Knight's War: A Witch Detective Urban Fantasy (Alice Skye series Book 5)

by Taylor Aston White

  Claws pierced through Rex’s fingertips, but his voice remained calm. “Trey, this can be discussed after…”

  “No,” Trey interrupted, dropping his chin at Rex’s growl. “I will not be a part of this, and for that I state my official resignation.”

  “And where will you go? Strays are not welcome here.”

  Trey began to speak, but immediately snapped his mouth shut.

  “He will go with me,” Theo said, features settling into a resolute expression. Squaring his shoulders he stepped in front. “I will no longer stand and watch as you destroy White Dawn’s honour.”

  “Theo?” Roman began quietly, looking between them both from his seat on the earth. “What are you doing?” Rex interrupted.

  “You destroyed us this past year,” Theo continued with a renewed strength. “Possibly even before then. White Dawn was once the strongest, most powerful predatory pack, and now look at us.” Theo pulled an aura, his dominance leaking across the pack until they all, one by one fell to their knees or lower. “It’s because of you your own brother was taken as leverage and packmates were murdered.”

  Rex gritted his teeth as he felt the influence, their dominance equal. “I did what I had to do, for our survival…”

  “Is that what you tell yourself?” Theo snapped. “For their survival? Or yours?”

  “And what exactly would you have done?” Rex aggressively stepped forward, his intention clear as he stuck a finger out. “We will never know because you ran away.”

  Alice lowered herself to her knees, wanting to be below the eyeline of the two feuding Alphas. She had never seen a dominance fight, but it looked like that was about to change.

  “Ran away? I left because you know what would have happened if I had stayed. I chose to leave so we didn’t have to fight. I chose you over my pack. But that’s not going to happen again. I forgave you for your reckless decision before, listened to your excuses with rose-tinted glasses. But I will not stand around as you show an outsider that we’re no better than senseless animals. You cannot force a mating.”

  “We both know mates don’t always agree at the beginning, which is what the mating dance is for.” Rex turned towards the pack, making sure he had their attention. “I chose us an Alpha female, one powerful enough to protect us.”

  “Oh, you mean by kidnapping me and gifting me to a cult to sacrifice?” Alice mumbled beneath her breath. “Real fucking romantic.”

  “Alice?” Theo asked, the power in his voice giving her pause. “Do you wish to continue with the mating dance?”

  All eyes fell on her.

  She carefully shook her head from side to side. She had no interest in being anyone’s mate, especially Rex’s.

  “Then before the pack, I, Theodore Wild officially challenge Rexley Wild for the position of Alpha of White Dawn.”

  “Theo…”

  “I will not be part of this, Rex.” Theo raised his voice. “Your corruption has grown within the pack, weakening us until we were seen as prey to the other packs. Fight me, and we shall allow nature to decide what’s best.”

  “Please don’t do this.”

  Theo closed his eyes, cheekbones sharp. “You’ve given me no choice.” A series of cracks as he shifted into a large brown wolf, the end of his tail black, as if it were dipped in ink. It was the fastest shift she had ever seen, the whole transformation taking thirty seconds or so. Theo snarled, ears pinned to his head as he bent into a crouch.

  “So be it.” Rex jumped, shifting mid-air to hit his twin, his shift taking slightly longer as an identical wolf emerged in the blur of teeth and claws. Blood sprayed the crowd, one that watched with their full attention as the Alphas went for the throats.

  Alphas were born, not made. They were naturally stronger, faster. Rex and Theo both equal.

  Roman crawled towards her, eyes bright with red tinged tears.

  “We need to go,” he whispered. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” his voice broke. “This isn’t safe.”

  “What’s happening?” Her eyes couldn’t track the wolves, their movements a brown smudge with flashes of white and red. It wasn’t like the documentaries, where they paused to circle each other and snarl, it was a full on brawl. Blood had wet the earth, an alarming amount that didn’t seem to effect eithers ferocity at which they attacked.

  “This is all my fault…” Roman’s eyes flicked behind her, widening to saucers.

