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.”
They fell back on the bed. Benedict climbed on top of Ebony. His legs leaned against the side of the bed, anchoring him between her bare, open thighs. Her scent filled his senses when she leaned into him, and it triggered his need for his mate. Benedict thought this part of their mating ended weeks ago, and the surprise of its return had him eager to see where it took them. He felt the crown of his cock thrust hard toward its goal at the juncture of Ebony’s thighs. Benedict expected a significant encounter tonight. He’d be here all night, taking them to heights of passion many times. Benedict could feel his wolf’s animal need for his mate finally come forward. Ebony must know by his scent, too. If her hands and thighs communicated anything to him, she would soon experience her wolf’s primal desire to mate with him, maybe already present. Benedict told his lips from Ebony’s and smiled down at her as a manic smile lit his face. When he w