Intuition

The warriors at the gate of the Dolan manner placed a call into headquarters. They asked for a large medical team as well as an accompaniment of specialists. They were worried the Alpha would still be raging when the medics came to remove the injured warriors.

Flint didn’t bother them. He was running off his panic and anxiety in the woods of the estate until well after they’d left. He eventually came to stand in his living room again.

Now that there was more light, he saw a towel laying on the floor. It was smothered in Eve’s scent. His anxiety rose to impossible levels. The sun had risen and there was still no sign of Eve, not even in the mindlink.

He looked at the coffee table where the black, paper wolf still sat. The large, white wolf stepped toward it and inhaled the scent off the tabletop. Bastian’s smell was musky and masculine but also light and illusive, like smoke. Once Flint found it, he began to track it through the house.

He stepped in the dried blood of his warriors and tried to ignore it. He passed by the broken photo and got another memory flash of the violence he’d incurred. As much as he felt guilty over the way in which he lost control, another part of him still blamed the warriors for Eve’s disappearance.

Flint followed the trail of the scent through the room. Bastian had meandered around for a while before he sat on the coffee table. Next the wolf walked up the stairs. His enemy had touched the railing and slid his hand down it as he descended the steps.

Once in the hallway, Flint noted that Bastian had gone into every room. He touched various objects and examined them. The snow globe on the nightstand in the guest room, the coats in the hall closet, the books on the bookshelf by the secondary bathroom.

The Alpha quickly discerned that Bastian remembered the layout of the home. He had spent several long minutes in Flint’s childhood bedroom. He tracked the scent into the master suite. Somehow, this seemed to be Bastian’s entrance point into the house.

He had picked up the picture of Eve from Flint’s nightstand. A realization that brought an unconscious growl from the wolf’s throat. Bastian had sat on the bed for a few moments before going into the bathroom. The alpha noted that Bastian hadn’t stolen anything, he’d simply looked around.

Flint followed the scent to the closet, giving him pause. He shifted into his human form before yanking the door open. There was nothing inside that he didn’t expect to see. He sniffed the air, catching a whiff of his enemy coming from above.

Flint pushed the panel back in the ceiling that led to the attic. It was dark and still. The air was stuffy and humid. Dust particles were floating through the sunbeams and the surfaces of the boxes were coated, untouched.

Bastian’s scent was there, but it was faint. Flint caught another smell in the air. A more familiar one. It was sweet and tart, reminding him of raspberries... Eve. She had been there. He followed her scent back down to the bedroom.

She had taken a shower when she got home. This was obvious by the towel found downstairs and the scent of her shampoo in the air by the shower. Flint began tracking her. She had touched his dresser, the drawer where he kept his shirts. The Alpha felt his thundering heartbeat ease a bit.

He now knew Eve was at least dressed when she was taken. He followed her scent through the hall and down the stairs. Eve had gone to the kitchen and opened the fridge. Flint again tried to feel her in his mind, but to no avail. She had gone into the living room and this is where the towel still sat.

Flint picked it up and inhaled the scent on it. Eve’s warmth filled his senses. She had used it on her hair, he could tell. When he opened his eyes, he realized he was facing the coffee table. The black, paper wolf was staring at him. He could nearly see what happened. Eve had seen Bastian and dropped the towel in fear or perhaps shock.

These were the feelings he’d experienced just before she closed her mindlink. Flint assured himself with the feeling in his chest. Eve’s heart was beating strong and steady. She was alive, as was the pup inside her. He released a ragged breath and his gaze dropped to the floor.

There was a fine powder on the rug. Flint hadn’t noticed it before. He squatted and touched it with his fingertips, smelling it. The scent was bitter and nearly herbal. He retrieved a baggie from the kitchen and collected what powder he could. He placed it on the coffee table beside Bastian’s calling card.

Flint went upstairs and climbed back into the attic. He took a deep breath and focused on the areas where Eve’s scent mingled with Bastian’s. The trail led him to the window. Flint opened it and peered outside.

The giant oak tree he and Bastian used to climb as children drew his immediate attention. The large limbs had been growing toward the house for years. He climbed out of the window and onto the roof of the porch. Flint stepped into the tree and was easily concealed from the porch the entire time.

This was how he had gotten into, and out of, the house. The Alpha examined the tree itself. There was a notch that had been intentionally cut. Flint lept to the ground furiously and walked toward the next tree. This one had a similar carving. He followed the notches until he reached the line to the estate’s small grove of trees.

He had to climb several of them, and it took him nearly an hour, but eventually he managed to find the final notch. This one had prong marks buried in the bark along side it. Flint began to form a picture in his mind. He shifted into his animal form and began to run again. This time in the direction of Bastian’s escape.

Bastian had set up a series of short, thin lines from tree to tree until he reached the woods. He waited until he heard the footsteps of the warriors fade before moving from one to another. To do so with Eve in tow meant she had to be unconscious. The Alpha’s speed accelerated at the thought.

The powder. He pondered.

What about it? The wolf growled.

It was near the place she saw him. It could be the answer. Flint retorted.

The large, white beast began to head back toward the manor. The scents of Bastian and his mate had been carried away by the higher winds hours ago. As he approached the porch, a familiar silver car parked behind the SUV. The door swung open and Flint turned to face the new comer with an unreadable expression.

“We need to talk.” Elijah stated.