Wolf Roulette: Supernatural Battle

by Kelly St Clare

  Our besties, rolling on the floor, erupted into loud laughter.

  Basilia’s lips crooked. She moved to sit in the armchair next to me. “An alliance between the clan and pack. The idea could hold merit.”

  “The two races could pose a serious threat to both of us.” The more I thought of it, the more concerned I became about our neighbours.

  “The problem being that there are less than one thousand werewolves in the pack, my mate tells me. We number upward of fifteen thousand. We’d bring far more to an alliance.”

  Not strictly true. “Your numbers are indisputable, yet your territory is far removed from the demons and witches. You only found out about them tonight, for example. We hold great value in our proximity.”

  “As scouts.” She tapped her bottom lip.

  “The differences in our powers could also prove beneficial. A Luther’s senses are unmatched—as is our endurance. We’re natural strategists. In wolf form, a pack can communicate over huge distances too.”

  The vampire pursed her lips.

  I kept going. “The demons and witches are keeping their existence a secret from your clan. Whether because of your sheer numbers or for more nefarious reasons, I’m unsure. But why not keep your own secret in case they do mean your people harm? An early alert from the pack could make all the difference, as could an extra thousand supernatural bodies who are designed for a siege. That’s not to mention all the information we could gather as scouts.”

  The vampire tapped the rim of her glass. “I assume you’re suggesting this alliance in preparation of the pack remaining in this valley beyond the game.”

  “The idea never entered my head before tonight. I’d just hate to win the game only to face another fight in the near future.”

  She hummed. “I’m not ready for another fight either. Ingenium was a shit show.”

  I set my cocktail on a side table. “Let’s see where this goes then. If King Julius is interested in talking further, get in touch.”

  The vampire studied me. “Thank you for the information regardless.”

  “Happy to help. Anything to prevent more supernatural bullshit, right?”

  Her focus didn’t budge. “I’m not a fan of bullshit. If there’s one thing I hate more, it’s fucking games. When I get back to the city tomorrow, I’ll take this to Julius on your behalf. While we wait on that, I want to know if there’s anything I can do to help you on a more personal level.”

  My brows drew together. “Why would you go out of your way to do that?”

  She took a deep breath. “I was once in a game that threatened to drive Kyros and I apart. I felt alone and powerless and afraid. If someone had been there to help me, things would have been easier to bear. Did you know that your heart misses a beat every time you say his name?”

  “Sascha?” I asked.

  Her lips curved as my heart skipped before resuming.

  “I never noticed.” My voice was soft.

  “Love is the only game worth playing. So how can we win? Is it money you need?” She made a flippant gesture and a hint of her vampire stench reached my nostrils.

  “Money? Thank you, but no.” In the middle of rubbing my nose, I froze and lifted my gaze to hers. “Maybe there’s another way you could help me though.”

  15

  What was it about this day of the week that felt lonelier than usual?

  Was it that I’d elected to spend the evening in my office while stewards laughed and let loose through the manor?

  Whatever the reason, Saturday never felt lonely when he was around. After talking with Basilia most of the night about her immortal mating with Prince Kyros, I just wanted to skip the bullshit and be with Sascha.

  I texted him. How many times was this now? Fifty?

  I miss you so much.

  Messaging a blocked number was the equivalent of writing a journal, but my soul ached with the need to see him.

  Delivered.

  I sucked in a breath. The message status hadn’t changed since I left pack lands. He’d unblocked me.

  Three dots appeared and my heart hammered. He’d read the message.

  He was typing back.

  Oh my god. Should I call?

  “Wait for him to reply,” I scolded myself.

  Five minutes went by and the three dots disappeared.

  A crushing weight filled my chest.

  I typed again.

  You need to see me too.

  Please. Let’s talk

  The message showed a delivered status, but the three dots didn’t appear.

  He wasn’t even going to give me the damn dots?

  Nope.

  No.

  My desk chair skated along the ground as I stood.

  Sascha would talk to me. We’d been through too much to fizzle out like this.

  I was breaking into The Dens.

  In style.

  Running upstairs, I grabbed my second sexiest dress. The metallic mini didn’t leave room for underwear. The cowl neck plunged to belly button levels. Thin straps criss-crossed my back in a lattice that would ignite the desire of those who caught sight of me.

  I only needed to ignite one man.

  Pairing the mini with black heels, I straightened my hair and swept on smoky shadow. Grabbing a clutch, I transferred the contents of my wallet and studied myself in the mirror.

  “He will listen to you tonight.” I swivelled to study my butt.

  He’d listen, alright.

  How are we getting in? Booker asked.

  There’s a staff entrance, but Sascha will sense me coming. Hairy will be on the lookout.

  We need a diversion.

  I covered my outfit with a long black coat that made no sense in summer and dodged around the outside of the manor to reach Ella F undetected. Leaving in this dress didn’t give a great impression.

  Diving into Ella F, I drove to town like a madwoman and parked at the petrol station again.

  I couldn’t get too close or he’d spook.

  Scanning the busy street, I spotted a group of local teens near the riverside. They reeked faintly of alcohol.

  Perfect.

