Bearclaw Valley A life of pain is the pain of life, and you can never escape it

Any of the force he'd summoned to ask for the fight disappated the instant Aventus responded with a flash of teeth. Ashlar lowered his gaze again and dropped immediately, though now he had another new development to nurse.

They would not explain it and they wouldn't show him. There was an overwhelming frustration beginning to pound on the door in his mind, fed by the disconnect between what they said and what it meant.

She'd attacked him because she wanted to prove something, but Ashlar couldn't understand what. He'd fought back because he'd needed to, but Ashlar couldn't understand why. He'd never been a part of a pack where challenges reigned, nor had rank ever crossed his mind as something to aspire to. So to him, defending a position would never seem more reasonable than refusing to harm his family. Why had Aventus not refused?

Maybe if he'd fought he'd have seen clearer, but the other man didn't think the lesson was worthwhile. Probably because he felt, as Merrick did, Ashlar had already proven himself useless. But they were wrong, and somehow Ashlar would show them. He would prove it.

Yet he could not even fight this order.

Just fight him. A part of him urged this, but it wasn't strong enough. So he glowered at the ground instead, resentment weighing on his chest.