Page 23 of Mating Season

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The evening brought a chill with it like winter was making another stage debut. My bag of jerky disappeared into greedy hands as it was passed around the fire. I knew better than to feed strays if I wanted them to leave, but they were hungry and I didn’t have it in me to say no.

“What exactly are they saying?” I stared into the empty bag that was handed back to me. My stomach rumbled in response. I’d deal with it though. Papa never let me go hungry, but there were times when meat was lean.

“Edith and Meghan are saying Ranger is going to pick one of them this season.” Kimberly chewed her piece of jerky.

My wolf growled and it vibrated my chest.

Fallon put her hand on my shoulder. “It’s wishful thinking. Their wolves are probably ridingthem hard to pick the strongest male in the group because they were bred to hunt him out, but Ranger’s wolf already made his pick.”

Damn straight he did.

I laughed softly at my beast’s confidence. She was so sure of this fated mate thing, but it wasn’t unheard of for wolves to change their mind during the season. There were so many stories of females and males giving into their animal’s primitive urges to mate and breed. Things didn’t always go like humans planned.

Ranger had a lot of control, but at the end of the day, he was still a beast. A powerful one, who deserved a powerful mate who wanted to have his pups and help lead his pack and…

“Hey.” Fallon shook my shoulder. “Stop.”

“Stop what?” I forced a smile that probably looked as fake as it felt.

She narrowed her eyes. “You don’t get to do this.”

“Do what?” I looked to the other girls, wondering if I’d said something out loud that I missed.

“Act like some defeated little pup,” Fallon growled. “You’ve handled everything thrown your way and then some. Don’t start now with the pathetic pick-me insecurities. They believe in you and what you stand for. I do too. So stand the fuck up.”

I massaged my forehead. That was the worst motivational speech in the history of the world, yetthe women seated around the fire were nodding in agreement.

Goddess.

How did I end up here?

“I apologize for whatever emotions you saw cross my face as I internally processed my love life, but please tell me what I’m supposed to stand for so I can live up to your expectations.”

Fallon blinked. “That was easy.”

“She means that you’re proof breeding and bloodlines don’t matter when it comes to love,” Kimberly said.

It totally sounded like an insult.

“And you make it feel like we all have a choice this season. That it doesn’t matter how poor or low ranking you are, you have the freedom to choose a different life.” Ismelda nodded.

That was definitely an insult.

“Aren’t I literally the antonym of free choice?” I laughed.

“What’s an antonym?” Amber asked.

“It’s a weird lit-nerd thing,” Danielle explained.

“It’s…” I stopped myself from diving into a lecture. “Never mind. What I’m trying to say is that Ranger thinks I’m his fated mate. That means we didn’t have a choice in all this. Fate decided.”

A few of the women gasped as they spoke in hushed tones to each other. Stars filled their eyes as they looked back at me.

“I rest my case,” Fallon said.

“What?”

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