Page 7 of The Cursed Wolf King

She was breathtaking.

Dark hair fell in a long braid over her shoulder, twisted and intricate, trailing down the front of her body as if it were both shield and invitation. The braid looked loose, strands escaping to frame a face that was both fierce and fragile, high cheekbones shadowed in the dim light. Her skin, pale and smooth, was kissed by the moonlight filtering through the trees, lending her an otherworldly glow against the darkness of the forest. She wore a simple dress, white and flowing, clinging to her in places that accentuated the beauty of her figure. Parts were torn, edges frayed and stained by the forest floor. Her bare feet were muddy, raw even, though the way she stood exuded fierce dignity.

She didn’t look like anyone from the packs I knew. There was a haunting quality to her, mysterious, but my sensescraved it. My wolf clawed at my restraint, desperate to close the distance, to claim her in the way only a shifter’s instincts understood.

My mate.

My human side held the wolf back, torn by the madness of it all. Fated mates didn’t exist—at least, not since the days of the Great Separation, when the packs turned against each other, tearing apart the ancient bonds under the Shadow Moon.

Lore or not, myth or madness, all I could focus on washer, this beautiful, untouchable woman who’d stumbled into my world like a forbidden promise whispered only to me.

Her chest rose and fell, breath quick, and her pulse was visible in her throat, a beat that matched my own, calling to me with a pull so strong it felt like it would rip me in two.

Every fiber of me demanded I go to her, draw her close, feel her against me and never let her go. My hands itched with the need to touch her skin, to feel the warmth radiating from her, to see if the softness there was real. My wolf howled within, a possessive need beyond anything I’d felt before, as if she were the answer to a question I’d been asking my whole life.

She turned, and for a breathless moment, our eyes locked. Her eyes—dark, deep, and intense—struck me with a force that nearly knocked me off-balance. Her gaze roamed over me, unblinking, until it reached my bare chest and trailed lower.

My stomach dropped as I remembered, too late, that I was standing there naked, every inch of me laid bare under her scrutiny. Heat rushed through me, and she gasped, thesoft sound hitting my ears like the crack of a whip. Before I could speak, before I could even move, she turned and bolted, her steps light and quick as she tore through the forest.

She was fast. Faster than I’d ever seen a human form run, her movements precise and nimble, as if she were born to evade. My wolf snarled, furious at the widening distance between us, but I couldn’t look away, couldn’t force my feet to move, as if I’d been rooted to the spot by the power of that single shared glance.

Mine.

The word throbbed in me, an instinct I had no power to quiet. She slipped deeper into Heraclid territory, disappearing into the shadows, her form weaving through the thick underbrush until she was a glimmer in the trees, and then nothing at all. She only left a deafening silence left behind.

My wolf pushed again, furious, thrashing against the cage I’d forced him into. He howled, pushing me to follow her, to tear through every barrier between us until she was in my grasp.

Mine.The word beat like a war drum, demanding, relentless.

I didn’t move. I stayed there, staring into the emptiness where she’d been, inhaling the faint remnants of her scent. Only then did I turn back toward the Orion lands, the pull of duty calling me away. My wolf, wild and unyielding, only chanted one word over and over, filling my mind with a raw, primal truth.

Mine. Mine. Mine.

4

EVE

Isat stiffly on a wooden stool, gritting my teeth as Anwen dabbed a bitter-smelling ointment on the wounds along my arm. Branches had torn at me as I ran, but putting distance between myself and the man before the sun fully rose had been my only thought.

What I’d felt had beentoo much. It didn’t make sense, and I had enough in my life that was out of control already.

The rash spreading across my arm was anything but comfortable and I once again faced the fact that my wolf was too deeply suppressed to help me. Thank goodness I had Anwen.

The first rays of dawn filtered through the window of Anwen’s small home, casting a faint, golden light across the cramped space.

Kenza leaned against the wall, observing me like an overbearing mama wolf. “Care to explain why you’re here at the crack of dawn looking like you got into a fight with the forest?”

I shrugged, keeping my eyes on the floorboards. “Just needed a run after that vision.”

“A run is one thing,” Kenza scoffed, “but you look like you went sprinting into enemy territory. You’d better be careful, or Grayson will start sending his lapdogs after you.”

Enemy territory. She doesn’t know how close that is to the truth.

I’d been right up against the Heraclid borders when I’d seen him.

Why didn’t I say anything? That had been my chance!I’d been kicking myself ever since that moment, but what else was I supposed to do? When a dream is suddenly a flesh-and-blood man in front of you, all reason flies out the window and I could only bear to do what I had always done. Run.

Anwen glanced up, wisdom etched into her wrinkles as she worked. “Sometimes running does what words can’t,” she murmured as she dabbed at another scrape. “You should be careful all the same, child. These wounds say you weren’t just running. You were runningfromsomething.”

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