“Magnus, we need to talk quickly. The other rangers will be out here any minute and I don’t want to have any surprises when you meet them. Please listen to me all the way through. Okay?” Sapphire looked hesitantly to the large male who was her new mate. They were still working out how to communicate with each other. She’d never thought she’d meet her mate, but she had, and he’d abducted her to protect her. “Now you have my attention. What would set me off?” He smiled good with a good sense of humour. “First, the next three rangers you meet are bonded lone wolves. Second, all three are contemplating a shared mating with Ebony. Third, she welcomes it, so please don’t mess it up on her. Fourth, one of them looks a lot like Ran. There may be a reason, and it’s not his fault.” Magnus was not sure he liked the idea that there were lone wolves in the area. They didn’t have a pack reputation to show their character. Several he’d encountered over the years were bord
Ebony stood between Ran, her sister, Ivory’s mate, and Benedict. Peter and Franco were smart enough not to make things more charged than they were. “That’s enough, both of you. This is getting us nowhere fast. Benedict has claimed no genuine connection to the McConnell Pack. In fact, he’s not sure his mother mated one. I’m the one that said it.” Her father snorted at that. “Ran which parent has the russet hair?” Ran blinked before he frowned at Howard, Ebony’s father. “My father. What has that got to do with anything?” “Benedict, your mother’s mate, what colour of hair did he have?” “Red.” “Your mother, and her name?” “Blonde. Mary. What has this got to do with anything?” “Ran, your mother’s hair colour and name?” “You have got to be kidding me. You don’t believe he’s, my half-brother.” “Ran?” “Fine, she’s blonde and her name is Mary. But you know that already.” “Benedict, what colour was your f
The three men went their separate ways to do the chores Ebony gave them. Ebony, however, was not the complete focus of everyone’s attention for a rather large number of uncomfortable heartbeats. Her father, Magnus, and Ran broke the staring contest first and drifted toward each other. Ebony could hear them talking and she felt the bottom of the pit that was her stomach fall out. The men were discussing what to do about Benedict and the others. Ran wanted him confined until they were safe enough to deal with him. Magnus said he wanted to know the facts, first. Her father, though, was oddly the most reasonable of them all. Though he sighted some freezing reasoning why. “Hold up, you young fools. Now let’s look at this from a logical standpoint. What is he actually claiming? Then what does he stand to gain from that claim? What has he demanded to get from this claim?” “He’s rather vague on names and dates.” “He asked to be left alone
Ebony finally got away from her parents and went in search of Benedict. She worried for the better part of an hour about him. “Hey, I just wanted to find you and see how you’re doing after that interrogation from Ran. Are you okay?” She caught him out by the entrance to one trail. He was working on chopping some more wood. He put the axe into the log they were using to chop the wood on before he turned around and glared at her. “I don’t want to talk. Come here.” Ebony watched his hands go to his pants and open them. “Kneel honey. You need to make it up to me to tell everyone what I told you in confidence.” He grabbed her hair and pushed her to her knees. His shaft was now outside of his pants as they slipped to catch around his knees. Benedict leaved against a tree and pulled her face toward his straining shaft. “Suck it. I want to lose myself in that hot mouth of yours. I want to blow down your throat.” Ebony gasped at his crude words, and he took the ad
“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