Page 101 of The Cursed Wolf King

The Musca alpha stepped forward next, her silver hair glinting in the low light. She spoke in a way that hypnotized, silencing the murmurs of her peers. “The oracle wolfdoes not belong to any one pack,” she said. “She belongs to all of us. Her curse, her power—it is a burden we must share.”

“She belongs to no one but herself!” I shouted, surprised at the energy that rose in my voice. I sat up straighter and found I could get to my feet, Eve bracing me as we rose.

“Such altruism.” Dorado’s alpha chuckled, a deep, guttural sound that grated against my nerves. “Awfully ironic, coming from Orion, the pack that couldn’t hold on to what was theirs.”

“Do you hear yourselves?” I snapped. “Is this what the Shadow Moon packs have become? Vultures fighting over scraps?”

The Musca alpha’s expression was unreadable. “We are survivors,” she said simply. “And survival demands sacrifice.”

Her words were like a death knell, their implications clear. This power grab was a calculated move to control Eve, to control her curse, and by extension, to control the fate of every pack tied to the Shadow Moon.

I glanced at Eve, my chest tightening as our bond flared once more. Her wolf’s determination was shining through, but I could feel her fear beneath it—the fear that maybe, just maybe, they were right.

They weren’t. They couldn’t be.

“Try,” I growled. “Try to take her and see how far you get.”

The Dorado alpha didn’t move. The tension in the clearing crackled like a storm about to break, every wolf poised on the edge of action.

And in that moment, I knew one thing for certain: thiswasn’t just a fight for Eve. It was a fight for everything we were, everything we stood for. And I wasn’t about to lose.

If I had to fight… I wasn’t sure I could win.

Grayson stepped forward. His presence rippled through the air. Strength and dominance radiated off him in waves, a palpable energy that even the other alphas hesitated to challenge.

“Lesser wolves,” he said, the words carrying effortlessly across the space, smooth and mocking. “All this bickering over something none of you have the right to touch.” A cruel smile curved his lips. “She’s mine.”

My wolf snarled, fighting against the chains of my weakened body. Our bond flared again, the pain sharper than ever, but I forced myself to stand taller, to meet Grayson’s gaze with all the defiance I could muster.

“You’re delusional!” I shouted. “She doesn’t belong to anyone, least of all you.”

Grayson chuckled, a low, menacing sound that sent a ripple of unease through the growing gathering. “Ah, Logan,” he drawled, his tone almost pitying. “You’ve always been so righteous. So blind.” His gaze flicked to Eve. “You think finding your wolf changes anything? That you can run from what you are? Fromme?”

Eve’s wolf bristled inside her, and how I relished in the sensation of her beast. I felt her resolve, her refusal to bow to him, but I also felt the fear beneath it.

“I still decide your fate, oracle bitch.” Grayson’s smirk widened. “Shift.”

The word slammed into the air like a physical blow, an alpha command so strong it made even the other shifters flinch. In wolf form, he could more easilycommand her. That was obviously his intent now that this band of cronies had shown up.

“No,” I growled, stepping forward instinctively. The pain in my chest intensified, and my knees almost buckled again.

Eve’s body trembled as she fought against the command, her wolf snarling and clawing within her. I sensed her resistance, the way she pushed back with everything she had, but Grayson’s power bore down on her like a vice.

“Shift,” he repeated, his voice sharper, the command rippling through Eve.

A cry escaped her, half-human, half-wolf, as her body gave in. The change cascaded through her, violent and wrenching. Her limbs contorted, her skin shimmered, and the sound of bones breaking and reforming echoed through the clearing. It was painful to watch, every second of it a battle she wasn’t allowed to win.

She was her wolf…

And then she wasn’t.

Like a shimmer of moonlight on the sea, she shifted back. Smooth as a feather floating to the earth. And she waschanged.

My breath caught.

Her body was taller, her posture more commanding, so radiant it was almost blinding. Her skin glowed with an ethereal sheen, a faint light that seemed to come from within, like the moon itself had touched her.

She wasbreathtaking.

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