Instinct by LeTeisha Newton Page B

now within Xavier’s castle so that they could live normal lives. They no longer gave birth to more Sensers, now that the Sensers could have children of their own with mates, but their very lives fueled their descendants. One day they would find a way to safeguard the link, no matter how much Xavier had to spend on the research.
    “This is more than simply need then,” Oron replied, shaking his head sympathetically and dragging Xavier from his thoughts. “Your other is not going to be happy with any woman, and your cock wants you to grab the nearest one. It’s mating season for you, I would say. You’re shit outta luck, my friend.”
    Xavier growled low in his throat, his hackles rising. “Careful, puppy,” he whispered softly, his voice all the more deadly because of it. He knew his usually jade eyes were glowing gold in the darkened club. He could even feel the bristles of his coat pushing through his skin. A mate would complicate things more than he needed. For a time, he would be wrapped up in only her. She would become his priority above all others. As leader, he couldn’t afford the distraction.
    He felt his vision switch, knowing his pupils were nearly completely dilated. His Jag was close to the surface, and he was more dangerous in this moment than anyone could imagine. His other self struggled to break free, wanting to find his mate. He snarled low in his chest, his body beginning to curl so that it could shift. He heard a quiet whimper, and was surprised out of his anger long enough to see his second with his face averted, exposing his vulnerable neck. The move was not lost on Xavier. For a Wolf, presenting its neck was an act of submission. He struggled to fight the shift. He fought his animal soul down far enough with a promise of, Soon, soon we will find our mate .
    He sighed heavily. He must be in hell.

Chapter Two
    “I am sorry, my friend,” Xavier soughed, rubbing his face roughly. Posh throbbed with a heady techno sound, bodies scantily clad undulating all around him, and here he was, nipping at his best friend.
    Shit, he was screwed.
    As a Senser, he had learned to deal with hatred and fear. He’d learned to loathe humans as much as they loathed his kind, and to steer his people into a new world. Pre-apocalyptic Earth had been a festering pool for humans. Slowly they had depleted themselves to nonexistence. The only thing left to them had been science, and they used it in any way they could. Hiding thousands away in airtight domes underground, the humans had weathered their end of days. The Fates had deemed it was time for them to show themselves, to let the humans see who had helped guide them for so long.
    It wasn’t so much that the Sensers protected the humans from death and war, or there would have been some who would have died long before they had been able to kill so many others. The Fates had made it impossible for the Sensers to change the fate of mankind. It was more like the Sensers made sure that man would reach its appointed destiny. They had guided humans in science, religion, and intellectual studies until they had been able to survive their coming end of days. That had been the Sensers’ mission, one that had taken thousands of years after their creation. When they had seen them to the end of the mission, the Fates had then gifted the Sensers a chance to have their own lives, to meet their own fates.
    In that time, the Sensers had been welcomed among human society. They protected humans, as they had for so many years. They had been the only ones strong enough to go outside of the domes to procure food and materials. Some had even been lucky enough to find their soul mates and enjoy the one emotion they had never truly known, love. To protect the humans, the Fates hadn’t allowed them to feel anything but obligation, honor, and the need to protect. It had been a peaceful time, when humans revered them, as was their due, a time for them to finally be free. The time had not