Page 145 of The Hunt

He gave me a hard look. “I did it because I thought she deserved it. I’m sure you can agree with that. And I’m sure you’ll also agree not to tell any of your fellow Wilders about—” He stopped abruptly and coughed again. “About this small infraction on my behalf. The last thing we need is rumors spreading around about corruption in the higher levels.”

I almost laughed at that. He was acting like he’d only ever committed one small infraction against the society’s so-called code. As if The Wild Hunt itself wasn’t built on a foundation of sordid lies and a mountain of innocent lives lost.

“Of course I won’t tell anyone,” I said, shaking my head. “I understand why you did it, and I would’ve done the same. If it were up to me, that is.”

A glimmer of pride appeared in his eyes. “Good,” he said. “I would have told you sooner, but I have to be very careful about what I say. Even to you.”

I raised a brow. “Why?”

“Like I said, the last thing we need is rumors spreading around about corruption in the higher levels. But you see, at those higher levels, there are things the lower members can’t even begin to understand. Knowledge and decisions that require trust and discretion. That’s why only a select few ever rise to the level of Patriarch,” he said. “It’s not just about strength. It’s about loyalty. Your ability to keep your mouth shut when it matters most.”

I nodded, doing my best to keep my expression neutral. “Makes sense.”

“I can tell you this much, though.” Dad’s brows lifted slightly. “Keep performing the way you’re performing, and you’ll be well on your way to bigger things.”

“You think I could be a Patriarch one day?” I said, lifting a brow.

“Absolutely. Just remember what I said—loyalty is what matters the most to the society.”

Along with a toxic-as-fuck mix of greed and psychopathy,I thought, suppressing the urge to roll my eyes.

“Understood.” I tilted my head slightly to one side. “By the way, before I head back out to the hunting grounds, do you mind if I borrow your cell phone?”

Dad frowned. “Why?”

“I want to text Mom and let her know how I’m doing,” I said. “I know she thinks this is just a regular hunting trip, but still… I feel bad thinking that she could be sitting around worrying about me. You know how she gets sometimes.”

“Why not use your own phone?” he asked, forehead wrinkling. “You have signal here, don’t you?”

“It’s not working for some reason. I think I need to get it replaced,” I said. “But obviously, there are no phone stores on the island, so that’s not exactly an option right now.”

“Oh.” He hesitated, frowning slightly. “Well… I can just call your mother later and tell her you were thinking about her.”

“Dad, I’m not going to steal your identity or transfer all your cryptocurrencies, if that’s what you’re worried about,” I said, grinning. “I just want to send one text. It’ll take ten seconds.”

My attempt to make him feel like he was being unreasonable worked perfectly. He nodded and gave me a faint smile. “Of course. Sorry,” he muttered, fishing his cell out of his pocket. “Wildercliff makes me a bit paranoid sometimes.”

“I get it. I’m always looking over my shoulder when I’m out on the grounds, and that feeling follows me back up here too, even though everything’s fine.”

“Yes, that’s exactly it.” He unlocked his phone and handed it to me. “Just be quick. I have to get back to the common room soon. Peter and I were in the middle of a conversation before you arrived.”

“All right.” I tapped out a quick message to Mom, and then I scrolled to the Wilder app and clicked on it. When it prompted me for a password, I typed in the five-digit code I’d received this morning for my own app.

A notification instantly appeared.Code accepted. Decryption in progress.

I breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Then I glanced back up at my father and gestured toward his desk, where a silver MacBook sat. “Actually, while I write this, would you mind looking something up for me?”

Dad’s brows rose. “What?”

“I just realized Mom’s birthday is coming up soon. We should start planning it.”

“It’s a month away.”

“Yeah, but restaurants always get booked out really far in advance. Especially the nice ones down at Havenport Marina.”

As I spoke, I glanced at the phone screen again, pretending I was still in the middle of writing a text to my mother.

Decryption complete.

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