Page 57 of Moon Cursed
Also covered in dried blood.
Also angry.
And they all shared the gash over one eye that was part of an ancient practice when a new alpha was initiated into a pack.
I had no pack of my own—not in the traditional sense, anyway. But I had scars of my own that I had earned to find my place in the world I lived in.
A world I wanted to get back to. I had students to train and a mate to get back to. With Dante still missing, she was irritable.
But she knew better than anyone that if Dante didn’t want to be found—he wouldn’t be.
“First, a question,” Shadow said as he leaned forward into the light offered by the portal. “Do you know a Hunter named… Dante?”
My eyes went wide.
Because now I was fully fucking invested in whatever had brought these wolves so far as to call me from my realm.
It took a shit ton of magic to open a portal strong enough to speak, much less walk through.
Luckily, I had enough magic of my own to make sure it held when I stepped through.
Shadow showed an uncharacteristic level of surprise as his eyebrows shot up. The portal closed behind me, leaving us in darkness, but my eyes adjusted quickly enough.
“What’s Dante gone and done now?”
KANE
It felt so fucking useless.
I cursed myself for allowing a Hunter into the mansion; for allowing him anywhere near my mate.
I could have killed him, which was why he’d surprised me and made a run for it. I couldn’t kill what I couldn’t find.
It had been a month of searching and even with the unlikely cooperation of the other packs, we were no closer to finding her than we had been that day I’d been digging a hole in the ground.
A knock on my door made me frown. I’d requested to be alone for tonight.
I’d chosen my study as my prison. There weren’t any windows here to taunt me with the coming High Moon that was due in just a few short hours. Letting my wolf take over when I had no mate to hunt would only pour salt onto the wound.
I almost envied the other alphas. Their wolves had gone dormant. It happened in rare cases when the human spirit and wolf spirit disagreed on a heavy topic, such as a choice in a mate.
They’d made the mistake of rejecting Her. So their wolves had rejectedthem. They wouldn’t have to feel the pain of missing her on a night like tonight, at least, not to the same degree that I would.
“Go away,” I said as I turned over one of the old, hand drawn maps that Shadow had supplied from his pack.
The geography depicted the place where Shadow had determined the Hunter had taken her.
Hell.
Specifically, Hell’s Heart.
A place wolves knew nothing about. What accounts wedidhave on hand were old and likely outdated. The realms were an ever-changing space, especially given recent events.
I hadn’t cared about Calamity or matters that didn’t otherwise impact our realm, but that had been naïve of me. Our realm had been merging with one of the Hell Realms for many years now—if Shadow was to be believed, anyway.
Given the evidence, I had no reason to doubt him.
I thumbed the glowing red rock when the door opened.
