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LOGAN

B efore I even stepped out of my cabin, a low hum of unease rippled through the pack bond we shared. While the crisp air of morning was refreshing, I felt discomfort growing among us. A division I’d never experienced as the pack’s alpha.

By the time I reached the center of the village, a small group had already gathered. Their voices carried over the quiet, their tones accusatory, their postures tense. My wolf growled low in my chest as I approached, the primal instinct to dominate rising unbidden.

“Alpha,” someone called out, and I immediately recognized Garrett, a wolf coming into his own and demonstrating excellent leadership skills. “We need to talk.” He said it respectfully, but there was no mistaking the confrontation in his eyes.

I raised a brow, letting the weight of my silence settle over him. Garrett shifted uneasily, his shoulders straightening in an effort to stand firm. Around him, the others murmured, feeding off the shared discontent.

“About?” I asked, trying to stay calm, though I was on the brink of making it an alpha command.

“You brought her here,” said Athena, a seasoned hunter known for her sharp tongue and sharper instincts. She crossed her arms. “The Heraclid oracle? Don’t you think we deserve to know why?”

A murmur of agreement rippled through the group. My wolf bristled, pushing against my control, but I held back. This wasn’t the time to snap.

“I’m the alpha,” I said simply, letting the words land with quiet authority. “I don’t owe you an explanation.”

“You may not owe us one,” Athena pressed, “but the pack needs one. We’ve suffered enough. We’ve lost enough. And now you’ve brought her into our home—into our lives—without so much as a warning.”

I had to give her credit for her courage, even if it grated against every instinct I had.

“How can you trust her?” Garrett added, his voice rising. “After what her pack has done to us? To our families? She’s one of them, Logan!”

“ Enough ,” I snapped, the alpha command silencing the group instantly. “You think I’d risk the safety of this pack without reason?”

The silence that followed was heavy, but it wasn’t submission. Not yet.

Athena tried again, and she was this close to crossing a line that a pack mate should never cross. “Then tell us, Alpha. Help us believe you.”

My wolf pushed forward, claws itching to shift, to assert 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 gotten into 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, and that’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 has never let 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 with us . 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 beating fast .

“You’re right, Alpha.” His lips were set in a firm line. “I am behind you.”

He extended his hand between us and I took it firmly, and our wolves flashed their mutual respect for each other. We beat each other’s chests, and that was the end of that.

The others in the room did the same with me, and I took my time, fulfilling the ancient custom for the shared heart of Orion.

We each had tasks to fulfill if we were to make a call on where to go next with the Heraclids and this curse, but for me, there was only one place to go.

A little bungalow on the edge of the village.

The door to the bungalow stood ajar, faint sunlight slanting across the floor inside. I knocked, but there was no reply.

I slowly pushed the door open, peering around the edge.

Eve was huddled in the corner, her knees pulled tightly to her chest, her face hidden in her hands. She wasn’t moving. She was just sitting there, her entire body radiating an unbearable stillness. The kind that spoke of fear so deep it locked a person in place.

My wolf surged forward, snarling, demanding I act.

I stepped inside and closed the door with a quiet click behind me. “Eve?”

At the sound of my voice, she leaned forward, head tilting to one side. She looked like a hare on the verge of bolting.

Instinct kicked in—years of hunting, tracking, understanding the subtleties of prey behavior. My human side recoiled at the analogy, but my wolf pressed forward, certain of what had to be done. She needed calm. She needed safety.

“Eve,” I said again, softer this time. “It’s just me.”

Her breathing hitched, her hands tightening around her knees. Still, she didn’t look at me .

“Hey,” I said, lowering myself to her level and crouching a few feet away. “What’s going on?”

She shook her head, the motion quick and dismissive. “Didn’t sleep well. I’m fine.”

She wasn’t. My wolf paced, agitated, desperate to close the gap between us and do something, anything, to ease her tension.

“Eve, you don’t have to talk. Just… I’m going to come closer, okay?”

She briefly met my eyes. The vulnerability in her was almost enough for me to pull her into my arms. She looked away again, her walls snapping back into place.

I exhaled, running a hand through my hair, and considered my options. My wolf wasn’t having it, demanding action, but this wasn’t about forcing my way in.

