The visit from the strange vampire this morning had ruined me. I couldn’t concentrate, I could barely think, and my nerves were so frayed, I’d blown the first round of the test. Now Charlie and I were tied—and it was all the vamp’s fault.
If I ever saw him again, I was going to kill him before he could say another doubt-infested word about my pack or my mother. She would never have been friends with a vampire. Never. Which meant everything else had to be lies too…
But no matter how many times I told myself that, the seed of doubt had been planted. I couldn’t look at a single member of my pack, especially the council, without the wheels turning. Could any of them be capable of murder? Of course they could. We all had. Except, usually, our kills were vampires. Not one of our own. I’d always told myself that was different, but maybe a killer was a killer.
I said little to Charlie during the break between tests even though we’d both shifted back to our human form. Mostly, I didn’t want to give away how thrown off my game I really was. I needed this win. I needed to shut her out and make sure she couldn’t catch up to me later. Make it a clean victory, a landslide. Dad would expect nothing less. He’d come by my room last night and let it slip that the contest would work on a points system. If I could pull far enough ahead now, maybe they would just call it before we got to anything that involved inflicting physical harm on one another.
Maybe I could salvage what was left of my relationship with my sister. All I could think about was whether that vampire’s warning extended to Charlie. Was someone after her, too?
Sheridan climbed the steps to the podium, her heels clicking across the wooden stage. I forced myself to refocus and listen as she quieted the crowd. “Phase three of the Test of Strength will test our opponents’ skill as a leader both physically and mentally. Please bring out the rope,” Sheridan called.
Judas Prescott appeared with his son, Ronnie, who winked at me as he passed. Coils of rope were draped over their shoulders and around their arms. Judas’ biceps flexed under the weight, making it hard to believe someone as lanky as Ronnie could even lift it. But Ronnie’s wiry frame was deceiving. He carried the heavy braids without a problem. They dropped the rope in the dirt halfway between Charlie and me and disappeared behind the stage.
“The game is tug of war, ladies.” Sheridan smiled down at us, but her eyes were unfocused, flitting back to the crowd without really seeing our faces.
I couldn’t help but feel a boost to my confidence. Tug of war? It seemed so elementary. Then again, after the day they’d just put us through, our muscles might not agree.
“In addition,” Sheridan went on, “you may each choose two team members to assist you in the game. Regan, you won the last test so you choose first.”
I scanned the faces staring back at me from the crowd. They looked eager, every one of them. Except the vampires. My eyes landed on Owen and his family. My lip curled back automatically at the sight of him.
He wasn’t looking at me so I stared back at him, studying him for a moment while I pretended to deliberate on my choice. He looked as rigid as ever, his jaw hard, his shoulders stiff with what I imagined to be cruelty. His expression didn’t quite match that, though. He looked … strained. And what was he looking at? I twisted and followed the line of his gaze. The only thing there was Charlie, and beyond that, the stage. Sheridan? No, it didn’t go that far. Why in the hell would he stare at Charlie? Maybe he felt sorry for her. But that didn’t fit with him. Maybe he was hungry. My fists tightened.
“Regan?” Sheridan prompted.
I scanned the crowd again and hesitated. As soon as Sheridan had issued the instruction, I knew who I’d choose, but now I wondered. Would it look bad if I chose one of my friends? This was supposed to show my strength of leadership. But in the end, I wanted to win, and I wanted a team I trusted. My eyes landed on Carter, but it was the death stare from his sister beside him that made me call out her name before his.
“Bevin.”
The crowd cheered as Bevin descended the stairs. My dad nodded at me from the stands. I’d made the right choice. I exhaled.
“Charlie, your turn,” Sheridan called.
“Oh, um …” Charlie hesitated. I looked over at her and ignored the knot that had formed in my stomach that morning and never left. “I guess …”
She scanned the crowd and I could see the tension in her. It dawned on me I had no idea who she would pick. My friends glared at her from their spot in the stands. The knot twisted in my gut, making it hard to swallow. If that vampire was right, my pack clearly had it in for Charlie, and someone might even follow through on that. Someone capable of murder.
“Carter,” Charlie’s voice rang out, yanking me out of my worrying thoughts.
My jaw fell open.
A few clapped. Most didn’t. Carter made his way down to the arena without looking at me. I knew he did it on purpose, that he could feel my gaze burning holes in him as he passed. Bevin, who’d come to stand beside me and had already shifted into her wolf without missing a step, growled at him as he passed. He didn’t look at her.
“Regan,” Sheridan prompted. “Your second choice?”
I looked back at the stands, at the eager faces of my pack. My thoughts were colder this time, more calculating. I didn’t just want to win. I needed it. Carter could not be allowed to help Charlie beat me. I debated between Al and Brent. Both were walls of strength, even in their human form, but Brent was colder about it. The lack of feeling in him always made me nervous.
“Choose Al,” Bevin said into my ear.
“Al,” I called. He got slowly to his feet, pushing off his large legs as he stepped down the bleachers.
“And Charlotte? Your second choice?” Sheridan said.
“Uh …” Charlie looked at the stands, her eyes darting back and forth. A moment passed. Carter leaned down and said something low in her ear. “Brent,” Charlie called out.
I shot Carter a look, but he just shrugged.
Sheridan waited until everyone had reached the arena floor and shifted to wolf form. “You will line up with each team at either end of the rope. When the signal is given, you may begin pulling. The first team to step over the center line loses. Please move into position.”
I knew Bevin was the most aggressive so I arranged us with Bevin in the front and Al in the rear. I slipped the rope in between my teeth where it lay over my tongue. Dirt and dust caked my mouth. I ignored it and dug my paws into the ground, anchoring myself.
When the whistle blew, I bit down and yanked.
The rope bucked and my body went with it. I jerked forward, wincing against the pain in my jaw as the other team forced us forward a step. I dug in until I found my footing and the rope pulled back enough for me to step back into place. I felt the force of another pull from behind me and the rope gave some more. A satisfied smile tipped the corners of my wolf mouth as I bit down and yanked for all I was worth.