Page 18 of The Fated Hunter Wolf

“Mariyah,” Logan breathed. “At the bonfire. She said there would be no peace for Orion until the lost threads were woven back together.”

My chest tightened. “The twins.”

“Nash and Wyatt.” Logan’s voice carried new steel. “We find them, we break the curse.”

The certainty in his words should have been comforting. Instead, all I could think about washer. The mysterious woman who’d invaded my dreams with visions of my brothers, chained and broken. Who’d claimed knowledge she had no right to possess. Who’d disappeared like smoke before I could demand answers, leaving me with nightmares and a hunger that wouldn’t leave me alone.

Sable. Even thinking her name made my wolf pace restlessly, torn between desire and suspicion.

“We gather at dawn—the inner circle,” Logan said. “We figure out our next steps and we make this happen.”

I looked at my brother, hoping he couldn’t see the torment going on between my wolf and I. “I know where to start.”

8

SABLE

My feet moved in a rhythm that was older than thought, weaving through the trees as though the forest had carved a path just for me. It was a moon was bright, and I was thankful for it. It would keep certain enemies away while we wolves would have an advantage.

I let my eyes adjust. Astrid and I had made our plans, prepared what little we had to bring with us, and set out in the middle of the night. The cool air slid across my skin, alive with the scent of pine, damp earth, and the indescribable pull of the distant Orion border.

“I don’t get it,” Astrid said, her voice cutting through the quiet night like the snap of a twig. “You insist for ages we can’t go to Orion lands, and then you flip a switch and we’re taking off with a single bag on our backs?”

I didn’t answer right away.

“I adjusted my priorities,” I muttered, stepping over a moss-covered root. Mariyah had been the push to leave, but even she couldn’t have known I felt I was going to die if I stayed away from Orion any longer. The bond was growing in me like a cancer, and I had to snuff it out before it took me whole.

As we got closer to the border, the burning started to subside. I knew what that meant, and I didn’t like it. Just being closer to him relieved the burning in my veins.

Ugh.

Astrid snorted behind me. “That’s a fancy way of saying you caved.”

I didn’t bother replying.Let her think what she wants. It’s better than telling her I’m being hunted and to protect us I have to address a bond with a soulless wolf.

The forest stretched wide and wild, shadows pooling thick under the towering pines. The moonlight barely pierced the canopy, but to me, everything was hyperfocused. I could see the subtle flicker of movement far ahead, a bird taking flight from its perch. Further still, the faint indentation of a game trail winding its way toward the Orion border.

“There,” I said, pointing toward the trail.

Astrid squinted. “What? I don’t see?—”

“It’s there,” I said firmly, stepping off the path.

Astrid jogged to keep up, her boots crunching over dry leaves. “How do you do that? My wolf didn’t catch it.”

I shrugged. “Practice.”

She huffed, clearly unsatisfied with the answer. “Right, practice. Sure.”

“Shh,” I hissed.

My steps were soundless, even on the brittle undergrowth. Astrid, meanwhile, stomped and shuffled, her every movement a clumsy announcement.

“Do you float when I’m not looking?” she muttered, trying to match my pace. “No one moves like that.”

“You’re just loud.”

Ahead, a faint ripple of energy brushed against my senses. My body tensed, my awareness sharpening. Something wasthere—several somethings. They weren’t close enough to be a threat yet, but they were moving. And they weren’t prey.