Page 30 of The Fated Hunter Wolf

I could barely focus on the conversation. I could feel Sable like she was right there in the room with me, wrapping around my mind like smoke.

Anwen continued. “I’ve been reading the stars and the skies. From what I’ve seen, it comes back to bloodlines. Where there are bloodlines, there are bonds. And we’ve seen how bonds can become bloodshed all too quickly.”

Silence settled over us all.

“Bloodshed,” I spat, trying to push through the haze clouding my thoughts. “Thanks to Grayson. And how did we end up there?” I looked at Logan. “Who sent you to him as if you were a lamb to the slaughter? Sable set you up. She’s somehow involved in what’s happening to us, I know it.”

Logan exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair. “A curse bound in merging bloods.”

“We have to weave the threads back together.” Raina’s lips pressed together. “As Mariyah said.”

No one needed to say it out loud.

Wyatt and Nash.

I turned toward the door before I could stop myself, my feet itching to move. My wolf pacing beneath my skin, restless and angry. The pull was so strong it was like a physical rope around my ribs, dragging me toward her.

I needed answers. I needed to know why Sable had thrust the image of my brothers at me. She obviously knew where they were. And I needed to figure out what the hell she was doing to my head.

I tried to shove down the wildfire that was burning in my chest. “It’s her,” I said, forcing the words out through gritted teeth. “Sable is tied to this. I have to interrogate her.” My fingers shifted into claws without my intending it. My wolf wasn’t going to take being in the backseat for much longer. “It has to be me.”

Because whatever spell she’s cast, I’m the only one feeling it.

Logan’s shoulders tensed. Eve’s fingers twitched in her lap. Raina exhaled slowly, and Anwen looked down at her hands. Even Kenza, who always had something to say, was uncharacteristically silent.

I narrowed my eyes. “What? Why are you all acting like that?”

No one spoke. The quiet stretched until finally, Raina moved. She adjusted her posture, folding her hands in her lap, and then she looked at me.

“Sable,” she said, her voice measured, “may not be what you think.”

I barked out a laugh as another wave of emotions that weren’t mine crashed through me. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. She’s got some kind of fucked-up power, and it’s messing with my head.”

Raina didn’t flinch. “There are greater forces at work, Rhys. Forces that were released the moment Logan and Eve formed their bond. Forces that are stirring, shifting things that have long been dormant.”

Cold slithered down my spine, but I ignored it. “Meaning?”

“Forces that reach into blood and bone. That move unseen until the moment is right. That call to things”—she glanced briefly at Eve—“and prepare them.”

Eve stiffened. Logan’s hand instinctively went to her arm, but she didn’t lean into him. Instead, her fingers pressed against her stomach, a slow, unconscious motion.

Preparing.

My pulse kicked up and a hot, frustrated snarl built in my throat. My skin was too tight, my wolf pacing, clawing, demanding I do something instead of standing here, drowning in riddles.

“I don’t have time for this,” I growled. “I’m telling you—Sable is a part of this. You all see it, you just won’t say it. And whatever she’s doing to me, it’s getting worse.”

Eve’s gaze flickered to Logan. Anwen sighed. Raina exchanged a glance with Kenza.

And then Kenza rolled her eyes and pushed off the wall. “For fuck’s sake.”

I turned to her. “What?”

“You’re an idiot,” she snapped, stepping closer. “You’re standing here, fists clenched, veins popping like you’re two seconds from shifting, and you still don’t see what’s right in front of you.”

I gritted my teeth, my body vibrating with the effort of keeping myself steady. “Why don’t you enlighten me?”

Kenza scoffed, eyes flashing. “Apparently, you’re the only dumbass in this room who hasn’t figured it out.”