Henry

It only took a few seconds after the fight had started before it was clear who would win. The Rocky Cliff pack, who had yet to impress at anything, had sent their ten best warriors, and then what else they could scrape together. It was a friendly and joyful pack; not really into the whole ranking thing, but entering anyway because of the social events. Against the Ironwood Pack, though, they wouldn't stand a chance. Judging by Vidar's fighting style, he could probably take them out alone. Even Rune seemed content with Vidar's impressive fighting.

I felt a rare moment of ease. At this precise moment, I felt happy and I was convinced it was because I was in tune with my wolf for once. Or rather, he was not annoyed for some reason. I was enjoying hanging out with Trevor and the rest of my friends. We were at the Gathering, there would be parties tonight, and an at least moderately interesting fight was going on.

Usually, the lower pack fights were not that interesting to watch, but as we had a personal interest in this one, it was, for that reason alone, fun to watch. Another reason to watch it would be because Ironwood was a kickass pack. They didn't have the usual fighting clothes but sufficed with leather loincloths, and with their blonde look and ripped muscles, they immediately became the females' first choice of pack. Skylar sighed at the mere sight of them. 

Yet other reasons to enjoy watching them were... there was a girl on the team. Not that common either. The fight was, after all, much about pure strength, and even if werewolf females were much stronger than humans, they were usually not as strong as male werewolves. The closest we had in our pack was Diana, Trevor's sister, but she was in the 32nd place out of the 30 warriors we brought here, and not even she would fight here.

Still, one of the main reasons for enjoying the fight was the brute force of the Ironwoods, or the Vikings, as they quickly were dubbed. They were good warriors, and I doubted our own warriors could stand a chance if the numbers were equal. Vidar was impressive in his might, shielding his two teammates without straining himself. I was thoroughly impressed.

Our favorite was, of course, Vile, being Trevor's, and starting to be ours too, friend. He and the girl did an excellent job with Vidar's leftovers, and where the girl began to look tired, Vile just kept going.

As the fight died down and it was clear that the Vikings had won, I couldn't help but sigh of relief. I didn't know why, and it was utterly premature. B took a step back down at the pitch and would have fallen to the ground had it not been for Vile catching her.

I got up on my feet. To see better. Hoping that nothing was wrong with... Trevor's friend. Vile handed her over to Vidar, and I felt agitated; why couldn't Vile keep her? Why did everything have to go through that Vidar person, whom I had now forgotten I was impressed with. 

Vidar cradled the girl close to his chest, and I, again, felt the annoyance at the sighing sound from Skylar seeing it and the caring look on Vidar's face. He sure was a show-off, using that poor girl to get the female werewolves in the audience's attention.

We looked down at the walkway next to us, almost under us, when the Vikings walked out. The girl was completely out, and I couldn't help but remember when she had been like that, but in my arms and not in Vidar's. Suddenly, I remembered those days fondly. I knew it was because, in those three days when we chased her, found her, and cared for her, no one had any opinions about what I should do, what I should say, what I should think, or who I should like. I had, at that moment, been entirely free, and I had enjoyed it. Coming back to my father and the pack, it all had, of course, changed back to normal again.

My father had been almost annoyed to hear that the rogue was nothing but a young girl, hurt from falling down a cliff and not the possible ally he had hoped for. I explained that we had hunted and found her, and as she was just a young girl about to leave the territory, there was no reason to pursue the matter. And it had been entirely accurate, too. Well, until the whole Ironwood pack thing had surfaced, but as I understood it, even if the Vikings were our close neighbors, they were not interested in ranks and such things; they just wanted to run and be able to go down to the lake. My father was oblivious that the girl down on the pitch, whom he probably hadn't heard of yet, was the rogue we had chased.

Annie broke my train of thought by taking my hand as the Vikings passed and almost triumphantly said:

"Ha, I told you. She shouldn't have fought in the first place. Talk about craving attention. And that suit. What a show-off."

I had to consciously suppress a growl about to erupt from my mouth. It stayed as a vibration in my throat, like a message from Rune. I was unsure what the message was, but even I felt annoyed at Annie. Like, just stop. I get it. You don't like the blonde girl.

