Page 41 of Moon Cursed

“What do you want?” I asked, voice flat. “Don’t tell me, you’ve got a few more irreplaceable tokens of my late mother you’d like to burn in front of me?”

“If only.” Orion flicked his cigarette somewhere over his shoulder. The jerk didn’t bother to put it out. “No, I’m here to ask you if you’ll be able to restrain yourself from framing me for more of your murders? I may look like a rebel loner bad boy, but I didn’t quite take to prison.” He shrugged. “A man likes to pee in privacy.”

“If I come across a man, I’ll ask if that’s true,” I replied, skirting around his question. Edric taught me my lesson. I wasn’t confessing to anything when anyone anywhere could be listening or recording. Wind wolves had the right idea—be careful with the spoken word. “As for you, dainty princess, you shouldn’t try so hard to stay out of prison. I’m sure all those inmates got a good laugh out of watching you bawl your eyes out while your lily-white ass hovered over the seat. It’s important to keep their spirits up.”

It was Orion who laughed. Throwing his head back, he howled—making those slip-n-slide pecs shake. I literally slapped my hand away when it tried to touch.

“You are funny. People don’t give you enough credit for that.”

“What do you want, Orion?”

“Want to know why I’m here, Volana? I’ll tell you.” Orion closed the distance between us. Leaning over me, his lips hovered barely a centimeter above mine—tickling my mouth with his warm, exhaled breath.

Heat rose beneath my skin. Goose bumps prickled at the nape of my neck, and my wolf stretched and howled within my chest, calling for her mate. But despite that, I sensed her weakness. She was hot off finally completing a strong soul bond between her and her mate, Edric. She should’ve been shredding through my hatred and tackling him like a Christmas ham, but this was all she could manage.

As much as I wanted to live in denial, Nyx hadn’t lied to me. The medicine was only masking the pain, it wasn’t saving her life.Our life.

I gazed into Orion’s hate-filled orbs. Now was not a good time to be too weak to fight my enemies.

“All of this ‘bringing Wolf Nation into an era of peace and equality’ bullshit is just that,” he growled. “You don’t care about omegas, you don’t care about putting alphas in their place, and, if we’re being real, you don’t give a fuck about being queen of the world either.”

“Then what do I care about?” I asked, a bland smile plastered on my face.

“Hmm. I don’t know yet,” he admitted, circling me. “But I promise you this, Volana, until I figure it out, I’m going to ruin everything you do here. I don’t care if you institute Ice Cream Party Fridays. I’ll unplug the fucking fridge and dump that ice cream in the lake.

“I’ll destroy everything you touch. I’ll do the opposite of everything you say. I’ll bring this tiny, pathetic little kingdom you’ve created crashing down around you.” He grinned, backing away. “We’ll see who the dainty bawling princess is then.”

I let him get as far as the door.

“Odin Hayes.”

Orion pulled up so fast, his boots cut an ear-piercing squeak off the floor.

“I knew the name, but since I was cut off from the outside world for most of my life, I couldn’t make the connection until I looked him up,” I said lightly. “Would it surprise you to hear, Orion, that your father came into my temple... and confessed?”

He stood rigid—his back to me. “You’re lying.”

“I’m not. It was rare for someone to pull back my curtain and confront me directly, so of course I remember the faces of the people who did, and your father’s face, it’s not one I would ever forget. How could a ten-year-old forget the man who got in her face and threatened her, demanding to know what would happen if I ever repeated his confession, and promising he’d do even worse if I did.” I closed the distance, circling him just like he did me. Orion tracked me like the moving eyes from behind a painting. “If you were wondering too, I’ll tell you. Luame would strike me down dead if I ever betrayed the trust between her and her people.

“No, I can’t repeat confessions, but”—I smiled—“I can use them to my advantage. Turns out she’s absolutely fine with that loophole.”

He snarled. “If you’ve got a fucking point—”

“You never did find out what happened to your mom, did you?”

That silenced Orion quicker than a sneeze.

I tsked. “Daddy Odin really was a cruel bastard, forcing you to live in uncertainty instead of telling you the truth about her. As it happens,” I sang, trailing my fingers across his shoulders as I passed around. “He toldmethe truth about your mother, Orion, and if you want to know it too, you’ll behave yourself. Maybe do a little bit of that groveling I hear so much about.

“I’d cream my panties to see you on your knees, and no, that is not my wolf talking.”

Orion breathed hard, nostrils flaring. Every muscle in his body was wound tighter than a bowstring. “Your blackmail game is weakening, Volana. If you wanted this to work, you shouldn’t have just fucking admitted that you can’t tell me the truth.”

“Oh, no,” I cried. “That wasn’t for you. That was for her.” I pointed up. “I’m just reassuring her that I remember and respect the rules so that she doesn’t turn me into a human torch. No, Hayes, I’m not going to come right out and tell you, but you’re a smart guy. You should know that words aren’t the only way to communicate.

“I mean, it’s not like your precious daddy had to go around telling everyone he was a serial killer. They got the hint real fucking quick when they found all those severed body parts in his basement deep freeze.”

He growled—wolf eyes lighting and claws lengthening.

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