Insight

As the Adams left headquarters, Flint felt something in his chest. It was an empty sensation. Longing. He touched his sternum and closed the office door. He closed his eyes and, again, his wolf searched the mindlink for Eve. He tried to reach her. Instead of her beast’s voice, he heard a familiar tune from somewhere far away.

He was nostalgic. Flint remembered being a knowledgeable dancer. When he and Eve had danced to this song, his experience was obvious by the way he moved his feet. As was her lack of the same skill. Flint recalled that, even though he had attended many fundraisers and events where dancing was the norm, he had never felt so good while holding his partner... Until that partner happened to be Eve.

He smiled to himself, despite the static that creeped through the recollection. However, to those watching him, the expression looked painful. Elijah stood and approached him, his cane tapped the floor with his movements. He laid his hand on Flint's shoulder, drawing his attention.

"Bastian's returned to the cabin." The Alpha stated, turning toward the television.

On the feed, there appeared to be a gathering in the back yard of the structure. He couldn't see Eve, but he could see the movement of small figures around a fire. His cell phone vibrated on the desk. He answered it without looking at away from the screen on the wall.

"He's back." Flint skipped all greeting, knowing who was calling.

"Yes, Alpha." Peter's voice answered. "He returned about twenty minutes ago. I observed his homecoming from the hills. I think they're celebrating something."

"Understood. Keep watching. Your orders are the same as before Bastian's departure." He replied.

"Yes, Alpha." The tracker stated before Flint hung up the call.

"How do you know he's back?" Duncan probed, examining the video stream on the television.

"I can feel him with Eve. He haunts her." The Alpha growled the answer.

The silence that followed his response was thick and heavy. The sound of Joshua's cell phone interrupted the quiet. The old man answered it hastily. After a minute of tension, alarm flooded the elder. Everyone in the room, and in the mindlink, could feel it.

"Send it to Alpha's office immediately." Joshua demanded before ending the call.

"What is it?" Elijah asked curiously.

"That was Elder Edward. The mail was being sorted at the mill, as usual. Something flagged the system. An outgoing letter to the valley, addressed to Candor." He explained.

"Could it be old? From Clark?" Duncan raised his brows.

"No. The handwriting belongs to someone else. Edward said it looked like a woman's writing and it was picked up from one of the public mail boxes on main street." Joshua answered.

Seventeen long minutes later, someone knocked on the door. Blair entered the room and closed the threshold behind her. She handed Flint the envelope. Everyone gathered around him to examine it, except the assistant. She saw it when she carried it to him. Blair knew how important a clue it was, even if she didn't know what it said inside.

"Wait..." Flint whispered as he looked at the handwriting.

He walked around the desk and opened the drawer. He riffled through the papers and research until he found what he was looking for. Eve's notes. He placed the old envelope with the bubbly lettering beside the letter to Candor. They were the same. Flint furrowed his brows.

"This was written by the girl with the blue hair." Flint thought aloud.

"How do you know that?" Duncan probed.

"She's always with Eve. She's the only one who would have helped her send the notes to us. The handwriting matches." Flint slid the envelopes to the group so they could confirm his conclusions.

"How did it get inside the borders as outgoing mail? Why is it addressed to Candor, if the blue haired girl is there with Bastian?" Blair wondered.

"What does the letter say? That could help." Elijah scoffed.

Flint opened it. Inside the envelope was a single piece of college ruled notebook paper. It was written in the same bubbly lettering and purple gel pen as the address. His eyes skimmed over the page, hoping to see the meaning through the message's straightforward façade.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Dear Candor,

I told you the old man would get caught. He was too arrogant. Even though you helped him out for his friend, he still ended up getting executed. And his son knows nothing about us. He's not even suspicious, just like you said. Sheer stupidity.

I think they've lowered the security level, so we'll all be writing you letters again. If this goes out at all, that is. I doubt they'll be able to find us all anyway. Even if someone suspects me, there's no way they can spot everyone. We're still on your side, even if we've been forced underground for now.

We're all waiting for that sign you keep saying you'll give us. The time to move seems like it's upon us, more and more each day. Just give us the word and you know that our numbers will stand behind you. We have to restore order and safety to the pack. We all know we can't do that with our current leadership, or rather our obvious lack of it.

We're waiting your orders. Just say the word.

Sincerely,

StarLight's Shadow

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Flint furrowed his brows and passed around the document. Everyone read it over several times before it made it back into his hands.

"There are more of them here. Plenty more, from the sound of it." Duncan stated.

"StarLight's Shadow... I don't like the sound of that." Joshua replied.

"Stop." Flint sighed.

Everyone looked at him curiously. Except for Elijah. He knew what his son was thinking, they were having similar thoughts. He simply nodded, silently urging Flint to continue.

"This came from the Shadow pack. The purpose will be clear once we think about Bastian's motives. He wanted us to find this letter. Hell, he had it placed in the mailbox on Mainstreet." Flint ran his hand through his hair, pushing it back.

"He wants us to think there are a lot of traitors inside our ranks. " Elijah agreed. "He wants us to isolate ourselves from StarLight even further."

"That may all be true, but the writer mentioned Clark's execution." Joshua pointed out. "Bastian would need inside information to know that for sure."

"It's coming from somewhere. There's at least one leak." Blair nodded.

"Graham is mentioned. Well, his ignorance is. Could he have something to do with this?" Duncan interjected.

"We have no evidence of it." Joshua grunted.

"I don't trust him." Flint sighed.

"Neither do we." Elijah spoke for the group.

"The good news is, Bastian doesn't know about the notes. He thinks we're going to panic when we find this letter. For once, we're ahead of him." The Alpha thought aloud as he stared at the page. "We can use this."