EmberThe mood was somber while Nova assisted her to get ready the next morning.  They knew they had no way of stalling anymore or getting away before the ceremony.  And the hope that her ‘helper’ would come through was also not a given.Thankfully some of her wounds had healed somewhat from the previous night, thanks to the protein bar, but Nova didn’t sound pleased when she checked them, saying that her healing was still pretty slow.  Despite Nova’s attempts to help her, she still felt starved.Ember added another tick to her being a failure as a wolf.  She wasn’t fast or healed as fast as others, even with extra protein.  She also didn’t have the hearing and other senses that other wolves had.  She was a mediocre wolf at best.“Hey!  There is nothing wrong with us, aside from the fact that we haven’t had the same time to forge our connection that other wolves had!&rd

Alpha AnsonHe’d been worried about Ember since she’d been taken; the only person keeping him even vaguely sane was his newly found mate.  Actually, she was his long-time lover who turned out to have hidden her true worth from him in a bid to protect his sanity while he had been married to Bernadette.Of course, it also helped to keep his mind off things when he had to take care of her after she had exhausted herself using every effort and spell she knew in an attempt to find Ember.  But somehow there seemed to be some kind of spell protecting Ember from being found by magic.He was terrified for Ember, but he had his newly marked mate to focus some of his attention on, who also helped endlessly to soothe him.  Something the young alpha from Bane pack did not have the luxury of.Everyone knew that Ember had newly marked him directly after the moon dance, just like he had marked Grizelda after she showed her true worth to him aft

Alpha DenzelHe was grateful that his mate was not present in this meeting, but he was sure he was going to get an earful when she finds out what was happening.  Cindy was not a she-wolf that was quietly going to stand by and not raise hell when she found out what they were playing at.When they finally left the war room, they were all ambushed by their mates and he knew his time of peace was up, and judging by the looks on their mates’ faces, he was not the only one about to be raked over the coals.Queen Cordelia instantly dismissed the servants when they came into the dining room for lunch.  According to King Richard, she had insisted that they be present for lunch and he knew it had been an ambush the moment the servants fled from the room like the hounds of hell were after them, especially when they realized that lunch was a buffet.“What are the plans you’ve come up with and where do we fit into it?”  Queen Cor

AshThey had parked their cars and hid them in the woods close enough to the compound that they could escape quickly if they had to, but not close enough to give away their approach.  Dousing themselves in the scent neutralizers the genius Charlotte had invented, they quietly ran towards the coordinates they had for the compound, spreading out in a wide arc as they did.They would surround the compound and attack from all sides, so they knew no one would escape; he just wished he had more warriors to make this attack easier.  Their team was split up into three parts so they could attempt to contain whoever tried to escape.  Most would invade with their dart guns and pop off as many as they could into every enemy they spotted to even out the numbers until they ran out of ammo, before they would shift into wolves and take the rest down.Two from each team would stay outside the compound to assure that no one escaped if they could help it.  But

Ember*TW: detailed description of dead body and the attack in the background*When Balor fell silent and she felt no more movement coming from him, she hesitated.  Is he dead?  She listened closely in the complete silence that surrounded her and there was no breathing or pulse coming from him.  Alright, she expected Nova to help her die; she did not expect to kill someone.She was torn between freaking out because she killed someone and feeling an overwhelming feeling of relief that she had escaped his tyranny over her life.  She had ended the darkness that had threatened to consume her whole life.  But she was still tied to him and she was still blind, which meant she was still very much helpless.Ember startled when she suddenly heard a gunshot ringing out, followed by a cacophony of even more shots.  She was tied to a dead man and she needed to get out of the line of fire, but for that she needed to see.&