Among The Wolves

Scents

When Qu'Yda and I began to descend the steps leading to the main room, Ty'Bin and Beta were waiting for us. Seeing him released some of the tension in my shoulders. He was becoming my home away from home. I smiled easily at him and held back the urge to rush to his side. Keeping the graceful facade alongside Qu'Yda, we swished our hips down to the bottom of the steps and us ladies hooked our arms into our mate's elbows.

Ty'Bin placed a hand over mine, staying still for a small moment before he bent down and whispered in my ear. “Ready?”

My knuckles whitened around my fan as I simply nodded, looking about the room. There were many people around, particularly leaders. Many had their grim faces and stiff postures which looked as if they had boards strapped to their backs. Although, some did portray lighter personalities and invitations to jolly conversations.

Ty'Bin briskly led me to a single he-wolf enjoying a drink. He had blond hair, thick mustache, and looked to be nearing his mid-life. Whether there was a crisis, I could not tell.

“Beta Jun'Peq!” Ty'Bin approached him warmly and subtly squeezed my hand. “You shaved your beard!”

The man smiled, “Yep, grandpups kept pulling it and…”

It was my go. Acting as if heat was bothersome, I got out the hand fan and opened it in front of my face. A quick scan portrayed that no one was looking our way. With my eyes closed, I slipped into the meld. It really seemed to get easier with time. Focusing on my nose I initially felt overwhelmed by the hoard of scents that hit like an angry wave.

Suddenly, my eyes widened.

Gummy scrunchies, what is-

I looked up at Ty'Bin, I realized I had never truly paused to see what my mate smelled like and by golly he-

I had no explanation nor description for his particular scent but I did not want to stop focusing on it.

Ty'Bin permitted me a quick, slightly confused side eye before conversing with the Beta.

It dawned on me that he still could feel a sense of my emotions which meant he felt the glow of growing attraction.

My face turned red and I hid it further behind the fan.

Focus!

One my one I sorted the smells out. Seconds later I was able to single out which one belonged to the he-wolf in front of us. His core scent was fairly salty and consisted of smoked wood, sod, and also soot. It was honestly a grandpa kind of smell.

Quickly pulling from the meld I waved my fan and tugged with my fingers. Now, Ty'Bin would know that this particular Beta was not the suspect.

“Let me introduce you to my mate. This is Vae'Lee.”

I smiled kindly and bowed my head in respect. “Pleasure to meet you, nie.”

“I'll say, Próta Epsilon Ty'Bin, this is an unexpected occurrence. Didn't anticipate you disregarding your matelessness.” Notwithstanding the odd comment, the he-wolf looked as if he meant benevolently.

Ty'Bin nodded and quickly ended the conversation. He led me away to the beverage table. I noticed that across the way were three he-wolves chatting. A tilt of the head from Ty'Bin indicated that these were the next targets. Fan in hand, I turned discreetly toward Ty'Bin and started the meld for the second time. The smells that invaded my nostrils were easier to sift, having already concluded their origins. The difficulty came with the punch, the fizzy fragrance was hard to ignore… so was Ty'Bin. Yet, I managed to find the scents I was looking for. The chubby guy on the left, smelled of garlic and cut grass, the man in the center reminded me of coffee, the last one had too much fish in my opinion.