Page 8 of The Cursed Wolf King

Fromsomeone.I tensed, resisting the urge to flinch. “I was trying to clear my head,” I said, as composed as I could manage. “These visions are getting harder to manage. Alpha Grayson’s demands are so specific…” I stopped there, not wanting to reveal too much. Anwen and Kenza were my friends, and all the more reason not to let them get sucked into the ordeal I faced with Grayson and Damian.

Besides, Grayson and Damian were the least of my issues.

That man.

I could still see him—the man from my visions, rightthere. He was massive, with shoulders broad enough to nearly brush the trees around him, and eyes that seemed to strip me bare in a single glance. His nakedness, like a man sculpted from the first stone on earth, only proved what I already knew to be true. Even though I couldn’t get a read on his energy or the pack he might belong to, his scent was as clear as day—he smelled like a wolf.

A wolf of evergreen and ocean, so vast was his scent.

I couldn’t ignore the pull he had on me, a draw that had nothing to do with what I wanted and everything to do with instinct. He had a power that radiated so fiercely it nearly forced me to my knees.

I knew one thing for certain—I had to find him again.

There was something he could do for me, something that could change my situation, though I didn’t know how. Maybe he had the power to free me, to give me a way out. My spirit itched at the thought, knowing I needed him more than I wanted to admit.

“Clear your head.” Kenza let out a long sigh. “You could clear your head by doing the obvious thing, you know.” She leaned in. “Justsay the curse, Eve. Wipe the Orion pack off the map. They’re a bunch of baby killers and feral brutes anyway. Then maybe Grayson and Damian will finally get off your back.”

I snorted, though my stomach twisted at the idea of baby killers. “You really think it would be that easy?” I knew she was saying it because she wanted what was best for me, but my frustration slipped out anyhow. “Even if I could do what they wanted, they’d only find more ways to control me. I’d be trading one cage for another.”

Kenza shrugged, raising her eyebrows. “It doesn’t haveto be this way. I know there are rumors swirling about who you are and how you operate, but that’s because the pack is scared of you. Maybe your future is about making the best of what you’ve got. And you’ve got us, always. You’re engaged to Damian, and I know the Heraclid pack will fall in line behind you one day. They will see what we see. Maybe the solution’s simpler than you’re making it.”

Her words stung, echoing my own doubts, questions that had crept in ever since that last vision.

But the man I’d seen wasreal—he existed somewhere beyond my mind—and I had to believe he held the key.

He was my way out. If I could get to him.

If I told them, even hinted at it, they’d think I’d lost it. Or worse, that I was going rogue.

Anwen broke through my thoughts. “Every oracle has a path, and sometimes, it’s not the easy one that fulfills her destiny.”

I exhaled, trying to absorb her words without letting my frustration show. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe her, but how long was I supposed to continue like this? My every instinct screamed at me to find that man, to draw closer to the power he carried and use it to finally be free.

The door to Anwen’s small home swung open with a force that rattled the jars on her shelves. The three of us turned, and there he stood—Damian, his figure filling the doorway, his eyes dark and predatory as they swept over the room.

His gave me a slow, unsettling smile.

“Eve,” he drawled, his voice as smooth as oil, that familiar edge making my skin crawl. He looked at the scratches Anwen was tending to, a flickerof amusement lighting his face. “What have you done to yourself? I’d hate for my father’s precious oracle to be too damaged for her duties.”

He stepped further into the room, his eyes narrowing as they passed over Anwen and Kenza.

“And it seems you’ve gathered quite the audience for your follies,” he sneered. “Still hanging around with my fiancée, Kenza? You know, friendship with an oracle can be a dangerous thing. I’d hate for it to get you in trouble.”

Kenza’s jaw clenched. “My loyalty to the Heraclid pack is more solid than titanium and we both know it,” she said coolly.

I forced myself to stand, ignoring the warning looks from Kenza and Anwen. There was no way around it. Damian was here, and he wanted me. There was no point trying to stay.

He tilted his head, eyeing the scrapes on my arm with pursed lips. “I’d tell you to be more careful, but it seems that’s a lesson you never learn.” He reached out, a hand settling around my wrist with practiced ease, his fingers pressing just hard enough to make his grip hurt. “Come with me. I’d hate for you to embarrass yourself any more than you already have. I will wrap your wound,my darling.”

I nearly choked on my saliva at the sound of his false worry, but I didn’t resist when he pulled me out of the small, comforting space of Anwen’s home and into the open air. Every muscle in my body tensed as he settled his hand on the small of my back. To the members of the pack waking and walking about, we looked like any other couple. They couldn’t tell he was pushing me forward, his prisoner held without chains.

“You know, it’s funny,” he whispered into my ear. “Seeing you like this, scratched up like a common mutt… It reminds me so much ofher.”

I stiffened, the chill of his words settling against my skin.

“Ah, so you know who I mean.” He gave a quiet, mocking laugh. “Yes, your mother. The way she looked that last time I saw her.” He angled his head to glance down at me, a smirk tugging at his lips. “Weak, skittish… tired, really. As if you’d already sucked the life right out of her.”

I swallowed hard, forcing myself to keep my eyes on the path ahead, willing his words to fade like the morning mist. I didn’t want to believe him—couldn’tbelieve him—but his voice seeped into my thoughts, twisting reality with every word.

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