Page 83 of The Cursed Wolf King

I didn’t have the words to respond. How could I tell him? How could I explain that the moment he’d taken me, everything I thought I knew about myself had shattered? That the part of me I’d begged to return for years had finally answered, and now I was terrified of what might happennext?

I stayed silent.

“I know it was intense,” he said. “The beginning of a claiming can often be that way. And we’re fated mates. There are hardly even any stories anymore about what we can expect will happen between us. But what just happened, that beautiful moment… it was the beginning.”

I swallowed hard, letting him hold me as I wrestled with the secret of my wolf’s arrival.

Logan shifted slightly, his arms tightening around me as if he could sense the battle raging inside. His breath hitched, and through the bond, I felt a pulse of longing, and then something darker, harder, like his soul was clawing at itself.

It’s his wolf.

“Logan?”

My wolf suddenly appeared again, pacing, panting, wavering between elation and despair. I had no idea why. My ears buzzed, the sound growing louder, tinny, like the ringing of a thousand bells crashing together.

“I’m fine,” he lied, his jaw clenching as he tried to steady his breathing. But I could feel it—the crackling intensity in him, the way his wolf stirred. Just like mine. The bond between us hummed louder, hotter, and not in a good way. It was almost unbearable.

“No, you’re not,” I whispered. I reached for him. His cheek was burning beyond even a wolf’s heat under my touch. The connection between us sparked, sending a fiery jolt through my body that left me gasping.

His wolf reached out—no longer content to stay beneath the surface. I felt it like a tidal wave, crashing against my senses, powerful and relentless. My own wolf responded instantly, surging forward to meet his, their energy tangling and pulling, pushing and fighting fordominance.

The world tilted. Nausea swept over me as their connection tightened, bound by something deeper, something primal and ancient. It felt like I’d been kicked in the stomach and Logan’s strong arms cradled me as I gasped for air.

“Eve! What’s happening? I feel my wolf with yours, but he’s blocked me out. I’ve never felt any of this before.”

I couldn’t answer. My wolf was too strong, consuming every part of me. More than that, she was merging with his wolf, their bond wrapping tighter and tighter, until it felt like we were being caught in the throes of something too vast to comprehend.

“Logan…” I managed, clutching at his arms as my vision blurred. My wolf growled, and through her, I could feel the echo of his wolf’s howl, resonating through my chest. It was beautiful and excruciating all at once, a connection that was as painful as it was necessary.

His forehead pressed against mine, his breath hot against my skin. “I’ve got you,” he murmured, his voice steady despite the chaos surging through us. “I’m not letting go.”

The bond between us pulsed violently, a living thing that demanded to be acknowledged. It wasn’t just love, or fate, or even the pull of mates. It was an ache that came from the very depths of who we were. Something broken.

Something cursed.

My wolf whimpered at the thought, torn between surrender and fight, and I knew Logan felt it too. His body trembled against mine, his wolf caught in the same agony. “We have to—” His voice cracked, and he pulled me closer, his hands gripping me like I was the only thing keeping him from shattering.

I couldn’t speak. The connection between us was too strong, too overwhelming. My head throbbed, my heart raced, and every nerve in my body burned with the weight of what we were. Together, we were everything and nothing, a storm like the one outside, waiting to consume the world—and destroy us in the process.

As suddenly as it began, the connection between us loosened. The pain didn’t disappear, but it dulled, becoming more bearable. My wolf settled, though I could still feel her trembling, still hear her whimpers in the back of my mind. Logan’s wolf calmed too, even if he was still pressing against mine.

We stayed like that, tangled together, neither of us speaking as the storm inside us slowly subsided.

37

LOGAN

Itook in the sight of Eve’s face, so peaceful in slumber. Her cheeks were still rosy, a small sign of the bond we had begun to seal.

I have to protect her. No matter what.

The overwhelming need to keep her safe made the world around us blur, like I was walking in a half-forgotten dream. My body moved, but it didn’t feel like mine—every step disjointed, every breath foreign. I was a compass spinning wildly, pulled by her even in sleep, like the true north, and yet lost in a haze. It was like the rest of the world beyond this bungalow never even existed.

But it did.

I kissed her forehead, her sleeping form filling my heart, then pulled on my jeans and slipped out the front door as quietly as I could.

Leaving her wasn’t easy for me or my wolf. My steps dragged, a strange burden clinging to me, as though I’dstepped out of my skin and into someone else’s worn, threadbare shell.

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