Her revengeful Bastard

Winning and loosing

*Kyle*

The cards are with me tonight. I had felt the turn in the tide half an hour into play, when a new dealer had relieved the other. The past few nights I have been bleeding money, and while I am presently winning as quickly as I have lost, my abrupt change in fortune is a start toward putting matters to rights. If I am not careful, I am going to be unable to keep my father from learning of my ever increasing debt. Although the debt won’t be with me for much longer. Anna’s dowry will go a long way toward putting me back on a strong financial footing.

The fact that my father has recently transferred the nonentailed holdings into my keeping is also quite beneficial. When I need to prove my solvency in order to gain a loan, I have only to point to the properties.

I clean out one gent … although referring to him as a gent is a stretch of the term … and watch as the large fellow scrapes back his chair and wanders off. Most of the people here, commoners and unranked, are beneath me. The few ranked wolves I recognize are black sheep, usually second sons of Alphas, not likely to report anything of note to my father since they aren’t welcomed in most pack houses. I like this casino and all that it offers: decadence at its most primal. It is an honest place, takes pride in what it is. It doesn’t try to fancy itself up with liveried waiters, wood paneled walls, crystal chandeliers or quiet rooms housing books so a man can pretend what he does outside those rooms is respectable.

Here I am not a future Alpha, with expectations weighing on me. Here I am just a man. And I love it.

Glancing over as the chair that was just vacated is pulled out farther, I grin at Kai Tempest as he sits and goes about exchanging a thousand quid for tokens. “I was beginning to wonder if you’d ever return”.

Without looking at me, Tempest carefully lines up his chips. “I’ve been monstrously busy preparing to open my hotel for business”.

“I’ve heard it’s quite the thing”. The ante is called for. Chips are tossed into the center of the table, cards are dealt. I receive a pair of jacks. The night is certainly going my way. “Perhaps you will give me a tour some day”.

“I’ll do you one better. I’ll invite you to the ball I’m hosting to celebrate the opening”. He says with a grin.

Furrowing my brow, I pretend to consider my cards when in truth I am striving to determine the ramifications of attending should word get back to my father. “Unfortunately I’m not available”.

“I haven’t told you the date yet”. The tone is quiet, deathly so, brimming with displeasure. “Surely it’s not my bastardy that’s keeping you away”.

Lifting my gaze, I see a face as solid as marble, all the features more pronounced, the hazel eyes as hard as flint. No movement occurs at the table, as though everyone, including the dealer, is waiting to see if an insult is on the horizon, one that would no doubt be followed by a quick jab to my chin. “No insult intended, but I don’t usually attend public balls”.

Tempest tosses away two cards. Movement begins. I breathe, only then realizing my lungs had been frozen.

“My apologies”. Tempest says, never taking his eyes from his stack of chips. “I thought you had an interest in investing”.

“I do”. I admit.

His gaze slides over to me, fairly impaling me. “My investors will be attending. Men of wealth who often hear of other opportunities for investment, sharing what they know of those prospects. I daresay I learn more by mingling informally with knowledgeable men than I learn by holding meetings with them”.

I exchange three of my cards, fighting not to smile at the third jack. “It sounds as though it could prove a fruitful evening. When is it ?”

“Tuesday next”. He says casually.

I nod. “I shall be there”.

A round of wagering. When it gets to Tempest, he raises the stakes by a hundred quid. My heart pounds. Before that moment, during all the hands I have played that night, the most anyone has wagered was ten. Those tokens symbolizing so much are like a siren call. I match the wager and raise another two hundred.

“Perhaps you will bring Miss Anna”. Tempest says as he calls and raises another hundred.

Everyone else folds, until it is only the two of us. “Her guardians would not approve”.

“You don’t have to tell them. Besides, my sister would take great delight in seeing her again. And we must have women about whom else are we to dance with ? A ball hosted by a commoner is not that different from one hosted by an Alpha”.

“Will other high ranked wolves be in attendance ?” He asks.

He nods slowly. “A select few are invited”.

I shake my head, striving to determine whether to call or raise. “It will do her reputation no good”.

Tempest taps his cards on the table. “Let’s make this interesting. If I win this round, you bring Miss Anna. If you win …”. He dramatically waves his hand over the tokens. “… All my remaining chips are yours”.

My mouth goes dry. With what others have

added to the pot, I would win well over a thousand quid. Three jacks are sure to beat whatever Tempest holds. There is no risk in this. Anna would not be associating with those beneath her. While I will leave here with bulging pockets. “I accept the terms”.

“You first”. He simply says.

Fighting not to gloat, I turn over my three jacks. “I would like to see you beat that”.

“And here I would have thought you would have preferred for me to lose”. He tosses down his cards, face up, and I find myself staring into the eyes of three kings. Odd how I feel as though they are mocking me.

Tempest begins gathering up his chips. “I shall see you and miss Anna Tuesday next”.

“Are you done here ?” I ask.

He nods with the most annoying grin. “I am”.

Sitting back, I am not at all happy with the suspicion taking hold. “Your entire purpose in sitting down here was to get Anna to your ball”. I don’t bother to hide my irritation.

“Your presence will add to the affair’s prestige”. He shrugs lightly.

I like that my presence is included but still I am bothered. “I heard you took her on a stroll through the park”.

“‘Took her’ implies I was responsible for our being there. It was a chance encounter. Nothing untoward occurred”. He doesn’t even look at me.

“So she claimed”. I admit.

He looks up. “Did you not believe her ?”

“Of course I did. She doesn't have a deceptive bone in her body”. I am not certain the same can be said of Tempest. “She will make me an excellent wife”. I feel compelled to remind the man that she is claimed.

“I have no doubt. I will let Lea know that she will be attending the ball. It will please her immensely”. He simply says.

It is with a bit of regret that I watch Tempest walk off with my winnings. I sigh. I should have quit while I was ahead. Studying the tokens that rests before me, I know I should gather them up and leave as well, but with a bit of luck and a few more hands, I can regain what I have lost. Without much care, I toss a token onto the center of the table and wait for the cards to be dealt.

Three hands in, each one a loss, Aaron Tempest approaches, leans in and whispers, “I know about the wager you made with my brother. If you don’t pay him what is owed, you’ll find these doors locked to you”.

“I don’t need a threat. My word is binding”. I huff.

“Considering you’ve yet to make good on any of your markers, I wasn’t certain”. He simply says.

I feel my back stiffen. “You need not worry. I will pay you what I owe”.

“I’m in no hurry, but the interest will be steep, sir, steeper than I suspect you imagine”. He straightens up.

“I’m good for it”. I glance at him.

Aaron Tempest claps me on the back and laughs. “Glad to hear it, as I believe we could have a most profitable friendship.”

As the man walks off, I acknowledge it isn’t the sort of profits that Aaron can provide that interests me. It is the profits that being closer to Kai Tempest can gain me that holds my attention. If I play my cards right, untold fortune rests on my horizon.