  I walked over. “Having a good night?”

  They looked at me warily.

  A girl in her late teens shrugged. “Yeah. What’s it to you?”

  “I need someone to cause a distraction so I can get into The Dens.” Teens could smell a lie from a mile away. Best to be honest.

  “Why do you need to sneak in?” a younger boy asked.

  “There’s a guy in there I want to see. He’s the owner. He’s angry at me and the bouncer won’t let me in.”

  The girl’s brow shot up. “What’d you do?”

  I leaned against the railing. “He thinks I chose my family over him. He’s hurt. But I only did it for him.”

  “Messed up,” she answered.

  Yep.

  The boy exchanged long glances with the group. “Is there money in it?”

  I looked at the empty bottle of wine near his feet. There was one between eight of them. They’d need more for it to have any effect, which they’d no doubt figured out.

  I wasn’t down with fuelling their efforts. “There would be money in it if I had your assurance you wouldn’t ask someone to buy you booze with the cash.”

  Just like that I lost their interest.

  “How much?” The first girl planted her hands on her hips. “I’m saving for a car.”

  Truth.

  “I can swing twenty.”

  She smirked. “The people who run The Dens are scary. Make it fifty and you have a deal. I’ll draw the bouncer away.”

  “How do I know you won’t just take my money?”

  Her jaw clenched. “I won’t.”

  Truth.

  Digging in my clutch, I extracted a fifty and passed it over, sincerely hoping Sascha wasn’t already on high alert from feeling my presence in town. “Got a plan?”

  “How do you think we got the bottle of wine?”
>
  I didn’t want to know.

  Watching her cross the street, I started walking back to Ella F to throw Sascha off guard. I listened as the girl approached The Dens, slipping off my heels to hold them.

  Shouts erupted, and when the girl took off up the hill, I sprinted toward the casino.

  Hairy was in pursuit of her.

  I grinned, boosting up the hill at—a very quick—human pace. Speeding past the line, I jumped the cordon to the gasps of those watching.

  Success!

  I donned my heels and strode into the bar.

  Every pack member was watching me from their stations, but no one approached. In a bid to get farther from the exit, I weaved between the tables and dancing patrons to enter the casino.

  What now?

  Should I force my way into staff quarters? Sascha definitely knew I was here. I couldn’t smell his reaction over the crowd, but he was in his office.

  He could be watching me on the cameras right now.

  Better give him a show.

  Walking through the casino, I greeted the Luthers I passed.

  “That’s quite the dress, gorgeous lady,” said an older gentleman with a moustache.

  I’d never been attracted to older men. Well, that was ludicrous when I wanted a near-on one-century-old man for my own. But I’d never gone for the silver fox.

  “Thank you, sir. Have a good evening.” Go away.

  “May I buy you a drink?” he asked.

  I walked around the patron, but a hand latched around my wrist. Bliss flowed through my body, and my eyes fluttered closed, lips parting as the contact swept away my worries and replaced them with a surety that everything would be okay.

  Sascha tugged me toward him, and I went.

  I much preferred him in jeans—only jeans—but he was so fucking handsome in a suit. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he took me in.

  Our hearts pounded together. His desire danced with mine. Our scents merged so completely that I could barely tell one from the other.

  “Sascha.”

  Now Basilia had pointed it out, I’d never miss the irregular skipping of my heart again.

  “Andie.” His voice was sharp. “What are you doing here?”

  I rested a hand on his chest, half expecting him to deny me that touch. A small sigh escaped his lips as my palm contacted the space over his heart. “I—”

  “If you’re here to see me, then I can’t help you.”

  “Why are you shutting me out?”

  “What you did isn’t enough?”

  I refused to look away. “Not enough for this. There has to be a reason you’re pushing me away.”

  “Maybe I’ve rediscovered my priorities.”

  His smirk hurt. Then again, it was designed to. I stepped so our bodies were flush and gripped either side of his face.

  “No,” I whispered upward. “I don’t believe that.” For the first time ever, I knew someone’s feelings for me were bigger than the world.

  He tensed under my touch, but joy emanated from him too.

  My words elated him.

  He didn’t want me to believe that he didn’t love me? How did that make sense?

  I watched the ticking in his jaw, feeling the rapid flutter of his pulse under my palm. “If I’m wrong. You need to tell me. For good.”

  Sascha covered my hands with his. “I won’t discuss the game with you, Andie. I’m sorry you put on that stunning dress for nothing, but perhaps it’s better that you leave.”

  He didn’t mean it.

  He wanted me to stay more than anything.

  “Is someone controlling you?” I asked under my breath.

  Did his father have anything to do with this?

  Sascha brushed his thumb over my cheekbone. “The only person with the power to control me is you, beautiful wolf.”

  “Then help me understand why you’re acting this way. I’m confused.” When I’d turned from Sascha, it was because of Herc’s death. I’d been hurt, afraid, lost, and reeling.

  There was no anger in Sascha though. Only grim determination.

  Nothing about his reactions meshed with his actions.

  He lowered his hands, drawing my hands away with them. “You need to leave.”

  I narrowed my gaze. He would speak to me before I left. “I’m a patron. I’m here to gamble.”

