things he liked to do.It ma
The tunnel went on for quite some time, however; they didn’t find it’s end. There were other doors and Ty decided not to open them until later, after they found out how far the tunnels went. The problem was that the tunnels now branched and continued. He wouldn’t be surprised if they’d walked several miles already. It was a wonder that no one found these tunnels when they built anything above ground. He did not know where these tunnels went or ended. But if Jack used these tunnels to escape, Ty would follow them. Since there were footprints in the gray dust on the floor, it made sense to follow them. Jack, probably in his haste to escape and abandon the pack to whatever or whoever did this, didn’t think about the tracks he left behind. There were a lot of them, and they all followed the same route. “We need to turn back; my phone’s memory is full. I need to get out of here to save the files, and we might want to eat while we’re at it.” Eat, rest, and