Marked (The Coldest Fae Book 3) by Katerina Martinez (novel24 .txt) 📗

She was also fully clothed, which meant it was possible to change form and keep your dignity.

With a nod, the Alpha dismissed the other fae, who took off in a light jog after the rest of her people, following them down the hill. When enough of the fae were gone, Ashera stood before me, spreading the cloak open far enough that I would be able to slip into it once I stood. The only problem was, I didn’t know how to do that.

I shook my head. “I don’t know what I’m doing,” I said.

“Try to make sure they don’t know that,” the Alpha said.

“They?”

“The moon children will be watching you closely, examining your strengths, your weaknesses. If they believe you to be too weak, they will try to cut you down; to make sure you know your place. It is the way of our people.”

“Can’t you stop them?”

“I cannot. It’s just the way things are done here. You’ll have to learn to fight for your place if you want to have one, but first, you have to master the art of shapeshifting.”

“I can’t remember what I did last time. I just got on my hands and knees and howled.”

“It is as simple as that. Tell your body what to do, and it will do what you ask.”

I stared at my paws in the snow. It had been as easy as that; healing, at least. I remembered the pain I had felt, and how quickly I had made it disappear. I hadn’t realized at the time, probably because there was so much going on, but my stomach was rumbling now as if it had been begging for food for weeks. I was hungry, really hungry, and that probably had something to do with the wounds I’d suffered, and the whole changing shape thing.

Magic always has a price.

Gullie fluttered up and off my neck. Ashera watched her, the little pixie’s green glow reflecting off her eyes. She didn’t seem as prejudiced toward pixies as Mira had been. Mel also hadn’t shared the same prejudice. I wondered if there was something to that as I tried to figure out how to stand.

All I had to do was push myself off the ground, right? And tell my body what to do.

I leaned my snout low against the ground until my chin touched the dirt. After a second of hesitation, I pushed myself up with my front paws and squeezed every ounce of brainpower into repeating the words be human, be human, be human.

Though my muscles and bones began to change shape as I got up to stand, I lost my balance coming up. I staggered back a few steps, one foot precariously slipping off the edge of the cliff at the top of the hill. I felt myself topple, my arms flailing. The world tipped, I was about to shriek, but Ashera grabbed my arm, swung me around, and pulled me into the cloak, all in the space of just a few seconds.

She clasped the cloak around my neck, and I pulled it tightly over my shoulders. It was warm, and thick, and even though I was wearing nothing else underneath, none of my more sensitive parts were on display underneath. It was a strangely… empowering feeling.

Who the hell even are you anymore?

“Next time,” she said, “You will do better.”

I looked down at the ground and saw my feet sticking out from under the snow—bare and pink. “Wow,” I said, “That was a rush.”

Gullie floated quietly under the cloak, disappearing behind my hair. “Is that where your… pixie friend lives?” Ashera asked.

“She does,” I said.

“And she likes it here,” Gullie added.

The Alpha nodded. “Very well. Come, you will eat with me, and we will talk.”

I couldn’t exactly say no. I didn’t know where the Prince, or Mel, or Mira were, but I had to have faith that they were okay. I fell into step beside Ashera and followed her back down to her tent.

CHAPTER NINE

While I was sure these people would kill me if I stepped out of line, they were also gracious hosts. Ashera had made sure I had something to wear waiting for me in her tent. Once I’d gotten changed, behind the privacy of a thick, woolen curtain, I’d come back into her tent to find a small feast prepared for just the two of us.

On a coffee table, no taller than knee-height, there were plates covered in steaming meats and vegetables. There were three pitchers, one filled with water, and the other two filled with a kind of hot, spiced apple cider that seemed to become way more appetizing the more I smelled it.

I sat down on the floor opposite the Alpha, crossed my legs, and stared at the food on the table. My mouth watered and my stomach grumbled, and even though the Alpha was already tucking into a leg of some kind of meat—possibly Warg—I didn’t immediately join her. I wasn’t sure what the etiquette was.

She was fae, just like all the other fae I’d come across, and yet she was also very different from the castle dwellers I’d been used to. There was a primal quality about her, something wild and untamed, and absolutely badass. She commanded the people around her with a kind of authority I had never seen another woman wield, and she wielded it so easily.

It was impressive, and intimidating.

Ashera glanced at me from behind the haunch in her mouth. “Eat,” she barked.

I couldn’t find knives or forks, only an empty plate surrounded by other, fuller plates covered in meat and vegetables swimming in their own juices. I gingerly reached over across the table, picked up what looked like a drumstick, and placed it on my plate. Then I picked at it, removing the skin with my fingernails and then taking some of the meat off the bone before eating a piece.

It was mouthwateringly good. The chicken broke apart in my mouth, whatever it had been seasoned with was salty, and herby,