Page 32 of The Cursed Wolf King

And he’d killed Damian. For me.

The slow demise I’d witnessed in those visions had been real, not just images plucked from thin air. Grayson and Damian had been slowly choking the Orion pack, and I’d unknowingly been part of it, standing on the edge of every vision, bearing witness to Orion’s suffering without fully understanding.

I swallowed, my mind racing as the implications began to solidify.

He deserves to know.

Logan saved me, not knowing what I represented or the danger I might bring him. The old woman was right, twisted as it felt to agree, and even if it wasn’t me who spoke a final deathly curse, I owed him this truth.

The old woman’s eyes glittered, as though she could see each piece falling into place in my mind. Her mouth contorted into an ugly smile. “Finally, the girl catches on.”

I couldn’t leave Logan behind. Not without facing what the Shadow Moon Goddess had drawn me toward. My freedom,my escape… it wasn’t just for me. I was bound to him in some way I was only beginning to understand.

A gift given; a price demanded. Freedom came with strings attached.

And something inside me—my wolf, maybe—was relieved. Relieved to have a reason to seek him out.

“As for the Heraclids…” The woman sauntered closer to me with a disquieting stare, as if she’d seen right through my thoughts. I took a deep breath, steeling myself. I could tell she wasn’t the kind to share information without demanding something in return. “We know Alpha Grayson is going to be awfully torn up about the loss of his legacy. Even if Damian was an arrogant asshole who deserved what he got. That doesn’t change the fact?—”

“I appreciate your insights,” I said, edging along the wall. “I have to go?—”

“You think it’s that simple?” she sneered and lurched closer, the amusement falling away to reveal something cruel. I recoiled; her breath smelled like decay. “That you can waltz back to Logan, tell him what you know, and it will all be right? You may have chosen a side, girl, but that doesn’t absolve you of your sins.”

I growled, feeling my wolf stir with anger that was beginning to boil in my veins. Righteous anger, on Logan’s behalf. “I need to go.”

“I don’t think so.”

Her hand shot out. She moved faster than I could react, the glint of heavy rings catching the light as her fist connected with my face. The ground tilted away as I fell into darkness.

16

LOGAN

Iparked my bike outside the pack’s main lodge, the engine’s rumble fading into the cool, evening silence. The ride home should’ve cleared my head, helped me process. Instead, every mile had only piled on more questions.

I killed the Heraclid alpha’s son.

Damian deserved it, and he’d painted me into a corner with that talk of challenge. The act itself didn’t weigh on me—he’d earned his end a thousand times over, and there’d been no question, no hesitation. Now, with nothing but the sounds of my pack land around me, I felt it—retribution would come.

And for what? The damn fool was half of what he thought he was. Self-righteous, brutal… a waste of space. And the way he had treated Eve was more than enough to write his end.

Eve…

I couldn’t stop thinking about her. The look of relief in her eyes, fear that melted away.

My wolf whined, an insistent pull urging me to go after her, to make sure she was safe, wherever she’d run off to. I knew my pack needed me now more than ever. The responsibility, the weight of leading, tugged against the part of me that wanted nothing more than to follow her scent, to find out what threat had chased her off.

But it was the pack first. Always.

As I made my way up the gravel path toward my office, the weight of it all pressed harder. The Heraclids wouldn’t let this go. They’d send scouts at first, checking for weaknesses. Soon, they’d strike. They’d come for blood, for justice—or at least their twisted version of it. And I’d have to be ready, to stand between them and every life here.

We had to redouble our efforts to mask our numbers.

The lights from the lodge spilled out into the yard, casting long shadows. I climbed the steps, a sense of dread gnawing at my resolve.

The pack would follow me into any fight, but what kind of leader had I become to bring this to our doorstep?

I stopped, realizing the quiet around me wasn’t empty. My wolf tensed as I looked up to see them—every member of my pack, gathered outside the office building, waiting.

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