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“Cinnamon rolls,” I supplied. “And jasmine.”
The corner of his mouth lifted. “I thought honeysuckle. I never cared about flowers, but now I want to start smelling them all, just to see which one is most like her.”
“How is it possible?” I asked, not expecting an answer.
“I don’t know. Your pack library probably has the answer, though.” I chewed at my lip. I’d read almost every book in that library as part of my Heir education, but had never come across any mention of a soulmate bond with more than two shifters involved.
“I wonder who her parents are?” I mused aloud. “Her mother is dead, but her father might be alive. There might be an answer there. Three soulmates for one female?” I didn’t say what I was thinking: that she would have to choose one of us. And let two of the connections wither.
I didn’t want to imagine what it would be like, to know my soulmate was out there, mated to one of my best friends. Never to be mine.
“It could be more than three.” He hesitated. “I think Luke might be hers, too.”
“Luke?” No. I stood to pace again, glad my leg was healing. “He’ll probably be the one ordered to kill her after the match.” I tore out a handful of hair. “God, what’s happening right now? What was Finn thinking?”
Brand scowled. “The fight will be over by now. She will have lost.”
“Are you sure? Finn said she was skilled.”
“He won’t have planned to throw it. That would be dishonorable.”
I scoffed. “No, that would be the entire Eastern Pack. They’re no better than the human mafia.”
“Finnick’s not like that.”
I nodded. It was true; Finn was practically the only ranked shifter I’d met at Eastern who wasn’t a complete sociopath. “But after she loses, she’ll be forced to fight a second time.”
He nodded. “Right afterward. Tired and already hurting.”
We both cursed aloud. I made a mental note to beat the shit out of Finn the very next chance I got.
We sat in silence, straining to hear anything from outside—cheers, or applause, or howling—until Brand finally said, “Maybe he did throw the fight. He knew that if she won against him, she could get a pack bid.”
“Not from us.” I ground my teeth, feeling the sharp edges of my canines against my tongue.
“Finn will bid for her. He won’t let her die.” I wasn’t certain, but the tips of Brand’s ears looked like they’d gone furry. I knew how he felt. At the very edge of control.
I paced back and forth, my wolf fighting to emerge, to attack the silver and iron compound bars that held us here. That kept me trapped, away from my mate.
I hated to think of her as part of Finn’s fucked-up pack. But if I could get out and prove she was my mate—hell, if Brand could do it—she’d be allowed to go to whichever pack she chose.
Brand’s words had settled my wolf a bit, though. “You’re right. Finn can be a stuck-up jerk, but he’s not an idiot.”
He raised one thick eyebrow. “Wouldn’t go that far.”
“Yeah, he’s pretty dumb sometimes.” I laughed. “Remember the water snakes?”
He snickered as well. “City boys like him think every stick is a snake.”
I shrugged. “Yeah, but you actually carved a bunch into snake shapes, Brand. With eyes. And dyed them to look realistic. And hid them everywhere.”
We both slumped down on the bench, waiting, remembering.We’d spent almost every summer together growing up, me and Finn and Brand. Luke had joined us once, but he hadn’t quite clicked. There was something about him. I’d always thought it was because he was European. Brand said it was because he was raised without honor.
From what I’d seen in this pack, he wasn’t wrong.
“What happens next?”
“Best case, our parents get here soon, we apologize to the Southern Alpha, and Finn… Finn gets to live with her in New York.” After a moment, he went on. “She might like the city. Fancy dinners, operas, that sort of thing.”
