Page 107 of The Ashpaw: Part One

“You filthy little beast!” Kyntha shrieked.

Fern twisted sharply as nails like claws slashed toward her face, catching Kyntha’s wrist before they could reach her eyes. The woman was stronger than she looked, wild with rage as she clawed and tore at Fern’s gown.

Fabric ripped, and sharp nails scored across Fern’s collarbone and breasts, leaving lines of fire in their wake.

The room around them erupted into shouting, but Fern barely heard any of it over Kyntha’s yelling and her own screaming for help.

“You think you can take him from me?” Kyntha cried, trying to grab at her hair. “You stinking little mutt—”

Fern jerked her head aside and brought both forearms up to shield her face as another swipe narrowly missed her cheek.

Her wolf surged forward, snarling.

Fight back!

Fern was trying, but her body was depleted of both food and sleep, and her movements felt sluggish.

Kyntha’s hand tangled in the front of her gown, yanking hard enough to expose one shoulder as claws dug into the soft skin beneath.

Pain flashed white, and instinct finally took over as Fern drove her knee upward as hard as she could.

Kyntha gasped, and Fern twisted and managed one solid kick to her stomach that sent the other woman sprawling sideways across the stone floor.

Before Fern could even scramble upright, Darion was there. He caught Kyntha around the waist from behind just as she lunged again, her nails snapping through empty air inches from Fern’s face.

“Kyntha!” he barked.

She fought him viciously, sobbing and screaming all at once. “Let me go! She provoked me! I’ll tear her throat out—”

A growl rolled through the room so deep it seemed to vibrate the dishes on the table, and Reinn stepped between Fern and the struggling woman, his body angled protectively in front of her as his eyes fixed on his cousin.

“Have you lost your fucking mind?” he bellowed.

Karn dropped to his knees beside Fern at nearly the same moment Norden reached her other side.

“Easy,” he said quickly, hands hovering before carefully settling on her shoulders. “Fern, look at me.”

Her chest heaved painfully, and she let out a painful, keening sound, blood dripping down her chest and dress.

Norden swore under his breath at the sight of the scratches across her skin while Reinn continued to bare his teeth at Kyntha.

“She’s done nothing to you,” he said.

“She’s trying to steal him!” Kyntha cried back, still fighting against Darion’s hold.

Fern flinched as Karn gently pulled torn fabric aside to inspect one of the deeper scratches.

“That’s enough!” Alastair thundered.

The hall finally fell silent, and Kyntha sagged in Darion’s arms, still shaking with furious sobs, while Fern sat trembling on the floor surrounded by alphas that suddenly looked ready to kill for her.

If only they had, her wolf growled.

* * *

The shouting from inside the Council Chamber was muffled through its thick door.

Fern and Kyntha sat outside. Fern was bleeding, Kyntha was crying, and two guards were standing between them, just in case.