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EVE

T his is freedom.

The world was sharper, clearer, in this form. Every sound, every scent, every movement in the shadows seemed amplified, alive. My paws pressed into the soft earth, the sensation grounding me as I ran alongside Kenza and Anwen. They flanked me like a shield, a silent reassurance that I wasn’t alone.

This was right. This was who I was meant to be. My wolf was free, I was free, and all because of a calling more primal than I knew—a call to protect the man who had set us free. Without him—his presence, his soul, his everything—this sense of freedom would be short-lived.

It had taken this journey for me to understand that I was only free because I accepted that I could not live this life alone.

And now, Logan needed me. Whether or not he knew it.

The hum of connection with my wolf wasn’t a whimper anymore; she flowed through my veins. It was her and me, together in a way I’d never experienced before. I felt her joy, heard her thoughts, relished in our mutual connection.

My wolf was me , wholly and completely.

Kenza’s wolf brushed against mine briefly, her fur warm and familiar. It was a silent gesture, but her emotions rippled through me—a fierce determination and a quiet faith. By coming to find me, she had put a lot on the line. Kenza had always defended the Heraclids, believing in the spirit that was the origin of the pack, despite Grayson’s oppression.

Anwen’s wolf, larger and more imposing, moved with a grace that came with age, calm and constant as we approached the edge of Heraclid lands.

The air changed as soon as we crossed the invisible boundary. The scents were heavier, coated with tension, sour. My wolf’s ears twitched, catching the faint rustle of leaves and the murmur of distant voices. Anxiety began to take me over, but my wolf was cool, resolute. She knew we had to keep moving, and she wasn’t afraid of what we would face.

A faint shift in the wind made my wolf’s ears twitch again, though neither Kenza nor Anwen seemed to notice. It was fleeting, and felt like I was being watched from a distance—a presence just out of reach. I sniffed the air instinctively but caught nothing distinct. My wolf didn’t sense any aggression—quite the opposite. It reminded me of when I was hiding behind the dumpster in Seattle and my world changed with the appearance of Dahlia and her story of the Crux pack.

Another Crux ?

Kenza’s wolf brushed against mine, a not-so-subtle message to go faster.

As we moved deeper into the territory, the signs of Grayson’s rule became clearer. Wolves worked in silence, their heads low and their movements stiff. A pair of enforcers patrolled a narrow path, while an undercurrent of terror infected the land and the shifters who worked it. My wolf growled, the sound rumbling low in my chest, but she knew this wasn’t the time for any action on their behalf.

We were playing a bigger game. And it started with Logan.

I was hit by a wave of emotions so intense it nearly stopped me in my tracks.

I froze, my paws digging into the earth as the flood of emotions overwhelmed me. Kenza and Anwen slowed. I couldn’t move. I wasn’t feeling just my emotions—I was feeling theirs .

The Heraclid wolves.

It wasn’t vague the way it used to be. No, this was piercing.

My wolf whined, and I felt her pushing back, trying to sort through the chaos. I stumbled forward, my wolf’s legs trembling under the weight of it all.

I could feel them—the wolves who wanted to fight, the ones who wanted to flee, and the ones who didn’t know what they wanted anymore. It was like being caught in a tornado. There was no way out. Among the feelings of fear and reluctance, there was resentment . A bitter anger directed at Grayson and at everything he’d built.

What I had always thought was a united front of Heraclid pride was cracking and crumbling, held together only by the chains of fear of the masses and the greed of the elite.

Kenza nudged me. We’re close , she seemed to say, her urgency cutting through the fog in my mind. I nodded, shaking off the lingering emotions as best as I could. She didn’t sense what I sensed.

Where Orion was alive with warmth and unity, this place felt hollow, broken. The houses were close together, their walls dark and worn. Wolves moved through the streets, their eyes darting around nervously, as if expecting punishment for every misstep.

This wasn’t a pack. It was a prison.

Logan.

The bond came to life, a spark that shot through me like lightning. Every other thought faded, relief flooding me. He was here, close.

The relief was short-lived. Because I could feel his agony too.