  Alice turned just as the air shifted, enough that the teeth struck her left shoulder and not her throat. Biting back a scream she flung her arm out, fire pulsating at her fingertips.

  “VENTILABIS!” The teeth ripped out of her shoulder, the pain piercing as Alice let out a small cry. Left arm weakened she tightened it to her body, pulse strong as she felt an overwhelming warmth soak into her shirt. With her right arm she reached back, pulling her sword from the hidden sheath against her spine.

  The wolf that had attacked her was small and white blonde, its face scorched until blackened skin had appeared beneath the fur.

  “Olivia’s within her right to fight you for right as Alpha female,” one of the pack members said with a shrug. “It’s our way.”

  “It’s not our way to attack someone like that,” another answered.

  “I don’t want to be Alpha female.” Alice gritted her teeth. “I’m not a shifter.”

  Olivia’s wolf howled, shoulders hunched as she prepared to attack again, her teeth stained red. The pack stepped back, opening up the circle until they surrounded them, as well as Rex and Theo.

  Great, Alice thought. This was exactly how I felt I should spend my Saturday.

  A dark wolf appeared beside her, his coat as dark as night with arctic eyes circled with red.

  “Roman?”

  He glanced up, his wolf recognising her with a familiar bark. He was larger than she remembered, almost twice the size. Before he could have been just a domesticated dog, and a small one at that. But with his head hitting her at her hips, he was almost the size of his brothers.

  Roman let out a howl, what looked like smoke puffing out from between his sharp teeth. Olivia howled in return, her attention on Alice as she dug her claws in the earth, launching herself once again. Roman’s tail knocked Alice to her knees, quick enough that Olivia’s snapping jaws missed as Roman sliced down her flank, deep enough she collapsed. “ROMAN!” Alice tried to pull him back, but he had already bitten down on Olivia’s stomach, ripping her to shreds. When her hand brushed against his scruff he turned and barked at her, his eyes closer to red than blue as he turned back to his feast.

  “The fight’s almost over.” A man stepped in between them, dark arms raised in submission as Alice held her blade in front.

  Alice kept him in her sight, turning her head slightly so she could watch the Alphas. One of the wolves had pinned the second with his mouth around the other’s throat. But even as the bottom wolf struggled, teeth didn’t pierce flesh.

  “Come on, come on, submit,” the man whispered, ignoring her sword.

  She pulled away, noticing it was Tyler, Rex’s second. Trey stood closely beside him, their features similar enough that they could be family.

  “What’s happening?” She couldn’t tell the two identical wolves apart.

  It was Trey who answered. “Theo would never hurt his twin, but Rex needs to submit for it to be over. If he doesn’t…” he let the end of the sentence drift off.

  Theo bit down harder, closing off Rex’s airflow.

  After several minutes, everyone, both those in wolf form and human howled as Rex finally collapsed beneath the jaws of Theo.

  Theo dropped his twin, leaving him breathing heavily in the dirt and blood as he turned towards the pack, his howl louder than all the others combined. He started to shift back, the transition taking painfully longer as Alice watched pale flesh rip through fur. Theo stood naked, skin covered in sweat. The wounds he received in the fight were a bright pink, partially healed. His scar, that Alice though was just on his fac
e, travelled down his torso and crisscrossed his left thigh.

  Bending over to Rex he whispered something, the wolf moaning low in his throat before he began to shift back too.

  The crowd was silent, the only sounds from the wind against the leaves and the wet sloppy snarls as Roman devoured his meat. Theo settled his attention on his youngest brother, pulling him back by the scruff as pack mates silently cried at what remained of Olivia.

  “What happened here?” Theo asked, his wolf vibrant.

  A finger pointed. “It was the witch, it was her fault!”

  Fifty sets of predatory eyes turned to Alice.

  Oh fuck!

  Chapter 15

  “Alpha!” A man puffed, holding a naked woman against his chest. “I found her in the forest.”

  The woman coughed up blood, her hands squeezed around a knife that protruded out of her stomach. “Olivia,” she choked. “She killed… Briana’s dead.”

  Roman whined in Theo’s clutches, snapping at anyone who got near.

