Page 63 of The Cursed Wolf King

My wolf pushed forward, claws itching to shift, toassert dominance in the way only a wolf could. I didn’t let him. “You don’t have to believe me. But you will respect my decisions. And if you can’t do that, you can challenge me.”

The words hung in the air like a physical weight, the pack’s collective tension rising in response. It seemed like Athena might actually take me up on the offer. Her wolf simmered beneath the surface, her eyes gleaming with the challenge. After a long, taut moment, she stepped back, lowering her head ever so slightly.

“Good,” I said, my voice still cold. Things were hard enough as they were without my pack getting ideas about breaking rank. “My inner circle will meet me in my office in five minutes and the rest of you will know what you need to know in time. Get back to work.”

The group dispersed slowly, their movements reluctant, but they obeyed. Athena lingered for a moment longer, her disdain visible, before she walked away. My wolf snarled softly in satisfaction. I shoved him back. There was no satisfaction in this.

I never wanted Orion to become like those other packs where the alpha had to employ commands and obscure information to keep their pack in check. The thought that I was doing exactly that made my stomach clench.

But there were things I couldn’t tell them without revealing my own weakness.

And there was no room for weakness in an Orion alpha.

As I made my way toward my office, I let out a slow breath. This wasn’t the first time I’d faced resistance from my pack, and it wouldn’t be the last. But this was different. More personal. More dangerous.

And I wasn’t sure how much longer I could hold it all together.

The tension in the room was palpable as I entered the office. My inner circle was already gathered, their postures stiff, their faces etched with varying degrees of frustration. Rhys leaned against the wall, arms crossed. Alden stood near the window, staring out as though the trees might offer some solution. Blair and Killian were seated at the table, speaking in low, clipped tones, their expressions hard, while Isabelle tapped away on a tablet to avoid engaging.

Raina sat at the other end of the room, her hands folded neatly in her lap. Her calm was unshakeable, but even she couldn’t hide the crease in her brow.

The door clicked shut behind me.

“Alright,” I said, keeping my tone even. “Let’s hear it.”

Rhys pushed off the wall. “I’ll say it straight, Logan. Bringing her here was a mistake. Not even twenty-four hours have passed and the pack’s already divided. You heard what happened out there.”

“And what do you suggest I do?” I needed my brother on side. If my beta wasn’t fully on board, then getting the rest of the pack to trust in my leadership was going to be way more difficult. Or impossible. “You want me to send her back to the Heraclids? Hand her over to Grayson where she can be tortured, abused, and forced to speak curses against us?”

Rhys’s jaw tightened. Before he could respond, Blair cut in. “No one’s saying that. But he’s right—this is a problem.”

Killian nodded, his arms resting on the table, his fingers drumming against the wood. “The pack’s on edge. They don’t trust her. Hell, I don’t trust her. Something has gotteninto you, Alpha. It’s like you can’t see how this might blow up in our faces?—”

“Shut the fuck up,” Alden snapped, like a whip. He turned from the window, his expression stormy. “You’re acting like a bunch of pups, bickering over scraps. She’s here, andthat’s that. Logan made the call, and we follow it. Or have you forgotten how a pack works?”

Blair stood, his chair scraping against the floor. “Don’t lecture me about how a pack works. I’ve been enforcing for this pack longer than you’ve been alive.”

“And yet you’re the first to question the alpha’s decisions,” Alden shot back. “For years, we have been able to sustain ourselves because of Logan. We have relied on him and he hasneverlet us down. So, if you want to call that into question now, I’ll happily take up the fight on his behalf.”

The two men squared off, their wolves simmering beneath the surface. Rhys stepped forward, placing himself between them, his expression dark. “Back off, both of you.”

Blair’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t move. Killian leaned back in his chair. Raina cleared her throat softly, and everyone paused to look at her.

“Stop this behavior,” she said. “It isn’t helping.”

She stood, her presence commanding despite her calm demeanor. “We are one pack. One. And if we allow this division to fester, it won’t matter what Logan decides. We’ll tear ourselves apart before anyone else gets the chance. Isn’t that what they want from us? Isn’t that part of what this curse could be?”

Her words settled over the room like a blanket of reason, and for a moment, no one spoke. Blair sank back into his chair, his jaw tight. Alden shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Logan,” Raina turned to me, “you need to address this. Not just here, but with the pack. They need reassurance. And that starts with us.”

She was right. They all were, in their own way.

“As Raina said,” I began, “this starts withus. Yes, I’m the alpha. And yes, I brought her here without giving you so much as a heads-up. On the one hand, it’s completely normal you would react this way, questioning how I could possibly imagine that this could do anything but seed division in the pack. On the other hand,” I looked at Blair and then Rhys, “I need to know you trust me. That you’ll stand behind me. That if I were to do such a seemingly rash and irrational thing as bring the Heraclid oracle to Orion, I had a damn good reason for it.” My temper was mounting despite myself. “Because if I can’t trust you to be behind me one hundred percent, then you might as well go with Alaric right now, get off our lands, or challenge me for alpha, because I will not stand for anymore betrayal on my watch.”

My wolf flashed through my veins, knowing it was time they fell in line or moved on. Their loyalties had to be clear—Orion could not rebuild with an inner circle who doubted my decisions.

Blair rose to his feet again and stepped toward me. I heard Blair’s heartbeat as clearly as he could hear mine. They were both beatingfast.

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