Page 49 of Wolf Roulette

Pop.

He was shifting.

Murmurs broke out.

“Quiet,” I said sharply. “Let him concentrate.”

To my surprise, they obeyed.

Crack. Pop.

Heart in my mouth, I took in the naked, dark-haired boy sitting beside me.

He pointed at the instrument. “Me?”

My chest filled. “Of course, brave boy.”

I helped him grip the instrument. “Kara, please bring Jemma and Credence here without delay.” I moved Axel’s chubby fingers. “Try it like this.”

Glancing up on autopilot, I met Sascha’s honey eyes across the room. My lips lifted in an automatic smile.

Sascha’s face hardened, and he left the bungalow as suddenly as he’d arrived.

Our afternoon rushed back to me. Right. For a second there, I’d forgotten. But surely Axel’s shift made Sascha as ecstatic as everyone else.

Evelyn was watching me. “Is everything okay?”

I adjusted the saxophone in the boy’s eager hands. “I’m not sure why he left like that.”

She lowered her gaze to the happy and wriggling toddler on my lap. “I’d say it has rather a lot to do with the image you’re presenting, dear. Sometimes, when people are hurting, they decide to hurt themselves a little more.”

8

I guided Ella F into the parking spot outside Sascha’s bungalow.

Just after 6:00 a.m.

The pack either won or lost in Timber last night. If they’d won, four grids were in their possession and the tribe was on the cusp of exile. If they’d lost, Sascha knew I’d given information to Rhona.

Neither was a result I wanted to face.

Sascha was inside. I had to go inside, too, but after our last conversation, that didn’t seem simple.

The bungalow door swung open.

Sascha stood there, fully dressed.

I got out of the car. “I couldn’t stick around last night.”

“So I assumed.”

His calm tone didn’t mesh with his bitter scent. Did the pack lose? My hope surged even as my stomach twisted.

Sascha gestured inside, and I took the hint.

Sitting on the bed, I steeled myself. “What happened?”

He walked past to the wicker furniture. “We turned over another grid.”