Page 3 of Rogue Games

DEAN

Opening the top buttons of my shirt with one hand, I push open the front door, desperate to get inside my home and pretend the last few hours didn’t happen.

The launch was wild. Literally. The added drama provided by a female in heat gave me a glimpse of the madness that’s coming my way, and I’m dreading it. All those people, the myriad of scents, my wolf is on edge, and I don’t blame him. This is way outside of our comfort zone.

Alpha Blake Steel is torturing me. It’s the only explanation for choosing me to host these games. I’m not sure what I did to offend him, but he clearly hates me. I used to like him, but I'm not so sure anymore.

“Most people would think that being asked to host the games is an honour,” Callum points out, standing in the pitch-black hallway, big arms folded across his broad chest.

Not bothering to hide my groan at finding him waiting for me, I hang up my jacket and dump my bag on the floor inside the door.

“Then most people are idiots.”

The Grey Ridge pack, who hosted the launch this evening, offered me a place to stay for the night. I was considering it, but I just couldn’t face any more polite conversations.

Callum eyes the bag, knowing that declining their invitation to stay won’t help my efforts to rebuild our pack’s relationships with our neighbours.

He knew I’d be back, or he wouldn’t be here hiding in the dark to ambush me. It irks me that I’m so predictable.

“Don’t say a word. If I’d stayed there in this mood, I definitely wouldn’t have helped us make friends.”

As soon as I got to the brewery and saw the crowds pouring in, I knew I’d be coming home. Everyone else was there to have fun. They came to watch the competitors battling it out on the gruelling obstacle course, whereas I was there to work. And there’s only so much peopling I can do in one day. My social battery was dead after about five minutes. I understand the idea of networking; logically I know the benefit of it, but the mere thought of it has me breaking out in a cold sweat.

“You say that as if you’re ever in any other mood.” Callum leans against the dark wooden doorframe, watching me with barely concealed amusement as I flex my fingers, still sore from punching that idiot wolf.

“Shut up,” I grunt. He’s ruining the best part of the evening for me.

“I didn’t say anything. But if you can’t make it through three hours, how are you going to cope with hundreds of wolves roaming our territory for weeks? You can’t punch everyone who steps out of line. Maggie will be busy enough healing accidental injuries.”

I grunt and turn away. Callum doesn’t expect an answer, because he knows I haven’t got one. It’s a good question, though. How am I going to manage for that length of time, with strange wolves pouring into our lands? Our borders have remained closed to outsiders for decades. When I sought to end our isolation and restart trade and travel with the other packs, I wasn’t expecting to be thrown in the deep end, hosting such a large event.

I’m guessing that’s exactly why Alpha Steel asked me to do it.

It’s a test, to see how serious I am about bringing my pack back into the fold. To see how much things have changed around here.

And it’s a test that I must pass with flying colours if I’m to rehabilitate our pack’s poor reputation.

“I’ll manage. Just make sure we have lots of whiskey, and that nobody gets in here.” My cabin is my sanctuary away from the packhouse. The only space I really have for myself. Everywhere else is still tainted with memories of the past. I can’t have strangers traipsing through here, disrupting the only place I find any peace.

We’ll have a problem on our hands if my wolf doesn’t get a break from all the displays of bravado and dominance I’ll be forced to witness.

“Don’t worry, Lynn is on it. The packhouse has plenty of rooms for visiting dignitaries. We won’t make you take a roommate just yet.”

Callum watches me carefully as I move into the sitting room and lounge back on the couch, arms behind my head.

“I know this is hard, Dean. But we all appreciate what you’re doing here.”

Nodding, I force myself to focus on the positives. The Alpha Games are our big chance to show the other packs, the packs my father alienated during his reign, that I am a different man. That my pack isn’t full of half rabid, vicious wolves who can’t be integrated back into society.

That they can trust us again.

During the games, my wolves can interact with shifters from all different territories without having to take the scary step of leaving our lands for the first time. There could be matings, and babies conceived, all of which would be very welcome in a pack with rapidly dwindling numbers.

And hopefully, by the end of it, I won’t have fallen out with the other alphas. They’ll be more open to doing business with us again, and we can start to rebuild our finances.

A second chance for us all is within reach. It’s a cause for celebration.

And yet, I know it will only work if I can keep my cool and dispel the bad reputation that follows us around. With a beast like mine, that’s easier said than done.

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