Insight

On the road out of GreenTree, headed toward the highway, the Alpha's SUV was stopped at the second gate. The warriors had been warned of Flint's departure, so he was confused. He rolled the window down as Duncan approached.

"Commander?" Elijah looked at him questioningly.

"I heard you were headed out." He stated.

"Yes. Move the warriors." Flint nodded to the men in front of the vehicle.

"Yes, Alpha. You're on your way to try to find the tea?" Duncan waved the men away, leaning on the window.

Flint and Elijah raised their eyebrows in unison, waiting for an explanation to how he knew these things.

"I was with Joshua when you called." The commander nodded to Elijah.

"And?" Flint probed.

"And I think you could use another set of eyes and ears. Tim already agreed to cover for me with the warriors." Duncan stated.

Elijah and his son glanced at one another. It was true that the pack thought they were both volatile. If things went badly and became violent... It would take more than just their two statements in order to convince the pack that they hadn't left to simply kill the Lawlers. They both recognized that fact.

"Get in." Flint eventually nodded.

Duncan got into the backset and the trio continued forward. The drive was long and still. The Alpha only stopped once, at a rest stop off the interstate. They stretched their legs and changed clothes, brushed their teeth, and bought some coffee. Then, they proceeded the rest of the way.

Finally, the GPS alerted them that they'd arrived at 83 Erwin Drive. The small, two story house was located just off a narrow gravel road. It was a seventies style farm house with yellow shudders and a red front door.

There were well maintained fields across the property, though winter had frozen them. They didn't see the Lawlers outside, and quickly decided to go knock on the door. Flint's knuckles rapped on the wood. A few minutes later, Rose's curious face peered through the window.

"Hello?" Jim eventually opened the door with his wife close behind him.

"Are you the Lawlers?" Elijah asked knowingly.

The rogue farmer examined them with a hard expression. Rose looked at him with wide eyes. It was obvious who the visitors were, which made it clear why they'd arrived. She grasped her mate's arm nervously.

"Maybe. Are you the Dolans?" Jim grunted.

"Two of us." Flint nodded slowly.

The couple were having a silent conversation. They seemed at odds for a moment before some kind of agreement had been reached.

"We don't know where he is, now. If that's why you're here, you can go." Jim turned back to the group.

"We don't need to know where he is." Duncan stated.

"Then why are you here?" Rose chirped from behind her husband.

"We just came to talk. I would say it's a long overdue conversation." Elijah answered calmly.

The Lawlers contemplated this for quite a while. After a long, tense silence; they invited their visitors inside. It's not like a wooden door was going to protect them, if the StarLight members had come to harm them.

The kitchen was small and there were only four chairs at their dinner table. There was hardly enough room for everyone to stand. They were then led to the living room, which was modestly decorated and had rose patterned wallpaper.

After several more minutes of tense silence, they were seated. All except for Duncan, who leaned on the wall beside his Alpha's place on the couch. Flint glanced around the area, spotting a stack of mail on a thin table by the window.

Find that handwriting. Flint's wolf entered the commander's mind.

Yes, Alpha. Answered Duncan's own beast.

The Alpha cleared his throat. He knew intellectually that these people most likely had nothing to do with Bastian's current activities. Still, his inner animal was angry. He wanted someone to blame. Flint stifled that feeling, to the best of his ability, while deciding where to begin the conversion.

"I am Alpha Flint Dolan. This is my father, Elijah. You've heard of us?" He probed.

Jim nodded stiffly, straightening his back in his recliner. Rose was propped on the arm of his chair. She gripped his shoulder in a reassuring gesture. Flint noticed it and got an idea. What would Eve say to put them at ease? She had such a gift for getting people to talk. In an instant, he knew what to say.

"Good. Then you know, we'll know if you try to deceive us. We didn't come to harm you. Actually, it's the opposite." Flint explained. "Bastian has been coming after StarLight. We aim to end the violence, not create more."

Elijah glanced at his son appraisingly. He was taking a different approach to this interrogation. As the conversation started, Duncan slowly moved away from them. No one noticed him, given the current discussion.

"I knew he was up to something." Jim grunted.

"Jim!" Rose looked at him in bewilderment.

"You know how this goes, honey." He looked at her seriously. "He's been creating chaos for years, it's why we left. I won't lose you and the girl to protect him. He knows that."

His mate fell silent, her gaze dropped to the floor. She nodded sadly. Jim looked back at the group and took a deep breath, as if he were collecting himself for what he was about to say.

"We love him, don't get me wrong. We always loved him." Jim stated firmly.

"I have no doubt that you do." Elijah spoke in a flat tone.

"When we got him, he was just a little boy. He was traumatized from his parents deaths. It made him hard to handle, but he was still a good boy. Sweet, smart, playful..." Rose informed them quietly.

"We aren't blaming you for the way he turned out. We just need some answers." Flint stated.

"Answers to what?" Jim grumbled.

"Why did you leave Summerville in 2002? You even sold the house you were buying." The Alpha wanted to test their honesty before telling them why he really came to see them.

"The rogues held dominance fights every year. At seventeen, Bastian started winning them. All of them. In 2002, before the rounds, he told us that if he won them again..." Rose looked to her husband nervously.

"He said he was going to make his own pack, whether the mountain wolves liked it or not. He was only twenty but we knew he meant what he said. We wanted to get out of the fray before everything began. We have no quarrels with the range, we never wanted any either."

Jim finished his wife's answer.

"We already know he thinks of himself as a rogue Alpha." Elijah sighed.

"So why are you here?" Rose asked curiously.

"Tell me what you know about creeping sedum tea." Flint spoke evenly.

The couple made abrupt eye contact.

"It's hard to contain your wolf when it doesn't get to run. In the valley, full blooded youths often have this struggle. Bastian's wolf was cunning and strong. He burst out when the boy slept." Rose answered.

"I heard about the tea from a friend at the time, he's died since. I made sure he drank it every night before bed." Jim nodded.

"Every night? For how long?" Elijah furrowed his brow.

"He turned when he was nearly thirteen. We started then. At sixteen, he was too strong to force him to drink it." The farmer answered.

Flint met his father's gaze. Creeping sedum made wolves aggressive. After long periods of time, it was speculated that the tea could make one's inner beast rabid. The Lawlers clearly didn't know about the side effects. It seemed that the Alpha finally knew what had accelerated Bastian's madness.

"When was the last time you saw him?" Flint asked.

"He was here a few months ago." Rose admitted.

"I thought you weren't in contact with him?" Elijah probed.

"No. We said we don't know where he is. He knows where we are and he came to visit us." Jim responded.

"What did he want?" Flint drew the rogue's attention.

"He called before then and asked me for the sedum. Jim told him no." Rose explained.

"Because I knew he was up to something." Her mate grumbled.

"Bastian showed up the next night. He said he needed the tea." The woman ignored her husband's statements.

"Did he say why?" Elijah tilted his head curiously.

"Yeah. He lied." Jim scoffed.