I rested my head against his chest. “Yeah.”
2
I rolled in Sascha’s gigantic bed and encountered coldness instead of his overheated body. I consulted the elastic band sensation under my ribs. He was a couple of buildings over in the pack house.
Sun blared inside the open patio doors, and I took my time stretching.
Last week, waking after dawn would be laughable. But I wasn’t head steward anymore, so fuck it. Plus, things were kind of awkward with the pack, so sleeping in meant less time in their company.
We could live in the forest, Booker said hopefully.
I padded to the wardrobe. Good try. Hey, if you’re a sigma, does that make me a sigma too?
You’re human. Humans don’t have statuses off the media because they’re stupid.
I tucked away a grin. You mean social media?
She sniffed.
My wolf was vain and haughty and anti-social to the extreme. I’m so glad you’re with me.
Then listen to my plan. We leave the pack and eat the sister’s heart.
Booker liked to refer to Rhona as the sister and talk about eating hearts. To my knowledge, we were yet to eat any, but I’d blacked out for the night of the new moon, so…
I grimaced and opened the wardrobe. I’d love to dress in my own clothes again.
But then Sascha couldn’t see you in his shirts.
And he really enjoyed that.
I shoved his Den’s suits aside and peered into the back. Stacks of shoes. Man, his wardrobe was super organised. He really didn’t want to see what mine normally looked like.
Pushing his suits the other way, I crouched inside the wardrobe.
Boxes.
No clothes though. Ugh.
I stopped mid-rise as the scribbled name on the boxes caught my eye.
Andie Charise Booker/Thana
Craning my head, I took in the columns of boxes stacked to the ceiling. Two across. Two deep. Eight high. Thirty-two of them. All of those I could see had my name written on the front. “That’s not creepy at all.”
Standing on tiptoe, I heaved a box down and worked the lid free.
My brows drew together as I hooked underwear on my forefinger. Lacey and midnight blue. Definitely mine. “You are the biggest, biggest creep.”
Still, I did need underwear.
So, creepy… but handy.
This had to be Sascha’s research from the capture meet. How the hell could my life fill up thirty-two boxes? How about three lines?
Benefactor of crappy childhood.
Receiver of shitty lies.
Poorer than dirt (see above).
I drew out two dresses—one was an elegant crimson cocktail dress, the other a tube dress that, from memory, barely covered my ass.
Both went missing months ago.
Why do you hint at showing your butthole with these dresses instead of just showing it when he does something right? Booker asked.
Just a human thing, I guess.
Why did Sascha pick these dresses in particular? Digging deeper, I located a tee shirt and a mini skirt. Ha! Jackpot.
Maybe wearing my own clothes would mean fewer glares from the pack.
What will we do next? my wolf asked.
I set the box aside and dragged another down. Like, today?
No. What’s the next move?
Sitting back, I sighed. Even when Ragna died, I’d had a house to clean and sell, then came the car and driving to Deception Valley. Becoming a steward, then head steward.
Now…
I’d always coveted the life of people without a care—how they flittered from place to place. When I’d dreamed of that life though, I’d chosen it. The head steward position was taken from me. I still carried all the cares of that role but none of the power to do anything.
Entering tribal lands was a big fat no.
Leaving Deception Valley was a bigger fatter no.
I had to stay on pack lands, but the tribe were my people. Then there was what I felt for Sascha.
How did I make a single fucking move? What would you do?
Live in the forest and return to mate with Sascha Greyson at intervals.
I laughed despite my aching heart. You want to use Sascha for his body?
He has what I need for pups. We can accept the good part without any of the pack leader baggage.
She considered that baggage, not me, but I envied wolves’ clarity sometimes, if not their ruthlessness.
I riffled through the contents of box two. Several of the items were discarded capture-meet gifts. Fuzzy pyjamas, pine-scented candle, saxophone reeds, a sudoku book, and a yellow tulip he’d since preserved between two transparent boards.
My heart squeezed. He’d pressed the first flower he gave me. When he was stalking me against my will, but still. Adorable.
“What are you doing?
I jumped, inhaling thyme. “Mandy. I’m looking for clothes.”
“Are you sure? Because you’re really looking through boxes in Sascha’s wardrobe.”
Busted. I grabbed the Sudoku book and replaced the boxes on top of the column before swiping up my clothes.
Mandy blocked the exit
We were at the same eye level.
I smiled—that always freaked angry people out. “Can I help you?”
“You can leave.” She stood aside.
I deposited my finds on the bed.
Mandy smelled all kinds of sour. The thing about Luther senses… it was hard to keep feelings a secret. “For what it’s worth, I do wish that we hadn’t ended up on opposite sides.”
Mandy could have been a friend.
She crossed her arms. “I don’t care that you’re on the opposite side. You could hardly control that.”
“Would you like to tell me why you dislike me then? I have a busy day ahead.”
Her gaze shifted to the Sudoku book.
Bad joke?
Mandy balled her hands. “Sascha breaks his back to prove himself to you. He’s done so over and over again. What have you ever done to show him you’re worthy?”
