Book: Werewolf/shifter-princess, true-mate, ritualistic test in cabin of mates, fighting?

Question

I'm looking for a book in English. It's about werewolves (or shifters). A girl is sort of a werewolf princess (may not be a shifter/werewolf herself), and many werewolves would like to mate with her. I think she's sort of forced — possibly locked-up — to participate.

In order for her to pick a mate — her true mate — there is this ritual: In a room in a cabin, there is a line in the middle. She stands in one half, while the potential mate(s) stands in the other — the mates are not allowed to cross. I think things nearly went wrong — that she was almost attacked — and was taken to a side room for protection/to recover.

I also seem to remember a long line of potential mates, and she — breaking all tradition — going past it and rejecting many "hopeless" (definitively not her mate) candidates to speed things up. But I may be mixing it with another story (if I am, I'm interested in that story too).

At the end, she hasn't found her mate. Then, some really dirty, disheveled boy — some caretaker or something? — who really didn't come looking to get a mate, proves that he's her mate (some sort of recognition when they see each other).

I sort of remember but maybe mixed-up by another book (If I am, I'm interested in both): There is some time-limit to find her a mate, and she's been — begrudgingly — meeting possible mates at the pack-compound for months (possibly close to a year); and the line-up & cabin is sort of last-ditch attempt to find her a mate.

Answer 1

It sounds almost near perfect to Hope(less) by Melissa Haag, first book of the Judgement of the Six series.

Gabby's brain is like a human fish finder. It comes in handy when she wants to avoid people. Mostly men. They seem to like her a bit too much. It's lonely being different, but she's adapted to it. Really. She just wishes she knew why she is different, though.

In her search for answers, she discovers a hidden community of werewolves. She immerses herself in their culture, learning about their world until she meets Clay. He's unkempt, prone to mood swings, intense without saying a word, and he thinks Gabby is his.

It's going to take every trick she knows to convince Clay to go away, and every bit of willpower not to fall for him when she discovers the man beneath the rough exterior.

Judgement has begun...

One of the scenes in the book has Gabby brought to a cabin, where she is introduced to one werewolf after another in hopes that one will match up the scent. It is noted that it's done in a formalized manner to keep her safe, and after she decides she'll only participate once more, they indeed bring her to a room with a long procession of people, a line in the center to keep her safe, and five werewolves at a time. Yes, she breaks tradition and walks out to the lineup of men to evaluate them. There is no danger directed at her, but when she walks out, she finds out that some of the men in line are bloody because they have started fighting in a mating frenzy. And indeed, Clay is not considered appropriate by her, but they match.

One of the details that might stick out to you, if this is the book, is that after she runs off, Clay shows up at her door as a dog and acts as her pet for a while.