Page 155 of The Ashpaw: Part One

Was there some discord among the betas? Another formal grievance?

The guards outside the Council Chambers also each sported a broken, bloody nose, and snarled as Darion passed. He couldn’t keep his hands from curling into fists at his side, and decided to deal with the impertinence once this was over.

It was only the Sabletail alphas in attendance this morning, and he was almost surprised to not see Reinn, the smarmy fuck. That meant this was a private clan matter.

Once the door was closed, Darion spoke, too confused and bordering on nervous to wait for someone else to begin. “Why do all the wolfkin have broken noses?”

“In protest of you!” his father barked, slamming his fists on the table.

Darion froze. “Me?”

It didn’t make any sense. He thought himself a fair alpha, and nothing had changed among the wolfkin since last night. There was nothing he could truly think of that would turn them against him in such a bizarre manner.

His Uncle Norden had a hard gleam to his eye. “Because of your refusal to tend the omega.”

And just like that, his confusion turned to fury, a low growl building in his chest. Why did they all favor the lying she-wolf so much? “She brought it upon herself.”

“How?” Eidan demanded. Darion turned towards his older brother, who looked like he hadn’t slept a wink all night. “What could Fern possibly have done to suffer such a fate?”

He would not tolerate his brother’s soft-hearted approach to the omega, and responded quickly. “She induced the heat.”

Darion thought that was explanation enough, but the blank, angry stares said differently.

His Uncle Karn snapped, “For the gods’ sakes, Darion, would you punish a rose for wanting to bloom early? Explain to us why this is a problem, because all I see is an omega in need of her alpha and ripe for breeding.”

He was about to explain, but then stopped, remembering that his family did not know about the promise he’d made to Kyntha. They would find it foolish. Overly indulgent. They wouldn’t understand.

“She is acting out of spite because I prefer my future mate, and she wanted to occupy my time and attention before the ceremony to hurt Kyntha.”

His father slammed his fist on the table. “And this is precisely why we advised against you taking the omega as your Naravekh! You do not have the ability nor the desire, for some strange reason, to adequately care for both, and our entire clan is now in upheaval.”

“But why?”

“Her guard,” Eidan answered, his body tense. “Fern’s scent, so laced with pain and despair, made it impossible for him to stand his post without collapsing into agony himself. He broke his own nose so he could do his job.”

A lump formed in his throat. He had scented her from the hall yesterday, but hadn’t considered how it might affect those who walked by or were stationed near her room.

He was about to suggest bringing her to the dungeons until it passed, but that seemed a touch too cruel.

“An untended omega suffers until her body begins turning against itself,” Eidan continued. “And so the wolfkin broke their own noses in solidarity for their omega suffering in isolation, and for their brother in arms, forced to ensure her safety while her own alpha does nothing.”

“It is not nothing, it is a consequence! She manipulated her own body against me.”

The punch came so quickly, he did not know he’d been hit until he fell back against the wall.

Eidan stood before him, fist cocked and ready to hit him again. “She’s an omega! Her body is doing what it’s supposed to do! You’re the only one who’s manipulating her into acting unnaturally, making her believe her instincts shameful.”

They bared their teeth at each other, brother against brother, ready to trade blows until his father spoke again.

“You have failed her for the last time, son. I will ask Alpha Cyran to tend her through this heat and take her back to Ironcoat Castle after the ceremony to be his mate.”

A brief image appeared in his mind of the silver-haired bastard mounting the omega while she moaned in pleasure and it was too much, causing something savage to rise inside him.

He would not cede her to anyone, especially not that prick.

“No!” Darion roared, pushing Eidan out of the way to better address his father. It mattered not that he did not want her as a mate. She belonged to him. “She is mine. I marked her, I—”

His father walked around the table, and Darion silenced himself. His father stopped mere inches away.