Sascha’s patience and support were incredible, but I wasn’t about to beat myself up for using logic over my heart. Practical decisions had kept me alive during my childhood. Trusting emotion wasn’t an easy thing. “Did Sascha ask you to speak with me?”
“No—”
“So you took it upon yourself?”
Her cheeks tinged pink, but the tattooed blonde drew herself taller. “He deserved someone to speak for him.”
No one else had interfered so far. Was this a delta thing or a Mandy thing? I’d only learned a little about the differences between wolf statuses so far. “You decided that person should be you. Why?”
She’d struck me as playful and intelligent in the past. Not inquisitive. She definitely cared about pack losses and took them hard. Did she like to fix other’s problems?
Her lip curled. “No one else wants to stick up for him.”
I took a stab in the dark. “If the mating call between me and Sascha doesn’t work out, it’s not your fault. That’s just life. Nothing you do will change the outcome.”
Her eyes darkened. “He deserves more than someone who only ever hurts him.”
Nature had ensured that unless I moved toward Sascha, anything else would hurt him—and me—by default.
I dipped my head. “Noted. Anything else?”
“Sascha sent me to tell you that he’d left for his grid runs. The meeting ran over.”
Which explained why he wasn’t in here shutting her the hell up. “Sure.”
After a withering look, Mandy left.
Shaking my head, I grabbed the T-shirt, mini, and underwear, and entered the open-ceiling shower adjourning the bedroom.
Cool water from the stream flowed over my head, and I shivered. Luthers ran hotter than humans, and my showers since first shifting had dropped from hot to lukewarm, but the straight-up cold shower was hard to grow accustomed to.
&nb
sp; After washing my hair, I foamed pine-scented natural body wash over my body and rinsed off. I swear Sascha was trying to make me smell like him.
Dressed in my own clothes, I grabbed the Sudoku book and located a pen in a bedside drawer. Breakfast was still on, but after Mandy’s hostility, I opted to traipse to a bench by the stream instead.
I missed my tribe.
The sun rose higher as I worked through several Sudokus in quick succession.
When did I last get time for this? I couldn’t remember. It had to be back when I worked The Dens.
“Do you mind if I sit?” The wolf looked around thirty to the unknowing eye. My sniffer said otherwise. Like counting rings on a tree stump, I could tell this guy was older than any other Luther I’d scented before.
I swung my legs off the bench. “Of course.”
I searched for his scent but didn’t find one.
Curious.
“I don’t usually have to share my fishing spot.” The ancient wolf sat and busied himself with a tackle box and rod.
Make him go away, Booker snapped.
He glanced at me. “You prefer to be alone?”
“Not me.” A tinge of decay hung in the air. “Not all the time. My wolf does.”
The air cleared.
The man nodded. “Your wolf can leave if she wants. I’m not moving.”
Get that? I asked her.
I’ll make him move.
We both knew that was bullshit. There was a definite difference in power between this wolf and me. My instincts warned that taking him on would be a huge mistake.
Did Luthers gain power as they aged?
“Your mind is busy, young wolf.” He cast off. “You’ll scare the fish away.”
“Sorry,” I said demurely. “I’ll think quieter.”
He shot me a suspicious look, and I jotted a number on my Sudoku.
“Busy week you’ve had,” he said next.
“Weren’t you worried about scaring fish?”
As he grinned, the wolf displayed sharp teeth that my peripherals couldn’t fail to notice. “Here I thought you may be interested in what’s happening. I’ve come from a pack meeting.”
“Keep it to yourself, old wolf.” Who was this guy anyway? Only important Luthers sat in on pack meetings.
His brows climbed. “Old wolf. That might be a first.” The Luther twitched the line. “The tribe came out on top of the Stabattse negotiations.”
My curiosity sharpened despite myself. “How?”
“Sascha made an official complaint about your attack on our marshal. We knew the tribe would come back with the kidnapping and injury of their steward.”
Wade.
“They surprised us with something else.” The wolf reeled in his line and cast again with a flick of his wrist. “The new head steward raised the point that you were bitten in Water resulting in the transformation to a werewolf. She considered this fate synonymous with death.”
Ouch. Apparently, I was dead to Rhona.
“The loss of head stewardship must have hurt.” The wolf changed the bait on his hook.
“Nope. Never wanted it.”
“Truth.”
That surprised him? Cool. “What was the verdict?”
“Daniil’s biting offence occurred outside of Victratum and therefore carried a steeper consequence. The pack earned three penalty points.”
Shit. Hefty. Five penalty points resulted in the loss of a grid. I’d use those points to tribe advantage well and truly.
… But the head team would guide Rhona on that. Jesus, I had to stop agonising over this stuff.
“You’re surprised,” he murmured.
I shrugged a shoulder. “Yes and no.”
“Well,” the wolf cast again, “you may be interested to know the next grid is Sandstone.”
I’d assumed it would be.
“We have an airtight strategy.”
Seriously, what was this guy’s angle? “Better keep it that way then.”
“The tribe inspired it actually. Remember the wires your side shot across the quarry to explode wolfbane balloons over us? We’ll use the wires in a different way.”
My stomach dropped.
