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LOGAN

I t had been a week since Eve arrived, and the hum of day-to-day life carried on, but there was an edge to it. Conversations in the village were quieter. The sound of blades being sharpened echoed more often. Wolves were running harder during training, as if preparing for something.

Maybe that was a good thing.

Eve’s presence hadn’t been the disaster Rhys feared, but it hadn’t been smooth, either. The pack wasn’t the same as it had been before she arrived. Perhaps that was the point. Perhaps this was what the Shadow Moon Goddess intended for us—to be reminded that we are hunters, survivors, a pack meant to rebuild and reclaim the glory we’d lost.

Not everyone saw it that way. Some wolves still bristled when she passed, the distrust woven into their posture and their silence. Others… others surprised me.

In the common kitchen, where Eve had been spending most of her time, she was starting to find her footing. The pack mates there had only great things to say about her—the way she seemed to know how everyone was feeling, saying the right thing in the right moment. Isabelle had taken to her quickly, and even Blair made a point to stop by the kitchen more often than usual, claiming he needed extra snacks but always throwing Eve a quick nod of acknowledgment before leaving.

I’d caught sight of her through the window the other day, a rare laugh escaping her as one of the elder cooks showed her how to knead dough. The sound had been unexpected. It tugged at something deep in my chest, something my wolf wouldn’t stop pacing about.

Those were the good moments.

More than once, I’d sensed the tension in her when she thought no one was looking. A forced smile here, a spark of unease there. She was trying, but it was clear the weight of being here—the outsider, the Heraclid oracle in Orion lands—was something she carried heavily.

It hadn’t escaped me, either, that the pack bond was beginning to pull at her. She was feeling it, the connection that wove us together. I’d seen it in the way her head tilted slightly when someone nearby felt something strongly, as if she were sensing their thoughts. She hadn’t said anything about it, but I could see the way it both fascinated and unsettled her.

And then there was me.

Somehow, without permission or planning, she was finding her way into my days. I’d catch myself waiting for the sound of her voice in the kitchen, pausing when I caught her scent drifting through the village. Once, I spotted her crouched by the elders’ garden, plucking herbs while nodding along to one of Raina’s endless stories, and it struck me—she was a stranger only in name.

Her laugh, her gestures, even the way she tucked her hair behind her ear as she listened—all of it felt woven into the fabric of my life before I even had the chance to resist.

Like a song I’d never heard but already know by heart.

Every time I crossed paths with her, my wolf surged, clawing at me to close the distance, to be closer, to touch her. To kiss her again like I did that day in the bungalow. It took everything I had to stay composed, to keep my thoughts locked down and focused.

Because whatever I felt, whatever this bond between us meant, it would come to nothing if we weren’t prepared for an inevitable confrontation with the Heraclids.

I caught Rhys’s scent before I saw him. His steps, usually light and meandering, carried an urgency that caught my attention. He fell into stride beside me.

“Isabelle found something,” he said, his tone low but taut with excitement.

Relief and apprehension warred in my chest. I’d been waiting for this—for a lead, for something to break the stillness that had settled over the pack like a storm cloud. I hadn’t realized how much I needed it until now. Despite watching my pack sharpen their skills and rally together, and as much as I’d been drawn to Eve and the small ways she was starting to fit into our world, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was coming. Something big.

“About time,” I muttered, clapping a hand on Rhys’s shoulder. The tension in my body eased slightly at the solidness of him, the steadiness that had always been there. “Tell her to meet us in the hall. I want the whole inner circle there.”

Rhys nodded, his stride already quickening as he turned toward the central hall. He hesitated, glancing back at me with a rare, almost wistful expression.

“Logan,” he said. “This feels different. Like maybe this time we’ll actually get ahead of them. I think we’re close to something.”

I stopped walking, studying him. The weariness I’d seen in him these past few days hadn’t vanished, but he was practically bouncing with anticipation.

“We’ll see,” I said, though I knew exactly what he meant. We shared it through our bond.

He nodded, his gaze dropping briefly to my forearm, to the inked marks I knew weighed equally on him. “They’d have wanted this.” He choked up. “Us fighting for the pack, for what we’ve lost.”

My throat tightened at the thought of them. “Wyatt and Nash would have been right beside us every step of the way,” I agreed quietly, my hand unconsciously brushing over the tattoos. My brothers’ names, their memories, their sacrifices—they were all there, woven into the fabric of who I was.

