Moon Claimed (Werewolf Dens #2) - Kelly St. Clare Page 0,75
Her cheek, no less.”
I groaned. “Stop.”
Wade turned dancing grey eyes on me. “You like Sascha Greyson.”
I frowned. “I don’t know if like is the right word.”
“What’s the right word then?”
“I understand him. His position. His burdens. I understand that things might have been different if we weren’t who we are, and certain things hadn’t happened. But they did. So I just… understand him.”
Wade’s nose scrunched. “That’s the biggest load of horseshit I’ve ever heard.”
“I’m telling the truth.”
“Pfft. You think you are, Miss I Only Make Connections. You’re lying to yourself big time.”
I waved to Troy at the gates. “So what? Maybe I’m doing that because nothing can come of us. Why would I ever pursue Sascha Greyson?”
He hummed. “Wild sex isn’t a good enough reason?”
It always was before. “He won’t have sex with me.”
A screech filled the car. I checked my foot wasn’t slammed on the brake.
Wade screeched again. “Sascha isn’t putting out?”
“He says I use sex as a weapon.”
Wade’s mouth rounded. “Holy shit. I really haven’t given him enough credit. Ingenious.”
“What’s that mean?”
“It means I saw the way you went for Billy that one time. He’s absolutely right. By denying you, he’s forced you to take one of two other paths. You either turn him down entirely, or you accept that to be with him, a deeper and real emotional connection is required. Ingenious.”
Wade just joined Team Sascha.
Cars blocked me from my usual car park in front of the manor. The normal Tuesday night briefing wouldn’t start for another hour. “What’s going on?”
I spotted a small group of stewards by the stage set up for the gathering tonight. The sight of auburn hair made my stomach plummet.
“That don’t look good none,” Wade muttered.
I parked, rolling down my window.
The microphone shot Rhona’s voice across the clearing—and probably the entire manor property.
“Grids has continued without end for over two hundred years,” she said. “We have two centuries of data that tells us our approach isn’t working. What we’re doing is insanity.”
I gritted my teeth, swinging the door open.
Wade fell into step beside me. “This is the stuff she’s saying at training.”
Rhona had supporters. Around fifty. Those were just the ones brave enough to show up.
Shit.
She spotted me and smirked.
I stood beside the crowd and folded my arms as she continued. She’d timed her rally to catch stewards arriving early for the gathering. I could pull out the microphone power supply, but every steward here was welcome to have their say if they believed me to be lacking.
This was within Rhona’s rights as a steward and Thana, no matter that it was very much a personal attack.
As she wrapped up, I joined her at the mic.
“Rhona,” I greeted her.
She walked off without a word—something no one missed.
I studied the crowd that had doubled in size. Those at the front peered back with stony expressions while those at the back seemed highly uncomfortable.
“Look around you,” I said quietly.
The request surprised those in the front row at least.
“Look into the eyes of the stewards around you. That person is who we risk by adopting a more violent approach. There’s a reason our ancestors played the game this way. There’s a reason we’ve maintained a place on the gameboard for two centuries. That’s because past leaders cared about your lives. To purposefully injure Luthers is to risk losing points and our place in this valley. We’d risk their potential retaliation. I will never accept such an extreme stance because I care about your lives. Anyone in this tribe is welcome to express their views to me at any time. I want your feedback. Your opinion will not be buried or disregarded, I promise you. I simply ask that you consider how important it is that stewards stick together at all times when you express any opinions. United, we can win.”
“They weren’t your ancestors,” a woman called.
I didn’t even know her. “What’s your name, steward?”
She cocked a hip. “Dakota.”
“Dakota has just shouted that the ancestors of this tribe weren’t mine.” Talk about a punch in the gut.
The woman lost some of her cocky edge.
Yeah, try standing in front of a mic instead of melting into the crowd, you coward.
“I can only say that the woman I thought was my mother stole me from Hercules and Savannah Thana as an infant. I was raised away from this wondrous place in less than ideal circumstances. When arriving in Deception Valley, I thought I’d entered a dream. I don’t trust easily, but I never questioned the bond I felt