She nodded, but that meant nothing when it came to this woman.
“Sounds like quite the party,” I said as we entered the manor.
“It’s your first turnover win.” She cast me an amused look.
I supposed it was. In Iron, we just held the grid. This was the first time I’d won one back. “Hey, have you seen Rhona?”
“Yeah, she was around just before.”
My chest loosened. I’d started to assume the worst.
Cameron grabbed my hand, spinning me. “The victor is here, everyone!”
A chorus of loud cheers rang out, and I grinned.
I did put in the work to bring in this win. The funnel idea was mine.
So I’d shifted into a wolf the last two nights. That didn’t mean I couldn’t claim this moment and this victory. I did all that work for these people.
I could enjoy this.
Cameron shoved and yanked until I clambered onto a seat. Giving up, I called to the room, “Your effort in Timber was nothing short of incredible. I’m so very proud of what we managed to do. You should all congratulate yourselves on reclaiming a grid. We’re back at three!”
Mostly, I was impressed some of the stewards seemed drunk already. Guess intense training and adrenaline would lower a person’s tolerance.
Wade wrapped an arm around Cameron and me. “How are my two favourite ladies?”
“Tired,” I said honestly.
What a fucking night.
“I thought you were resting up last night?” Cam leaned forward to look across Wade at me.
… About that. “Maybe I feel worse for getting more sleep.”
“Well, how about we relax tonight and have a drink before you go?”
I couldn’t think of anything worse than a drunk, newly shifted Luther set loose on the manor. “Just one can’t hurt.”
When they looked away, I’d chuck it.
Wade and I watched Cameron dance to the drinks table.
“Is she weirdly happy recently?” he murmured. “We haven’t hung out nearly as much.”
Perhaps she’d met someone. “She’ll tell us when she’s ready. The person she’s seeing may not be out or something.”
“And you? How are you really?”
I looked into his beautiful grey eyes. “I’ve decided to start the meets again.”
“Bit of whiplash never hurt anyone.”
I nudged him. “Shut up.”
“It’s the least he deserves. For what it’s worth. I think it’s the right choice.”
I rested my head against his shoulder. He smelled like salted caramel and the scent comforted me. “You’re worth a whole lot to me, opinions and all.”
“I support you.”
“Don’t ruin this.”
“You do you.”
Cameron returned to find us laughing. She crooked a brow. “Do I want to know?”
“We support you,” I told her solemnly.
Her smile faded. “What?”
What did I say? “Wade’s being crazy. Nothing.”
Spotting my head team, I untangled myself and approached them. “A win!” I said.
Roderick wasted no time clinking his glass against mine. Valerie was a beat behind the others as always, but Nathan surprised me with hearty cheers. His approval was like a beam of sunlight shining directly out of his ass.
But I’d take it.
“I didn’t think we’d get the Luthers in there.” He shook his head.
Stanley eyed him. “We know. We had to listen to you all week.”
I chuckled with the rest.
Nathan waved us to silence. “I was never happier to be proven wrong. We have the majority again.” He raised his glass to me. “To our innovative leader’s first turnover.”
He tossed his drink back.
Pride filled my chest, but I was careful to taper it. Happy emotions worked just as well as angry emotions when it came to shifting—though my wolf hadn’t uttered a peep since betraying me earlier.
Good riddance.
I’d been an idiot to trust her so quickly.
“Thank you all,” I said. “When Herc was murdered, you got me as a replacement. I know how that looked—me hardly here a month and with the barest understanding of Victratum. I appreciate you giving me time to prove myself. I can’t deny I’m relieved at the win, but it’s just the start. I won’t rest until the stewards have all five in their pocket.”
And what would that mean for over seven hundred and fifty trapped Luthers?
I forced the thought away. They were my enemy, and the tribe was here first. Only one could win, and I could only worry about so much.
I took a fake sip. “Has anyone seen Rhona?”
“In the spa last I saw,” Valerie piped up at last.
Her fruit smell took on a sour edge that took me by surprise. Wow, Valerie really didn’t like me. Well, I’d give her two weeks to fix her attitude, then the grace period was at an end and I’d find a replacement. Her grief over Herc’s death shouldn’t be redirected toward me. Even if I deserved it more than she knew.
Walking through the manor wasn’t a quick task. Everyone wanted to talk. Halfway there, I waved at the Freys, absorbed in listening to a play-by-play by Reindeer—aka Brooke Sarson—my north team leader.
Now I’d sealed a win and gotten my head around the process, meeting every steward should become a priority.
“Hey, Wade?” I asked when he joined me at the patio above the pool.
“Baby girl?”
He wrenched to a stop at the balustrade, staring down at the spa. “Are you seeing that?”
I squinted in the same direction before remembering I had no need to squint anymore.
“Foley and Laura,” he hissed. “Sucking face.”
That was one way to say it. They looked to be doing everything but having sex. They’d scared everyone else out and the pool area was rapidly clearing.
“I thought he was exclusive with Rhona,” Wade said.
“So did I.”
