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Megan had called me last night, still tipsy from her night atShifting Sapphic, to yell at me about how royally I’d screwed this up, and all I could do was agree. Then I asked her how we could fix everything once Julian had won and Marlowe was back at home, safe and sound. We’d talked for almost two hours, going over plans for a new femalerights initiative she would lead. We also talked about bringing Marlowe on as a consultant, not just because she was the most affected by these laws, but because she was likely one of the most qualified people in town to help with something like this, given her background in public policy and women’s advocacy.

I couldn’t deny I also wanted an excuse to bring her into my office every day, but that was merely a perk.

Megan flattened her lips and gave me a brief nod before turning towards Julian. “Good luck today.”

He nodded back, taking a deep breath and rolling out his shoulders as we headed into the building through the protesters that parted for us.

A large oval, outlined with a white, braided rope and filled with packed dirt, now lay in the center of the temple hall. Two raised daises had been erected on opposite sides of the fighting ground, one with six seats and the other with five. Chairs were arranged around the rest of the space

One of the priestesses sat at a registration table near the entrance. “Pack name?”

“Wolcott,” Cam said firmly.

She scrolled down what was a worryingly long list before finding us near the bottom. “Okay, and who is representing you today?”

“Julian Ramos.”

The priestess handed him a small postcard with a large number “one” printed on it. “Alright, you’re the first male to enter the ring today. Give this to the judge when you’re called. The Rite will begin in about an hour. May you find the Moon’s favor.”

I rolled my eyes. “That doesn’t mean much when you’re saying it to every pack, Tiffany.”

She kept her attention on the papers in front of her while responding quietly. “What makes you think I’m saying it to every pack?”

Well, it looked like the temple priestesses might be as over the Conclave’s shit as the rest of the females in town.

Or at the very least were in favor of Marlowe’s autonomy.

Since we had invoked the Rite, we took our seats on the dais with five chairs, where we would remain until the end, unless Julian lost. Which meant we had no intention of moving.

Julian got back in his zone and we dutifully ignored him, not wanting to mess with his pre-fight ritual.

Instead, I focused on the other shifters who were starting to trickle in. Quite a few more packs had signed up for rights to Marlowe’s bond since I’d last checked, and I clenched my jaw tightly as I overheard some of their plans if they were to win. My hands balled into fists at every mention of heats, nests, and knots.

“This is so fucked up,” Cam grumbled under his breath next to me. “There are alphas that actually work for me who’ve signed up for this. For Moon’s sake, that male is the head of my engineering department. Hey, Josh!”

The male looked up at us, his expression scrunching in discomfort. “Oh, hey Camden. Hey Julian.” He walked over apprehensively, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, I know this is super awkward. I swear, it wasn’t my idea, but my leader insisted we try, and…”

“You’re fired.”

His face paled. “Wait… what?”

Cam clicked his tongue against his teeth. “You either drop out right now, or not only will I fire you, but I’ll shift and rip your guts out.”

Josh looked back towards his pack, and then lowered his voice. “I don’t want to be here, either. I’m married, for Moon’s sake! My wife threatened to walk out and take the pup if we won, but Bobby didn’t give a shit. If he doesn’t care about Brittany leaving me, he definitely won’t care about me losing my job.”

I took another look around the room as more and more packs took their seats, preparing their fighters for their bout in the ring. How many of these males, like Josh, had partners and pups waiting at home? I couldn’t believe they were willing to destroy relationships and families all for an omega who was already happily bonded and had no desire to be with them.

Did they really think Marlowe would just fall in line with some random pack just because they won a fight over her? They might be able to take over our bond, but they couldn’t take over her feelings for us.

And that’s what these males just didn’t understand. It wasn’t her scent or her designation that made her special. It was just her—the way she teased me, put me in my place. How she’d sit and listen to music with me, cracking jokes and making me smile.

She wasn’t going to do that, or be that person, with males who fought for her just so they could have a warm body to knot.

I was beginning to understand what had motivated her parentsto hide her all these years. Had it been a mistake all along to bring her to Maiingan Hollow?

The thought of her still being with her vamp ex was disgusting, but it was almost just as disgusting that we had to resort to this in order to save her from the Conclave, fromher own people, and I only hoped that when it was over she could forgive us. Forgiveme.

Her perfume preceded her.