Page 56 of The Cursed Wolf King

The sensation was overwhelming, leaving me breathless. My wolf stirred faintly and Logan’s breath hitched ever so slightly, a sound I might have missed if I wasn’t hanging on every moment.

He pulled back abruptly, clearing his throat. “The healer prepared this,” he said, his voice gruffer, his focus shifting to the tin in his hands. “It should help with the pain. And your wolf.”

“My wolf,” I repeated, the words tasting bitter in my mouth. “Anything that helps with her would be a miracle, since I can never get her to do anything.”

Logan cocked his head. “She doesn’t come forward?”

I immediately regretted my words, the familiar instinct to close off rising in me. I didn’t want to explain, didn’t want him to know that essential part of me was broken.

“It’s nothing,” I said quickly, turning my gaze toward the window. “Forget I said anything.”

His brow furrowed, but he didn’t press me. Instead, he closed the tin with a quiet snap and tucked it back into the satchel. The silence between us stretched, heavy and awkward, until I finally blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“So,” I said, louder than I intended. “How exactly did you manage to have a house sitting here, fully furnished and waiting for me? Is this a regular thing for Orion pack? Spare bungalows for kidnapped oracles?”

His jaw tightened, his posture shifting ever so slightly. “It isn’t yours,” he said, his tone clipped. “It belonged to someone who’s no longer here.”

He looked past me, as if remembering, and I waited for him to continue. His lips parted and he took a shaky breath.My heart immediately broke, despite not knowing a thing about what had happened or who had been here before. The sadness in Logan overtook me and I choked back a silent sob. He turned to me, shoulders squared, and any sign of emotion disappeared.

“Rest,” he said. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”

Just like that, he was gone, leaving me alone with the ghost of his touch still washing over my skin, and questions neither of us was ready to answer.

27

LOGAN

The moon was high, spilling its pale light over Orion lands with a peacefulness that only the Shadow Moon Goddess could give, but I couldn’t sleep.

Not with her so close.

From across the village, I felt her unrest, a faint ripple of energy tugging at me like the pull of a distant tide. Eve was pacing in the bungalow. The muffled sound of her footsteps reached me through the quiet night, her movements restless, as though her thoughts had tangled themselves into knots she couldn’t undo.

My wolf stirred, his irritation flaring.Go to her.My wolf was annoyingly insistent.Soothe her.

“I’m not soothing anyone,” I muttered under my breath, pushing the heel of my hand against my temple. He didn’t care.

Touch her, he pressed, his tone turning carnal, possessive.Claim her. She’s ours.

“Enough,” I snapped.

The silence that followed was deafening, but my wolf wasn’t gone—he was just waiting, watching, smug in the knowledge I wasn’t getting any sleep either.

I threw off the covers, swung my legs over the side of the bed, and sat there for a long moment, staring at the shadows stretching across the floor. I couldn’t ignore her presence. Couldn’t ignoreher.

I dressed quickly and slipped out of my cabin into the night, the cool air brushing against my skin. I calmed my heartbeat and silenced my steps. The last thing I needed was to face Rhys or one of the others right now. I carefully took a back pathway, one I knew well from my childhood that led to the bungalow.

It had been my grandparents’ home once, a place that smelled of a crackling fire and baking bread, where the walls echoed with laughter and the occasional reprimand when we were caught raiding the fridge. I remembered climbing the roof with Rhys, Wyatt, and Nash, daring each other to jump off to see who’d chicken out first. This house had been a place of safety, a haven of unyielding love, even when we’d pushed every boundary.

How I’d loved my grandparents.

How I missed them.

They were taken in one of the first raids during my father’s alpha reign. The bungalow had been empty of residents all these years, as no one dared to step into it, knowing what the place had been to our family.

When Eve arrived, I knew right away. It was hers.

My mate.

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