Nova laughs. “Benji is right, get over it.”
“You are really mates?” Isla asks out of the blue. She hasn’t even looked at us the whole evening, which is why her sudden question takes me by surprise.
“Yes, we are mates,” I say.
As if on cue, Lori takes my hand.
“But she isn’t marked.”
“And?” Nova asks before I can even answer. “They have only known each other for a couple of days. Not everyone jumps their mate instantly.”
“I have a few unresolved issues,” Lori says, much to my surprise. I can see her eyebrow ticking slightly, as if she is getting pissed off. “Benji is so patient with me. I have no intention of rejecting him. He is a catch.”
“You are a catch, too,” I tell her promptly.
“Please,” Anton groans. “Don’t start with the cavity-inducing comments. I might gag.”
“I want to hear them, though,” Kitty argues. “It’s so cute and romantic.”
“It’s impossible that you are mates,” Isla grumbles.
Why the fuck is she so upset? I don’t get it.
“How come?” Lori says calmly.
“Because…”
“Yeah, what’s wrong, Isla?” Nova asks, impatience and annoyance clearly in her voice.
“She is just a human,” Isla exclaims. “She has no wolf!”
“She is not a human,” I say promptly. “She is half wolf, and it doesn’t matter if her wolf spirit is with her or not. It doesn’t make her human. And even if she were human, it doesn’t matter. She is worth as much as the rest of us.”
“I am half human, too,” one of the guys says to my surprise. His name is Jonah, and he is one of the quieter ones, and seems to be friends with Anton. “Does that make me lesser, either, Isla?”
“You have a wolf spirit!” she argues.
“So what?” he says. “Lori might have one. Sometimes, with human hybrids, it takes longer for their wolf to surface. And even if not, at least she can build houses. Seriously, what do you bring to the table?”
“She is just a slut,” Isla snarls. “I have heard stories…”
“Oh, shut up,” I huff. “People should give a shit about rumors. And a sexual past makes no one a slut!”
“I know the pack Lori is from and her goddess-forsaken alpha there. If she is a slut for being a victim to those assholes there, what does that make me?” Nova asks. “No one pressures me into anything, and I am sexually active.”
“Same,” Kitty says.
“Me too,” Anton shrugs. “I am definitely the last to judge.”
Lori had grown pale at Isla’s comments, but hearing the others defend her seems to make her relax a bit.
“I am just saying, it’s nothing to be proud of,” Isla pouts.
“I am a virgin,” I tell her bluntly. “Make fun of me instead.”
“Aw, it gets even cuter. He waited for his mate,” Kitty squeals.
“Not the right moment, Kitty,” Nova mutters.