The Luthers entered on the ground level. Crap. They’d shoot ropes upward to help them climb.
The major problem the Luthers faced in Sandstone was neutralising our high-ground advantage.
They could win with this strategy. And it wasn’t something the head team could put together.
Dread filled me. Fuck!
The old wolf jerked his line and reeled in earnest. A moderate-sized trout was dragged over the bank, but the wolf unhooked the fish and threw it back. He baited the hook again. “Your human friend is here.”
Wade’s Jeep was winding between the bungalows. Grabbing my Sudoku, I quickly stood. This guy was freaking me out big time.
“Goodbye, young wolf,” he murmured.
“Bye, old wolf.”
I hurried toward Wade.
My friend hopped out of the car, only a smidgen stiffer than usual after his ordeal at Daniil’s hands.
“I’m so glad you’re okay.” I hugged him gently.
“Are you kidding? What happened to me was nothing, baby girl. What about you?”
“You must be kidding. You were injured and kidnapped because of me and probably spent an entire day wondering if you’d die. I’m just so relieved you’re safe.”
He turned in a full circle. “As you see, I’m fine. You’re not harbouring some sense of misplaced guilt, are you?”
She is, my wolf said for my ears only.
“He took you to get to me.” I peered up into my friend’s gorgeous grey eyes.
They softened. “The guy was messed up. That had nothing to do with you, so stop being selfish. I’d like my own drama for once. But you know what’s humbling? Training to fight Luthers for ten years and having your ass kicked within seconds.”
Yeah.
Humans were fragile.
Wade opened the boot and pulled out a huge bag.
I eyed it. “Uh, what’s all that?”
“My stuff. Your stuff is in there too.”
My mouth dried. “Why have you got your stuff?”
“I’m moving off tribal lands in protest of how you were treated.”
Fear bolted through me, and I gripped his arm.
His brows shot up.
Shit. “Your entire family is there. You’ve grown up in that community. You can’t do that for me.”
“I can and I will. My family will understand.”
Sliding my phone free, I rattled off a message, sincerely hoping the pack wasn’t watching me.
I need you and Cam on the inside.
He read the text.
They were my last connections with the tribe. Without them, I’d lose touch on what was happening. And if I ever needed to get in touch with the tribe…
I needed Wade to stay put. “I don’t think this is a choice you should make rashly.”
He played along. “I’ve had three days to think about it, Andie.”
“The gesture is appreciated. Really. I just can’t let you do that. Your mum would be so upset. The tribe means more to you than you think.”
“Perhaps you’re right.” He pinned me with a curious look.
I slid my phone away. “I’m always right. Give it some time. Everything is pretty raw.”
He groaned dramatically and chucked his huge bag back in the boot. “I’ll do it for you.”
“Thank you.” I squeezed his hand.
I couldn’t lose this last connection to the tribe yet.
When they succeeded, I felt triumph and relief. The thought of them failing seared me with ice-cold horror.
Unless that changed quick, it could be a big fucking problem.
“If you won’t let me make a dramatic declaration of friendship, then how about a drink?” Wade leaned into the Jeep and drew out a chiller box. “Figured you’d need one, and I’d like to run a
n experiment on Luthers and the effects of alcohol.”
“I humbly consent to be your test subject.”
“Good. Because I want to know what Rhona did to you. Everything. You and Cameron are sugar-coating the truth. I don’t cope well with falsehoods, Andie.”
Understatement.
I held out my hand. “Better give me a few of those then.”
3
I wrapped a towel around my body after the second shower of the day. How did Luthers stay clean all the time? That should be the topic of Wade’s next study.
“I hoped to catch you so we could run together.” Sascha stood in the doorway, clad only in worn jeans. Tangled, dark-brown hair fell just shy of his muscular shoulders. His honey eyes were almost impossible to look away from.
I inhaled his tantalising mix of pine, river water, musk, and sweat. “I didn’t know when you’d be back.”
I dug through the bags of clothes Wade packed for me.
Sascha’s hands gripped my shoulders, and we both relaxed at the contact. For a few breaths, I enjoyed the feeling of rightness.
Then the old wolf’s words came tumbling back.
Sascha kissed the back of my shoulder. “Wade visited?”
I shivered. “We tried to get me drunk.”
His lips twitched against my skin. “How did it go?”
“Not well.”
“It takes a lot of strong alcohol to overwhelm our accelerated healing process. Even then, your wolf won’t get drunk. Just you.”
Huh, go figure. I gathered my clothes and walked back to the bathroom.
“Why are you changing in there?” he called. “You’ve never done that before.”
I towel-dried and stepped into underwear and then a bra. “No reason.”
“I like seeing you naked.”
“Believe it or not, I gathered that.” Tugging up high-waisted black jeans, I shrugged into a pink midriff jumper.
I dumped my towel in the hamper and returned to find Sascha sitting on the bed with the duchess comb he gave me.
“Will you let me brush your hair?” he asked.
I lowered my gaze. “Not tonight. It’s tangled.”
Sascha handed over the comb without a word. “Let’s test the mind-speak again.”
We stared at each other.
Wolf Roulette: Supernatural Battle Page 2