But I did. I mean, she was one of Trevor's best friends, and as he was one of my best friends, I naturally wanted her to be ok. I wondered if she was ok, considered mind-linking Hild to ask but stopped myself. They had no reason, and probably no time, to pay me any attention. I wanted to know, though. So I could tell Trevor. But with no way of finding out and a couple of hours to the next fight, we left the arena and went to our campsite.

Ben

The scent on the hoodie had begun to fade. It was now more of a memory, and I didn't know if I should get my hopes up of finding the origin of it or not. There was one strong contender for who it could be: Zac's sister, but I hadn't noticed the same scent on her, and I didn't know how to feel about it. I liked Zac's sister—a lot. But the scent on the sweater had been... alluring. But it wasn't hers. I didn't know how to feel about that, which bothered me.

I thus found myself in an almost agitated mood in the box before the first fight, probably mirroring Zac's mood. He had been testy all morning and did nothing to help out. Understandably, of course, he had a personal investment in the fight as his family members' fate would be decided down on that pitch, starting today.

Finding it to be almost just him and me in the box, I told him to invite the pack members up to us, knowing that the Rocky Cliff pack's alpha was a pleasant and easy-going man and noticing that there were only two persons in the Ironwood box. Both parties agreed, and I noticed that both Jack and Hild were in a nervous state of mind. Jack darted for the bar immediately upon arrival while Hild sat down the furthest from anything, as if she wanted to be near an escape route. She put her face in her palms, clearly worried and agitated by the fight that just then started. I debated whether to leave her alone or not. Then, I decided to be selfish and sat down next to her.

I asked if she was alright, and her eyes snapped up to me. Realizing who I was, she did her best to find my title but gave up and sighed.

"I'm sorry, I.."

I couldn't care less about hearing my title; I wanted something else.

"Ben. Just call me Ben." Please?

She smiled gratefully.

"Ben."

Yes.

Soft.

Me Ben.

Satisfied, I glanced down the pitch where B was fending off opponents like a champ.

"Looks like your girl is doing a pretty fine job down there."

She followed my glance, and we sat there for a while, watching the fight together—or, well, next to each other, at least. Jack came over, and I scooted over, making room for him and also incidentally moving closer to Hild.

The fight in itself was not very exciting. Clearly, the Ironwood pack was made of stronger steel than the Rocky Cliff pack, and it was only a matter of minutes before they would have the victory. The blonde guy that I remembered as Vidar was impressive, to say the least. He was worth a plural number of warriors alone. I was not alone in that opinion, having already heard the rumors about him amongst the female members of our pack. Not very juicy rumors, just that he was single, which apparently went a long way. Even Hild looked a bit struck by him. I took a second look. Was he really that strong and impressive? Begrudgingly, I had to agree.

The girl was fighting as if in a trance, but I could see her movements becoming sloppier after a while, but the fight would soon be over. She only needed to stay up a bit longer but struggled as a punch landed on her arm, making her lose balance. I lost all focus on the game as a whiff of that scent suddenly gushed over me. It was gone in a second, and I realized it must have been someone in the audience near us. I turned to see if I could locate the source - but in vain. I saw nothing out of the ordinary, and there were too many people there to be able to identify anyone in particular. Perhaps I only imagined it. I turned back and noticed that Hild had stopped looking again.

"It is almost over now."

I could see her cheek twitch from behind her hands as if she was smiling, and then she peeked down the pitch, gasped, and grabbed my arm. Her nails dug in, and it would have hurt if it hadn't been because it also felt good in a peculiar way. Fang stirred inside me, but then she let go, seemingly unaware of her actions.

It was only then that I noticed that the young girl was unconscious.

Hild

I finally managed to convince Vidar to leave B for a while. One more fight was coming up, and since we would meet one of those packs tomorrow, it would be a good idea for him to check out the opponents. He agreed.

I was about to tend to B's clothing when I heard someone stepping up on our tiny porch. A beautiful copper-haired woman was hesitantly standing outside. I stepped out through the curtains.

"Hi, I am Dhalia. I just wanted to check on her. Is she ok?"

