**CHAPTER 36**
**THE MATE**
**BETTY’S POV**
The scent hit me again.
No mistaking it this time.
Cold and clean, like the forest right after rain, but underneath it something darker. Smoke. Pine. Something warm and wild that didn’t just reach my nose—it settled under my skin and stayed there.
My body locked up.
Around me the Red Moon celebration kept going like nothing was wrong. Music. Voices. Laughter. Red lanterns swinging from the trees and the edges of the Pack House. People I didn’t know moving between long tables, wearing colors and symbols that meant nothing to me. Servants weaving through with trays. Wolves from other packs. Strangers everywhere.
I had never been to one of these.
I didn’t know what I’d expected. Something smaller maybe. Quieter. Not this.
The scent grew st
