Page 45

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EVE

W hat the fuck is he doing?

The words screamed through my mind like a siren, drowning out the murmurs of the pack around me, the low growls of wolves shifting uneasily in the gathering crowd. My legs trembled, and no number of deep breaths could stop it. I willed my body to hold steady, my shoulders to stay square, my chin to remain high. When Grayson had forced me to shift into my wolf, I had found the strength within myself to shift back. With all my fated mate was facing now, I needed to keep that strength alive in me, and find a way to save him.

Logan stood there, impossibly tall despite the invisible weight dragging him down. Challenging Grayson. Like he wasn’t already hanging on by a thread.

Grayson barked out a laugh. “You challenge me ?” he repeated, his tone disbelieving. “In your state? You can barely stand, Logan. What makes you think you can take me? ”

Logan raised his chin, looking down his nose at Grayson. I’d never seen anyone act so brave while being so weak.

Every wolf watched, no one daring to move. Even the visiting alphas shifted uneasily. Whatever sick confidence they’d had before, it was cracking.

“You’ve lost your mind, Orion.” Grayson was full-on strutting toward Logan, my mate, who was huffing in air, his pain rippling through me, while he tried to look fierce.

“Let’s end this,” was all Logan said in reply.

Grayson didn’t move, as if he was trying to find the catch. He’d never been challenged, never had his authority questioned without immediate consequences for the offender.

This was different. This was Orion. This was the fight Grayson had only ever dreamed of, and in Logan’s condition… the odds were disgustingly in his favor.

I spat on the ground.

Grayson laughed, sending shivers down my spine. “So be it,” he said with the authority of an alpha’s decree. “ The challenge is accepted. ”

The clearing suddenly broke into activity, alphas and Heraclid wolves clearing space for the inevitable fight. I turned to Logan, placing my hands on his cheeks as the flurry around us continued.

“What on earth are you doing, Logan? You can’t!”

“Grayson is wrong,” he said, his tone betraying not the slightest emotion while mine were about to boil over. “You said it yourself. The Shadow Moon packs can’t continue with this scourge of an alpha among us, and no one else will ever stand up to him. You…” He took my hands in his. “You will never be safe as long as he is alive. ”

“I’ll never be safe if you’re dead.”

He pulled me into his arms. Our bodies met, my head on his chest, everything pressed against him. I did everything I could to pass along to him the energy, power, and focus he would need.

A challenge—alpha to alpha—was the very definition of going it alone. Just as I’d finally understood that our fated bond couldn’t be complete without giving in to each other completely, he was going and demanding a challenge .

There was nothing I could do for him.

He pressed his lips to mine, his resolve burning through them, and I grabbed him behind the neck for a few more seconds with him, the power of our bond flowing through us, but still stunted, still unfinished, and Goddess, I needed him to have all of me. To survive this.

And I didn’t know how he would.

He stepped back, his fingertips trailing along my cheek. He turned and marched to the place where a group of enforcers were guarding Rhys.

“This can’t be happening,” I muttered under my breath.

Kenza and Anwen emerged from the crowd and ran to me. Anwen placed her arm across my shoulders. “He’s your fated mate,” she murmured, so low it barely reached me. “And he believes in you. You need to believe in him.”

I didn’t answer. What could I say? That I did believe in him, but not in this? That watching him stand there, his shoulders squared and his alpha force emanating from him, filled me with equal parts awe and terror?

My wolf snarled, pacing and restless. She didn’t want to wait. She wanted to run to him, to stand at his side, teeth bared and ready to take down anyone who dared to threaten him. The rest of me—the rational part of me—was rooted in place.

Logan wasn’t fighting only Grayson. He was fighting the curse. Fighting the depravity of a pack that had gone all wrong. Fighting for our future, in the greatest sense.

The air buzzed with tension as Grayson stepped forward, his face split into a wolfish grin. He looked like he was savoring this, as if the fight had already been decided in his favor.

“You’re a fool, Logan.” His words were soaked in venom, but his body language was relaxed, almost casual, like this was just another day for him. “Even if you somehow manage to win, you’ll lose. That’s the beauty of a curse, you see. It doesn’t just kill you. It eats everything you’ve built, everything you’ve worked for. Your pack, your precious mate—gone. One way or another.”

My stomach twisted violently. Logan didn’t so much as flinch.

The tension crackled through the clearing. Somewhere on the edge of the crowd, a shadow moved—quiet and almost imperceptible. My wolf sensed movement, alerting me before my eyes could catch it. A woman, lithe and swift, wove between the trees.

Sable.

Her steps carried purpose, though she remained on the fringes as though avoiding notice. At first, I thought she might be fleeing, escaping the chaos around us before something could go really bad. Then she stopped, and her pale golden eyes met mine. It was only for a heartbeat, but something passed between us. My wolf stirred uneasily, caught between suspicion and a strange recognition .

