Page 51 of Wolf Roulette

“Son.” Evelyn walked into the room.

Sascha didn’t break from his intense focus.

She walked farther into the room. “As second-ranking female in this pack, I’m stepping in. Each of you will judge the other’s worth after the seventh meet. Not before. If you’ve already divulged your feelings, Sascha, then that was your choice. She doesn’t need to reciprocate, and you have no right to demand answers of her.”

The tension drained from my body in tandem with the tumultuous edge to his fierce eyes.

His hands fell away as I stepped back.

Evelyn beckoned to me. “Come away now, dear.”

I took her offered hand, glancing back at his silent form. “I’m sorry, Sascha.”

Evelyn guided me from the bungalow, saying nothing as I wiped my eyes.

What should I say to her?Thank youseemed tactless. Sascha was her son. She’d only intervened as the second-ranking female.

“Why did you do that?” I croaked.

“It’s our way. Females stick together. Males stick together. The two halves balance each other.”

I inhaled her anxiety. There was more she wanted to say. I studied the white of her lips from where she pressed them together.

Her son’s immortality was in my hands.

I lowered my voice. “Don’t worry, Evelyn. Sascha is afraid. I know that.”

He believed he was losing me, but nothing could be further from the truth. All of my problems werebecausemy feelings for him were undeniable.

We approached another bungalow, and Evelyn opened the door. “You can stay here for now.”

At Sascha’s parents’ house?

“Would you prefer to sleep in your car again?” she asked after inhaling. “You’re still forbidden from tribal lands.”

I hadn’t slept overnight, but I wasn’t eager for a repeat. “Thanks.”

“What’s she doing here?” a familiar voice asked.

Fisherwolf sat in an armchair in the sitting room.

Mothershitter.Sascha’s dad—should’ve seen that coming from a mile away.

“Shewas invited to stay here,” I replied. “But she’s leaving.”

“I didn’t force you to give pack information to the Ni Tiaki.” The fisherwolf said the tribe’s name like a curse word.

“No. You did give me information behind your son’s back.”

“He couldn’t test you himself.”

“Because he’d already acknowledged I’d fail it. You could have lost the game for the pack tonight. I hope conducting your little test helps you sleep at night.”

The old wolf spat, “Once a Ni Tiaki, always a Ni Tiaki.Your kind are poison and a plague.”

His scent burst out. I breathed in the river water smell that Sascha also possessed. No wonder fisherwolf tucked it away. I would have connected the dots immediately.

My lips curved. “So you’re just another interfering pack member. Not a delta, are you?”

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