Page 51 of The Ashpaw: Part One

Once she was clean as she could reasonably get, she took a moment to let the water extinguish whatever still burned inside her.

She couldn’t let herself stare at the men like that again, her connection-deprived mind seeing possible fathers to future children in every cock-wielding wolfkin who passed.

It didn’t help that many of them were, admittedly, very handsome. Built large with arms meant for holding you…

No, no! she scolded herself. She couldn’t be the tail-tease Kyntha had accused her of. Couldn’t give the woman more reason to convince Darion she should remain the Ashpaw.

Once the water had dragged her back from the brink of lust-addled insanity, she climbed out of the pool and took a look at her dress. She picked it up, bringing the collar to her nose, and instantly gasped.

Her scent was strong. Stronger than even the alphas combined when she’d served them in the Council Chambers.

And it was different, too, from the other wolfkin. Sweet, floral… like honey made from lavender.

The discovery should have brought some clarity to her situation, but instead it only sent her further into worry. If this was how she naturally responded to loneliness, how could she hope to suppress it enough to earn Darion’s trust that she had learned her lesson to not seek comfort?

She cleaned the dress next, not caring if it would still be damp when she wore it. It had to be done, for her own safety.

The job was soon finished and she put it back on, glad the scent had been muted enough that she could keep up her work undetected for the evening.

When she left the bathing room, Rosen stood still as a statue near the fireplace, a frying pan in her hands.

Marin and a few of the other women were behind her.

“Steady now…”

Rosen moved just as quickly as the wolfkin upstairs, bringing the frying pan down hard, a thick, sickening squish and crunch drowned by cheers.

“Knew we needed a Lurvekh for this,” one of the women sighed. “Thanks, that thing’s been hanging around for days, getting much too bold for my liking.”

Fern couldn’t keep herself from looking, knowing exactly what she would find when Rosen lifted the frying pan.

Her stomach twisted again, this time in nausea and grief, and she blinked hard, holding back the tears as the mess of blood, guts, and gray fur revealed itself on the stone floor.

Marin snapped her fingers. “Ashpaw!”

Fern flinched.

“Take care of the mess.”

Chapter 14

Fern

The stone walls of Sabletail Castle were thick, but even they could no longer keep out the creeping heat.

Fern concentrated on the corners of the dining hall farthest from the fireplace while she worked, sweat still dripping uncomfortably down her back despite the distance.

The only bright side was the cold water of the bathing room, now closer to a luxury than an unappealing necessity.

It was during one such evening, when she’d lingered longer than usual in the pool, that Marin called for her.

Fern chastised herself for taking advantage of this small reprieve. She should have known better than to show enjoyment.

Her dress had been washed and was still much too wet to wear, so she wrapped her blanket around herself instead as she followed Marin through the sleeping quarters out into the hallway, where her reprimand wouldn’t waken the others.

She hoped it would only be verbal.

“Tomorrow is the solstice,” Marin stated, as though it was important.