Wolf's Gambit: Blackridge Peak Series

3

Now, all I needed to do was hope my heat came before the ball and then break it to my best friend that I couldn’t attend the event she was so looking forward to. But after that…well, I could officially class this year’s Luna Ball a success.

CHAPTER 2

Kezia

Later that night, I told Kris what the shaman had told me. He reacted much as I expected, meaning he nodded, told me to get a good night’s sleep, and went to bed.

The morning brought the rain I’d been expecting, and Kris had left me a list of chores for the house, as well as a note to tell me we would eat at home until my heat was over. As I scrubbed the kitchen floor, I ran through the list of why it was wrong to kill my brother.

Even in a wolf pack, family is everything, and they frown on murder.

The pack had so many positive things going for it that it made me feel guilty about how much I resented being here. The town was small, once an old silver mining town. The humans had left when the minerals were depleted from this part of the mountain.

The pack moved in, fixed it up, and built more houses, making a small mining town a community.

A community that lived in the past.

We were wolves. Hunters. Fighters. An intelligent, evolved species. We were shifters, for Luna’s sake. In this pack, though, the women were part of the pack hunts and nothing more. They expected us to maintain a pleasant home, do the housework, raise the children, and pretty much live like we were grateful for the men being the providers.

The men hunted the most. They fought and defended our pack—that was men’s work. The pack trained their women to defend themselves, but not the art of combat or fighting. Most of the important roles in pack life were a man’s job.

I knew Kris didn’t like it any more than I did, but he was more subtle about his aversion to this archaic life.

However, I protested loudly and often about what utter bullshit it all was. It didn’t win me any friends within the pack. My training in our basement was no secret, and they didn’t like that my brother didn’t stop it. Had they known he encouraged it, they may have been more vocal.

I’d heard their whispers over the years. What did you expect of someone raised wild like an animal? I knew Kris was the only reason the pack tolerated me. That and apparently the fact the pack leader had a soft spot for me because I was close to his daughter.

Which was funny. Bale tolerated me even less than his pack did.

With its not-so-quiet whisperings, veiled looks, and backward ways, this pack was not my home.

But as I finished my daily chores and with a casserole in the oven for our dinner later, I knew I shouldn’t be so harsh.

Our pack was stable. There was hardly any in-pack fighting. Bale was a good pack leader. He was fair and reasonable in any raised disputes, adored his children and wife, and strived to be an example in every way. He had good relations with neighboring packs, and we hardly had any issues with humans.

I’d heard many tales where pack leaders were terrible tyrants, so I was glad that Bale was not one of them. I’d also heard tales where the pack females also defended the pack, and felt envious of their recognized equality.

Leaving our small two-bedroom cottage, I headed to the small bakery north of the village. I’d made lamb stew for dinner, and while I could cook, I couldn’t bake worth a damn unless it was bread.

If asked outright, I would deny that I was perhaps feeling bad that my brother may miss the Luna Ball because of me, and buying him an apple cinnamon pie was not out of guilt. I was just being a dutiful sister.

It happened. Sometimes. Rarely, but sometimes.

At the store, I tried to ignore the fact that three girls my age turned away when they saw me enter. Kris encouraged me to make friends when I was younger, but I already had resting b***h face mastered, and I would rather be ignored than be fake.

I wasn’t popular in our small school, and when they realized I preferred it that way, it didn’t ease my social status in the pack.

“Kezia?”

The store owner, Belle, called me forward, and I greeted her with a smile. Belle was always nice. “Hi, do you have any apple cinnamon pies?”

Belle narrowed her eyes at me, but I saw her small, teasing smile. “What did you do?”

Behind me, I could hear the other girls stop talking.

“Nothing,” I told Belle, forcing my smile to stay on. “I just thought he needed a treat.”

“Mm-hmm,” she said with an arched eyebrow. “I’ve got one in the back. Give me a minute.”

I watched her retreat with dread, and sure enough, as soon as the door to the back kitchen swung shut, they were around me.

“Supposedly, you’re banned from the Luna Ball,” Melanie said to me from my left.

“Yeah? Bonus for me,” I replied dryly. I hoped the town didn’t know this, because I hadn’t told Cass yet that there was a possibility I may not be attending. I didn’t want her to hear it from these idiots, either.

“You really don’t want to go?” Lisa asked me incredulously. She was the more tolerable of the three but still annoying.

“I really don’t mind,” I told her honestly.

“Is it because you can’t afford to go?”

Turning my head, I smiled at Melanie, experiencing a small thrill of delight when she stepped back. “Did you just say that Pack Leader Bale doesn’t provide well enough for his betas?”

Melanie’s face drained of color. “No, I…no!”

“Really? Because you asked if my brother was poor, and to ask if my family is poor is to imply he isn’t well paid. But…” I shook my head as I pretended to think about it. “My brother works directly for the pack leader, so…”

“Why are you twisting my words?” Melanie wailed. “I said nothing like that.”

“Really? Lisa, what did you hear?” I asked, turning back to the other girl.

“I…” Lisa looked between us, and then, with her head lowered, she murmured, “It’s what you said, Mel.”

Belle came back out to the front, suspicion clear in her eyes as she looked at the four of us. “All okay here?”

“Never better,” I said smoothly, taking the boxed pie from her. “Melanie was just telling me how unfair it was of Pack Leader Bale to pay his trusted advisors so poorly for their pack work.”

Belle’s gaze sharpened on Melanie, who squirmed beside me.

“I’ll tell Kris over this delicious pie tonight that the pack has concerns about this,” I added with malicious glee. “After all, the pack comes first.”

Belle gave me a long-suffering look as I handed over my money for the dessert. With a smile even wider than before, I left the bakery as she started berating Melanie for her foolishness.

Whistling on the way to the pack leader’s house, I said hello to some of the pack and ignored the ones who snubbed me. At his house, I waited patiently to be let in. There was no open-door policy for his home—he had two males guarding his door at all times.

I always thought it was pretentious, but Kris scowled when I said it out loud, so I learned to keep my thoughts to myself.

“Kezia,” Grant greeted me when he opened the door. Grant was a good guy. Tall, blond, and a trusted advisor of the pack leader, he also balanced out my brother. Where my brother was usually frowning, Grant was usually smiling.

“Hey, is Cass upstairs?” I asked.

Grant looked over his shoulder at the wide central staircase. “Should be…”

His response made me smile. “You have no idea, do you?” I teased him.

He grunted out a laugh, closing the main door behind me. “No, we’ve had a busy morning. Seems there was a coup a few months back in one of the neighboring packs, the old alpha’s been replaced, and we’ve spent the morning strategizing.”

“Sounds boring,” I told him quickly, already making my way up the stairs. “If you need help fighting…”

His good-natured laugh followed me. “Always a trier, aren’t you?”