It was an all-consuming ache that tore me up. I eagerly sought him out, trying to reach him through our bond. I hit some kind of emotional wall. As if he’d shut me out.

Kenza’s wolf let out a soft bark, drawing my attention. She and Anwen had stopped, their postures tense. I followed their gaze.

The village center loomed ahead, and a gathering of wolves. Grayson’s enforcers stood like sentinels, scanning the area with predatory intensity. And there, in the middle of it all, was Logan.

He was surrounded, dimmed but unbroken. Even from a distance, I could see the tension in his stance, the way his shoulders squared despite the weight pressing down on him. My wolf growled, her defiance flaring to life.

Rhys was on the edge of the clearing, surrounded by Grayson’s enforcers, and couldn’t do a thing to help.

This was it. The moment we couldn’t turn back from. My wolf’s instincts roared and I let them.

The closer I got to him, the more the bond clawed at me, urging me forward like a relentless tide pulling me toward the shore. My wolf’s instincts screamed to protect, to act. I hesitated. Not out of fear, but out of the sharp awareness that the man I was running toward was not the unyielding force I had always known him to be.

He needed me.

The realization shot through me, so evident, clear as day, and yet I hadn’t fully grasped it before. He needed me.

And I needed him.

We weren’t floating alone in this world anymore, and our bond demanded that we accept our weakness. That we not even try to stand alone against our enemies, including the enemies that resided in our own hearts. We needed each other, and we would only be whole when we learned to rely on each other.

Even the thought made me teeter, my wolf shaky on her feet. The pieces fell into place, instilling a peace in me, and the way forward was clearer than it had ever been. My wolf had a new confidence within her.

My mate.

Logan’s head was held high, but the effort was visible in every tense line of his body. Grayson leaned casually against a weathered post, his arms crossed and a smirk curving his mouth. The kind of smirk that had no fear, no doubt. The kind that said he knew he’d already won.

“Look at you,” Grayson said, his voice carrying across the clearing like a blade slicing through the silence. “From the great alpha line of Orion. Leader among the Shadow Moon packs. Savior .” His smirk deepened, his words dripping with venom. “What you’ve become is a far cry from your ancestors, boy. You are weighed down by the consequences of your own arrogance.”

Logan didn’t flinch, but I could feel the strain through the bond. He was weakened, legs on the verge of giving out, though he was fighting the fatigue with every ounce of energy he had.

He was exhausting himself.

Grayson stepped forward, the smugness in his movements making my wolf snarl in my head. “You thought you could outrun it, didn’t you? The curse. The shadow hanging over you and your precious little pack. Here you are, barely standing. And why? Because of her .”

My wolf was baring her teeth in silent defiance. Grayson’s gaze flicked around the clearing, as if searching for me, but I stayed hidden, watching, happily letting my wolf take the lead for now.

“It started long before her, though. You can safely drop the blame square on the shoulders of one of your alpha ancestors. Each and every one of them brought some curse into Orion, and now it’s your turn.” Grayson walked closer to him, the scene more intimate, though everyone could hear what he said. “ You did this. Brought her into your pack. And look what it’s done to you. You’re weaker than I’ve ever seen you, Logan. And the best part?” He leaned in slightly. “It’s only going to get worse.”

His words struck like a whip, each one filled with a history I didn’t fully understand but could feel in my bones. My wolf held back her disgust with a near-silent growl, the sound vibrating through me as I moved closer, my paws silent on the soft earth.

Logan’s jaw tightened, his fists clenching at his sides. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

Grayson laughed, the sound piercing and joyless. “Oh, but I do. You think you’re the first Orion alpha to fall for her kind? That you’re the first to believe a bond like yours could bring salvation instead of ruin?” His hissed, evil seeping from his lips. “You should have killed her when you had the chance.”

Kenza stepped in front of me, her wolf telling me I had to wait. It wasn’t the time to act, despite the wickedness he spoke.

“And let’s not forget,” Grayson straightened, spreading his arms wide, “your twin brothers. How much of this is for them, Logan? How much of your desperation comes from the hole they left behind? Or maybe,” he added, his grin turning cruel, “you’re trying to make up for the fact you couldn’t save them either.”

