Page 166 of Wolf Roulette

Wade loved every second of it.

I handed the mic back to Pascal and scanned the room for the one person I wanted to see.

“Mayor Thana,” Terrie greeted from the bottom of the stairs.

With less of the audience’s attention on me, I risked standing and gladly left the throne behind. “Terrie, how are you?”

Conversation with her led to conversations with the other council members, Wilson, Gabriel, and Rose. Sascha hadn’t moved from across the room, but I seemed to be moving farther away.

Escaping another conversation, I’d managed one step toward Sascha when Walter Nash swooped in to speak with me at length about the airport.

When I excused myself fromhim, I was introduced to the oldest member of our population, and then the youngest.

Finally,I followed the tugging under my ribs.

“Head Steward?”

Seriously?

I smiled at the older woman. “I’ve seen you around the manor, but I can’t recall your name.”

She pressed her lips together. “My name is Judy. Up until a month ago, I was the organiser of this ball.”

Yikes.She didn’t smell happy about it either. “Wade told me you agreed to hand over the task to him. Thank you for that. It means a lot to him.”

“He said that you’d decided to revamp the ball and put him in charge.”

Wade, you mothershitter.“I see.” Subject change time. “What do you think of the result?”

She wrinkled her nose, but I inhaled her begrudging respect and a slight embarrassment.

“I’m very grateful for the years of work you put into this event,” I said. “From all reports, you’ve pulled off the ball for a long time. I did intend Wade to work alongside you, so please let me know if you’d like to rejoin the team for future events. It would be a great shame to lose someone with your experience.”

Judy forced a smile—though slightly less offended than before. “I’ll let you know.”

“Great. Is there anything—”

Rhona touched my arm. “Hey, got a minute?”

I grimaced at Judy. “Please excuse me.”

When we were a few metres away, I grabbed her arm. “Thank you.”

“Looked like you needed saving. Celeb life, huh?”

“Want to switch like old times?” I joked.

I stilled, wondering if she’d take that the wrong way, but Rhona arched a brow. “I’ve spent years cultivating this scowl to keep them at bay. Not a chance.”

“Worth a shot. How awesome did Wade do with the hall?”

I hadn’t seen my friend again since our speeches, but he’d be preening for his admirers all night.

“Yeah, he’s in his element tonight.” Rhona jerked her head. “Cam looks like she’s in hers too.”

On my conversational journey, I’d noted the stewards hadn’t left the one side of the hall, and the pack hadn’t left the other. Cam was over on the Luther side dancing with her wolf lady.

Oh, shit.She totally let the cat out of the bag. “That’s her girlfriend, Emily.”

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