"Hi, good to meet you. I am Hild." I shook her hand and motioned for her to sit on one of the chairs on the small porch while I took the second one. "She is fine, thanks for asking. She is just really, really exhausted and in a state of rest. Can I get you something to drink?"

I got some refreshments out and poured her a glass of lemonade.

"Thanks. I'm glad to hear she is okay; she is such a brave girl. It was cool to see her on that pitch today."

"Well, she is cool," I smiled.

Dhalia laughed.

"She is. And I feel I owe her or you for Tristan in some way. Zac told me that you made our alpha change his mind about us being together."

"I what?" I frowned.

"You talked on the phone, and then he decided that these arranged relationships should end. No one told you?"

No. No one told me that.

"Well, I am glad to hear it," I tilted my head, curious. "What is it like? Meeting your mate? If you don't mind me asking."

She smiled.

"Not at all. I can talk about Tristan all day," she paused for a second, pondering, and then continued. It's like when you get your wolf, you feel whole and like nothing is missing, like you are complete. But then, when you find your mate, you realize you never were complete."

Hmm.

"So, how do you know?"

She laughed.

"Oh, you know. The first thing is the scent. It is absolutely intoxicating, and then the touch. It feels like..." she smiled. "... fireworks in a good way. And when you are with each other or near each other, you feel nice, warm, safe, and all good things. Soothing. But you also feel stronger, more powerful, and just... more. Like a fully charged battery."

Like this place. Soothing and recharging. It reminded me of that bench outside the main pack building, where I met Ben Connors for the first time.

Dhalia paused and peeked through the curtains at B.

"But the signals are much more diffuse when you are young like her or not shifted yet. It's more like humans feel it. You like a person and feel drawn to them, but before your wolf, you won't feel the electricity, or the scent will not be intoxicating just yet. But then, with your wolf... BOOM!"

She laughed.

"It is impossible to resist. But you don't want to. It is like your mate is perfect," she grinned. "Not like you never fight or anything like that, but just like you know that you belong even if you fight. It's safe. It's just great, actually."

She turned to me.

"I mean, that feeling when someone whose scent you find intoxicating, whose looks you find irresistible, who makes you feel not only very good about yourself but also makes you better—feels exactly the same about you as you do about him."

"Well, what if they are wearing cologne?"

She laughed hard.

"Werewolves don't wear cologne. We naturally smell this good," she thought about it. "I don't think it would matter, though."

I was pretty sure Ben Connors had worn cologne when I met him the first time.

She gave me a quizzical look.

"You have not connected to your wolf yet, is that so? I cannot smell her at all. But have you found someone you... like?"

"Indeed, I have not shifted yet," the thought made me nervous. "And as for a mate, I don't know. I have fared pretty well so far; I may skip it."

She frowned.

"It.. is harsh. If your mate recognizes you and you reject him, it is excruciating. I mean, you survive, and you can get second chances, and so on, but I wouldn't recommend it. And everything I just said is magnified a thousand when you complete the mating bond."

"The mating bond? Like marriage?"

She blushed.

"No, not like that. We have a marking spot; it is right here," she indicated a place between the neck and the shoulder. You complete the mating bond by biting your mate here and then licking the wound close, and your mate does the same to you—biting with your fangs, that is. So only mature enough wolves can do it."

"It sounds a bit painful," I frowned. "And primitive."

She laughed.

"It is painful at first, but then.. not so much. And it connects you to your mate, giving each other extra strength and power and much more. An alpha who marks or gets marked by his Luna is extremely powerful, and his entire pack will feel the power boost."

And that was probably why Ben Connors was adamant about finding his mate. Seriously, stop thinking about Ben Connors now.

She looked up.

"And there he is."

Tristan approached us with a big smile on his face. It was not for me; that was clear. They defined the word lovestruck when they greeted each other. It was beautiful. I, who had never experienced love, could not help but feel both envious and curious.

Jack interrupted my thoughts by telling me I needed to join him for the Welcoming dinner. I did not intend to leave B, but when he mentioned that it was at the Prospect Hall, I felt Vidar would want to sit with her anyway. After all, it would only be polite to attend.