My sister’s dark auburn ponytail was nowhere in sight, and a low anger unfurled in my stomach at Foley’s blatant disrespect. Even if they’d ended without my knowledge, this was bullshit.
I passed Wade my drink.
“Oh, shit,” he whispered.
Marching down the patio steps, I took hold of the calm, forest feeling cultivated through many hours of playing the saxophone. After forcing my wolf into a box, I knew that calm feeling was powerful and could be trusted. I was strong enough to control my wolf’s guest appearances.
My gums didn’t ache. My fingernails were normal length.
I crouched by their heads. Unnoticed.
Gross.
“Foley, dear,” I said sweetly.
He jerked away from Laura, and I smiled down at them.
“How are things going?” I asked.
Laura spoke female and established a convincing distance between them without delay.
“Have you seen Rhona?” I addressed the red-faced and, in my opinion, spineless man.
Foley stammered, “She broke up with me. This morning. Whatever you’re thinking.”
My brows climbed. “You sound angry about that. Is that why we’re getting this display in the pool? As payback.”
“No,” he burst out.
I didn’t need the telltale flush of his cheeks with my new nose. The earthy component to his scent took on a rotten edge.
His words were false.
Laura folded her arms.
“You’re a free man, Foley,” I said. “But this behaviour is beneath you. You may also consider that the stewards need Rhona to be on her best game, and something like this may distract her from fulfilling her roles. We have three grids now. It could be four, but everyone needs to put themselves aside to make that happen.”
He averted his eyes. “We’ll find a room.”
Laura scoffed and in a flurry of droplets left the spa.
Unfortunately, Foley did not speak female.
“Laura, wait,” he called.
“I’m sorry your heart is hurting,” I told him. “If you need to talk, it doesn’t matter that Rhona’s my sister, I’m here to listen and give what advice I can as your head steward too.”
Kudos to him, the guy managed what Rhona rarely could—to swallow his temper. Genuinely.
A wrinkle appeared between his brows. “Thanks, Andie.”
I stood and peered at Wade, who raised both of our glasses in my direction.
Couldn’t blame Rhona for making scarce with that display, but I didn’t hear from her during Grids, and now she was nowhere to be seen. She came over this morning and didn’t mention anything about the breakup—or that she intended to end things with Foley.
Don’t panic.
It meant nothing.
She was safe.
The first level hall was crammed with younger stewards who’d snuck in alcohol. Too absorbed with hiding their drinks, they didn’t draw me into conversation.
I’d check Rhona’s room. She may have retreated to punch something.
Passing my office, I backstepped and poked my head inside.
She was sitting behind the desk.
My entire body sagged against the door. “Rhona, here you are.”
She didn’t lift her head, absorbed with whatever she was reading.
I entered, and the voices outside muffled as I shut us in. “I was worried.”
“Why?” she asked.
Uh. “You weren’t answering my orders in Timber. I couldn’t find you afterward. Why are you in here?”
“I got sick of the party.”
Her tone was off. And her smell. Something was up.
Oh, duh. Of course.
I perched on the desk. “I heard about you and Foley. He was being a dick in the spa, but he’s stopped now. He was only doing it for your attention.”
Crap, Foley, Rhona, and Laura were in the same unit. I’d need to monitor them in the next grid and split them up if necessary.
“I don’t care about him.”
I studied her. “People fall out of love all the time.”
“I chose him because I’d never love him.”
Smart choice. I stilled at the thought and her words struck me in the gut. Sascha’s accusation flashed in my mind.
You use sex as a weapon.
Was there something to his words?
Rhona didn’t like to say goodbye. I didn’t like to be said goodbye to. Neither of us got in too deep. We specifically chose men that would allow us to get what we needed without posing a threat. Looking back, I could say that I chose Logan for his body. But if I was honest, I chose him because he annoyed me outside the bedroom.
Nothing would have ever come of it.
Shit. I really did do that.
Rhona leaned back, and I caught sight of her reading material. “You’re reading Mum’s journal.”
“Is there a problem with that?”
She was angry with me, that much was clear from her flat tones.
Why?
She was reading I’m 18. “Not at all. Maybe you’ll find something in them that I didn’t. I’m finishing up with the last one.”
I had to break the news about Murphy to her soon—before she got her hands on I’m 19 and discovered what he became. It wasn’t ideal for her to get a look at the symptoms of a werewolf transformation though… maybe I’d remove some pages to protect myself.
“If you want the first six journals, let me know. They’re out at the cabin.”
“The cabin,” she echoed in a strange voice.
I crouched and tried to peer at her face. She rarely wore her hair down, and the long curtain hid her face. “Seriously, Rhona, what’s up? I thought we sorted out the Sascha thing.”
She finally met my gaze. “So did I.”
Her scent was bouncing all over the place. Her words weren’t false, that’s all I could glean. Other than that, I’d guess that she wasn’t sure what to feel. “You need to help me out here. I have no idea what you’re upset about.”
“I felt bad for going to Heather after our chat this morning,” she said, hardly blinking. “I sent her out of the security room and felt like a piece of shit for looking over the footage. Like doing that was a betrayal to you.”
