Introspect [The Mating Games #3]
Day 3 Part 3

WENDELL ZERONE

As usual when it came to do with anything in the werewolf world, they were split into groups of eight. The only difference was that today, not only were they sprayed with the scent masking spray upon entry, but they were also sprayed with a scent once they were called up for the task.

What he hadn’t expected was for them to be flavoured. His particularly reeked of coconut. A scent which he wasn’t particularly fond of.

The group of eight that he had been split off into had all been sprayed with so many different scents that Wendell was more confused in that moment than he had ever been before.

The fact that he didn’t know what was meant by today’s task of the mate roulette didn’t help his case any.

Thankfully, a few stewards were stood on top of the stage, gearing up to explain exactly what would be going down today.

“This is the first year that we’re running the mate roulette so please do be patient with us if there’s a few hiccups,” the stewards chuckled but the participants didn’t. Wendell couldn’t blame them as he could imagine that just like him, everyone was anxious to meet their mate.

“So, as you can see, everyone has been split into groups of eight for the mate roulette. All of you have also been sprayed with another scent which not only somewhat reverses the effects of the scent masking spray,” at that, Wendell’s eyebrows shot up in surprise as he had assumed it to double and strengthen the affects of the scent masking spray. But apparently not. “But you will be focusing on the scents to pick who you believe from your group is your mate.”

“Now, remember the wolves that you had handed a ribbon to yesterday however, there is no restriction that you can only select one of those three wolves. Of course, if your mate today turns out to be one of the wolves that you handed a ribbon yesterday then you will be awarded both a badge for yesterday and today but if your mate is not included in this group of three, then you will not be awarded a badge for today. Also, as a given, if you guess your mate incorrectly today, then you will not be awarded a badge for today.”

“If any of you have any further questions, feel free to ask the steward that has personally been assigned to your group.”

And with that, the first gong of the day sounded. Very quickly, it was followed up by hushed whispered which sounded aloud from all around the hall.

“Listen up troops,” Denver clapped his hands together to grab their attention. “We need to decide an order of who goes when so I’ve got some straws here for you,” he grinned widely, reaching his arm out from behind him to reveal the cup of straws which were only visible from above the lid and all appeared to be the same length.

“And how do we decide who gets to go first?” Holly asked, quirking a daring brow at the steward.

At that, Denver chuckled, “I’m going to start left to right.”

Without leaving any room for argument, Denver began on the left-hand side of the group which unfortunately, meant that Wendell was left to last. Much to his luck, it also appeared that he had been granted the shortest straw of them all.

“Better luck next time,” Denver patted him on the back before returning to the front of the group.

While everyone around him changed positions according to the length of the straws that they had drawn, Wendell remained in the same spot.

In order, it was Holly, Joshua, Norman, Rain, Troy, Clarke, Lara and then finally, Wendell.

While it meant that it bought him some time until he finally had to vocalise his decision – or actually make his decision, for that matter – it also meant that he had to stand and watch through everyone pick their mates.

First, was Holly.

“Holly,” Denver greeted her with a bright, friendly grin. “Who do you believe is your mate?”

“Yes,” Holly grinned brighter than the steward. “Joshua is my mate,” she announced loud and proudly, turning her attention to the man that was stood next to her.

“Joshua,” Denver turned his attention to the lucky man. “Do you have any objections against this claim?”

“None whatsoever,” the wolf grinned widely, shuffling closer to Holly who had all but claimed him as hers.

“Does anyone else have any objections?” Denver asked as he glanced around the group. When no one said anything, that was answer enough for him. “Well, since there aren’t any objections, it’s safe to remove the scent masking spray so we can test the theory.”

“Don’t you already know if we’re mates or not?” Clark called out in question.

“I do, but where’s the fun in that?” Denver chuckled before reaching into his pocket for yet another spray bottle. “Holly and Joshua,” he addressed the lucky couple. “If the both of you could be kind enough to step forward.”

Holly and Joshua stepped into the centre of the circle as instructed, holding hands which was a pretty bold move. However, Wendell couldn’t help but appreciate their confidence. How could he not when they were so sure of themselves while he was still very much conflicted?

The six other wolves around the group all held their breath as Denver raised his arm and sprayed the couple in the centre. This continued for a few moments as they watched the alleged couple, waiting for something to happen. Anything that could possibly indicate whether they were mates or not.

“Mate!” both Holly and Joshua announced in unison as they turned to face each other, both of their eyes glazed over to indicate that their wolves were up at the surface.

“Well, it seems like we’re off to a good start,” Denver chuckled as he ushered the newly fated couple off to the side. With the intense way that they were staring at each other, as if they were fighting to keep their wolves at bay, Wendell was quick to decide that that wasn’t something that he wanted to watch so was glad that Denver had all but insinuated that they needed to get a room.

Wendell watched as the next wolf, Norman, stood forward and claimed for Lara to be his mate. Just like Holly and Joshua, Norman and Lara declared each other to be their mates as soon as the scent masking spray was removed.

After they had left the grand hall hand in hand, attention then turned on Rain.

Taking a step forward with a large, confident grin on her face, she made a show of turning her head to glance toward him. At that, Wendell was shocked.

“Rain,” Denver called out to her. “Who do you believe is your mate.”

