Page 46 of Wild Games

There’s nowhere left to run.

As they emerge from the shadows, their movements are confident, cocky even. They think they’ve won.

Give me a reason. Just one threatening move. An aggressive gesture. Anything that lets me protect her without ruining her case.

DEAN: Move closer, but don’t charge, Jax. If you mess this up, she’ll never forgive you.

The wind shifts again, carrying scents and sounds as I slip from my hiding spot and inch closer, not wanting to give up the element of surprise just yet.

“What do you want?” Camille’s not running. She turns slowly to face them, putting her back to the water, chin raised and shoulders squared, ready for whatever comes next. Trusting me to be there if needed while she does what she came here to do.

The pride I feel wars with terror like nothing I’ve felt before as they close the distance toward her. Moonlight reveals faces Iknow, people who’ve eaten at our packhouse, trained with our friends. The sense of betrayal and disgust cuts deep.

I tense, expecting this to be the moment they cross the line from following to attacking, the moment I’m free to act.

But instead, they hesitate, speaking via mind-link, and I’m forced to remain frozen, watching the woman I love facing danger while I hide in the shadows.

DEAN: She’ll signal when she wants us to intervene.

He’s right. I know he’s right. But that doesn’t make this any easier.

In the darkness, I see the gemstone in the centre of Camille’s necklace begin to glow, and then the wind brings it, faint but unmistakable, the bitter scent of dark magic rising in the night air.

From the glowing stone held aloft in Alpha Williams’s hand.

21

CAMILLE

The lake stretches out behind me, still black water reflecting the moon’s silver light. The air is thick with tension, making each breath feel heavy. No insects chirp. No owls call. The unusual silence is oppressive.

My original stalker steps forward, boots crunching on the rocky shore. I recognise him immediately from the training ground and the dining hall. Tanner’s one of Ryan’s pack mates who was eliminated early on in the competition, but he stuck around to help him spar.

It looks like that’s not the only reason he didn’t return home immediately.

“You should have left it alone.” His voice cracks slightly on the last word, and I see the genuine pity in his eyes. He doesn’t want to do this, but he has no choice.

Through the mate bond, I feel Jax like a live wire against my consciousness. He’s close, maybe fifty feet away, in the trees. Our connection practically vibrates with his desire to protect. His wolf presses against his control, desperate for release.

But not yet. I need more time.

“I don’t understand.” I take a small step backward, letting my heel splash in the shallow water. Both Alpha Williams and Tanner look down as the cold seeps through my shoe. I take the opportunity to raise my hand to my ear, touching the tiny earpiece that will record our conversation. “Whatever’s going on, we can talk about this. There’s no need for anyone to get hurt.”

Anyone else, that is. They’ve hurt enough people already.

“No need?” Williams’s laugh is bitter, broken, while Tanner just looks like he wants to be anywhere else but here. “You’ll ruin everything. Ryan deserves to be an alpha. He shouldn’t even have to compete.”

Alpha Williams is here to support Ryan, by any means necessary, apparently.

I need him to say more and incriminate himself completely before I can call in the cavalry.

“If he’s such a good candidate, why are you helping him?” I let my voice rise, injecting a note of confusion. “Why not just let him win it by himself?”

As Alpha Williams’s temper rises, Tanner steps back, wanting to get out of the firing line. When he moves, the end of his sleeve rises, and I see an amulet fixed to a leather band around his wrist, his protection against the stone’s power.

“Ryan is the best fighter here. The strongest. But strength doesn’t always win these games, does it? Not when they test stupid things like puzzle solving and cooperation.” Williams clenches his jaw and presses his lips into a thin, determined line. “And smart people don’t leave their success to chance. They make things happen.”

As he speaks, he waves the glowing rock in his hand, and each time it moves closer to me, a surge of nausea rises within me. The necklace is working, but it only dampens the effects,not block them entirely, and this close, I can feel it sapping my energy already.