Page 75 of Wolf Roulette

Reeking of grief, she smiled and strode out.

12

On the muddy beach, I studied the red lake of Iron.

Sascha didn’t get in touch after Sunday. As a result, everything depended on the tribe winning tonight.

If the pack won, it was over. And then what? Bile rose in my throat. Remaining behind as my stewards ventured into the big wide, uncertain and afraid, was nearly as horrible as the thought of bitterness creeping over Sascha and me in time.

Which miserable fate would I choose?

We must remain calm,Booker urged.

I steadied my inhales and exhales.

That’s it,she said.

“Andie?” Cameron touched my shoulder. “Five minutes to go.”

That was my cue. I found a decent-sized boulder and jumped on top.

A sea of nervous faces watched me. The stewards were dressed in thin black wetsuits.

I had to believe in the win or no one else would.

We were ready for this. Iron was our strength.

I pitched my voice higher. “Ni Tiaki, if we lose Iron tonight, we’re done. Tomorrow, the pack will take over the guardianship of this valley, and we will begin the process of vacating the homes and land we have loved alongside our ancestors for centuries. We’ll forfeit the burial sites of those who are no longer breathing. This is our last chance.”

I could feel Sascha close by. Luthers surrounded us.

They were listening.

Good.I wanted them to hear this. “In two hours, this tribe could hang at the mercy of those we’ve attempted to exile for over two centuries. After this war between us, do you expect them to show mercy?”

I inhaled their fear. “You should be afraid. This is the first time in our history that four grids have been in the pack’s possession. Victratum has very real consequences that our ancestors didn’t live to experience. Butwemight. We could lose in two hours.”

Their fear and uncertainty swelled.

“Remember what you feel now,” I told them. “Remember that fear and uncertainty in the future. Buttoday,use it to fuel you. Enter Iron and leave nothing behind. By your efforts, we can win, but only if we enter as people desperate not to be ripped from their homes. Because the people we face are desperate not to be ripped from their home, too, and they’re so very close to success.”

I raised a fist as I’d done in the past. “This grid will not slip away from us.”

They murmured it in response.

“This grid will not slip away from us,” I shouted.

They shouted the chant back, and the sound echoed through the Iron quarry.

Boom.

I hadn’t heard the cannon in weeks.

Fuck,this was it.

Stewards streamed past in their units, working with a precision that bordered on frightening. They slipped into the water to swim to their stations.

Don’t you dare join them,Booker growled.

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