Not all enemies are what they seem. The thought swept through me, distinct but faint, as if it had been carried on the wind. It wasn’t my own. It came through with a unique voice, a clear bond, and I suddenly felt anchored to her.

Anchored to Sable? The thought was ridiculous. My breath caught as an instinct rose in my chest.

She can’t be Crux. No way. She can’t.

Or could she?

Before I could decipher the connection, she turned and melted back into the trees, leaving me standing there with more questions than answers. My wolf was torn between pursuing her and staying.

A low growl from nearby shattered my focus, yanking me back into the moment. Logan. He needed me. I turned toward him, bracing myself for what was to come.

The Heraclid wolves around us shifted uneasily, their postures stiff and wary. There’s a current running between them , I thought, and sought my wolf to ask what it was.

I heard her reply: Listen to them.

Listen to them.

I let the bond with Logan soften so I could tap into the sounds and vibrations around me. As I inhaled, the sounds of the clearing being prepared faded away. What took its place came first as a trickle.

Then the deluge came.

I gasped, the force of every shifter’s condition hitting me again and again, and I called upon my wolf to keep me upright.

Little by little , she said. Listen to them, one at a time.

She guided me, calmed my speeding heart, and I could feel it more clearly than ever—the fractures splintering through the pack.

Loyalty was a fragile thing here, and it was breaking at the seams. I searched the wolves around me; some clung to Grayson’s promises, their snarls echoing his confidence. Other emotions reached me as an undercurrent, as they shifted their weight from side to side, searching for an exit from the inevitable chaos.

The overwhelming majority of emotions came to me only as a quiet hum of tense anticipation. They were the ones not fixated on Grayson, but on Logan.

They wanted change. They wanted freedom .

I staggered back, the weight of their hope pressing down on me like a physical force. This wasn’t only about Logan and Grayson. It was about them .

Anwen caught my arm, steadying me. “Eve,” she whispered. “What do you feel?”

“Everything,” I breathed. “They’re scared, divided… but some of them?—”

“They’re waiting,” she finished for me, her voice solemn, “for someone to truly lead them.”

I held my breath, my heart pounding. The fight was coming, and the outcome would decide everything—for him, for me, and for the wolves watching with their future on the line.

Logan was risking it all.

Grayson disrobed, a young female taking his clothes from him. Despite his age, he was in incredible condition. Muscles rippled down his body and he stretched as though this was barely more than an annoyance.

“The time has come, reckless and wretched alpha of Orion,” Grayson announced over the growing but silent crowd. “I shall take pleasure in this kill, and will happily integrate the Orion females into Heraclid. It will do our bloodlines good to mix it up. As for the men… We’ll see if they fall in line.”

He was saying it to rile Logan, taunt him into making mistakes. And it was working. Logan’s heartbeat accelerated.

My fists clenched at my sides, my wolf snapping and snarling inside me. Calm, my love , I sent to him, and his shoulders relaxed. It was a small thing, but I hoped it would help.

Logan spoke through clenched teeth. “Say goodbye, Grayson. And shift .”

The Heraclid wolves bristled at Logan’s alpha command toward another alpha, a wave of unease spreading through them.

Grayson growled, and I was infused with pride for the authority Logan commanded, even in his state, in enemy lands, and on the verge of a fight that would decide everything .

The moment Grayson shifted, the air seemed to surge. His shift was shocking, as if he relished in his bones breaking and his flesh tearing. His wolf was monstrous—huge, broad-shouldered, with coarse, bristling fur the color of storm clouds. His snarl was low and guttural, a sound that reverberated through my chest like a warning bell.

Logan shifted a heartbeat later, his transformation almost seamless. Where Grayson’s shift had been abrupt, violent, Logan’s was fluid—a predator settling into his true form. His wolf was leaner, but with solid muscle and no less imposing, and the brown earthy color of his fur soothed my wolf on sight. His eyes glowed with an intensity that stole my breath, the bond between us thrumming as he turned to face Grayson.

The two wolves circled each other, claws scraping against the dirt, their growls intertwining in a feral symphony. Around us, the Heraclid pack held its collective breath, the silence punctuated only by the occasional shuffle of paws or the snap of a twig.

Grayson lunged.

It was fast—too fast. He barreled into Logan with the force of a wrecking ball, his massive frame knocking Logan off-balance. Logan recovered quickly, twisting in mid-air to land on his feet, his claws raking across Grayson’s shoulder in retaliation. Blood sprayed, a dark crimson streak against the wolf’s gray fur, but Grayson didn’t even flinch.

Grayson pressed the attack, his movements brutal and relentless. He snapped at Logan’s throat, his fangs gleaming in the dim light of the cloud-covered moon. Logan ducked, countering with a powerful swipe that sent Grayson staggering back.

