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My body stiffened against my will. Mr. Maple Syrup was back. Blood wasn’t even required for me to catch the overly sweet scent.
It wafted off of him like bad cologne.
Pivoting on my heel, I glared at the guy.
“I don’t owe you any other answer. If I said you’re not my mate, I meant it.”
“This isn’t just about me.” He pounded on his chest. “It’s about all of them as well.” He jutted his finger and slashed his arm through the air, motioning behind him at all the other men who’d mysteriously gone quiet in the face of confrontation.
“Boys,” Ashkii scolded from where he sat with the other elders, but he wasn’t close by, and no one heeded his warning.
“Lorn has six mates,” Dason shot back. “She doesn’t need any more.”
“So you’re dictating how many men she adds to her harem? How do we know she’s not just obeying your advice to turn us all away? You are her alpha.”
“You’re wrong, and I wouldn’t do that even if he tried,” I assured Mr. Maple Syrup as others gathered behind him.
Fuckity fuck.
“I don’t know that we believe you,” another added, an angry expression pulling down his eyebrows.
“It is suspicious, Lorn,” Thomas, Mr. Dark Chocolate and Cherries, added, looking guilty for being involved. Yet he didn’t step down or move to side with me. “You said I smelled good to you. I think I deserve the right to scent your blood in return to verify your rejection.”
“That’s not a good idea.” Elan stepped up to our group, luckily supporting my mates who had all gathered around me. Tye was next to him. I hadn’t seen him all night, and I wondered if he was in the last twenty men I still had left to scent. He gave me a nod, letting me know he was on my side.
Mato sent me a wink as he and Nahele joined our ranks as well. Efram and a handful of wolves shifted out of the shadows to strengthen our numbers, and I remembered Dason bringing them in for security purposes. They must have been damn good. I hadn’t even known they were there.
A grateful smile graced my lips before I turned back to address Thomas.
“Elan’s right,” I stated. “I’m not comfortable bleeding in front of so many men. Not at one time. There are too many of you and only one of me.”
“Which is why it makes sense. We can all scent you at once.”
“Lorn is the only shadow touched female. I don’t think you realize the potency of such a scent, let alone that she is also the veil keeper,” Elan argued.
“Is that supposed to deter me?” Maple Syrup questioned, a leer on his face as his gaze raked up and down my body. The sensation of tiny little ants crawling over my skin made me shudder.
Dason pushed me behind him, blocking me with his body. His broad shoulders obstructed my view, but this one time I didn’t mind being pushed to the background. The tension was steadily rising, and I only acted like gasoline for the impending fire.
“The magick in her blood is sure to call to many,” Elan reasoned, “but that won’t mean you’re called to be her mate. The bloodletting was designed this way for a reason. The mate bond is overwhelming. You’d know if Lorn had scented another mate.”
“I don’t understand.” Maple Syrup rubbed his forehead.
“Let’s just say it’s a very physical reaction.” Jolon sounded a bit smug, which only ratcheted up the friction between the two groups.
“And how do we know she hasn’t already reacted this way to one of us and you’ve covered it up?” Maple Syrup challenged with a frustrated growl. “Or is your mate not wearing the scent of one of her alphas? You think we can’t smell her pheromones below the stench of Dason?”
I peeked around Dason to see Maple Syrup sneer at him as though he’d committed a federal offense.
My fingers fisted in Dason’s shirt just for something to do. I held onto him, hoping my presence would help soothe the animal spirit rippling beneath his skin. Dason’s shoulders bunched with his impending shift, but a deep breath helped keep his puma contained for now.
“I covered her scent to keep her safe.”
“We don’t want to keep Lorn from choosing more mates,” Chayton spoke up, his hands up in a placating, peaceful gesture. “It’s the opposite actually. We want Lorn to be at her strongest for when she travels to the veil.”
“Then let us scent her for ourselves. We’ll be respectful, and if she’s not ours, we promise to leave in peace,” Thomas offered, peering at those closest to him who agreed. Maple Syrup snorted but said nothing past the derisive sound.
“It would be unwise to chance one of you becoming unnaturally attached. It’s simply not safe for Lorn to be scented en masse.” Elan shook his head, stepping between the two groups like he could stop the war about to go down.