  Sascha’s expression smoothed. “No, you’re not.”

  “I am. I’d hoped to talk to you, but if I can’t, then a game of…” I peered around. Crap, I only knew one game. “…roulette sounds perfect. Have a good evening.”

  Sidestepping him, I strode back to the exchange counter.

  The delta there smiled and peered over my shoulder before quickly losing it.

  “Hey, Cassie,” I greeted her. “A hundred in chips. Any denomination.”

  Sascha leaned on the counter. “Just one hundred? Why not two?”

  I beamed. “You’re absolutely right. Why the hell not?”

  My anger swelled in response to his.

  Passing over two hundred, I swiped the casino chips into my clutch.

  His mouth skimmed my ear. “Spending money that you can’t afford won’t change my answer, Andie.”

  I shrugged a shoulder. “Of course not. I’m just here to see what the fun side of life looks like. It’s about time I decided to be irresponsible, don’t you think?”

  “You don’t want to do this,” he growled. “You’re acting out because you’re angry at me.”

  Angry? No. Well, not before I came here tonight.

  I evaded his grip and entered the casino again.

  “Can I join this table?” I asked Lisa at the roulette table.

  Her gaze darted behind me. “Ah. Certainly?”

  I took a seat on the end.

  Crap. Now I was here, the thought of playing did make me uneasy—something I’d never felt as the table dealer. Laying down my money to gamble was opening a door I swore would always remain closed.

  I shoved back slight nausea.

  “Ten-dollar bets, thanks.” I passed over my chips.

  Sascha vibrated at my back.

  Lisa obeyed while casting furtive glances at her pack leader.

  The two other occupants of the table didn’t react to the tension. How couldn’t they sense it? My spine was about to break from the effort of keeping it straight under Sascha’s fury.

  Occupied with a werewolf at my back, who was so close that his heat seeped into my skin, I missed the next round.

  “What do you want from me?” he spoke low and fast. “I’m trying not to involve you in this. You don’t want to be torn in two.”

  That’s why he’d cut me out? “That didn’t matter to you two weeks ago. You just wanted me on your side. Why the change of heart?”

  “Yes, I took it fucking badly when I realised you wouldn’t ever be happy on pack lands. I thought everything was finally working out for us, and I needed time to lick my wounds.”

  Lisa calculated payouts.

  “You made an assumption,” I told him quietly.

  He stilled.

  Lisa cleared the roulette table, and I selected three of my chips. My unease swelled, and I leaned forward.

  A large hand took mine in an unshakeable grip.

  Sascha spun me on the stool to face him. “What did I assume?”

  My chest rose as I craned my neck to see him. “That I’d never be happy there. That pack lands could never be my home. You didn’t stick around long enough to hear my real reason for returning to the tribe.”

  I tried to free my hand, but he didn’t release it.

  “Ma’am, are you okay?” one of the other players asked tentatively.

  Couldn’t blame him. Sascha’s eyes were practically throwing fire.

  I ignored the guy. “I need you to talk to me and not shut me out.”

  Sascha growled. “That comes with consequences that you’ve shown me you can’t handle. What happens to us when I win the game? I smelled your reactio
n to my answer that day in the truck. You’ll hate me for it.”

  So that was what made him shut down. The same realisation had driven me to put up walls too. “What if I won Grids, Sascha? What would you feel?”

  His expression smoothed.

  I had a strong suspicion it would end in the same result for us. Gently freeing myself, I faced the table again.

  “Are you going to let this continue?” the other player said to Lisa.

  Steeling myself, I reached forward to place my bet.

  Sascha snarled and picked me up, throwing me over his shoulder.

  I thumped his back. “I’m not leaving until you pull your thumb out of your ass, Sascha.”

  “She’s done,” he told Lisa. Calling to someone I couldn’t see, he said, “Exchange her chips.”

  One of his hands covered my ass—ideal, because this was not the dress to be hauled around in like a sack of potatoes. People scattered out of the way as we passed.

  I tried to boot Sascha in the gut. “Just try to throw me out. See how that works out for you.”

  His amusement spurred my wrath to unfounded heights.

  When Grim opened the door to the staff quarters, I stopped battling.

  Oh, he wasn’t booting me out.

  Sascha took us into his office and kicked the door shut. He sat me on the desk and crowded me. “What exactly would you do, little bird?”

  Gripping the table edge, I glared upward.

  “So angry,” he murmured. “And it’s all for me.” He rested a hand at the base of my neck. “Do you know when you flush like this, the red goes down your neck?” His hand slid lower over my bare skin. “It covers your chest.”

  I sucked in a shallow breath.

  Sascha lightly dragged his fingers between my breasts and continued down across my stomach revealed by the loose front of the dress. “Blood rushes to the surface wherever I touch.”

  It felt so good.

  I let my head tip back as his fingers circled my skin. “We need to talk.”

  “Yes, beautiful wolf.”

  He latched onto my nipple through my dress and my eyes I’d never felt close flew open.

  I jerked, but my violent movement was halted as Sascha clamped down on my hips. The heat of his mouth and tongue teased me through the material.