Page 113 of Wolf Roulette

I held up the two pieces of paper. “We polled the unemployed stewards separately from the rest of the tribe. The head team decided that as the affected group, their voice should hold particular weight in our decision.” I read the result aloud, “Of the currently unemployed stewards, 83 percent voted in favour of working with the Luthers.”

We were a tribe, but families had to look out for themselves within that. No surprises that the idea of taking a 20 to 40 percent pay cut hadn’t appealed to most.

I held up the second piece of paper. “Of the tribe, 71 percent are in favour of working with the pack to fill grid positions, now and in the future.”

This wasexcellentnews.

Cameron once said that people found it hard to hate someone they knew.

I was banking on it. “Enough business for one night. Go forth and celebrate.”

Tomorrow, we had work to do.

19

Greyson is cramping my style,Booker snapped.A female wolf needs to run as though no one’s watching.

They did?

Sascha’s wolf circled us from afar and had been for an hour.He’s trying to figure out how to bite us.

Honestly, I would’ve just let him, but my wolf wasn’t on the same page. Greyson had his work cut out for him.

He should give up.She growled.Bad hunter. Puny strength.

Booker leaped over a stream, careful not to get a single drop on our fur.

Greyson stopped, and she paused, too, until he resumed his steady pace.

Time spent in the passenger seat of a wolf body had taught me about a wolf’s hunting habits. Booker rarely broke from her loping pace, instead opting to follow prey at a distance. If the prey let her get close enough, she’d break into a run to close the gap. Otherwise, she gave up the chase after exerting mild effort.

So far, she’d always let anything she caught go—thank fuck.

Do you think Greyson will only chase us if he gets closer?I asked her.

She leaped over a fallen tree.Not if he uses our pack.

What did you just say?

His pack.

That’s not what she’d said.You said our pack!Booker accepted Wade, but that was about it. She tolerated Cameron, hated Rhona, thought Pascalwould do, and otherwise preferred to think of others as cardiac muscle delicacies.

This was ground-breaking.

When did that happen?I asked.

Her horror seeped to me.I don’t know.

I bit back on laughter. Claiming others would genuinely upset her.It doesn’t have to change anything. I won’t tell the pack you like them. Or Sascha and Greyson unless you tell me it’s okay.

It comes with consequences.

Like?

Booker sighed.Take a look. It’s already happened.

She sat back on our haunches.

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