Page 67 of Wolf Roulette

Yes.

A definite yes.

I dropped my voice. “What if the werewolves decided to attack us? Even though we’re training to fight them, we don’t know if what we’re doing will work. Would we even stand a chance?”

Fear saturated his anger, but he didn’t show it. “You’ll probably invite them in.”

I met his flinted gaze. “You don’t really think I’d do that. You know my stance on extreme violence. You’re scared of what I am, Bob, as any animal is scared of their predator. But I’m hereand ready to spar with you. Want to know how you’d stack up against a Luther? I’m attending dawn sessions from now on, so our tribe is more prepared in the future. You don’t have to like me, but you’d be stupid not to take advantage of what I can offer.”

The last part intrigued him.

Something other than fear and hate at last.

I crouched and swept my leg in a circle, dropping him like a sack of shit.

That felt pretty good.

I stepped back. “Don’t give a Luther time to see you move. Attack immediately. You place more weight on your left than your right. I picked it up while we circled.”

The red-faced Bob clambered up.

He distributed his weight evenly though.

“Attack and don’t hold back. I heal fast.”

He lunged, drawing back his fist. I avoided the first hit. The second connected with my torso, and I absorbed the impact. Sidestepping, I circled behind. He spun in a comical circle to follow and froze at the sight of my fist a hair’s breadth from his face.

“Female Luthers are fast and agile. We’re still stronger than you, particularly in wolf form, but your best bet is to corner us in a tight space to fight us. If you’re facing a male Luther, open space is best. They’re slower to turn and change direction and will use their far greater strength against you. That’s why a steward needs to be quick on his feetandstrong.”

Bob nodded. “We should train somewhere more like where we’ll really face Luthers then.”

He thought I was handing him a guidebook on how to best take down a werewolf. The reality was that without weapons, the odds of a steward taking a Luther down were next to none.

Bob didn’t need to know that.

Because without him realising, he was now working with a Luther.

I straightened. “That’s an idea. I’ll take it to Gerry.”

Gerry’s damn whistle blasted through the air, and I winced. “That is a hellish sound first thing in the morning.”

Walking to Bob, I clasped his shoulder. “Look, no more of the snide comments. I’m a person. That shit hurts, especially when it’s from people I’m doing my best to help.”

Red tinged his jaw.

I scented his slight shame. “I’ll see you tomorrow for sparring. If you’re lucky, I’ll get my claws out.”

Such a treat.

Wade’s sparring buddy sent me a scathing look when I joined them. The guy marched back to Bob without delay.

People had no idea how stupid they looked sometimes.

“How did that go?” Wade puffed as he jogged between cones.

I followed, enjoying the light strain in my muscles. “Well. Considering.”

“So, look. There’s this thing.” His salted caramel scent took on an extra sweet edge.

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