Page 17 of The Ashpaw: Part One

The words were spoken matter of factually, but Fern noticed the slight change in Vedia’s expression. Something akin to resentment, maybe. Jealousy.

The niggling feeling strengthened.

“Unless you emerge as an alpha,” Annik added quickly. “Then instead of being welcomed at the table, you’ll be culled.”

“Culled?” Fern gasped.

Tegen nodded. “I’ve never seen it happen, but I’ve heard rumors. Apparently having a human-born alpha disrupts the hierarchy.”

Fern’s horrified reaction caused Tegen to laugh.

“I wouldn’t worry about it. You are much, much too small to be an alpha, let alone have any wolfkin in you.”

She huffed. Why did everyone keep remarking on her size? These women were barely an inch or two taller than her.

“But to be the Ashpaw…” Vedia said slowly. “You can be Lurvekh or Solvekh. The current one is a beta she-wolf.”

Tegen hopped out of the bath first, her body shaking. Fern got up and grabbed three linen wraps for the women, handing the first to Tegen. She bowed her head in thanks and said, “A failed wolf is a failed wolf, regardless of station.”

“How did she fail?” Fern asked, passing another wrap to Vedia. “Did she not follow the alphas?”

Vedia shook her head, her eyes somber and voice quiet as she dried her skin. “She had three stillbirths.”

Fern swallowed nervously as Annik took the last wrap. “That is considered failure?”

Her own mother had had one, years before she’d adopted Fern from a farmer with too many mouths to feed.

Annik nodded. “Her mate rejected her, and her family wouldn’t take her back. Without a home, she was sent here, with us.”

Fern’s chest constricted at the injustice of it. “But it’s not her fault, she—”

“We know,” Vedia hissed, her voice a near whisper. She looked around before getting closer. ““Of course she didn’t do anything wrong. But after the third stillbirth and her mate’s rejection, people started whispering. They said her womb was poisoned. And once enough wolfkin believed it, no one wanted to be seen near her. So if she’s the Ashpaw, then all you can do is leave her alone, lest the clan believe her poison has spread to you as well.”

* * *

Fern eventually found her cot, and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening thinking about her new life. The three Solvekh women seemed happy enough. They joked with each other. They looked well-fed, free from disease or injury.

Things could be worse, she reminded herself.

It wasn’t long before what she assumed must be the courtship feast began, as music, stomping feet, loud voices, and the smell of roasted food all curled in from under the door and through the cracks in the windows.

She was grateful she hadn’t been thrown into it all right away, but the wolf she’d spent the better part of ten years ignoring was becoming a more prominent fixture in her mind, and she could almost feel the way the beast paced, restless and lonely.

She tried to rest, but curiosity soon had her up and restlessly pacing the space herself.

There hadn’t been explicit instructions not to leave the room, and she figured that as long as she kept to the shadows and out of the way, surely they wouldn’t begrudge her taking a peek upstairs.

Could they?

Well, even if they could, she’d just chalk it up to education. Observation of the society she’d been plunged into so as to better understand her role and wolfkin culture, or some such nonsense that Darion might find plausible.

Slipping a servant’s dress over her shift, she put on her boots and tiptoed out of the room, even though the drums were more than loud enough to muffle the heaviest of footsteps.

Fern ascended the winding staircase, stopping once or twice when she felt dizzy and out of breath—the binding had really taken a lot out of her.

When she finally reached the top, she followed the sound to the main dining hall where the feast was taking place. Frenzied Solvekh rushed past her, too busy to notice the new face.

The kitchen entrance was partially obscured by a drawn curtain, and she stood to one side, daring to peek around the thick fabric as the scene unfolded in front of her.