Page 29 of The Fated Hunter Wolf

They had no clue what they were dealing with. None of them did. The way she’d moved just before I tackled her—too fast, too controlled. The way her scent had hit me right in the solar plexus and scrambled every rational thought I’d ever had. The way she’d looked at me with those pale silver eyes that seemed to catalog every weakness I’d ever tried to hide.

Dangerous. She’s fucking dangerous.

My wolf couldn’t decide if that meant we should be running toward her or away from her. Which was a problem, because usually we agreed on the important shit.

Ours to protect.

Protect the pack,I communicated.

My wolf was getting more insistent. I felt it in my bones, getting stronger by the minute. Whatever spell she’d cast on me was tightening its grip.

“… the bloodlines might be the key to understanding why…” Logan’s voice drifted through my awareness, but every instinct I had was screaming that I needed to be somewhere else.

Watching her. Making sure she didn’t disappear into thin air or whatever she did to get past our perimeter.

A sharp pain suddenly struck my chest. I pressed my hand against my ribs and frowned. What the hell was that?

“Rhys,” Logan’s voice cut through the air. “You with us?”

I blinked, realizing everyone in the room was staring at me.

“Yeah,” I lied. “Just thinking.”

“About what?” Logan crossed his arms, and I recognized the stance. Big brother mode activated.

About how something is very fucking wrong.The pain in my chest pulsed again, and with it came a wave of… fear? Panic? It wasn’t mine. I was sure of it.

“Pack security,” I said instead, fighting to keep my voice steady. “Making sure our newest arrival doesn’t cause any more problems.”

The pull was getting stronger, like invisible claws dragging at my insides. Whatever she was doing to me—some kind of Heraclid mind trick, maybe—it was working. My wolf was pacing, agitated, demanding we move.

She’s mine to watch, to make sure she doesn’t do something reckless.

I shook my head hard, but my wolf wanted to go, to be near her. It had to be to keep the pack safe. From her.

That had to be it.

Logan exhaled, clearly deciding to let my attitude slide. “Eve thinks this… whatever it was… this phantom pregnancy is a sign the curse is weakening.”

“Or getting stronger,” Kenza cut in, her tone flat. “We don’t actually know, do we? We’re talking in circles, Logan. And could Eve’s health be at risk now? We can’t gamble with that.”

Eve’s gaze flicked to her, but she didn’t reply.

Another wave of foreign emotion crashed over me. Desperation. I gritted my teeth, my hands curling into fists. What was she doing to me?

Raina hummed, tapping her fingers on the arm of her chair. “The curse is bound in blood. That part has been clear from the start. The question is—whose blood?”

“Mine,” Eve said. “I had a vision when I first arrived. In it, I knew my being here created a chain of events that led to the end of Orion. I saw it. It’s because I let Logan claim me and because I took the role in the pack at his side. It’s because I?—”

“It’s never been that simple.” Anwen shook her head. “Your vision, child, wasn’t just about you. It was about the pack. About Orion.” She looked at Logan. “About the blood that came before,and now your blood mixing with theirs. And about the blood that is currently lost.”

I stiffened, but not just because I knew she was talking about my brothers. The sensation in my chest was getting worse. It was trying to rip me apart from the inside.

Logan frowned. “You mean the twins.”

Anwen’s silence was answer enough.

A chill crawled through me. The lost threads. That was what Mariyah had said, wasn’t it? That Orion wouldn’t find peace until the lost threads were woven back together.