Intuition

Time passed quickly on the mountain; even if, to those in anguish, it seemed like an eternity. Four days after the call, Graham made his speech to the pack. No one outside the elder council and the Dolan family knew the reasons behind Bastian’s hatred.

Still, hearing they were again under threat from him made all of Starlight anxious. As Beta, Graham had been trying to assuage the feelings of the pack members. He assured them that they were safe. However, not hearing from their Alpha and feeling his constant state of upset seemed to be diminishing their belief in Flint.

When Eve slept, Flint thought he could feel that illusive, faint pull in his chest. He was sure it was drawing him to her, and so he remained in wolf form to try to follow it.

It had been a week since Eve’s disappearance and he could feel her getting sicker. Her heartbeat was irregular. Sometimes it would slow and sometimes it would skip a few beats. This was more than a little unsettling to him.

A week after Eve’s disappearance, Joshua set out to locate the Alpha. He finally tracked him down in the southernmost part of the territory. Johnny helped to roll the wheel chair into the woods and, after catching their scents, Flint approached them.

“Alpha.” The elder greeted him.

The large, white wolf nodded in recognition.

“Johnny, leave us.” Joshua stated.

“But I-”

“It wasn’t a request.” He interrupted him.

The young warrior sighed and examined his Alpha worriedly. Flint noted that his jaw had become more square, he was stronger, and his once pale blue eyes were now nearly glowing. He had bonded to his new mate.

Should you need us... Johnny’s wolf entered his leader’s mind.

Flint nodded to him and the young warrior reluctantly walked away. He leaned on a tree a few hundred feet away from them, waiting for Joshua to call him back over.

“Your Beta is doing your job.” The elder stated.

Flint growled briefly in response.

“I mean it, Flint. The pack is automatically looking to him for guidance. They believe you’re too out of control for them to follow you. I know you feel it. They’re being guided by Graham’s opinion of you, and it isn’t a great one.” Joshua persisted.

The white wolf sat tiredly on the forest floor. He had been feeling a bit weaker but he was still confident in his ability to destroy his enemies. Flint couldn’t deny his advisor’s words, but he didn’t want to acknowledge them either.

“Fine. The half moon is in two weeks. After that, I won’t let this go so easily. But you’re losing support quickly. Those of us who are still on your side can’t speak for you forever.” The elder shook his head, disappointed.

Why are you here? Flint asked in his mind.

“Elkin identified the powder you sent him. He says it’s aconitum root. It’s a natural, heavy sedative.”

Flint growled, frustrated. His chest tightened.

“It wouldn’t harm her. I asked.” Joshua informed him.

There’s more. Speak it. He demanded.

“The traitor. Your father found something.” Joshua answered.

Who is it? The Alpha grunted.

“We don’t know yet. Elijah had all communications stopped going and coming from the valley. HQ caught a suspicious letter.” He stated.

To? From? Flint asked.

“To another dead pack member. The only name for the sender is ‘Candor’. It doesn’t show up in our records.” Joshua explained.

We’ll meet you at HQ. The Alpha turned and ran back through the woods.

Joshua sighed as he watched Flint disappear. He then yelled for Johnny to help him get back to the truck. He knew Flint would want to see the letter for himself once he heard of it. Joshua just hoped that some progress, any progress, could snap the Alpha back to reality.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Flint walked into his home and took in the area. Someone had taken the blood stained rug out of the house. On the coffee table still sat the black, folded paper wolf and the towel Eve had used to before her abduction.

He inhaled the scent off of it. It was faint, nearly faded all together. His chest ached. Flint shifted into his human form. He picked up the towel and held it to his face. The sweet, tart smell of his mate only deepened the pain he felt.

Flint took a quick shower. The entire time, he recalled the way he washed Eve’s hair for her. The house around him was filled with memories and he wanted to get out of there as fast as he was able. He got dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt before pulling on his boots.

When he arrived at headquarters, he found his office to be full of waiting pack members. Elkin was seated on the sofa, looking as arrogant as ever. Graham was beside him, reading over some paperwork. Duncan was talking on the phone by the bookshelf, getting reports from his warriors.

Elijah was leaning on Flint’s desk with a stoic expression. Blair was typing on her PDA by the window, keeping herself busy. Johnny stood behind Joshua’s wheel chair. The elder looked pensive, while the young warrior just appeared worried.

“Why are you all here?” Flint asked pointedly.

Everyone stared at him. Duncan hung up the phone and Blair put her PDA away. Those who were sitting rose to their feet. Even Joshua straightened his back and examined Flint. Elijah was the only one whose posture remained unchanged.

“There are security reports to go over, updates on the injured warriors, and pack updates to deal with.” Joshua explained.

“Unless there is something significant, it has to wait.” He looked from face to face. “Anything urgent?”

“No, Alpha. I just need to know how to handle the influx of GraySky wolves in the valley. They’re drawing some attention with their search methods.” Duncan answered.

“What do you mean by ‘attention’?” Flint raised an eyebrow.

“They’re breaking down doors, raiding the homes of rogues, breaking into safe houses...” The commander sighed. “The humans think they’re a gang of criminals. Their antics even made the local news a few nights ago.”

“Exposures? Deaths?” The Alpha probed.

“None yet. But at this rate, it won’t be long.” Duncan replied.

Flint ran his hand through his hair, pushing it back. He knew the reasons GraySky warriors and trackers were behaving this way. The Alpha family of their pack was terrified and furious. This, no doubt, washed through their mindlink constantly. Just as it had been happening in StarLight.

Except, StarLight weren’t the ones making the local news. Flint recalled something his mother used to say. He hadn’t understood it until right then. If the roots shake, so do the branches. He and his family were the roots of Starlight. And they were shaking, he was shaking.

“None of these searches have revealed anything. Absolutely nothing. Bastian wouldn’t hide her in a place we could find using warriors and trackers. He’d have expected this reaction from us anyway and planned for it.” Flint eventually thought aloud.

“Alpha?” Duncan probed.

“GraySky won’t back down. They can’t. And neither can we.” He stated.

“What are you going to do about it?” Elijah asked in a flat tone.

“Pull our warriors off the search. Double the trackers.” Flint grunted in response.

“And GraySky?” Duncan asked with furrowed brows.

“I’ll talk to Jay but I already told you, they won’t back down. To the humans, I’m the mayor of GreenTree. That’s how we should handle this. We start by keeping the search out of the media.” The Alpha answered.

“The human leaders will want to meet with you. I can handle communications but not meetings.” Joshua interjected.

“My plate is already too full.” Flint shook his head.

“I’ll go.” Elijah grunted.

“I declare you the deputy mayor.” The Alpha agreed.

He took a deep breath and looked at the others.

“Next?” Flint sighed.