Chapter 210: Ashes
Everyone else gave me a wary look. Their pride wouldn’t let them be scared of a mere human like me, but it was impossible for any werewolf to not instinctively flinch when confronted with silver. It was just a primal fear that persisted for generations.
I stifled a sigh. I was so close to having a peaceful day.
"We got silver from Ironclaw when Damon took over, and we’ll get even more from them when they restart mining too," I pointed out. "You might have forgotten, since you weren’t there and your interest lies in petty gossip."
Kyle snarled. "Don’t change the subject!"
"Give me some credit for my intelligence, if not my physical strength." I rolled my eyes. "If I wanted to poison you, I would not do it in full view of all of you here. Unless you believe yourself and your fellow wolves to be so stupid that you would eat something you think I poisoned? That’s not a very nice opinion to have of your packmates, isn’t it?"
I glanced at the other werewolves, who were slowly inching away from Kyle as though he had a contagious disease. I guess they must be afraid that his stupidity was infectious.
Understandable.
"She has a point," Jeeves said, with a raised eyebrow. He held a spatula in his hand, but he wielded it as expertly as a knight wielded a sword. "And do you think I’m so weak and decrepit that I’m incapable of stopping her? No offense meant, Miss Harper."
"None taken," I said.
Jeeves was visibly older than most wolves I saw in Fangborne; his hair a peppery gray and thinning at the sides, while wrinkles lined his face. Yet his arms were still muscled with thick veins running through them, his body thick and girthy― he looked like he could arm wrestle Damon to submission.
Kyle’s face purpled further, but he clearly respected the old cook more than he respected me.
"Jeeves, I’m just trying―"
"Stop trying," Jeeves said, shaking his head in disappointment. "If you’re not going to leave Miss Harper alone, I’ll have to take matters into my own hands. Miss Harper, your lighter."
"Thank you, Jeeves," I said, taking the lighter from him. Then I turned to Kyle, who still refused to move away.
"You heard him, are you going to leave me alone now?" I said, tilting my head to glare at him challengingly. I had no idea what Jeeves had up his rolled-up sleeves, but it didn’t sit right with me that I had to get someone as old as him to fight my battles.
"You’re being awfully mouthy despite being a mere human," Kyle hissed out with gritted teeth. "You’re just leading the Alpha and Beta along with sex. There’s no way a human like you can be their mate!"
"Are you jealous of them? Or of me?" I asked curiously. Kyle seemed awfully nosy about our relationship.
"That’s none of your business!" Kyle spluttered. "I’m just looking out for Fangborne’s interests!"
Tired of his nonsense, I drew myself to my full height and said imperiously,
"Unlike you, I do not have so much free time to loiter around and banter with you."
If this man wanted to compete over contributions to Fangborne’s interests, I would have beaten him sorely based on all that I had done in the past week alone.
"I spent the past week running myself ragged to ensure that Fangborne would have food without Damon having to prostitute himself to Dahlia Elrod while you sat and twiddle your thumbs, complaining about a lack of food," I continued.
The crowd choked at my choice of words.
"Now move before I chuck this urn at you," I said threateningly, holding out the urn with one hand. "Your face can’t get any uglier, but it will hurt."
I hoped he would move. I didn’t really fancy throwing something so valuable at him. It was an utter waste of effort and highly risky to boot.
After a long, drawn out moment, Kyle reluctantly moved aside for me to pass, but not before deliberately bumping his shoulder against mine roughly.
"Watch yourself, human," he growled out, his face an ugly red due to embarrassment.
I scoffed.
After dealing with the trainwreck madness that was Dahlia, Kyle was a mere blip on the road, not even worth the consideration of a pothole. I had what I came for. Thus, I said goodbye to Jeeves and ignored the half-admiring, half-resentful looks that I attracted from the others.
I had a mystery to solve.
***
Back in Blaise’s room, I held my breath as I slowly used the lighter to melt away the wax. Thankfully, I had guessed correctly that fire would be a solution. Unfortunately, the rest of the urn had begun to heat up faster than I was comfortable with, leaving me with no choice but to put it on the marble countertop next to the bathroom sink.
I didn’t want the wooden table nor my bedspread to catch fire. I also put on a pair of Blaise’s thick leather gloves to protect my hands, just in case.
Soon, the wax had melted to the point where the lid was no longer jammed shut. I eagerly pried open the lid, coughing as a cloud of dust filled the air. It smelled positively foul, and in my haste to wave the air clean, I accidentally knocked over the urn, causing it and its contents to fall into the sink.
Oh shit. Immediately I made a desperate save, but a whole bunch of gray flakes fell into the sink, reminiscent of the gray ashes one would see in a fireplace or fire pit.
My eyes widened in shock at the recognition; those had to be my mother’s ashes! I panicked, trying to grab as much as I could to shove it back, but deep down I knew it was futile. Some of it had already stuck to the edge of the wet sink, and putting them back would cause the other ashes to clump together, if they haven’t already.
My heart quivered in despair. These were my mother’s remains, and I had carelessly spilled them into a sink. I peered into the urn, wondering what caused the foul smell, and desperately hoping that I had not spilled everything.
I couldn’t figure out the cause of the smell, but it could be simply due to decay. Which begged the question: what was inside the urn that decayed? Was part of my mother’s body inside it?
My stomach turned. No, impossible. I took a more careful look, praying that I wouldn’t see some gory sight.
To my surprise, I spotted an oddly shaped clump in the middle of the urn. My stomach twisted further. I knocked the sides of the urn carefully, hoping that I had simply seen more clumped ashes, but they refused to separate. I tilted the urn further to get a better look, and saw a strange shine from inside.
The ashes had fallen aside to reveal a locket stuck all the way at the bottom of the urn.
Thank goodness it wasn’t a body part. I heaved a sigh of relief.
I would have to empty the urn to get to it, but I wasn’t going to spill the rest of my mother’s ashes into the sink like an ungrateful swine who was only out for her fortune.
Instead, I hurriedly reached for one of the lunchboxes that I knew was in Blaise’s drawers. My mate had an impressive collection of lunch boxes to keep his rations on missions away from the pack. Hopefully, Blaise would not miss one.
Opening it, I slowly began to pour out her ashes, mentally apologizing to my departed mother in heaven for forcefully uprooting her fancy resting place from a fancy silver urn into a plain tupperware belonging to a werewolf, but it was the best solution I could come up with.
In no time at all, the urn was empty save for the locket that finally fell into my waiting hands, along with a long thin chain. I quickly wiped away any residual ashes and dust with a tissue, and soon the familiar shine of gray greeted my eyes. I gasped.
Just like the urn, the locket was made out of silver too. I guess that eliminated my father as a possible gift giver.
Then, I held the locket up to the light and took a second, more careful look at it, wondering why it was put in an urn out of all places. Perhaps this was simply my mother’s favorite childhood accessory that she had to give up because of my father?
After all, this was a locket that looked like it belonged on the neck of a young girl. It didn’t boast any intricate carvings or passionate declarations of love, there were no extra jewels or crystals decorating it nor the silver chain it was attached to. It was simply a simple heart-shaped locket with an ordinary clasp, yet it weighed awfully heavy for something that was so small.
That didn’t add up. Was there something inside it?
