Page 39 of The Fated Hunter Wolf
The music wrapped around the raw wound where the bond used to be, not healing it—nothing could do that—but making it bearable enough that I could remember who I was beyond thispain. I was Sable of the Crux. I was an enforcer. I had survived worse than this.
Even if it didn’t feel like it right now.
I let myself stay in that place of memory, back with the woman who had done everything she could, shielding me from the threats every Crux faced. We were an all-female pack—males who became mates or bonded partners came from other packs—but the Crux line was always dominant in our genes. Even if we were forcibly removed from the Crux family and assimilated into other packs, we were still Crux first. Magical abilities that came with being Crux made us a target. Our abilities usually rose up in adolescence but sometimes earlier if we found our wolf young.
I was one of those. I was barely six years old when I had my first shift, the sensation of it as natural as breathing. It had been in the presence of my mother, who stood in wonder in the little garden she kept behind one of our cabins. We had many, all of them shared cabins so that any Crux could find a safe place when needed. We were an underground railroad for our own, recognizing our roots through scent, a scent we kept hidden from all except our pack mates.
That was how we stayed safe.
My mother had taken extra steps to protect me, knowing my uniquely hybrid blood, my father’s lineage, could make me a mark at any moment, particularly for those packs who loved to exploit the valued abilities of a wolf with extra powers.
Mother wasn’t only worried about other packs—she feared the Crux themselves would turn against me if they ever found out who my father was, if they ever found out I was more than a wolf shifter, more than Crux.
I wondered what my mother would have thought of me now, had she lived to see this moment. That fated mates truly still existed. That I had one. That I had manipulated him into hating me so much he rejected me with his very soul.
And I was likely going to die because of it.
Mama Sabe.Astrid spoke to me through the bond, and I could hear her words far clearer than before.This isn’t how your story ends.
A gasp escaped my lips. I wanted to tell her she would be okay, that she could speak to Eve and tell her everything. That I knew Eve would watch over her and bring her into the pack in the way I hadn’t.
Except there was still so much Eve didn’t know.
My wolf whimpered, an invisible dagger cast into her heart, and she was losing life. Fast. I saw the amber of her heart’s blood seeping out, the injury near fatal.
“She’s taken a deep wound.” Anwen’s voice wove through my ears. “The fated mate bond was set in her long ago. Before her birth.”
Anwen’s hands hovered over my face. I was aware my breaths were coming in hurried fits, my body fighting to survive even as my spirit withered.
“The Shadow Moon Goddess wrote it in the stars long ago,” Anwen said.
“You can see her soul stars?” the Orion elder, Raina, asked.
“Mmm,” Anwen replied. “I always had a sense she might be Crux.”
“Crux,” Eve exhaled. “I knew it. I knew she had to be.” Her hand brushed the hair from my face. The two elders, Astrid, and Eve were huddling close. Eve leaned in. “Sable, I command you to fight the desire to end your life.I command you to fight to live.There is so much you’ve kept hidden, so much you made me believe about you that I now know is false.”
She sat back on her knees, and I followed her with my eyes.
“I am your alpha, the high female alpha of Orion, and I command you to live.”
She doesn’t know.The thought rose up, clear as a bell through the muddle of the rejection chaos.She doesn’t know I must follow her command, not because of Orion.
But because she is the next alpha of Crux.
Astrid’s arm slipped behind my shoulders, and she pulled me up with a strength that made my limp body feel like nothing more than a heavy backpack.
"I've got her," Astrid said. She manipulated my body onto her back in a fireman’s carry. I let my eyes flutter shut in the security of her hold. Footsteps approached us quickly. "Back up," she shouted, "I said I've got her." The footsteps backed away slowly.
Astrid carried me through the Orion town, Eve leading the way and the elders behind us.
When I opened my eyes again, we stood before the alpha's cabin. Even through my exhaustion, the building commanded attention—a massive structure of dark timber and river stone that rose two stories high, its peaked roof cutting sharp angles against the sky. The logs were thick as ancient tree trunks, fitted together with clean precision, and the stone foundation looked like it had been pulled straight from the mountain itself. No decorative trim, no unnecessary flourishes. Just raw materials assembled with such perfect proportions that the simplicity itself became impressive.
My arms slipped slightly on Astrid's shoulders as she adjusted her grip, her chest rising and falling in exaggerated breaths.
“I can walk,” I whispered into her ear. “You’re tired.”
You can’t and I’m not, she said through the Crux bond, and she swallowed a sob. It struck me that her staggered breathing was due to emotion, and not from carrying me. Carrying me was already a feat, since I was close to twice her weight.
