Intuition

Bastian had many theories about the newest Dolan. He didn’t know where to begin when they first began forming. Now, however, Eve had given him a chance to explain everything he’d been thinking.

“Well, I already told you I think breaking your mark would release you from the power of the pack and Flint.” Bastian stated.

“Go ahead and try, punchy. I’ll tear you apart.” Eve narrowed her gaze at him.

“I already told you, Evie. I’m not going to force you to do anything, if I can help it.” He sighed.

She growled briefly in response. He chuckled and held his palms out in mock defense.

“I have another thought...” Bastian’s sentence trailed away.

“Your five minutes are already ticking.” Eve rested her back on the wall behind the bed, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I think something went off the rails. Not just with the pup. With your destiny.” He spoke slowly.

“What the he-” Eve began indignantly.

“Just listen. Okay?” Bastian sighed.

She nodded with a tight expression.

“Every year, on the night of the Call, the rogues have a gathering. If you can call it that... The pull for your mate is strong, even if your not on the mountain. The rogues get together to help restrain the newly mated before they get themselves killed running up the mountain. Outcasts aren’t allowed to take part in the Call, so most rogues miss out on ever knowing their true mates.” He explained.

“That’s to protect the bloodlines. You have to see the reasons behind that.” Eve replied.

“I do and I don’t. The half-breeds, obviously, shouldn’t. The rest of us...” Bastian shrugged.

“Okay, what’s your point?” She sighed.

“At the Call gathering three years ago, I got a taste of that. I remember, I was twenty four at the time. It felt like my wolf was breaking free. He demanded that we run toward this sound... The wind turned and blew through me, carrying her scent. It was sweet and still bitter. My goddess, her smell... Her howl was sweet to my ears, addictive.”

As he spoke, it seemed like his mind was back there. He was reliving it.

“My pack had to lock me up to keep me away, it took all of them. I killed three of my own men trying to reach her. The following years, I didn’t attend the gathering. I chained myself in a warehouse in the valley. Each time she called to me, it felt like I was cutting myself apart by staying away from her. Actual pain.”

Bastian’s hand unconsciously moved to his sternum, as if the pain could still grip him. As if it currently had a tight hold on his heart.

“Then, last year, everything changed. I felt something worse, something different. Her howl, it began like always but something happened. Like all the air, all the life, all the blood was pulled from my chest. By the time the howls were silent I had broken the chains holding me. I wanted to find her. I had to find her before the connection was gone.”

He stood suddenly and began pacing. Eve was silently panicking. She found herself watching him with wide, bewildered eyes.

“I ran up the mountain but the Call was held in Acres. They’re kind of like a human military base. So, I had to use the trees to get through. I always loved the trees...” His gaze focused on Eve.

“That was the first time I saw you. You were trailing behind Flint on your way back to Acres town square. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It was you. But once you took the stage and accepted him, I felt the link close. I couldn’t feel you anymore. He had taken you.”

“Stop!” Eve jumped to her feet.

Her heart was racing. It couldn’t be true. None of it. She refused to hear another word of it.

“No! No, I felt something all day that day. It was in my chest. I felt when it left my throat, it went straight to Flint’s heart. MY MATE’S heart. I know it. You’re wrong.” Eve shook her head furiously.

“Evie...” Bastian took a step toward her.

She backed away from him, taking deep breaths to calm the animal inside her.

He thinks we belong with him! We’ll never get home! Fight! We have to escape! The she-wolf was snarling and thrashing around.

We can’t! We can’t take them all before the power runs out! What happens then?! Eve screamed internally.

The power was already swelling in her chest, matching her emotions before overtaking them.

“Evie, please.” Bastian stopped moving and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I can explain more. Just, let me.”

She clenched her fists while bracing herself on the wall with her other hand. Eve turned an angry, confused glare toward him. She had just eaten and she was calculating how much strength it would take to throw Bastian out the window beside her.

“Please.” He stepped back and leaned against the door.

She huffed and sat back on the bed. She was watching him like he was the enemy. Bastian was unbothered by this. His expression was one of worry and pleading hope.

“The Dolan’s have been the longest running Alpha family in history. Over two hundred years of Dolan power were passed onto Elijah. I don’t think he was even supposed to have children.”

He paused to examine the way Eve had gotten her breathing under control.

“I’ve read the prophecy from that book. ‘These gifts cannot be allowed to amass forever.’ I think Selena found a work around with the all meat diet, closing her mindlink, and being a wolf most the time later on. That’s what Elkin told you, right? Well the next generation, your pup, is even stronger.”

“Having slipped through the cracks of what’s natural, I don’t think Flint was meant to have children either. His offspring would be too powerful to be taken down by the entire mountain of wolves. Nature wouldn’t allow it. So he wasn’t supposed to have a mate. No mate. No children. Natural end to the Dolan line.”

“Then how am I his mate now? What changed? You sound delusional.” Eve shook her head at him.

“I don’t know what changed. You may have just given me the answer, yourself. That feeling in your chest? What was it?” He probed curiously.

“I don’t know. I asked the moon goddess to give me my mate and she finally did. MY MATE as in Flint Dolan.” Eve answered firmly.

“Maybe she thought I wasn’t coming and gave you a new one.” Bastian stated.

“That can’t be true.” She replied.

“Let me test that theory. I won’t hurt you or anything. Just let me prove myself wrong.” He stepped toward her.

Eve narrowed her gaze at him once more. She watched as he approached and sat beside her on the mattress. He moved the neck of her sweater to the side, exposing her shoulder and the mark of Flint’s teeth. She dodged away from him immediately.

“I won’t do anything to you. I promise, Evie. Just show me.” Bastian urged her.

She sighed wearily and sat back in place. He moved to expose the skin again. Bastian examined the mark with hard, cold eyes. He gritted his teeth for a moment before brushing his fingers across the scar.

Electricity. Eve felt it shoot through her. Not the warm, passionate, bolts that Flint set off in her every nerve. No. This was different. It felt like static in her veins. Not pleasurable, not painful... Just static.

Bastian smiled broadly, as if he’d accomplished some great feat. Eve’s pounding heart doubled its pace. Her wolf could no longer sit in silence. The she-beast began howling in Eve’s mind. Panic. Fear. Frustration. Anger. She leapt away from him and growled deeply.

“No! Just go away! I can’t deal with this now!” She hugged her ribs as power began flowing from her.

“Evie?!” He asked loudly.

It took several deep breaths and all her will power not to tear Bastian apart just to prove him wrong. He had come to stand beside the door again, watching her with curious eyes.

“LET US GO!” Eve burst with power and aggression.

Bastian straightened up and tilted his head to the side. Anyone else would have had the survival instincts to run away. But not him. Eve could sense that he knew he was in grave, physical danger. There was a part of him that simply didn’t care if she tore him apart. He wouldn’t even try to stop her.

Eve shifted. She could no longer keep her wolf from taking over. She shook the shreds of her clothes off her black fur. The power hemorrhaging from her was so strong that it nearly forced Bastian to his knees.

“Evie!” He called out to the snarling she-beast.

It took all her willpower not to attack her captor. After twenty minutes of snarling, she collapsed. Eve was huffing to catch her breath. Her limbs were sore and her chest was aching from the thundering of her heart against her ribcage.

Bastian stepped up to her and knelt beside her. He heard the quiet, pained whimpering of the Luna and he frowned. He hadn’t meant to send her spinning, he didn’t understand why she was reacting this way. He touched her head lightly and began stroking her soft, dark fur.

“Okay, Evie. I’ll go. I’ll have Onyx come keep an eye on you.” He stated before reluctantly leaving the room.