Tempted By my Evil Lycan Stepbrother novel Chapter 54

Chapter 54: Now The Sinner

Riley’s POV

Camila’s alliance took a brutal hit.

Even from the ridge, I could tell they were finished for the day. The ones who managed to escape were half-dragging, half carrying each other through the trees. Some were Hmping. Some were bleeding so badly their clothes were soaked dark.

And right in the middle of them, they were carrying Camila

As the top healer myself, I could see that most of her wounds would heal in a few days. She would suffer a bit. Let that be a lesson to her

But then I narrowed my eyes and looked closer.

Wait, her leg.

Even from this distance, I could see the flesh around the bite had already started turning an ugly grayish color. The wound edges were swollen and wet. That was no normal tear. One carrion hound must have drown their fangs all the way in.

Shit.

I knew that wound.

Carrion hound bites weren’t just deep. Their saliva carried rot. If you didn’t treat it fast, the flesh started dying around the wound. Fever came next. Then infection. Then maybe you lost the limb. Maybe worse.

And the herb needed to clean that poison?

Moonleaf.

The exact herb we harvested earlier in the stream valley, where we camped the first night.

ALL OF IT.

I stared at Camila as her teammates carried her farther away.

Right now, our team was probably the only one in this whole damned forest that could save her.

How ironic.

Silas came up beside me. “You see it too?”

“Yeah.” I kept my voice low. “Carrion hound bite. And we have the cure.”

Silas rolled his eyes. “So what? Let them wither. They were happy enough to feed us to those beasts.”

Odin frowned at us. “These are our classmates. Outside of this game, we live on the same campus… Riley, don’t tell me you agree

with him.”

I said nothing. Honestly? I agreed with Silas. Camilia would show no mercy if she were me.

“Odin, haven’t you seen her true color yet? Riley Monroe is cold as ice. You expect any brilliance of humanity in her? What a joke.” Olivia’s sarcastic voice echoed in the woods.

Silas frowned at her. “Hey. Which side are you on really? It almost seems like you are trying to help the enemy.”

Olivia quickly looked away, slightly panicked. “Of course not! I was simply…being sympathetic.”

“OK that’s enough,” I stopped their quarrel. “If they come to us, we will decide then. No point arguing now.”

glanced at me. “You think they will?”

“They’d be stupid not to

He snorted. “Camila? Beg us? I’d pay to see that ”

I didn’t answer.

Because the real problem wasn’t whether Camila would come.

It was what we would do if she did.

www.th

+15 Bonus

We didn’t move right away. We let the forest settle first.

Once the screams died and the carrion hounds had dragged their prey deeper into the ravine, we finally left that area behind. Nobody said much as we walked. The air between us felt too tight. Too many things had happened in too little time.

Eventually, when the sky started turning orange, we found a new place to camp.

It was a narrow clearing wedged between three tall boulders, with thick brush on one side and a shallow stream behind it. Not perfect, but hidden enough.

Silas and I checked the perimeter while Odin started setting up a small fire pit hidden under a rock overhang so the smoke wouldn’t be seen from far away. Olivia sorted packs with short, angry movements, still not looking at me.

Once we were sure the area was safe, Silas crouched near the supplies and pulled out the wrapped bundle of moonleaf.

The leaves were pale silver-green, thin and soft-looking, but they smelled sharp once bruised.

Every eye went to them.

Odin broke the silence first. “If Camila’s bite is as bad as we think, she’ll come.”

Silas immediately said, “Then we say no. They set traps for us. They tried to rob us. They dumped blood on us to get us eaten. Why should we save them?”

“Because letting people rot to death is ugly,” Olivia muttered.

Silas glared at her. “And what they did to us wasn’t?”

She didn’t answer that.

I crouched down across from them and touched the herb bundle lightly. “There’s more than one problem.”

Silas nodded. “Go on.”

“If we give them the herb, we save Camila. Great.” I looked around at them. “But then what? The whole forest will know we have valuable medicine. That makes us a target again.”

Olivia held her ground. “Still better than being blamed for letting someone die.”

I ignored her and turned to Odin. “How’s the radio coming along?”

We found a broken radio in the valley earlier. If we can find a way to fix it, maybe we can catch to the outside world’s live broadcast of this Hunting Season.

Odin nodded. He had been fumbling with the gear pile while we discussed. Right now, he held up a small black receiver with a cracked side panel and a bent antenna.

+15 Bonus

Theu, he turned the knob.

At first all we got was starte

Then a burst of music blasted through the speaker, followed by a cheerful male voice that made my skin crawl instantly.

and what a dramatic turn this Hunting Season has taken!”

Olivia rolled her eyes. “Ugh. The live hosts.”

But nobody told Odin to turn it off.

Because as disgusting as it was, the live commentary was one of the few ways to know what was trappening across the game

field.

The host kept talking, his tone bright and fake-excited:

“This year really is full of surprises! Camila’s alliance just took one of the biggest losses of the day after a carrion hound attack in the western ravine!”

A woman’s voice cut in smoothly. “And from what we’ve gathered, that attack happened right after an attempted ambush against Riley Monroe’s team backfired. So yes, the underdogs have done it again.”

Underdogs.

I clenched my fists.

I hated how they said that word like we were some kind of joke.

The male host laughed. “More than underdogs, honestly. At the moment, a werewolf-led team is still one of the strongest contenders in an all-Lycan Hunting Season. I don’t think many people predicted that.”

The female host smiled, “Pure luck, if you ask me. I don’t think it’ll happen again.

“}

Silas sat down near the fire with a disgusted expression. “They’d choke to death before they gave us real credit.”

“But now,” the male host said, almost eagerly, “all eyes are on another issue. Camila appears to be badly injured by a carrion hound bite, and Riley’s team is the only one with the cure.”

I held my breath.

So the whole damn forest already knew.

The female host sighed in that fake thoughtful way rich people did when they wanted to sound moral. “If that’s true, this becomes a question beyond the competition, doesn’t it? Hunting Season is a game, yes, but these are still students. There is a basic level of humanity expected.”

The male host jumped right in. “Exactly. Refusing to hand over life-saving medicine would be cruel. I imagine students and parents alike would be outraged if they refused.”

“Definitely. It could spark real protest, honestly. And that behavior may follow them long after the game ends. Reputation matters.”

I stared at the radio, my body cold.

Nobody said anything when Camlia tried to rob us. And suddenly, I was the sinner for not saving the girl who wanted us torn apart.

I had experienced unfairness since I arrived at this pack. But nothing like this.

The radio kept going, the hosts discussing us like we weren’t real people. Like we were characters in their little entertainment show.

+15 Bonus

One of them actually said, “This could be Riley’s chance to prove she deserves any respect. Or is she simply cold and calculating and despicable, just like her mother-

Silas shut the thing off.”

38

“OK that’s enough broadcast for one day,” his voice was icy with anger. “Bedtime.”

The rest of us didn’t object.

Night fell slowly after that.

The fire burned low. I was so restless that I volunteered to take the first watch.

Under the stary sky, I lay on my side staring out into the dark, letting my mind wonder.

I didn’t care about how the rest of the world think of me. I’d very much like to see Camila wither and drop out of the game.

But why am I still being so…uneasy?

Maybe there’s one single person whose opinion I actually cared about. His face flashed across my mind. I suddenly strut my eyes, almost ashamed of it.

I must have drifted for a little while, because when I opened my eyes again, the fire was lower and the forest had gone even

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify