Page 21 of Wolf Roulette

Yet the thought of the tribe losing tonight was horrible.

“Cider?” Leroy asked.

“Pear, please.”

He slid it across the bar, and I twisted off the top.

“Right, so job details. There are two shifts. Midday until seven. And seven until two. You’ll be seven until two because Sascha wants you here when he is.” He winked and took a sip of his beer.

Leroy had the player persona going on, but his level-headedness was unexpected for an alpha—the hot-headed brunette woman from dinner was the prime example of what I expected of their status.

“You’ll get two sets of the work uniform. The outfit is on the shorter side, but I swear our female pack members designed them. The temperature in the casino can get uncomfortable for our kind.”

I crooked a smile. “I’m Thong Girl. Simple things like lack of clothing in public places doesn’t scare me.”

“Of course. My apologies, Thong Girl. Now, while training with a mentor, you’ll begin at seventeen dollars an hour.”

Seventeen dollars multiplied by twenty-one hours, minus tax.Right.Not great. I’d earned more playing saxophone. “What about when I’m working without a mentor?”

“Twenty. During quarterly reviews, your table management will be assessed. Any pay rises will be decided then with a cap of twenty-five dollars per hour.”

“Sascha didn’t say how much the payment to the pack would be.”

Leroy pressed his lips together. “The pack decided that one hundred and fifty dollars a week would suffice.”

On the head steward salary, I could have paid off the remaining five-thousand-dollars of Ragna’s debt within two months. It would take over a year to be rid of the debt at seventeen bucks an hour. Slightly less with a pay rise.

“Is there a problem with one hundred and fifty?” I asked.

“Sascha believes it’s too steep and that some pack members are penalising you for your past.”

I’d say that was plausible. “And for Daniil’s death? He must have family.”

“Parents. Two siblings. Most can admit you were protecting yourself. There’s no denying he was much loved, but after hearing your marshal’s explanation, most who mourn him feel just as much confusion as they feel grief.”

“Grief is hard enough without betrayal creeping in.”

“Your mother?”

“And Herc. But mainly Ragna, yes.”

Leroy set his beer down. “As back room manager and Sascha’s lead alpha, I need to ask. Will your mother’s gambling past be an issue?”

“It won’t be an issue.” My voice was firm.

He toyed with his bottle. “It just seems cruel to put you in the casino. I’m sure Mandy didn’t mean to suggest—"

“Mandy absolutely meant to challenge me.”

“It’s not her job to challenge you.” Leroy growled low. “It’s her duty to obey Sascha’s orders and give sound advice when asked.”

I sipped the over-sweet cider. “That sounds a lot like something an alpha might say.”

“An alpha who knows his weakness, yes.”

“So what? You give over control to Sascha to remove your alpha inclination totakecontrol?”

He smirked “You’re observant. I’ll give you that. I saw the way you figured out the eating hierarchy.”

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