Read Scent of Salvation (Chronicles of Eorthe #1) for Free Online

the distance, and some females strolled by with baskets of grapes in their arms. They smiled at Kele and one waved to the guards behind her.
    Susan glanced back and sensed her eyes growing wider.
    They’d changed—shifted—to men. Half-naked men. Half-naked, gorgeous men.
    She shook her head to make the thought stop skipping. Locked in her lab the past year, trying to get DOUG to work, had placed a kink in her social life. And her sex life. She eyed the men. Not a fuzzy hair on them now.
    A blue-eyed guard with black hair past his shoulders caught her attention. He pulled a leather kilt from his backpack and wrapped it slowly around his well-defined abs. Never breaking her eye contact.
    She swallowed. Way out of her comfort zone.
    One of the other men tossed a shirt at him. “Stop putting on a show. We all know you like her, Ahote.”
    Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.
    Ahote was out-of-her-league handsome. She didn’t mind gawking at men that attractive but nothing more. Whenever she spoke with ultra-sexy men, her brain unhinged. It was a terrible thing to witness.
    While he pulled the off-white, long-sleeved shirt over his head, he sauntered toward her.
    She brushed the loose strands of hair from her face and found a dried leaf stuck to her head. What the fuck? Her French twist was a tangle.
    “I’ll take you for a tour.” He gave her a lazy smile and she sensed her IQ plummeting.
    “Don’t you have chores to do?” Kele, though smaller in stature, managed to look down upon him.
    He gave her a pointed look. “You were my chore.”
    “Well, Sorin is your present chore. He must be presented to my father when he wakes. I’ll tend his injuries after. Store him somewhere while I speak with Susan. My parents will want to meet her.” Kele eyed her and plucked another leaf from her head. “I should prepare her for the ordeal first.” She lifted Susan’s wrist up to Ahote. “Mark her.”
    Susan tried to yank her hand away but the pale female’s strength outmatched hers. What kind of marking were they discussing?
    Ahote ducked his head. “Very well.” He bowed and took Susan’s hand, rubbing it against his warm cheek by his ear. “I’ve a good place for shifters like Sorin.”
    Kele heaved an impatient sigh, rolling her eyes. “We’ll go to my quarters.” She snatched Susan’s hand from Ahote. “Shoo! You’ve made your mark.” Then she led her away from the grinning male, climbing the stairs to the second level.
    Something light and oily covered Susan’s wrist. She showed it to Kele. “What is this?”
    “Ahote’s mark.”
    “I assumed that much, but how does it work?” The scientist in her still existed. Fear hadn’t chased her curiosity away.
    “You carry his scent. It tells other shifters he’s willing to fight for you.”
    The blood drained from her head, pooling in her heavy feet. “I don’t belong to him now, do I?”
    “Dark Moon, of course not.” She laughed. “That would make it too easy for the males to claim a mate. Could you imagine?”
    Susan could only stare. Not really .
    Sighing, Kele took Susan’s marked hand. “It only tells other males that he’s interested in you. If you want to be approached by others, then just wash it off. I thought it safer for you to bear some sort of mark for the time being.”
    “I don’t want any males. How do I announce that?”
    “Then keep it on. Ahote is dominant enough in the pack that most won’t challenge him.”
    “What do I do about him?”
    Kele gave her a sly look. “You don’t want him?”
    “It’s not that. He’s very nice looking but—but we’re not even the same species.”
    Her smile grew wider. “Trust me. I’ve know Ahote all my life. That won’t matter. If you want my advice, make him work for it if you’re interested in a lover. If you want more, go looking for someone else. He’s too full of himself.” They climbed two more sets of stairs to the top level. “We need to tend to more important matters than your