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Rhys said to
Arianna and his retainer that followed closely behind. They both
left the room. Six out of thirteen made her close to half. She
needed all of the signatures to amend the rules, but really it
would be a winning situation either way. If the clans all signed,
then no one would ever have to go through this again. If all the
clans didn’t sign, then at least some would be eliminated right
now.
    Loan followed Rhys as his grandfather
trailed in protest, making it seven signatures from the thirteen
clans. Arianna made it past the halfway mark and that motivated the
rest to follow and reluctantly sign also. After each man signed, he
was allowed to leave the room and become an official participant.
All thirteen had arrived, with only one eliminated for being late.
It was going to be a long competition. Arianna watched them leave
until she was left with Thomas, Andrew, and Gabriel.
    “Did any notice?” Thomas asked Gabriel. One
of the problems that would change their plans was the clans finding
out that Andrew was already Arianna’s mate.
    “Just Nik, but I’m sure his brother already
told him,” Gabriel replied.
    “He was staring daggers at me the whole
time,” Andrew replied, slipping his arm around Arianna. “Ready for
some alone time?” he asked.
    “Be safe,” Arianna reached up and kissed her
uncle on the cheek. It was his job to make sure Devin, Turner, and
Ken all remained safe for the competition. Judging from the
sour-looking men she had just met, he had his work cut out for
him.

Chapter 6
     
    Arianna walked into the dining room the next
afternoon to find all the competitors lounging around. They sat
around the room with their retainers at various tables. Only her
own men were together; the rest were separated into twos, a
competitor and their retainer. The world of night humans was even
divided when they were all in one room together, except her people.
She had changed that. They were all one group now. Arianna wondered
at this world she didn’t grow up in. It was so strange to her to
find that certain night humans cared about what other types of
night humans they associated with. They all drank blood. Wasn’t
that enough to have in common to at least get along?
    All eyes were glued to her as she entered,
and all conversations came to an abrupt stop. Arianna hated to be
the center of attention. She had a year to get used to it since she
had joined her families at her sixteenth birthday. Although she had
a year to get used to it, it was still nerve-racking to have all
conversations stop around her whenever she entered a room. She
couldn’t help but wonder what each man was thinking about her. She
actually had to try to block their thoughts to keep from being
embarrassed even further. She really just wanted to go home and
melt into the life she once had. That wasn’t possible now, but she
wanted it anyway.
    ‘Good afternoon,’ Devin said in her head, breaking through her
nervous pause. As always, he knew when she needed some
encouragement. Even a month away did not change that instinct in
him.
    ‘Good afternoon,’ she replied, relaxing a bit. She had missed
Devin’s voice and, even if it was just his thoughts, it was better
than nothing. Andrew appeared behind her and placed a hand on her
back. She drew strength from both of them as she addressed the room
full of men for a second time in less than a day.
    “We will start today on our first
competition: agility, ability, and endurance; after we all get a
chance to eat,” Arianna announced as maids began to move into the
room and fill the tables lining the wall with food.
    “The competition begins now. How long can
you go without blood? For the next week, you cannot take any blood.
I want to see what sort of night human control you have, and how
powerful you are without blood. If you take blood in any form,
you’ll be eliminated. Each day we will do different tests, and
you’ll get scores. You can use your night human form as much as