Carefully, I closed the distance, moving slowly enough so as not to spook her. I knelt beside her, leaving enough space for her to feel like she could breathe, but close enough that she could feel my presence.

Her emotions hit me like a wave through the bond—fear, confusion, pain, and something else, buried deep enough I could hardly access it.

Our bond. I was feeling her through it. She wasn’t Orion—I hadn’t claimed her, we hadn’t sealed our bond, she still wore the Heraclid mark… and yet there was no doubt I was connected to her, more than any other wolf.

“I’m not going anywhere.” I meant it. Despite the obstacles in front of us, I was never, ever going to leave her. “Whatever this is, whatever you’re feeling, I’m here.”

She didn’t speak. Her breathing slowed, her shoulders relaxing. It was progress, small but real. My wolf rumbled his approval, and I finally let myself touch her—the lightest brush of my fingers against her arm.

She flinched, and I froze. Slowly, she looked at me.

“Why?” she whispered, her body trembling. “Why is this happening to us?”

I didn’t have any other answer than the one that had screamed truth into my heart the moment I first touched her. My fated mate . To speak those words aloud to her would take us down a path that was completely unknown in these times.

Instead, I offered her the truth I could give.

“Because we are a part of something bigger,” I said simply. “And we belong together.”

I extended my hand, palm up, giving her the choice. She stared at it for what felt like forever before finally placing her hand in mine.

The contact sent a jolt through me, fire racing along my skin, my wolf roaring his approval. She gasped, as if she felt it too.

The air in the bungalow became suddenly hot, and it was hard to breathe. My thumb brushed over the back of her hand, and the smallest of sounds escaped her lips—a sound that made my wolf press harder against the surface, hungry for more.

I leaned closer, my breath mingling with hers, every part of me alive and straining toward her. She didn’t pull away. Her eyes met mine, searching, questioning, and she placed her hands on my chest.

I knew I was in trouble.

Her breath brushed against my skin, warm and trembling, sending shivers down my spine. My wolf stirred, his low growl urging me closer, whispering promises of belonging, of claiming. I resisted—barely. My control was hanging by a thread, frayed and fragile.

Her lips parted slightly, enough for her to wet them with her tongue. It unraveled me.

She was right here, so close, and I needed to show her she wasn’t alone. Show her with every part of me. My body, my soul, my wolf.

They all belonged to her.

“Eve…” My voice cracked with everything I couldn’t say.

Her hands tightened against my chest, not to push me away, but as if she was steadying herself. She was trembling. Or was that me? My wolf was present, but it was the man who acted. Slowly, tentatively, I reached up and cupped the back of her head, my fingers tangling in the softness of her long hair. Her eyes fluttered shut, a silent surrender.

I leaned in, giving her every chance to stop me. When my lips brushed hers, the world stopped. There was no pack, no curse, no guilt—just the overwhelming rightness of her . She gasped against my mouth, and the heat of her breath spilled over me, igniting something primal, something unstoppable.

I kissed her deeper. Her lips were soft but hesitant at first, as though she couldn’t quite believe this was happening. I believed it. My wolf believed it. And we were desperate for her. My cock grew hard, throbbing in my jeans, but today was all about making sure she wanted this as much as I did.

Because I was all in .

Her hands slid up my chest to my shoulders, anchoring herself to me. The taste of her was maddening, a perfect blend of fire and sweetness, and I drank her in like I’d been dying of thirst.

Her heartbeat pounded beneath my palm where it rested at the nape of her neck, wild and erratic. My other hand found her waist, pulling her closer until there wasn’t an inch of space between us. She melted against me, her body fitting mine like it had been made for me. To call what we did next as simply a kiss would be to insult the Shadow Moon Goddess herself.

This was the first step of claiming her.

Time stretched and twisted. I lost myself in the way her lips moved with mine, in the soft, tentative sighs that escaped her. My tongue sought her, pressing into her while my wolf howled in triumph, his elation coursing through me in waves. We had a connection that defied logic or reason.

“I want to forget the world exists.” She looked me straight in the eye. “Make me forget, Logan.”

What my mate commanded, I would fulfill.

