Page 21 of The Cursed Wolf King

I watched her leave with a faint feeling of regret. She didn’t know me and hadn’t deserved the bark. But after the vampires had picked apart every term I’d offered, I was running on fumes. It wasn’t just business to me—these were Orion lands, Orion lives. They’d thrown aroundnumbers like we were divvying up marbles, while I knew every acre, every tree, like it was my own skin.

Victory silently set my coffee down with a wink. I was taking a long, steady sip, letting the bitterness settle over me, when someone slid into the chair across from me like we were old friends. An old woman, with bright eyes that were far too direct.

She smelled like damp earth and mildew, the kind of scent that lingered long after the rain and clung to forgotten corners. Her robes hung off her like tattered curtains, layers of fabric that disguised her shape, making it impossible to tell if she was hunched and wiry or hidden beneath them like a heap of stones. Her hands, though, were bare—thin, gnarled fingers tipped with nails like brittle claws. She adjusted her hood, revealing wisps of hair the color of ash and skin crisscrossed with lines that looked more like cracks in dry clay than wrinkles.

“That seat’s taken,” I muttered, hoping she’d get the hint.

“Oh, I know,” she said as she made herself comfortable, crossing her arms and leaning forward. Her eyes glimmered with unsettling amusement, sharp enough to cut. “Nice coffee here, huh? Ever tried the scones?”

I ignored her, focusing on my cup, willing her to leave.

“Not a talker, huh? I can respect that. But you might want to listen. Some folks around here don’t like it when alphas stomp in with no hello, no how-do-you-do. Others would say Orion’s lack of an oracle was coming back to bite them.”

I gave her a hard look, my patience thinning. “Who exactly are you?”

She grinned, revealing teeth yellowed with age but sharp like a predator’s. “Someone who knows the lay of the land. Some might call me an oracle myself, and the Shadow Moon Goddess may have intended me for you. The Seven Sisters have their own ideas for me, but I can imagine a future with you would be at least as fruitful as what those bitches would have me do. See, I know all about Orion. Well, I used to. In the glory days.” Her ramblings of apparent nonsense but with that strand of truth set me on edge. She turned oversized gold rings that sat on each of her fingers. “Bit of a ghost town now, though, isn’t it? You definitely could use my services, if you were open to the idea of welcoming an old woman into your tightly bound circle.”

I stiffened. “Look, lady?—”

“No ladies here.” She cut me off with a provoking grin. “And I can feel you aren’t ready to accept me into the fold. Which surprises me. See, it’s funny how things disappear,” she said, as though she were talking about the weather. “One moment you’re holding on to something precious, and the next… it’s gone.” She glanced at my arm, and though my tattoos were covered, I knew what she meant. “I imagine that’s something you understand well, Alpha Logan.”

My hand tightened around my mug and my tone intensified. It took all my strength not to shout at her to mind her own business. “Listen. I don’t know who you think you are, but?—”

“But,” she leaned forward, “don’t you want to know what happened to your sweet little twin brothers?”

Everything froze.

My grip loosened on the mug.

She tapped her fingers rhythmically onthe table, her gaze drifting over the café with a casual, knowing air. My chest tightened, the air thickening, the memories of my brothers surfacing unbidden. Wyatt and Nash were anything but sweet and little. They were true hunters. At least, they had been until they went missing. The last time I’d seen each of them flashed through my mind—Wyatt’s intense eyes and Nash’s teasing grin as they left to negotiate with the Southern Council.

Gone.

“If you know something about my brothers,” I said, fighting to contain my temper, alpha energy flowing out of me, “thensay it.”

“Oh, I know many things.” She leaned back in her seat with an air of satisfaction. “The Shadow Moon packs used to be untouchable, in the days before the Great Separation, but now the shadows have cracks. And yours run deep. You can see that, can’t you?”

My breathing quickened. She continued as if the choked questions in my throat were inconsequential.

“Orion was once a beacon. Wolves flocked to your lands. They feared you, revered you. The power your ancestors wielded was unmatched.” She watched me with a maddening smile. “All good things must come to an end. Perhaps it was simply fate that your pack is dwindling into non-existence. Or perhaps…”

My pulse pounded as her words sank in. “Perhaps what?”

She gave a slow, almost mocking shake of her head. “You should have been more cautious, Alpha Logan. That is where the alphas of Orion always went wrong. You should have been watching like the hunters you’re supposed to be.”

My hand clenched tighter around the mug, my claws breaking through my skin, and I slammed it down, the noise ricocheting through the café. Heads turned, and I felt the weight of their stares on me.

“Careful, now.” She flicked her fingers, casting a soft shimmer over the room, and in an instant, every patron, every server faded into a distant blur, as if we were wrapped in a veil only we could see through. My heart raced as the café dissolved around us, leaving only me and her.

“Tell me,” I implored.

“Alpha Logan of the royal Orions, you and your pack have been cursed.”

A curse.

That alone explained more than any other possible option. Despite everything we did, we continued to find ourselves declining, suffering, heading toward sure extinction as a pack.

The old would-be oracle gave me a half-smile, and I knew the desperation was evident on my face.

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