Intuition

The weight of the power Flint was exuding weighed down on all those around him. Elijah watched him, as he’d always watched him.

Since his son’s wolf first emerged, he had been strong. Too strong for anyone his age, even in his adolescence. All those except Bastian, who used clever methods to defeat Flint’s brute strength when they were children.

As Flint grew, so did the wealth of power within him. It became harder and harder for him to hold himself back from executing the directions of his baser instincts. Elijah noticed that finding Eve had calmed the fires of aggression his son had been battling all his life.

Still, now that she was gone, it seemed Flint had reverted to allowing his animal to lead the charge. The Alpha took two purposeful steps toward Clark before Elijah’s cane stopped him by blocking his knees.

“Wait.” Elijah ordered in an authoritative tone.

His tone had lost its power, or so it seemed. Flint swiftly grabbed the thin black cane in the center, his grip snapped the wood in half. It wasn’t until he felt a few drops of blood running down his palm that Flint realized... The cane had a metal core and he’s broken it like it were nothing.

“What do you know?” He growled as he stepped in front of Clark with narrowed eyes.

“I-”

“Do not lie. I’ll feel it. And then I get have reason to take you to headquarters. We’ll have ourselves a little chat in the interrogation room.” As Flint spoke, he leaned down over the seated old man imposingly. “And I’ll enjoy it.”

Clark hesitated. He was staring at the Alpha’s chin; he was unable to make his wolf meet the emerald, furious eyes of his superior.

“I don’t know anything.” He grunted through gritted teeth.

There it was. Proof enough to Flint that he had lied. In his mindlink, he felt the ex-elder’s fear that he’d already been discovered. There was no guilt, no remorse, nothing. Just worry for himself. This enraged the Alpha further.

Flint grabbed the old man’s thick neck and lifted him off the floor. He squeezed until Clark’s eyes began to swell in their sockets. Knowing he needed more information, Flint also knew he had to force himself to release his grip. He threw the old man over the sofa he was once seated on.

“No!” Alice yelped, standing abruptly.

Flint ignored her and leaped over the worn, leather couch. He landed roughly on the chest of his enemy. Alice moved to dart to her mate but Elijah stood and wrapped his arms around hers. She began flailing to get free, but Elijah was too strong for her.

“You’ve been our friend for fifty years! Why are you doing this?! Elijah, please!” Alice began screaming through the tears running down her face.

“I felt it too, Alice. He was lying.” He replied as he continued to hold her back while she flailed around.

Flint had pinned the old man to the hardwood floor. He was growling in his face, barely containing his inner beast. He reeked of deceit and it was sickening to the Alpha.

“Who is ‘Candor’, old friend?” The inhuman depth of Flint’s voice would have frightened even those who knew him.

The forearm across his throat made it hard for Clark to breathe. He choked on his saliva the first time he tried to speak. Flint moved back just enough for the ex-elder to take a shallow, shaky breath.

“Answer. Now.” Flint grunted as he dug his knee into the inner ilium of Clark’s pelvis.

“I know- him. Let me- explain.” He winced as he croaked the words.

Flint stood and grabbed the short, stocky man by his bushy, gray beard. He dragged him out from behind the sofa before he released him by throwing Clark’s head into the coffee table.

“Explain!” Flint bellowed with terrifying amounts of power behind it. It felt like a shockwave of strength swept through the house and filled the mindlink.

Clark sat tiredly on the floor and wiped the blood out of his eye. His mate froze at the sight of the crimson liquid pouring down Clark’s face from his deeply lacerated scalp and forehead. Elijah used this chance to turn on the audio recorder on his phone. Clark’s feelings were obvious. He knew that if he didn’t start talking, he would soon be dead.

Elijah continued to hold her as she spasmed every now and then, trying to get to her mate’s side. When the old man began telling the story, Flint was able to see through Clark’s embellishments and misjudgments. The picture of events began forming and they didn’t bode well.

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Five years ago, Elijah and Flint fought. This was when his father’s spine was damaged. The memory of the altercation, and the consequences after, would forever haunt Flint’s mind. While Elijah was in the hospital receiving treatment from Elkin, an emergency elder meeting was held.

Clark, being the Alpha’s chief advisor at the time, demanded something be done to protect the pack from Flint. He argued that the youngest Dolan was volatile, uncontrollable, and violent. These were not the traits of a leader.

Joshua had disagreed. He stated that all Flint needed was his mate. He was sure this would cool the fires within Flint’s wolf. Clark vehemently disagreed. Tim and Steven, who also remembered the brutal way Elijah took down his father, claimed Flint needed a chance to find his mate first. Only then could they know for sure if Flint would make a decent Alpha.

Clark was enraged by this. His anger simmered into hatred over the next few months. It was at that time that an envelope arrived at the salon Alice owned. However, the addressed label was written to Clark; not his mate. Inside was a letter. Clark re-read this letter many times over the course of weeks.

The writer claimed to be a young rogue male named Candor. His parents were some of the rogues killed just outside StarLight territory a couple years ago. Candor claimed Flint was their killer and they were just two of the innocent rogues murdered by the large, white wolf.

Clark knew about these attacks and he believed what he was hearing. Candor claimed that his family had come from NorthWood pack originally and he said he bared no hard feelings toward StarLight. Just Flint Dolan.

Clark convinced himself that for the good of the pack, he had to stop Flint from becoming Alpha. This young, impressionable rogue shared his common enemy. Clark decided to use him as a tool for the destruction of the youngest Dolan.

Clark believed he was in control of Candor. It also helped to have a set of eyes on the rogues against StarLight. The ex-elder didn’t believe Candor was capable of acting on his own. To Clark, he was simply a tool for gathering information on both sides of the war.

The old man had given him a plethora information over the years but nothing that would be of use to a simple, singular rogue with no hatred for StarLight.

Clark thought he was doing his best to protect his pack, and as he told the tale... One could feel that he was still self-righteous in his decisions. He couldn’t see the extent of his ignorance or hubris. In his eyes, the biggest threat to StarLight was Flint Dolan. And he was ready to betray pack secrets to get to him.