“I still see them sometimes, feel them, even though a part of me wonders if they are just ghosts,” Rhys whispered. “You?”

“Every damn day,” I admitted, the words coming out rougher than I intended. “I’ll carry them until the end.”

Rhys didn’t reply immediately. The look he gave me said everything .

“They’d be proud of you too,” he finally said. “Even when you doubt yourself. Especially then.”

I looked away. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” I said, trying to lighten the tone, though the weight in my chest remained. “We’ve got a lot to figure out before we start thinking about pride.”

Rhys smirked faintly, his old self shining through. “Fair enough.”

He turned again toward the hall, and I watched him go for a moment before following. My fingers brushed over the tattoos one last time, a silent promise forming on my lips.

“We’ll make this right,” I murmured under my breath.

Energy coursed through me like a wildfire. Isabelle’s findings, Rhys’s optimism—it was enough to make me believe we had a real shot. A chance to take Orion back to its true place among the Shadow Moon packs. As I strode through the village, my mind buzzed with strategies and plans, but beneath it all, the pull I had tried to set aside for this past week was taking over my senses.

Whatever happened next, I needed to share it with her. I had spent the last week convincing myself that distance was necessary, that ignoring the bond growing between us was the only way to focus on the pack. Now, with real momentum in our fight against the Heraclids, all I could think about was her—her voice, her insight, her belief in me that went way beyond my being the alpha.

She belonged at my side.

She deserved to know that no matter how much I fought it, I wanted her there for every step of this fight.

My feet knew the path to my grandparents’ former home even when my thoughts were elsewhere. When I knocked on the door, there was no answer. I tried again, but still only silence greeted me.

I checked the common kitchen next, stepping into the bustling space. My nose caught traces of her scent, but she wasn’t there either.

“Saul,” I called, spotting him arranging herbs at a nearby table. “Where’s Eve?”

“She said she wasn’t feeling well,” he replied. “Thought some fresh air might help.”

Not well? The high I had been riding dampened. “Where?”

Saul hesitated, then stepped closer. He lowered his voice, checking to make sure no one else in the kitchen was listening before turning to me. “Alpha, have you noticed what’s been happening to her these past days?”

“What are you talking about?” I hadn’t noticed. I’d also been more than a little distracted. What I noticed in her, I chalked up to a very difficult—well—life. She had never experienced a true pack before, and that was bound to have consequences.

Saul folded his arms, brows drawing together. “She’s been… curling in on herself. Like a turtle, little by little, each day. At first, I thought she was adjusting, but—” He shook his head. “Now I’m not so sure.”

I frowned, my mind racing. “I thought she was settling in.”

“She is. Maybe that’s the rub.” Saul raised an eyebrow.

I turned and left the kitchen, heading toward the edge of the village. My instincts sharpened as I paused, seeking her out on the breeze. Her scent was faint, but it was enough. I inhaled deeply, letting it guide me, but it would be hard for me to track her like this.

So I shifted.

The relief was immediate, my wolf reveling in the freedom of the transformation. The wind against my fur, the earth beneath my paws—I needed the release. My wolf was simpler than the man. He didn’t worry about strategy or politics or the fragility of emotions. He just felt, and it was a comfort to live in that space, even if only for a while.

Her scent grew stronger, and my pace quickened. My wolf’s joy was boundless, his instincts driving him forward with singular purpose. When I crested the ridge overlooking the Moonstone Plateau, I saw her.

She stood at the edge, her figure framed by the endless sky. Her silhouette was captivating, as if the heavens had chosen her to complete its canvas. The breeze toyed with her hair, sending it tumbling in loose waves that shimmered with the morning light. Her profile was serene and unguarded, and I admired the delicate curve of her jaw. Her hands hung loosely at her sides, fingers brushing the fabric of her tunic, a simple garment that seemed regal on her, molded to her figure by the wind. The way she tipped her face toward the horizon made her seem untouchable, yet she drew me in with a gravity I couldn’t fight.

She wasn’t just beautiful. She was breathtaking . It was the kind of beauty that demanded reverence, not words.

She was utterly still, and I froze, my emotions fierce as the sight of her stole the breath from my lungs.

Love.