Logan staggered slightly, the weight of Grayson’s words visible. My wolf whimpered, the bond between us tightening like a noose. I felt his shame, his rage. It threatened to tear him apart from the inside out.

“Say what you want,” Logan said finally. “But you’re wrong about one thing. ”

Grayson raised an eyebrow, mockingly intrigued. “Oh? Do tell.”

Logan lifted his head, meeting Grayson’s gaze with a fire that made my wolf pause. “Eve is not the cause of any suffering,” he said, and I held my breath. “She’s my strength.”

Grayson laughed again, shaking his head as if Logan had confirmed everything he’d ever believed. “Strength? You think that’s what this is? Look at yourself, Logan. You’re barely standing. And her? Wherever she is, she’s just as broken as you are. You’ll both fall, and I’ll be standing by to witness it.”

My wolf surged forward, her growl spilling out. Grayson’s head snapped in my direction, his smirk faltering for a split second. Logan’s eyes flicked toward the sound, his body tensing as he sensed me.

I moved further into the clearing, my wolf’s defiance blazing as I locked on to Grayson.

“Ah,” Grayson said, his grin tighter. “There she is. The curse herself. Sick little thing managed to find her wolf form.”

“Leave her be,” Logan said, cutting through the tension like steel.

Grayson’s smile darkened. “Leave her be? Oh, Logan. I haven’t even begun.”

Logan’s eyes met mine, and the shame and the exhaustion fell away. All that was left was the connection between us, a bond no taunt or curse could sever. I had to let him know what I’d learned, to communicate that I was here, that he needed my strength—somehow—even if I didn’t yet know how to give it to him .

A smile played on his lips and I heard him through our bond.

Your wolf. Your beautiful, powerful wolf. I knew you would find her.

It was all there: his exhaustion, his pride, his determination to stand even when everything inside him was breaking. I didn’t need words to know what he was feeling. The bond laid it bare, unfiltered.

I’m here , I tried to project through the bond, unsure if he could hear it. He’d built a wall so high that penetrating it seemed harder than taking on all of Grayson’s enforcers at once. My wolf’s energy wrapped around me like a shield. She was desperate to run to Logan, to mend what was breaking, but we were both trapped in the same cage, clawing at bars we couldn’t see.

Instead, I tried to reach him through our bond.

Feel how I feel for you. Sense it. Rely on it. Put aside your stubborn need to do everything yourself and recognize that I am here for you.

Logan faltered, his knees buckling slightly before he caught himself. My instinct was to run to him, to shield him with my body, my soul, anything I could offer. My paws were frozen to the ground, my heart hammering as if it were trying to claw its way out of my chest. Watching him like this—his strength drained, his fire dimmed—was worse than any pain I’d ever known.

The sharp edge of Raina’s voice echoed in my mind, her words cutting through the storm of emotions. The bond can make you stronger if you let it. But only if you find a way to give yourself to it fully.

How? How could this connection that was tearing us apart be the key to our survival? I couldn’t let myself believe it, yet my wolf seemed to know something I didn’t. She didn’t hesitate, didn’t waver in her certainty. She believed in him, in us, even when I couldn’t.

I knew I needed to trust the bond, trust in Logan, trust in myself.

Trust . The word hit me harder than I expected. This wasn’t about enduring the pain or weathering the storm. This was about diving headfirst into it, letting the bond consume me and him completely. Finding the strength in our shared weakness.

My love for him rose like a tide, sweeping away the doubt, the fear, the anger. It wasn’t a choice anymore—it was instinct, a primal truth that had always been there, waiting for me to see it.

I loved him. Completely. And that love was ours, woven into the bond that connected us, fragile and unsteady as it was.

The world narrowed until we were the only ones left. I let my wolf guide me as I promised silently, to myself, to him, to the bond that bound us.

We must give in to each other to conquer the rest.

I had to get through to him. Had to. I couldn’t watch him suffer like this, not when I knew—deep down, in the marrow of my bones—that there was something in me that could help.

The bond hummed and I clenched my jaw. Whatever this was—this curse, this connection—it was either going to bind us forever, or kill us before the day was through.