I hear him, but it still feels like he’s talking about other people, not my family, not me. “Layla was saying something about the firstborn kids of the leaders of each Family taking over for their parents. So that means you have to be born into Strategia, right?”

“Well, most of us are born in, yes. But outsiders can be approved by the leaders of any given Family,” Ash says.

I think about that. “And you said that Layla and I were likely paired as roommates for a reason?”

“Well,” he says, and pauses. “When I said that, I meant that generally the Bears and Wolves don’t have any animosity between them, and there’s every likelihood that our immediate relatives have some kind of an agreement. But I’m not so sure anymore.”

An image of my dad’s favorite whittling knife flashes through my thoughts; the hilt looks like a silver wolf. He said his childhood best friend gave it to him when he was growing up in Maine. But now I’m pretty sure the Maine part was total bunk.

“And when you asked me if I was ‘for, against, or neutral’?” I say without fully explaining what I want to know.

Ash exhales audibly. “It’s complicated.”

“But it’s also important and something I need to know,” I say.

He’s quiet for a second. “I won’t tell you the nuances of Family politics because we would be here all night if I did. But I can tell you that there are Families and individuals who support curbing the Lions’ activities, which essentially means curbing their power, through force if necessary. And you can probably guess what neutral and against are. Strategia Families don’t regulate one another—it’s just not who we are. But historically we’ve also never experienced this type of power imbalance.”

I open my mouth to ask another question, but Ash starts speaking again.

“The fact that you were admitted is shocking,” he says. “How did someone who doesn’t know anything about Strategia pull that off?”

I shake my head. “I honestly don’t know. I’ve been trying to figure that out since I got here.” I pause, feeling exposed, but also closer to him somehow. “So now that you know the whole truth, can I trust you?”

Ash looks at me, and he’s more relaxed than he was before, but he’s also still hesitant. “I don’t think you have a choice at this point except to assume that you can.”

“Really? That’s all I get after telling you my secrets?” I shake my head. “You’re such an ass.”

“I’m such an ass because you don’t like the truth?” He grins, and his eyes twinkle with mischief.

“No, because you are, like, at your core,” I say.