Shit.
Rhona knew what I was.
I said nothing, unwilling to condemn myself.
“You said Sascha Greyson turned up this morning. That you’d cleaned for hours last night and fell asleep naked.” She laughed, shaking her head. “What a joke. You left your cabin in your car just before seven.”
Leaning forward, she extracted her phone and unlocked it to reveal a picture. Of me in Ella F. Dated and with a time.
Not that I didn’t already know she was right.
But what else did she know?
“You returned at one in the morning,” she continued, “And you weren’t alone.”
The next picture was of the back of the car. The person driving wasn’t visible, but there was clearly a large person driving and a smaller person in the passenger seat.
Fuck.
I stared into accusing emerald eyes. “What are you asking me, Rhona?”
“I’m not asking you anything. Not anymore. I can see how adept you are at wiggling out of tight spots. You spent the night with the Luther that killed my father. All night. You drove to see him, and he returned with you.”
It spoke volumes of my life that I was just relieved she hadn’t uncovered the biggest secret of all.
“It’s not what you think.” I stood. “I went to the lake for some alone time. While I was there, the same wolf who attacked me in Water came—”
“Where are the signs?” She scanned my body. “Attacked by a Luther again, and not a scratch on you. How lucky.”
“It is, actually.” I should be covered in scratches and bruises after my first shift. I assumed an accelerated healing ability was to thank.
Rhona rose, too, managing to stare me down though we were the same height. “I returned to the manor entry point after the game. Pascal was there. She said you’d gone into the grid.”
“I believed you were in trouble because you weren’t answering my orders.” Lie. I shook my head. “Are you telling me that you weren’t answering on purpose? You know better than to let your personal issues affect the game.”
“I was fulfilling your orders, Head Steward,” she said sarcastically. “I just didn’t feel like speaking with a traitor. Nothing comes between me, my stewards, and the game. Nothing.”
“So much anger, Rhona,” I said quietly. “We’ve been through so much already. Please don’t let this confusion tear us apart.”
“I’m not coming between us.” The unnatural flatness she’d maintained split apart with shocking suddenness. My breath hitched in my throat.
“I trust what I feel,” she shouted. “You’re trying to convince me nothing’s the matter. You’re trying to make me feel stupid and irrational.”
She advanced on me, and that usually would have made me scramble back, but her last words froze me to the spot.
Oh my god.
I was doing that to her.
Each time she’d asked for the truth or lost her temper, I made her doubt her judgement and instincts. I’d laughed off her worries or piled more lies on top.
I professed to love my sister, and to put her above every other person in this valley, and yet I was destroying her self-confidence—abusing the trust between us.
I cut her off. “You’re right. That is what I’ve done.”
Rhona stared, but regained her anger in short measure. “Tell me the truth. All of it. How long have you been luring in Sascha Greyson?”
That was the real kick in the chest. Part of her still believed I was doing this for our so-called plan. She was this angry because she thought I’d concealed something to do with that.
Closing my eyes, I circled the table and sat in one of the visitor chairs.
I had to te
ll her everything.
The truth about Herc.
About me and Sascha.
Making her feel less because of my own past mistakes was just as bad as leaving her. I couldn’t do this anymore.
“You’ll want to sit,” I rubbed my forehead. “This goes back a while.”
She didn’t. No surprise.
“It started the first night I entered Deception Valley.” I watched her with tired eyes. “That night, Sascha Greyson smelled me for the first time. And something started that I wouldn’t learn about for a while yet—something that Luthers call a mating call.”
Rhona sucked in a harsh breath.
I ploughed on, bitter relief tinging my words as truth rushed from my lips. “Luthers have one mate in their lives. It seems I am Sascha Greyson’s.”
Disgust twisted her features.
I couldn’t stop now.
“I didn’t know that back then. I noticed how strange he behaved around me when offering the job at The Dens. A couple of times, when we first looked at each other and first touched, I collapsed. The weirdest feeling came over me. Soon after, I learned werewolves existed, and sometime after that, I returned to The Dens. Sascha confessed we were moving through a series of meets designed so he could prove his worthiness to me. I would be able to deny or accept him as a mate at the end of these seven meets.”
I could tell Rhona wasn’t registering everything and recalled how long it took me to wrap my head around the concept.
She lowered into the head steward chair and found her voice. “When I asked why you were doing extra shooting practice, you said Luthers at The Dens were acting strangely.”
I flinched in memory. “I’d just found out the truth. It was after I saved the pup from drowning and woke on pack lands. He told me that another meet was coming soon. His wolf would learn everything about me, before chasing and capturing me.”
She snorted.
“I was a steward at this point,” I said softly. “I believed in the plight of the tribe. And I’d just met you and Uncle Herc. I knew what you both thought of the Luthers. I didn’t want to lose either of you because of this thing that had been done to me. I just wanted the mating call to be gone. So I practiced with the tranquiliser gun and I moved to the manor for better protection before realising that would just present a bigger challenge to Sascha’s wolf.”
Moon Claimed: Supernatural Battle (Werewolf Dens Book 2) Page 15
