Intuition

His wolf had nearly convinced him that being near his mate, pushed his power onto her. With all that she held inside, he was worried about being close enough for her to channel his. True to his inner self, Flint didn’t explain his absence. He just slowly began to spend more time at HQ and in the athenaeum.

Eve had begun studying Lunar Gifts. She thought for sure that if the legend was recorded there, there had to be more worthwhile information to find. Without Flint around, she had been oddly lonely. Eve could feel him in her mind, she knew he was well. Still, his absence was palpable.

The Luna was busy re-watching the tapes of the first rounds of the Beta tournament while she flipped through the tome again. Flint was right in his estimation of Johnny’s abilities. He had made it to the fourth bout, before being injured too badly to continue.

Eve watched his quick gray wolf slide beneath his opponent, knocking his feet out from under him. It reminded her of Flint’s trick on their first run together. However, a moment later; the larger wolf grabbed his already wounded back leg. He used the bloody limb to fling Johnny into a tree.

After her first viewing, she called Duncan. He assured her the young warrior was fine and would be mostly healed by the time the calling came around. She had also told Ellie she was pregnant. Her friend’s excitement did nothing for her mounting worry.

Now, the time limit on finding Sarah Becker was half over. Eve closed the book in her lap and picked up her phone. She locked and unlocked the screen uncertainly a few times before dialing a number.

“Talk.” Flint answered after a few rings.

“Wow. Polite.” Eve replied.

“Oh, Eve. Hey. How are you?” His tone relaxed.

“Fine. I was just thinking about our Sarah problem. Has there been any progress?” She probed.

“We found one of her men. A half-breed. You know that. After that, nothing.” Flint stated.

“I have an idea about that.” Eve began.

“Hang on.” He paused. “Eve, I have another call. I’ve been trying to get in touch with Noah.”

“Okay... Are you coming home tonight? It’s already ten thirty.” She tried to sound casual but she knew she failed.

“Probably not. I’ll see you when I can. Okay? I love you, Eve.” Flint stated quickly.

“I love you too.” As Eve finished talking, the call ended.

She stared at her screen for a few moments and allowed her sadness to turn to frustration.

We can do it ourself. Her wolf spoke up in her mind.

Flint’s already avoiding us. If we do this, we’re risking more of that. Maybe worse. Eve replied.

We haven’t seen him in three days and two nights. What’s he going to do? Abandon us more? The she-beast scoffed.

He’s doing this for a reason. Not to hurt us. We just don’t know the reason. She sighed internally.

Flint’s reasons are irrelevant. If we can help the pack, we have to do it. The wolf answered firmly.

Eve nodded to herself and dialed the phone. After a few rings, a familiar voice answered.

“Luna.” Anna greeted her.

“Hey. I have a job for you.” She forced herself to sound happy.

“I’m already on assignment. Alpha has me looking for Selena.” She reminded her.

“I know. This will be short. A very small, but very important job.” Eve explained.

“Alright. I’m all ears, Luna.” Anna was curious.

“I need to set a trap. And, like before, I need to keep this extremely compartmentalized. Say nothing to anyone.” She forced some authority into her tone.

“Yes, Luna.” The specialist agreed.

“Alright. I know you’ve been told to be on the look out for a rogue named Sarah Becker. She’s a full fledged wolf from NorthWood pack.” Eve thought aloud.

“Yeah but I haven’t heard her name in my area.” Anna answered.

“Well, the trap is for her. More than anything, she wants to see Alpha Daniel dead. I want to offer her the opportunity to get it. Or, at least, the impression of it.” She explained.

“How would we accomplish that?” The warrior probed.

“I have a few ideas. You can help me narrow them down according to difficulty.” Eve took a deep, calming breath. “Sarah has been lurking around NorthWood territory. Well, that and I believe she has a few of the her rogues stationed around as well. That’s what I would do.”

“I can follow your train of thought. If we spread word through NorthWood that Alpha Daniel was vulnerable, she may try to strike.” Anna stated.

“If we say it’s Daniel’s son, not the Alpha himself, it would be more believable. My paperwork says he’s in his late teens. I want you to circulate the message through the rogues in the valley and any you see headed toward Dayton.” The Luna stated.

“Then what?” She probed.

“In four days, I’m going to arrange to have an undercover group of warriors go to Dayton. They’ll discreetly take some items that smell like the Alpha’s family members. They go to the designated camping spot and there, we wait for someone to show.” Eve answered.

“That’s doable. How do we make sure Sarah comes herself? She could just send her rogues.” Anna pointed out.

“I’m banking on my knowledge of her, which is very limited. All I know is, she was learning from Bastian. And he wouldn’t pass up the chance to handle his targets himself.” She sighed.

“Works for me. I’ll start first thing in the morning.” The specialist agreed.

“One more thing, I want a camera on the scene. A live feed that I can stream to my laptop.” Eve added.

“Yes, Luna.” Anna replied.

“Thank you. I’ll be checking in once I have everything set up on my end. You do the same.” She stated.

“Yes, Luna.” She repeated herself.

After exchanging goodbyes, Eve hung up the phone. She felt oddly accomplished and also slightly guilty for not having told Flint. Still, she comforted herself by thinking about how she tried to tell him.

Eve eventually went pulled the throw blanket over her legs and laid back on the couch. She dozed off with one hand on her growing stomach and the other propping open her book.