"He’s going to come after me," Violet whispered to herself with dread. Her friends heard her, their expressions shifting to one of concern.
"What do you mean by that?" Lila asked, alarmed.
Violet clenched her fists. "This is my one chance to leave the West House, but Asher won’t let that happen. He’ll focus all his resources on capturing me."
"Alaric won’t stay still either way," Daisy countered. "You’re his girlfriend. This is his chance to keep you close. It’ll turn into a fight over you, and I have no doubt Griffin and Roman will back their respective friends."
"Wait a minute," Ivy interjected, a spark of realization in her eyes. "If they all fight over you, doesn’t that mean it’ll give us enough time to escape? What happens if we actually manage to escape without getting caught?"
No one had an answer, and Ivy, never one to hesitate, raised her voice, addressing the Alphas directly. "What happens if we escape successfully? Do we still have to return to our old house?"
Griffin answered her, "You’ll have the choice to join any house you want."
Hope spread like wildfire among the newbies. If they escape, they will be free to choose a house for themselves. The possibility of such freedom was intoxicating considering all of them had a dream Alpha they wanted to stay under.
Ivy turned back to her roommates with excitement. "So, let’s say we make it together. What house would we pick other than the West House?"
"North House, probably," Lila suggested, glancing at Violet. "She has a cardinal Alpha for a boyfriend. We’d have a smoother stay there."
Daisy, ever the strategist, shook her head. "Elsie is already a member of the North House. If Violet moves in, it’ll turn into a warzone for power."
"If it comes down to that, Violet will win. I believe in her," Lila said with absolute faith in her voice.
"Or," Ivy cut in, "we avoid the drama and go with the East House. Griffin isn’t so bad, and he and Alaric are friends."
"It still wouldn’t be better than staying under her boyfriend’s watch!" Lila argued.
Violet, who had been silent up until now, finally had enough.
"Guys!" she snapped, frustration in her voice. "We have way bigger problems than deciding which house to end up in. None of this will matter if Asher catches me!"
"She’s right!" Ivy huffed. "We’d have to deal with another roommate if Violet gets taken, and I don’t like strangers in my space."
Daisy’s gaze swept the crowd, calculating. "There are about forty newbies. Each pack has one Alpha and one Beta, but the ones we should really be worried about are the Deltas. I can’t tell how many each pack has, but to keep the race fair, they’re probably be evenly distributed. Let’s assume eight Deltas per pack. That means for every newbie, there’s a werewolf assigned. Outrun or defeat yours—which is pretty much impossible—and you’re good to go."
She wasn’t wrong.
In the wolf hierarchy, Alphas ruled as the dominant leaders, Betas were their trusted second-in-command, and Deltas, the elite warriors, carried out their orders with unwavering loyalty. They were the ones to fear. Gammas were merely pack members, hunters, and guards. But the Deltas? They were trained to catch their prey. And tonight, that prey was them.
Lila swallowed. "I’m sure Alaric will save her. But we’re a unit. Wherever Violet goes, we go, right?"
She looked at the others expectantly, but the silence that followed was heavier than lead.
Damn it.
Violet read the shift in mood and sighed. "None of you have to—"
"I’ll go with you," Daisy interrupted. "You have connections with the Cardinal Alphas. If I stick with you, I have a better shot at success when I graduate."
Violet didn’t flinch at her blunt honesty. She wasn’t offended. Daisy was smart, and she needed someone like that on her corner. If their partnership was transactional, so be it, as long as it was built on trust.
"Fine," she said.
All eyes turned to Ivy.
Unlike Daisy, who came from nothing and needed to carve her future, Ivy had money and influence. In one word, she needed nothing from Violet.
Yet the girl shrugged. "I promised to make you rich and famous. Can’t back out of my word now, bitch."
Violet said. "Thank you."
Now, all that was left was Lila.
But before anyone could question her, Lila clung to Violet’s arm, pressing herself close. "You already know I’m not going anywhere."
"Yeah, you’re my stalker," Violet teased.
The girls all burst into laughter, their bond solidified. However, that laughter was abruptly cut off.
"It’s time to prove yourselves, newbies." Asher spoke.
Silence slammed down.
Violet and her roommates exchanged nervous glances. The moment they had been waiting for— more like, the one they dreaded—was here, but they drew strength from their bond.
Asher reveled in their unease, saying in a deceptively smooth tone. "Before I send you off like tasty lambs to be devoured by wolves, I’d like to render small mercies."
Murmurs rose across the crowd. Asher? Offering mercy? That had to be a joke.
"One thing you’ll notice about this race," Asher continued, "is that we wolves don’t just hunt by sight. We hunt by scent."
A shudder passed through the group. It was easy to forget while surrounded by these creatures regularly, just how different they truly were.
"So," Asher drawled, turning to Alaric, "to even the grounds, we’ll be cutting off your scents. Thunderboy here will summon a rainstorm to wash it away."
Even though Alaric was used to the nickname, Asher usually said it with mocking condescension and the way Alaric’s jaw clenched showed exactly how he felt about it.
Nonetheless, Alaric stepped forward, tilting his face toward the sky, his arms stretching outward. A crack of lightning tore across the sky, illuminating the darkened clouds that had begun to swirl above, dense and ominous.
A startled gasp rippled through the crowd as the heavens responded to Alaric’s silent call. Thunder rumbled deeply, shaking the ground beneath their feet. The clouds churned violently, as if Alaric were pulling the very threads of the storm together with his sheer will.
Then— crack.
A blinding bolt of lightning struck the ground just inches from Asher. Yet he remained motionless, unflinching, his face indifferent as he stared down the storm’s wrath without so much as a blink.
Violet’s breath hitched at the sight of Alaric, his entire presence transformed. His eyes were now a ghostly white and crackled with pure electrical energy, flickering like contained lightning storms within his irises. Sparks danced along his fingertips, tiny threads of electricity weaving through his skin like veins of raw power.
He looked like a god. A god of thunder and lightning.
The static in the air grew unbearable, forcing those nearby to instinctively step back. Then, with a final roar of thunder, the clouds released their burden.
Rain came down in heavy, punishing sheets. The scent of ozone filled the air, mingling with the earthy petrichor of the drenched ground.
It began to wash away their scents, their traces, and any advantage the wolves had over them. Neither could they hear anything aside from the relentless drumming of rain and the distant grumble of thunder.
And yet, when the horn blared for the second time that night, they did hear it.
The Running Game had begun.