  “DOWN!” Theo barked, forcing Roman onto his back, stomach exposed.

  “Olivia attacked the witch,” another packmate nodded in Alice’s direction. “She attacked from behind and Roman defended her.”

  “Hmm,” Theo bowed his head, eyebrows drawn together as he sighed. He took the woman from his packmate’s arms and gently laid her on the floor. In one clean movement he pulled the knife from her stomach, then forced her to shift to heal the majority of the damage. When the newly shifted wolf climbed shakily to her feet he faced the remainder of his pack, shoulders back, chin lifted as he swept his gaze across the crowd. “White Dawn, I am Alpha, and my word is law.”

  A chorus of howls in agreement.

  “Rexley Wild is to be exiled from our lands, and White Dawn will start fresh. Our reputation was tainted, but we’re going to claw it back. We were once the largest, and strongest pack in Europe, but those leeches that corrupted our pack are gone. We will be the strongest once more.”

  Roman rolled onto his stomach, head settled on his front paws. His eyes were crazed, jaws snapping at anyone who moved too close.

  “Sire, what about Olivia? Roman…” someone asked.

  “Olivia murdered her competition in the middle of an Alpha battle.” Theo made sure his voice carried across the field. “She also embarrassed our hospitality to an outsider who doesn’t know, or understand our customs. I asked Roman to protect her, and he did as his Alpha asked. Her family may bury her body, but it will not be on White Dawn land. Are there any of you that oppose this?”

  The wolves murmured between themselves before eight or so stepped forward.

  Theo, with eyes of ice growled. “Then you can leave, you’ll have an hour to get off our land until you’re hunted down for trespassing.”

  The wind was bitter, her body tense as she waited for Riley to pick her up. She had wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible, so when she discovered someone had clawed her tyres she thought she might explode.

  Tears burned her eyes as she tried to control the shivers that wracked her body, shooting pains across her shoulder. She was tired, but at least she was no longer bleeding. Being close to a pack of angry wolves while wounded wasn’t the best idea, even though it was their fault.

  Roman prowled in the trees behind her, every now and then coming over to bump his nose in her hand before running back. The rest of the pack stayed away, shooting her curious glances when they left for their own homes. Which was good, because she was no longer friendly.

  Alice perked up when she heard a car, but immediately cursed when she noticed who was in it. Xavier parked beside her beat up Volkswagen, his car flashy and expensive. It was something she wouldn’t have expected from a man like him, one so raw and primal.

  “Just the witch I need to speak to,” he said, orange eyes bright. “How interesting that you’re here.” His eyes narrowing onto her shoulder. “With bite marks too.”

  “Yes, how interesting,” she mumbled, hand itching to palm her sword that was tucked neatly back in her sheath.

  “What happened?” he demanded.

  She wasn’t fond of his tone, but answered anyway. “Talk to your pet.”

  “Also the reason why I’m here, it seems I’ve been giving him too long a leash.” He paused, watching the wolves scramble away in their cars with a slow growing grin. He was their judge, jury and executioner after all. “You owe me a favour,” he said once they were alone once more.

  Wild magic sparkled inside her chi.

  Bom. Bom. Bom. Bom.

  Alice shrugged it off.

  “Regret’s a powerful thing.” It was getting to the point she should have kept her mouth shut and allowed Xavier to execute Rex. It would have made her life easier.

  “Shifters have been disappearing over the last few years, which isn’t unusual amongst nomads. But recently it has come to my attention those shifters had turned up dead, murdered.”

  “Murdered?”

  Xavier thrust a newspaper at her, the front page crumpled.

  ‘The Shifter Slayer has struck again!’ it read in large black typography.

  “This needs to stop,” he growled, stripes appearing across his skin before disappearing.

  Bom. Bom. Bom. Bom.

  Alice turned, the urge to run towards something overwhelming as wild magic teased her fingertips.

  What the fuck?

  A snarl, Xavier appearing in her eyeline. “Pay attention,” he clicked. “You owe me a debt.”

