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
Sure enough, in just over an hour, they located a natural cave with well-worn stone carvings inside and around the opening. Ebony would have missed the thing. The opening appeared as a crack between two rocks at first. The marks to her looked like weathering and it didn’t correlate to anything the forest rangers learned about. What else lay hidden out here that went missed because the few people who entered the area were unskilled to pick up on the existence? At first, all Ebony stood there and touched the marks until her father pulled her hands away from it and shook his head. Her mother looked at the other side of the entrance where Ebony was unsure how any adult would fit through, let alone a wolf shifter. It would be a tight squeeze. Maybe that’s why the servants weren’t wandering around? “Are we sure this is it? I mean, can you read any of this to confirm this is the correct spot?” Michael asked his mate, seeing what looked like random scratches in the r
Ebony ended up as one of the wolves to enter the Wight’s Den and search through it for the Wight and its servants. The space was dark, rough, and tight. This place appeared at first sight as a location to fight in. She couldn’t figure out how they’d get the thing out and defeat them all at once. But her mother claimed she had a plan to fix it. Ebony wasn’t sure if it would work and when she said something to that affect her mother stated it will work if we can pull them to this entrance. Her mother admitted if there were other entrances, then it might not work completely. But she claimed it would be odd for such a place like this to have more than one entrance. She’d never heard of it occurring. For that, Ebony felt grateful. Now, with powerful lights and weapons in hand, they stalked the tiny space that acted as a tunnel or corridor. But really, it looked like a natural crack in the ground, which didn’t make her feel any more confident about entering it. Crevices like this could eas
This is what Ebony worried would happen when they got about ten minutes into this place. The floor of the tunnel was far from clear. Even with the lighting, they had anyone of them could stumble on some piece of debris. It was a bloody death trap. Of course, it was a death trap. The Wight most likely played that part up to catch anyone unwary enough to enter its domain. This is probably how some of the native population was caul. Something she didn’t like to think about, but it was an undeniable fact of history. “I say that we now know how deep this place goes and how deep these things stay. We should head back now and regroup. Maybe come up with a better plan. This wasn’t part of the plan that I’m aware of.” Peter suggested. He wasn’t being a coward. Peter just said out loud what Ebony thought. “We have time. These things will avoid leaving this place until nightfall. So, I say we go back, making enough noise to make them aware we’r
It only took a moment for everyone to stop and turn to Ebony. Another to realise what had her screaming, and by the third moment, they were responding to the problem.Magnus and Con were the first to jump into action. Benedict was not far behind them. Franco pulled the distraught Ebony away from the entrance before she could give chase.She went into action beside her father, preparing to do battle with anything that came out of the tunnel. But Ebony didn’t miss the fact, even in the frantic state she was in, that no one assured Peter would be alright.“Con will sort this out, Ebony. We’ll find out what happened. The space is tight and the fewer people going in will make fighting easier.” Franco tried to reason as others followed the three into the burial cave. “I heard him stumble, but I didn’t hear him fall. He was right behind me. We were so close to the entrance. There weren’t any side tunnels. How could anything have caught him we all didn’t see or heard?” He’s got to be safe. M