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It is a long night as we deal with the fallout from Travis’ demise. All the pack members are rounded up from wherever they have been hiding and each of them steps forward, one by one, to pledge their allegiance to Ashe.
Those who cannot or do not do so are allowed to leave. They gather their things, then are escorted out of pack territory with enough supplies for a week.
There is a risk in this approach, for there is always the possibility that those who are exiled will foment rebellion in some other way. Although it is less likely with the demise of their leader, and when other shifters who might have provided a focus for dissent—those who were too tightly aligned with Travis—have already been dealt with and their bodies removed. It is a difficult time, painful, and filled with tears. All told, a quarter of the pack are dead or must leave.
The next day, Ashe and several shifters go to the tunnels, seeking signs of where Fern and her mate went.
They find none.
Not only has Fern and Tavion’s pack gone, but so have some of the lesser shifters who sought to help them.
“The tunnels are deep and complex,” Ashe says, as he holds an audience with the loved ones of those involved, along with myself, Jasmine, and the few other humans within the pack who are all keen to learn the outcome of the many searches.
We gather in the great chamber, which is quiet at this hour of the morning. Where Travis once slouched arrogantly on the rough stone throne, now Ashe sits, his energy intent on those around him.
“We found no signs of them nor the way they went. They did not fall, at least. This gives me hope that they are still tracking them through the mountains, even now. To follow after them without guidance is foolhardy,” Ashe continues. “You tell me that Jim is a tracker, and that he can follow the orcs, so we must pray that he does, that the Goddess will guide him, and that they can reunite again. The journey to Bleakness, even below ground, is long. The orcs had a head start and can travel swiftly. It will be many weeks, or even longer, before we know anything.”
“We had braced for this news. Prayed for better and feared for worse, but there is still hope, and we will hold onto that,” Deba says, her face lined with worry, for her sons are part of Tavion’s patrol and are now in the tunnels, or at least so we hope. She draws herself up and continues. “And now we come to you with a proposal.”
Ashe nods. He confessed to me a few days after his challenge that he never wanted to be a leader, but he has stepped up to the role and moved swiftly where any dissent appears. Under his guidance, the pack is navigating the difficult path from being fractured to becoming whole. He has already tightened the bond with the village of Andell, met with an emissary of the bear shifters, and given a stark warning should they venture onto our lands or those belonging to the village.
There have been no more bear sightings. I believe his strong leadership and firm message have already persuaded the bears that ours is not a pack to be trifled with.
It will take time, but I already see the signs he will make the pack great again.
And so, it is perhaps strange that we choose now to leave.
I feel Jasmine’s hand squeeze lightly over the top of mine, and I glance down at her to share a look. We have discussed this in detail, both the two of us together and with those who we have been living amongst in the lower part of the den. We are committed.
“The pack is no longer our home,” Deba says. “You are a good man, Ashe, and the leader we might have hoped for, but all of us here, the former lesser shifters and the humans who suffered most under Travis, long for a different life.”
Ashe frowns. “You are asking to leave?”
“In a way,” she says, smiling now. “More, we ask permission to make a home above ground within pack lands.”
He raises both brows. “Sparrowpit?”
She nods. “We would like to make it our home. The mine no longer has any worth and, besides, none of us are miners, but the land is good and the hunting plentiful. The village, while abandoned and in need of much repair, can be rebuilt. None of us are afraid of work. We miss having homes made of wood and working the land. We come from many different places, but we are all villagers at heart, or wish to be so now. We could offer food and services in the way Andell does. We believe we could prosper there, with your permission.”
Ashe rubs his jaw as he thinks this through, his eyes skimming over all of us before landing on Jasmine and then me. “You wish to go with them?”
“I do. It is Jasmine’s dream to have her own little cottage where we might bring up our babe. I am no farmer, but I am a strong fighter, and I can offer protection and patrol wherever I might be needed.”
Ashe nods. “Tavion inspected the site with a mind to making it his home. Perhaps one day, when he returns, he will join you there.”
“We can go?” Jasmine asks, her voice full of eagerness as her small hand clutches at mine.
A smile breaks out across Ashe’s face. “Of course you can go, although I do expect a tithe, and you will need some fucking help clearing the route after the landslide, as I assuredly don’t want to be scrambling over rocks every time I want to visit…”
The rest of what he says is lost under a cheer.
Deba, who has known him since he was a pup, is so bold as to throw her arms around him and kiss him soundly on the cheek.
ChapterNine
Jasmine
It is with an air of hopeful anticipation that we transition to Sparrowpit village.