  Alice blinked, shaking her head. “Sorry.” She was already on the job, but if she didn’t admit that to Xavier it would get rid of her debt to him. Two birds, one stone. “You said years? How many exactly?”

  “Eighteen in the last two years or so, all skinned and wrapped.”

  “Eighteen? Fuck.” That meant the ‘Shifter Slayer’ had been working for longer than they initially thought. “Why are you only now reporting this?”

  Xavier’s nostrils flared, jaw clenched. “It took me some time to come to this information. I know you’ve been hired as a Breed Consultant for Spook Squad, or whatever stupid fucking name they’re called.”

  Shit. “What exactly do you want with your favour?”

  “As soon as you’ve hunted down who’s doing this, you call me,” he growled. “I get to take them out.”

  Bom. Bom. Bom. Bom.

  “I’ll see what I can do.”

  Bom. Bom. Bom. Bom.

  “Do you hear that?” she whispered as her head turned back towards the clearing. She saw the car pull up beside her in her peripheral, but all she wanted to do was move forward.

  “Alice?” Riley touched her shoulder before she hissed out in pain. “What happened?”

  Claws pierced through Xavier’s fingertips, but he remained silent, his orange eyes watching Riley with caution.

  “It’s… beating,” Alice murmured. “Can you hear the beating?”

  Bom. Bom. Bom. Bom.

  “I…” Riley’s eyes turned liquid silver, mouth curved into a snarl. “There’s Shadow-Veyn in the area.” He shot off in the direction of the red zone, Alice tearing after him without a second thought. They cleared the trees quickly, finding themselves in the clearing within a matter of seconds.

  The beating intensified, originating from the iridescent oval that floated a foot from the centre. It shimmered, symbols flashing in a circle below it, scorching their patterns into the earth before changing to another.

  “Is that?” she began as her wild magic sung along with the hum.

  “An active portal,” Riley finished for her. “Yes, and that’s a hellhound, classification D.”

  The beast snarled, circled by several wolves. The wolves snapped aggressively, but didn’t approach. The Hellhound was twice their size, possibly bigger than the last one she encountered. Its head was void of fur, skull a pale grey colour etched with marks and lines around the hole where its nose was supposed to be. Red eyes sank into hollow sockets while smoke floate
d between exposed ribs. Spikes poked out of its back, the sharp bones an extension of its spine.

  “D?” Alice shouted. “What the fuck is a classification D?”

  What happened to A though C?

  The hound snarled, showing off three sets of razor sharp teeth.

  Alice palmed her blade. “Riley, here!” She handed him her sword, the glowing runes along the steel pausing as it switched hands before renewing their glow in a slightly different shade. She wasn’t stupid, she knew Riley was trained in dealing with Shadow-Veyn, unlike her who still wore the scars from last time.

  Riley’s tattoos blazed down his arms and across his throat, the marks echoing along her sword as the usual runes morphed into druid glyphs. It was curious, but she didn’t have time to think about it while the hellhound howled an ear-splitting cry.

  “Don’t let it escape,” Riley said just as he jumped forward, knocking the wolves away before they could suffer a fatal bite. Her sword pointed tightly in his larger grip.

  Alice shouted at any wolf that got too near. “Stay back!”

  The hound howled once more, but this time something responded, and it wasn’t the wolves. A dark blur jumped through the portal, smaller than the first but just as horrifying. It’s red eyes settled on the closest wolf, lips peeled to reveal black gums and sharp teeth.

  ‘Listen out for the hounds.’

  Was Lucy trying to warn her?

  She lifted her hand, her palm already engulfed in flames that sparkled with wild magic. A wolf reared back, inches from the hounds poisonous teeth.

  Alice thrust her hand to the left. “VENTILABIS!”

  The wave of scorching heat pushed the beast back, enough for Alice to tackle the wolf out of the way of large snapping jaws. With a grunt she rolled, taking the hit in her already painful shoulder.

  “ADOLEBITQUE!”

  The chi shot from her fingertips, concentrated into a line that she forced to circle the hound. Wolves barked at the flames as they crackled and danced in the wind, trying to bite their way through until wild magic snapped them away.