My heart was in my throat, my wolf panting frantically within me. Every muscle in my body screamed at me to run to him, to do something, but I was rooted to the spot, watching as the man I loved fought for everything—his pack, his pride, his life.

Logan moved like liquid silver, dodging and weaving with a precision that was almost beautiful. Strain was evident in his every move, in the hesitation in his steps. The bond between us flared again, and I felt the weight pulling at him, dragging him down .

Grayson took advantage of the momentary lapse, slamming into Logan’s side and sending him sprawling. Logan’s head snapped back with the impact, a low whine escaping his throat as he hit the ground.

“Get up,” I whispered, my voice quivering at the forbidden thought that he might not. “Come on, Logan. Get up.”

He did, shaking off the blow and charging at Grayson with renewed ferocity. The two wolves collided in a tangle of fur and fangs, their snarls echoing like thunder. Logan’s teeth found purchase on Grayson’s flank, and he held on, even as Grayson twisted and clawed at him with savage desperation.

Blood dripped onto the ground, dark and viscous, the scent of it sharp in the air. My stomach churned, but I couldn’t look away. This wasn’t just a fight. It was survival.

Grayson’s tactics grew dirtier as the fight dragged on. He aimed for Logan’s injured side, his claws tearing into flesh that was already raw. Logan stumbled, his breath coming in short, labored pants. There was a fire in them, a determination that refused to be snuffed out.

And then it happened. Grayson feinted to the left before pivoting, his massive jaws clamping down on Logan’s hind leg. Logan let out a sharp yelp of pain, buckling under the weight of the attack. Grayson shook him violently, the force of it enough to lift Logan off the ground before slamming him back down.

The Heraclids around us shifted uneasily, their growls a low murmur of unease. My wolf howled inside me, her fury and anguish mixing into a chaotic mass of emotion. The Heraclid pack’s energy was building into a frenzy— fractured and wavering. The division was more palpable than ever. Their energy built in me, a new sensation.

“Anwen.” I touched her arm. “I’m getting their energy. It’s filling me.” I was like an ancient chalice that had awaited wine for centuries. Full at last.

“Use it,” she said.

The bond between Logan and me pulsed with agonizing intensity. His pain was mine now, a burning ache that spread through my chest and settled deep in my bones. The pack was drawn to Logan even as he lay battered and bloodied.

Use it?

Logan struggled to his feet, his legs trembling. He let out a low growl, a sound that sent a shiver down my spine.

The spark in the pack grew stronger in me, brighter, their energy coalescing like a rising tide.

My sight went black.

The clearing melted away, replaced by a vision so vivid it felt like I’d been yanked into another plane of existence.

Logan lay on the ground, bloodied and battered, his fur matted with blood. His chest rose and fell in shallow breaths, his strength faltering. Grayson towered above him, his wolf sneering in triumph, claws poised for a final, fatal blow.

“No,” I whispered, the word barely forming on my lips.

The vision changed.

I saw myself—only it wasn’t the version of me I knew. This Eve was radiant, standing tall and unafraid, her eyes glowing with a light that pulsed in time with the beat of a hundred hearts. Around her, the Heraclid wolves gathered, their energy flowing toward her in streams of light, converging and amplifying like rivers feeding into a powerful current.

I watched as this version of me stepped forward, the light from the wolves’ energy pouring through her hands. She touched Logan, and the light transferred to him, his battered form soaking it in like a parched earth drinking rain. His wounds mended, his strength returned, and with it came something greater—a unity, a purpose, a power that could not be broken.

This was my role. To take the fractured, desperate energy of the wolves around me and weave it into something unstoppable.

The vision shattered, and I was back in the clearing, gasping for air.

I stumbled and would have fallen if Kenza and Anwen hadn’t been at my sides. Both of them staggered as if they’d been struck by the same force.

“Eve,” Kenza rasped. “What are you doing?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted, clutching my chest as the bond between Logan and me flared, brighter and hotter than it had ever been before. Deep down, I did know.

This was my moment. My purpose.

The Heraclid pack wolves around us stirred, their energy buzzing against my skin like static electricity. My wolf howled in triumph, her voice echoing in my mind like a rallying cry.

“Stay with me,” I begged Kenza and Anwen. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but this isn’t over yet.”

They nodded, their expressions grave, as if they, too, understood what was at stake.

Logan struggled to rise, his earth-colored fur gleaming in the moonlight despite the blood and dirt caked on him. My heart pounded in my chest, each beat syncing with the collective pulse of the pack.

Grayson shifted, his naked human form circling Logan like a vulture around a fresh wound. When he spoke, he addressed me.

“Come to watch your mate die, oracle?”

Get up, my mate. Get up. I cast the energy of the pack at him through our bond, and his wolf’s head lifted. It’s time to end this.