I refused to give them another thing to laugh at.
"You've all misunderstood. The wolf I'm bonding with today is not Fenris Ashclaw."
The crowd laughed again.
One of the wolves pointed at me with open contempt. "Drop the act. Everyone knows you've been waiting around for Fenris like a lovesick fool for three years."
"You're well past your prime. Don't tell me you can't find anyone else, so you're clinging to him instead."
A look of mock realization spread across Fenris's face.
"Briar, if you really can't find a mate, I've got plenty of pack brothers right here. Pick whichever one you like."
He pointed casually at a warrior who was blind in one eye and lame in one leg.
"How about this one?"
"Sure, he lost an eye and a leg, but he fought bravely in the border wars. A decorated wolf. More than good enough for you."
"Fenris, you're a genius. A blind wolf and a fool. A match made under the Moon Goddess!" The laughter was deafening.
"Hey, Grim! How do you like the mate the War Commander picked out for you? Satisfied?"
The warrior called Grim flushed red and stole a glance at me. His scent carried damp wool and dried mud and the faint bitterness of healing salves that had never fully worked. "I... I'll do whatever the Commander says."
The jeers and mockery were endless.
I just stood there, watching Fenris in silence.
I couldn't understand what had happened in those three years to turn him into this person.
We had known each other since we were pups.
The very first time we met, he pointed at me and declared I would be his mate. He even stole the Ashclaw ancestral mating cuff and clasped it around my wrist.
My parents were so alarmed they sent someone to return it that same night.
For as long as I could remember, he had been my protector.
Once, a young pureblood merely touched a strand of my hair, and Fenris broke both his hands for it.
The old War Commander was so furious he beat Fenris and shipped him off to the training grounds to straighten him out.
Before he left for the Blood Frontier, he snuck away from camp and found me. He grabbed my hands and said, "Briar, when I come back, I'll give you the grandest mating ceremony these territories have ever seen. And if you dare bond with someone else while I'm gone, I'll cut the wolf down myself."
Those words still echoed in my ears. But the wolf who spoke them was gone.