Her chest lifted and fell with heavy breaths, and I kissed a line down from her ear to her cheek to her neck. With my fingertips, I separated her woolen robe, letting my tongue graze the top of her breasts. Fuck, I had never felt such softness in my life. I kissed around them as she squirmed under my touch. Undoing the belt of her robe, I could finally relish the sight of her. She was stunning. I felt blinded by her beauty and almost overcome when I saw that she was entirely nude underneath. The cool air made her shiver, a light dusting of goosebumps washing over her skin, and her nipples hardened.

“I’ll warm you up,” I growled, and took a nipple into my mouth. My tongue drew across it and my balls felt like they would explode. Desperate hunger was overtaking me, making me dizzy, but this was all about her pleasure.

Making her forget.

I couldn’t forget. There was too much riding on my every move, every decision. But I could do this for her.

“More,” she demanded, moving my head to her other breast. “I need more, Logan.”

Oh, the way she said my name nearly gave my wolf permission to take over entirely. I barely had him at bay.

“Anything you want.” I couldn’t deny her a thing in this state. “I’ll give you anything you want.”

She pulled at the bottom of my sweater, and I immediately pulled it over my head until it was off. She ran her fingertips across my stomach, following the lines of my abs and down, down, down.

Goddess, I didn’t have much reserve left.

She let out a quick exhale. “I know I’ve seen all of you before,” she said, “but it’s different when you’re this close.”

I wanted to tell her everything was different now I knew she was my mate. I said nothing and let her explore. Tonight was on her terms. I gritted my teeth, taking in the smell of her—apples and cloves.

“Don’t you want to touch me?” She had a cheeky smile now, and a small chuckle escaped me.

“More than you know.”

She wrapped her arms around my neck and closed her eyes, pulling me closer to her. “Then do it.”

My head dropped back. My breath felt kicked out of me, but I quickly recovered. I needed her. Needed to see her pleasure. Needed to feel her explode, to finally release, to be present and unchained and wild with me .

I slipped my hand under the robe, pushed it off her shoulders, and let it fall around her as her breasts bounced with her quick breaths. My other arm circled around her back, pulling her closer. I nibbled on her neck and she replied with a moan that made my cock throb.

My middle finger explored downward, finding the place where her lips met.

She was soaking wet. Waiting for me. Her arousal had me drunk. I licked up her neck, biting her earlobe as my finger separated her and found the spot. Her pulsing clit was swollen and ready for me. I fluttered over it, relishing the slick surface, and Eve gasped.

She grasped the sides of my face with her hands, holding my head so I had to look her in the eye, and what I saw nearly put me over the edge.

Golden eyes, bright in the dark.

Her wolf.

Eve’s dark brown eyes returned, but her wolf was there. She had seen me, and she had to know we were mates.

I couldn’t wait any longer. I needed to see her come, to feel it over my skin. I pressed a finger inside her, and then another, her pleasure apparent in her moans as I slid into her pussy. She rocked her hips against me and my thumb found her hungry clit, circling again and again as she rode my hand.

She threw her head back as her breathing quickened and her movements became more urgent against me.

Come for me, my mate , I thought at her, and I believed she heard it, for she finally let go, her body quivering on my hand. She wrapped her arms around me again. We were heart against heart, her breasts pushed against me, and her mad pulse matched mine.

Her breathing was still ragged as she came down from her orgasm. My own chest heaved as I tried to catch my breath, my hands still cradling her as though letting go would shatter the fragile harmony between us.

Her eyes opened, and her lust transformed in front of me. From confident woman to vulnerable mate. It hit me hard, how much she’d let me in. I brushed the back of my fingers against her cheek, holding her firmly in my arms so she could feel that I wasn’t going anywhere.

The Shadow Moon Goddess intended this for us. And she was mine .

“Logan,” she whispered, as if testing the sound of my name on her tongue.

“Yeah?” My throat was tight, my voice lower than usual.

She pulled back slightly, enough to look at me fully, and her full lips curved into the faintest smile. “You’re really bad at keeping your distance.”

I huffed a laugh, the tension easing, but the fire still simmering between us.

Even as the heat ebbed and reality started to creep back in—my pack, her past, the curse—in this stolen moment, none of it mattered.

I stepped back, breaking contact against my own desire. Her warmth lingered on my skin and my hand was covered in her scent. Claiming her would be dangerous, reckless, but it felt like the most honest thing I could ever do.

My wolf curled up and, for the first time, he slept.

I, the man, pulled my woman close to me, and kissed her like it would last forever.