“Wendell Zerone!” Rain replied confidently, her eyes trained on him the whole time.

At her announcement, silence filled the circle once again but this time, it was very different from all the other times. With Rain stood in the centre, there were three males remaining: Troy, Clarke and then Wendell. That meant that two of the males had to be mated to each other and judging by the sad, almost heartbroken expression on Clark’s face, he definitely believed himself to be Rain’s mate.

That left Wendell back at square one where he was wondering whether he was mated to Troy or not. He hadn’t been sure then but now, he couldn’t be sure of anything more.

How could he not when the truth was all but staring him straight in the face?

“Wendell, if you could please take a step forward,” Denver instructed him but Wendell couldn’t follow through. Not when he didn’t believe Rain to be his mate.

“No,” Wendell denied, shaking his head.

At his response, both Clarke and Troy looked relieved while Rain looked offended. Denver, on the other hand, seemed to replace the situation quite amusing.

“What do you mean no?” Denver continued to ask.

“I can’t step forward,” he continued to deny. “Not when I know that Rain isn’t my mate.”

“What are you saying, Wendell?” Rain questioned; her lips tugged down into a deep frown. “Did you not feel the connection between us?”

“I did at first,” he admitted honestly. “I can’t lie. At first, I did believe that you could be my mate however, as soon as you introduced your brother to me, I knew that he was my mate.”

“My brother?” her jaw dropped all but dropped as she stared at Wendell with wide, disbelieving eyes.

“Yes,” Wendell vocally confirmed while Troy, the brother in question, sighed in relief and nodded his head.

“Troy?” Rain turned around to face her brother, seeking confirmation from the source itself. “Is this true?”

“It is,” his lips were pinched slightly at the corners. “I’m sorry if this hurts you, sis. That isn’t my intention but I’m confident that Wendell is my mate.”

Before anyone could say anything further, Denver spoke and drew the attention back to him.

“I’m going to have to rush you, Rain,” he said. “Do you still believe for Wendell to be your mate?”

While Rain looked very conflicted, Clarke was the complete opposite. He took charge of the moment by stepping forward and inserting himself into the circle which was much smaller now.

“Rain is my mate,” Clarke stated and while Denver looked like he wanted to say something, he was quick to shut up after receiving several sharp looks.

“For the record, Rain picked Wendell as her mate while Clarke picked Rain. I’ll remove the scent masking spray so we can replace out the truth but those are the answers that you locked in,” Denver stated as he reached for the scent masking spray again.

Rain looked like she wanted to say something so when she decided to keep her mouth shut, Wendell sighed in relief. The last thing he needed right now was drama between siblings because they both believed for him to be their mate.

“Mate!” Rain and Clark announced simultaneously, turning to face each other. And just like that, the messy confusion that had just taken place didn’t matter anymore.

And now there were two.

“Wendell, Troy, could you please both step into the centre?” Denver called out to both of them with a knowing smirk on his face. “Do either of you have any objections?”

“None,” Troy said at the same time that Wendell shook his head, struggling to vocalise what he was saying right now.

“I’m glad to hear that,” the steward beamed, already holding the mystical bottle. Aiming the nozzle at both of them, he spritzed once.

The whole time, Wendell held his breath. When he felt his wolf begin to stir from under the surface but nothing other than that, he couldn’t help but think that perhaps, they had gotten it wrong. Perhaps, they had misread this connection between them.

Surprisingly, Wendell found himself feeling rather disappointed that Troy wasn’t his mate. One moment he was nervous and anxious about having a mallet as a mate and the next, he was disappointed that his mate wasn’t this male that he had been feeling very conflicted about since meeting him yesterday.

But then, the switch flipped.

“Mate,” he whispered in a quiet voice, turning to face the man that he had known to be his mate for a while now.

“Mate,” Troy murmured back in an equally quiet voice, a somewhat melancholy expression on his face.

That just made Wendell feel even more worse than he was already feeling.

“Well, that went quicker than I thought it would,” Denver shrugged as he attempted to start a conversation. However, neither Troy or Wendell was in the right mindset to be able to say anything to him. Not when they could barely say anything to each other right now; to their mates.

Even though the truth had been revealed and there was no denying the truth that his mate was Troy, Wendell still couldn’t help but feel a certain way.

He knew that this was expected as not once before the start of the Mating Games had Wendell considered himself to be gay, or even remotely inclined toward the same sex, but he still struggled to wrap his mind around it.

How could he not when all of this came as a shock to me?

“Wendell?” Troy called out to him, taking small, tentative steps towards him in hopes that it wouldn’t startle him.

If only he knew that that was akin to impossible right now.

“I know that this must come as a shock to you,” Troy continued when Wendel couldn’t bring himself to say anything. “We can take things slow. We can go at whatever pace you want and need, but I think we should talk.”

“I think we should talk, too,” Wendell agreed, a dazed expression on his face as he bobbed his head up and down. “But I can’t do this now.”

“What do you mean?” his mate questioned, his poker face in place.

“I can’t talk about all of this right now,” he sighed and shook his head, taking a step back and away from his mate. “Not when I’m not thinking straight and my head is all over the place like this.”

And with that, Wendell took another step back. Away from his mate and toward his escape which was through the tall, double doors of the grand hall.

-

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Layla Knight

13.06.2021