Page 127 of Wolf Roulette

Together, we fell.

21

I held the phone to my ear with my shoulder. “Sorry. I really just—”

“Baby girl, I saw Sascha leave after you. I put two and two together.”

I’d flaked on hanging with Wade and Cameron last night. By the time Sascha and I were done, it was nearly midnight.

That was the strongest partial heat yet—boy, was it ever.

“Let’s rain check then. I’m heading out to see Rhona.”

“Call if you need help hiding the body.”

He hung up, and I strode out of the manor, stomach churning. Rhona didn’t attend dawn training, but Foley was there.

I walked to his cabin, turning over his words.

He seemed to think that the Timber win changed Rhona’s mind. The day before, she’d refused to return. The day after, she practically dragged him to the car.

I knocked on the cabin door. “Rhona, it’s Andie.”

A few seconds passed.

“I can smell you in there.”

The door opened, and for the first time in over a month, I stared into emerald eyes so like my own.

Rhona stared at the ground.

Her arms weren’t crossed. Her hip wasn’t cocked.

I inhaled.

Jesus.Pascal was right. My younger sister was a fucking mess.

“Welcome home.” I didn’t make a move to hug her. “Would you like to talk outside?”

I perched on the top step, and she sat a few metres away with her back against the balustrade.

“Foley told me you decided to return after hearing the news about Timber.” I tracked her scent. If I caught the smallest sign of decay, then the gloves had to come off. I could handle her disliking me—notworking against me.

There was too much to lose.

Rhona didn’t meet my gaze. “Yeah.”

“This will always be your home. No one will take that away from you. But due to your past actions, there need to be clear conditions to your return.”

She looked at me then. “So I’m not always welcome.”

“You’re welcome in the same way any steward who acts in the tribe’s best interest is welcome. If you choose to act in a different way, that’s a choice you make knowing the consequence. Put another way, only you can choose to leave this place by behaving selfishly.”

Rhona returned her attention away to the cabin.

“I don’t need an apology from you,” I said softly. “I don’t need to understand why you’ve done the things you have or even why you returned. Here’s what I do need from you.”

She tensed.

---