Page 87 of The Ashpaw: Part One

Eidan moved a fraction of an inch away and she whined again, scrambling to bring herself back into him.

“You tell me.”

“If my wolf had been suppressed for ten years, I’d be pretty moon drunk after my first shift, too,” Norden added.

“Her omega nature has also been suppressed this whole time,” Reinn explained softly. Then his tone sharpened. “And her treatment here certainly hasn’t helped. She’s going to need a lot of reassurance.”

Eidan growled, and he pulled her closer to him. Closer to him was good, but that meant she was farther away from Reinn, so Fern pulled him along, too.

“You say that like any of it is my fault,” Eidan replied.

“Sitting by and letting things happen doesn’t absolve you when you could have done something.”

“I did not see you jumping to her defense when Darion sentenced her to sleep on the roof!”

“Please,” Fern cried, trying to grab both of them. “Please, no fighting. Just hold me. Do that… do that rumbling thing. It’s so nice.”

“Purring?” Eidan asked, his tone gentling. “Of course, I’ll purr for you whenever you like.”

She heard Reinn click his tongue against his teeth in annoyance at Eidan, but then he acquiesced. “My apologies, I should have known you wouldn’t like your alphas to argue.”

She and her wolf spoke in unison. “My alphas?”

“Every alpha is your alpha when you’re an omega, sunbeam.”

“Even Darion?” she asked, like a possibility she’d denied herself from ever considering was suddenly in front of her.

Something cold flashed in Eidan’s eyes, and he looked above her to meet Reinn’s gaze before finally replying, “In a way, he will be.”

“Mm,” Fern hummed, “Good. All mine.”

All ours, her wolf corrected.

“All yours,” Eidan whispered.

The group fell silent, aside from the purring of the alphas on either side of her and Fern’s contented little chirps. She could not stop running her hands on any skin she could find, giggling when she found a ticklish spot on Reinn.

He nipped her shoulder playfully, and she yelped, causing Eidan to laugh as well.

“We should probably head back,” Alastair finally said. “We’re going to have to decide what to do about her.”

Panic slammed into her, and her heart thundered in her chest.

Was she going to be punished?

Oh, she was, wasn’t she? She’d been touching two alphas when she wasn’t allowed, and Darion would be so angry…

She whined again, trying to scramble away.

“See?” Reinn snapped, sitting up and taking Fern with him. He cradled and shushed her, rocking back and forth as her whole body shook and empty sobs kept her from being able to properly breathe.

Darion would find a higher roof, or he’d make her stay up there permanently. He’d cut off both her hands, her legs, her—

“Just the mention of returning to the castle has her reacting like this. She’s terrified! The amount of damage you’ve caused—”

“We understand that mistakes were made in Fern’s handling,” Alastair cut in, authority and dominance creeping into his tone. “We cannot erase what was done, but I believe we can fix it. She’ll be safe with us.”

Alastair leaned down to take her, but she clung harder to Reinn, not wanting to let him go yet. He then lowered himself to crouch so they could see eye to eye.