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A look of excitement grew on Jennifer's face. "Could it be a festival of some kind?"

Mark tried to think of if there were any events at this time of year, but honestly it had been so long since he cared or bothered looking that he couldn't say for sure. Midsummer seemed like a good time for all sorts of outdoor events, so he wouldn't be surprised. It was Saturday, too, so that increased the odds.

"Want to check it out?" he said.

"None of the other options I came up with right away piqued my interest, so yeah, why not?"

He smiled. "Then we'll follow the music."

Even with his wolf senses, that was harder than expected. It seemed like the music was coming from several different places, though it ultimately got louder as he drove closer. When they came to Marhan's largest park, there were people everywhere. Various tents dotted the edges of the park, and on the other side, there was a large stage where live music was currently being played.

"'Marhan Annual BeerFest', oh that's cool," Jennifer said. "Let's go take a look!"

When Mark found a place to park, he and Jennifer hopped out of his SUV and, hand in hand, wandered toward the growing crowd. Electronic music blared through speakers everywhere, but the longer Mark was with Jennifer, the less the noise bothered him. Seeing the look of pure joy on her face made venturing out from his isolation worth it.

"This is a lively city if this is what the place looks like at 11 a.m.," Jennifer said.

"We probably won't want to be out here when the real crowd kicks in," Mark said. "But it'll be fun to look around."

She grinned. "Good thing I'm not one for day drinking." She pointed off to the side. "Hey, look at that."

Mark followed her gaze to a tent where several men were lining up next to a sign labeled 'beer chugging contest.' His wolf seemed entertained by the idea, and without thinking, he said, "I bet I could out drink all of them."

Jennifer raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Well why don't you give it a shot?"

Again his wolf grew excited, urging him to jump at the opportunity to impress Jennifer. Well, more like show her that he was capable of having fun. He wasn't particularly a drinker, though he did enjoy one or two here and there. What made him especially good for a drinking contest, though, was the metabolism that shifters had to account for their quick healing abilities. It also worked on alcohol, so it was hard for him to get tipsy, let alone drunk.

The contest was just to show how fast the contestants could chug a whole two-pint glass, though, not to see who coulddrink the most. The winner gained a gold medal shaped like a beer mug—it seemed pretty harmless and fun.

"You sure?" Mark said.

"I'm not the only one here to have fun," she said. "Watching you will be quite entertaining, I'm sure. Just so long as it won't leave you drunk for our wedding."

He laughed. "I'll barely notice two pints."

"Last call for contestants entering the drinking contest!" the woman organizing the event called from the tent.

Jennifer pushed him. "Then go on! Impress me."

He hugged her close, said, "Just you watch," and then slipped under the tent to sign up.

Two minutes later, he was registered and sitting at the table besides six other men, ranging from skinny, to a bit ragged, to muscular, like him. To his advantage, they all appeared to be human ... so this was going to be a piece of cake.

"The rules are simple," the woman organizing the event said as she placed a large but empty two-pint mug in front of each of the contestants. "Hands on your lap until I say 'drink'. First to chug the whole glass and put it back flat down on the table is the winner. Any excessive spillage will be counted against you, so be careful."

Another assistant took a large pitcher of beer and carefully filled each glass right to the brim. The hoppy smell filled Mark's senses as his glass was filled up.

As instructed, he planted his hands firmly on his lap, waiting as the last glass on the table was filled.

"Are you ready?" the woman said, and the contestants and onlookers cheered.

Behind her, Mark caught Jennifer's eye, and he winked at her. For her, he was going to win.

"One ... two ... three ... drink!"

Mark's hands flew up to his glass. He gripped the drink and had it at his mouth before all of the others, tipping the rich, woody beer into his mouth. The guy next to him moved too fast and tipped part of the drink into his lap, and everyone laughed and cheered as he went on drinking anyway.

Meanwhile, Mark chugged, and chugged, andchugged. That bad boy filled his belly in two seconds flat, and he slammed the mug back onto the table while the others were still only halfway into their drinks.