The realization struck hard and fast, and entirely unfiltered. I didn’t care about logic or circumstances. I only knew she was mine, and seeing her there, so satisfied, solitary and contemplative, made my heart ache for her.

My wolf was ready to take her, claim her, bond with her, and make love to her, all in that moment. And he would have, if I let him.

The man in me hesitated. A deep sting took hold as I remembered she couldn’t shift. She was trapped in her human form, unable to feel the freedom my wolf had just reveled in.

Given her circumstances, she couldn’t understand my wolf’s emotions. It would be too intense, overwhelming. As much as it pained me to continue playing the human game of subtlety and measured steps, I shifted back into human form, containing my wolf—to his great displeasure.

My human feet felt cold against the stone. “Eve?”

Her expression was suddenly guarded. Her shoulders stiffened, her back straightening as she turned to face me. A smirk pulled at her lips.

“Did you forget your clothes again, Alpha?”

I laughed loudly enough that it echoed across the expanse of the Plateau. Before I’d even thought about it, I closed the distance, cupped her face in my hands, brushed my lips against her forehead.

“We’ve finally got some information on what’s happening in Heraclid. I want you to be there to hear it.”

“Me?” Her half-chuckle was almost sarcastic.

“Yes, you. You bring a perspective none of us have.”

“You mean I’m the closest enemy you’ve got.”

I cocked my head, her response catching me by surprise. Especially since her racing heart told me there was a lot more happening than I could see on the surface .

“You aren’t the enemy.”

She swallowed. “Of course I’m not. I didn’t mean it like that. I mean…”

Something in the way she said it made my wolf whine. Her face clouded over, the calmness I’d seen seconds earlier overtaken by darker thoughts.

“Eve.” I traced my finger along her cheek, tucking her hair behind her ear. At once, her sadness took root in me, my heart breaking in spite of myself, and I swallowed back an emotion that wasn’t my own. “Are you happy here?”

“I’m so happy here,” she whispered.

“Then what is it?” I urged, but she lowered her eyes as though she were a submissive follower and not mate to an alpha. I knew this wasn’t who she was.

“When you’ve lived through what I’ve lived through, something like this—your pack, your confidence in me, you —it’s hard to believe it’s for real.”

“And yet it is.”

My lips found hers, soft and trembling. Electricity crackled through me as I felt her in every part of me—in my wolf, in my soul, in the space where fate had written her name next to mine.

My hands tangled in her hair as I pulled her closer. Her arms slid around my neck, her fingers brushing against the back of my head, and the tenderness of the touch nearly undid me.

This kiss was a promise, a plea, a bond .

Eve.

When we finally broke apart, both of us were breathless, our foreheads resting together. I didn’t care if she saw everything I felt .

She was mine .

“You sound so sure.” She bit her bottom lip, and it was all I could do not to claim her right then.

“I am.”

“I could almost believe you.”

“Believe me,” I growled. “I won’t let anyone hurt you again.”

The most subtle of smiles pulled at her mouth. My mate had been so hurt, so disrespected, so used that it made me want to finish the Heraclids without a second thought for the consequences. She rested her head on my shoulder, and I knew every fiber of my being would commit to her, to making sure she finally lived the life she deserved.

Eve gasped.

She swung around, searching for an invisible enemy.

“What is it?” I asked, my wolf suddenly changing tack and seeking out whatever danger she had latched onto.

“She wouldn’t dare .” Eve looked intently, as if someone were about to emerge from the trees, but I sensed nothing. “On Orion lands? You can’t be serious.”

I searched around, scenting nothing, wondering what kind of black magic had taken hold of her.

The air shifted.

Eve growled, and if I hadn’t known better, I’d have said it was her wolf. “Come out, you manipulative fucking wench.”

As if made of the leaves herself, the old woman emerged from the surrounding forest, clapping her hands slowly, a mocking audience.

“I always did love a possessive alpha. I guess your little dove with her forbidden wolf hasn’t shared all her secrets yet, hmm? I suspect that kiss would be rather less enthusiastic if she had.”

The woman raised an eyebrow at Eve, who looked like she was about to breathe fire. As for the old woman, I was on the verge of killing her on the spot. And wouldn’t have regretted it for a second.

But something in me said I had to hear her out.

The woman cocked her head, with a wicked glint in her eye. “Shall we play Show and Tell?”