Page 152 of Wolf Roulette

I hadn’t considered my team in this. “They are?”

She nodded.

My friends were usually right. The entire head team deserved a day to unwind and recharge. “I’ll be there. Right now, I’m expected elsewhere.”

Grabbing a jacket and slipping into knee-high boots, I then speed-walked to the meeting room.Sorry, Booker. We’ll run later, I promise.

Maybe Greyson could come?

I switched channels.Sascha, Booker wants to know if Greyson can come for a run later.

His reply was immediate.He’d love to.

My cheeks warmed, courtesy of Booker’s glee.She’s looking forward to it.

I cut off the chat and stepped into the conference room.

The tables were drawn together. Trixie and Stanley were in attendance, along with five representatives from Sandstone.

I greeted everyone, then took my seat. “We’ve had a few days to assess Sandstone. What are the findings?”

Trixie set a report in front of me.

It was ten pagesat least.

“I’m not going to pretend I have a speck of the knowledge each of you do,” I addressed the nervous workers. “We need to know what each point means, and the impacts of each point. So you’re aware of what we intend to do, currently the tribe holds three penalty points. We need two more. Whatever we take to the pack needs to be failsafe.”

The row of workers nodded.

A woman in the middle cleared her throat, “There’s one major lapse, Head Steward. The rest certainly add up, but one in particular had significant environmental impacts.”

Perfect.

“Show me,” I said.

She thumbed through her copy. “Page four. Fifth point down. The area where we dump our extraction waste products was assessed. During this, it was found that waste products had been dumped in the wrong area, near a small waterway. The fluoride levels there were tested and found in excess of 1 mg per litre, which is in direct violation of our practices.”

From my council stint, I knew that the population of Deception Valley relied on our clean waterways. “That’s a hazardous level?”

“Some data maintains negative effects in young children. We monitor waterways around the waste disposal area closely.”

“Are we able to prove that the loads were dropped in the wrong area by the pack and not us?”

Trixie replied, “Yes, Head Steward. Photo and video footage is a routine part of grid turnovers. We take footage on the Wednesday evening prior to a match, and also upon resuming management of a grid. We have before and after pictures, and the pack will have their own.”

We had an ace. “Excellent. In your expert opinions, what is the combined environmental impact of the rest of these points?”

The woman spoke again. “There’s a level of environmental impact that the pack and tribe agree—in strict terms—can’t be avoided with the extraction of natural resources. Each of the mentioned points, long-term, would have created a mild negative effect on the quarry itself and the surrounding area.Combined,there’s current data to support our opinion that the long-term environmental effect of these lapses would have been significant.”

“Thank you.” I glanced at Stanley and Trixie. “The pack will argue that no long-term effect was displayed even if we can prove it with external studies. What do we have against that?”

“Care for the land must be displayed at all times. The contract is clear,” Stanley answered. “It doesn’t matter whether they had the grid for a week or a year. It’s their duty to heed the guidelines constantly.”

Trixie faced the row of stewards. “Is the data you’ve based your opinions on absolute? Are there studies proving the opposite in existence?”

Ah, good point.

A man at the far end raised his hand. “New data does arise, but policies and procedures for each grid are updated annually. These were agreed upon by our tribe and the Luthers.”

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