Please like, comment, follow, and gem if you like this story. It's not finished I know, but I promise to finish it. NOTE: Sept 29 I go in for an unplanned joint replacement in one of my fingers. I have been struggling to write. After this I will take several days off to recover from the surgery, but healing takes 3-6 months and I will have to write 1 handed 4-5 novels at once. Both index fingers need this surgery so I am working with a painful finger still. If you would like to stay in the know what is happening with me, what I am working on, unpublished facts about the Black River Pack Series world then go to Klairablainsauthor.com and subscribe to the mailing list for the monthly blogpost to be sent directly to your mailbox. Again I do apologise this wasn't planned for.
“Benedict, are you really that unhappy I told Ran about your situation?” They’d dressed and now shared a bottle of water in the shade. Sharing a tree to lean against their shoulders and thighs, touching each other’s. Ebony felt at home at this point. Sitting here with Benedict felt right. “Angry? Not anymore. But I am embarrassed. I didn’t go to any of them because I don’t have the facts they want to know. Now you’re family is telling me that the wolf I called my father wasn’t my father and he may have stolen me from my mother and pack. Do you know how horrible it feels to think there might be a chance there’s a place out there that I might belong to? I’ve belonged nowhere with anyone except with the guys and now you.” He looked sad and unhappy. Like someone had kicked his puppy, and he wasn’t allowed to take revenge on that person. “Hey, it sounds like you possibly have a family that is chosen and blood related. There’s nothing that says you can’t hav
“Okay, so here we go. With the first groups out exploring and looking for information. A few have radioed in to say that yes, there’s a null area within the woods similar to the one we had to deal with earlier. There’s no way to tell which null area it formed first. But it’s clearly made the same way as the other. History sucks because this occurrence wasn’t mentioned all that much. But as far as I can tell, the wight should be here hiding somewhere. I suspect this is the most recent void spot.” Ebony’s mother spoke about this. “Basically, the wight somehow forms this territory of theirs where they suck all the life out of the area and everything in it. Everyone knows how a black hole pulls in all matter and light until there’s nothing left. Well, a wight is the same way with life force. Ebony says the animals in the area know enough to stay away from the area. So we might see a few bones and dead plants. But the land itself will change from forest to barren rock
After the meeting broke up so that Jane, Ebony’s mother, could finish packing what she’d need at the site where they’d do the purification spell. She’d definitely need help to get all the salt alone to the site. Peter was not sure how they’d do it. But Jane had it all worked out, she claimed. Peter somehow ended up being Ebony’s only mate with the rest of her male family and he keenly felt their eyes watching him as he set up for the next meal. It seemed he would be the chief cook and bottle washer for this gathering. He didn’t mind so much because it gave him a place within the group with an excuse to make himself scarce when it all got too much for him. “So, we’ve not had a chance to really talk to you, Peter. Why don’t you come sit and we can all get to know each other better?” Ebony’s father’s voice wasn’t exactly as friendly as his words. Peter could hear that this wasn’t a suggestion, and Howard did not mean it as one. “If you like, but if I don’t get this started, my meal pr
Ebony could tell that Benedict was avoiding her male family members when he could by taking groups out to search the area for more information. Franco, too, made himself useful to do chores in the camp. Her sisters were helping their mother set up the packs for the next day. All four of them were dealing with last-minute things before they became last minute disasters. By the time night fell and dinner was ready for everyone, Ebony couldn’t believe that her brothers were in the kitchen with Peter getting things done. They usually made themselves scarce when there were domestic chores to be done. Her father, Ran and Magnus were all sorted out by how to create a defence against whatever they encountered. After all, they’d encountered these things before. With all that done, they set them for the morning when they’d be safest to get out there and find the exact location. Then they hopefully would have time to set up the trap and spel
Ebony did the one thing she hated, but it made the most sense. She didn’t want to explain the specifics behind her sleeping arrangement. Ebony knew it was foolish and probably unnecessary, but she didn’t want to talk about it with either of her parents. She was a grown she-wolf, but it still felt like she was sneaking around behind their backs. That was fine and all that. It might be part of the allure of having three mates. All the sex and sneaking around. The workplace relationships and even the variety of her lovers. It made it all exciting for her. Now the question she had when she saw her mates curled up with each other in such a sweet manner. Would this always be like this? Or would they settle down to something boring like couples did? Would there be a time when one or more than one of her lovers would have a falling out or lose interest in this fated bonding? Who was she kidding? She was questioning if this truly was a fated bonding.
Last-minute preparations were going on all around Ebony. People were doing their thing, and they felt the serious nature of their business throughout their camp. That’s what the ranger’s station had become. A Percival Encampment as pack members moved about. Ebony ran over the last things she had to do to secure the station. Her pack stood at the ready. The boys were doing their thing. Her father kept giving her that side eye thing he did when he thought something was up and he didn’t know for sure what it was. That meant he’d have something to say later when he knew whatever he suspected, and she wasn’t sure what he was studying about her or the situation. This gave her no comfort, and the boys were on edge as well. How would she change this up so that everyone could settle down? It wasn’t like they were actually saying anything or doing anything. She could respond to or deal with because if she did, she’d look like she was overreacting to something in
The morning started off a little iffy weather wise because as dawn hit the skies showed up for attendance dressed in a layer of grey crowds. No one commented on this, but everyone noticed. Would they have to trek through the rough terrain with heavy packs and a storm running wild around them? In the end, they didn’t have a problem with that. The clouds worked to benefit them and hinder them. The wolves moved through the uneven, wooded terrain in relative comfort because the sun didn’t beat down on them mercilessly. As they walked, most of the wolves there heard Ebony’s mother relax about how the clouds could become a problem. The weight and its minions would be reluctant to leave the space they inhabited currently because of the sun. She could no longer be sure if the clouds mattered or not. If they roamed about when the skies were overcast, it could force an encounter with the wight and its minions before they were ready. The environment the wolves passed
Ebony knew how bad it appeared to be, but she’d never actually gone very far into what she now knew to be a Wight’s Territory. The words barren and desolate were perfect to describe the grey and brown landscape of practically bare rock and dead trees. If she wasn’t aware of magic and magical creatures' abilities. She’d have believed the land poisoned or salted. Because this could be the only way something like this could happen. An extremely polluted land either naturally like the Barron Sea or manmade like a landfill. There were places on the earth still that nothing grew because human armies at some point poisoned the earth by laying down enormous amounts of salt. “I understand their hesitancy not to enter this place. It feels like something is hanging in the air and as you walk by in clings to you until it drags you down,” Sapphire said. Poor she-wolf was just getting the hang of her abilities. Abilities their aunt had wanted to steal. But she didn’t know which sister had the