“ENOUGH!” Mac growled. “This was everyone’s fault. No one stopped Paul and Ranger from fighting, and I know many of you would have spurred them on.” He carefully caught everyone’s eyes, waiting until they dropped their stare. “We do not discuss pack business here, that is one of the rules.”
Mumbles, but the majority of the staff began to tidy up.
“You,” Mac snapped at Sam, finger pointed. “Follow me into my office now. Paul will follow when he’s able to walk again.”
Sam’s arm tightened, but he released her. “I’m not leaving Alice here.”
“I’ll stay with her,” Roman said, raising his chin. “She will be fine.”
Sam stared, the amber of his irises glowing until he nodded. “Baby girl, I’ll be right back.”
She watched him go, confused with everything. What had happened for Sam to react so violently? He wasn’t a fighter, not really. Punching out leery men who wouldn’t leave her alone when they were younger didn’t count. He preferred to use his words, yet Paul remained dazed on the floor, the wolf shaking his head with a cry.
“Stupid bitch,” Olivia said with a flick of her hair. “Doesn’t even realise this was all about her.”
“That’s enough,” Roman sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“What?” she whined, hands on her shapely hips. “It’s because of her the pack is broken. She needs to take responsibility and fix it!”
“What are you talking about?” Alice asked.
Olivia tilted her head, lip lifting in a snarl. In a burst of speed she howled, launching herself forward. Alice barely had time to brace before Roman jumped in front, flooring Olivia with little effort. He panted, skin undulating as he fought for his own control. He whispered something to her, too quiet for Alice to hear.
Alice grabbed his shoulder, using touch to centre him. He relaxed, but not before she noticed that red tinge in his eyes, and his voice was deep and smoky when he finally spoke.
“Sorry,” he mumbled.
Veins appeared beneath his skin, black and pulsating.
A memory flashed, of a great Daemon with wings of darkness, clear enough Alice dropped her hand.
Lesser. She remembered Lucy calling those that were forced to transcend that were not druids. Creatures who have Daemon tendencies.
Was that what Roman was? A Lesser? Was he more effected than they all originally thought? She really hoped not.
“What happened here?” she asked him when he calmed himself down, his features back to normal.
Roman took his time to respond, jaw clenched. “Olivia, go help clean.”
Olivia growled, but she climbed to her feet and walked off.
“Roman?”
“Look, I can’t speak here and Sam will be back in a minute. Come to the Compound tomorrow, I’ll explain everything.”
Alice hesitated. She hated that place. “Roman, I…”
“Please?” he begged. “I promise I will explain everything, it will help.”
Alice noticed Sam skulk in, making a bee-line towards her with a face of thunder.
“Okay, I’ll come tomorrow.”
Alice wasn’t sure what to make of the flash of relief across his face.
Chapter 13
Alice hummed, window open and hair whipping in the wind as she followed along, not so well, to the pop song that played on the radio. A radio that barely functioned until Sythe had worked his magic. She would have to thank him.
At least something was going her way. With all the crap she had to deal with, she would take her beloved car actually working as a win. Especially as Sam had been suspended with no pay, which meant her wage would have to pay for all the bills. Sam would never put himself in a position without money, not when he had experienced homelessness. But that didn’t mean he could survive on savings.
She had no idea when he would return to work, of even if he could return after the damage he did. He still hadn’t told her exactly what had made him react in a violent way, and that’s what worried her. They told each other everything.
They had argued over it, one of the worst fights they had ever had. Just before he stormed away she promised she wouldn’t bring it up again, but she never said she wouldn’t interrogate the wolves from White Dawn. Something had upset him, and she was going to find out what. He acted like her protector, not understanding she would do anything for him. He was her best friend, her brother. But he was also someone who self-destructed when left alone with his own mind.
“What the fuck…” Alice slowed her car until it stopped, unable to tear her eyes away from the two men who walked naked into the surrounding trees of The Compound. The drive in front of the house was packed with more cars than the space could hold. Many had resorted to parking on the grass, their tyres ripping the wet green from its roots.
“Alice!” Roman ran over, opening her car door and tugging her arm before she could protest. “You made it!”
“I said I would.” She noticed a woman in the distance, also naked as she ran across the clearing, breasts distractingly bouncing free. “Is the whole pack here?” she said before adding, “and why are they naked?”
“I think so,” Roman mumbled, looking away.
“No, wait.” She pulled out of his grip. “You said you would explain to me what happened last night, you didn’t say it would be in front of the whole pack!” She didn’t actually know it was the whole pack, but there were a lot of cars.
“Look, It was just some stupid fight. Paul called you some horrible names and Sam reacted badly. But I know who can fix it.”
She didn’t care Paul was calling her names, she was well aware the pack blamed her for their Alpha’s punishment, and she was too tired with their shit to fight it. She had forgiven Rex for his role in the situation, and Roman was largely a reason for that. But her patience wasn’t infinite. If they were starting to go for Sam she needed to put an end to it.
His statement registered. “Wait…” Eyes narrowed, she faced him. “What do you mean, ‘fix it?’”
Roman lifted his head, tilting his ear to the air as if he heard something she couldn’t. “Come on, you’re going to miss it.” He ran towards the woods, the same direction as the others. He stopped at the first tree, looking back to see if she was following.
“Fuck sake.” Alice debated her choices. She did not want to be anywhere near the pack, but Roman had said he could fix it. “Shit. Shit. Shit.”
“Come on!” he called with a grin, a gust of wind catching his hair to give him a boyish charm.
“Ugh, fine!” she shouted back. “But I’m not getting naked!” Shifters thought nothing of baring their flesh to the world, it was the norm since they were naked when they transitioned from one shape to another. But sometimes, packs or groups of shifters forget everyone else was very much a prude.
She was more comfortable than most, but that came with living with a leopard who thought he was god’s gift to men, women and anything else he set his eye on. That didn’t mean she was comfortable amongst a group of strangers who thought it was appropriate to talk about the weather with their dicks on full display.
“Roman, what is this?” she asked as he walked her towards the sound of music and laughter. The trees weren’t thick, the path clear but that didn’t stop the spike of anxiety that twisted her stomach.
She had run through the same woods, had fallen.
That was in the past, Rex forgiven. Yet, why did she feel she was being hunted again?
The forest wasn’t large, only a small strip that separated The Compound’s two large fields. One was the white zone, as Roman explained beside her, a field for children and vulnerable wolves. The one they were headed to was classed as the red zone, as it was the furthest from the safety of the house. Their land connected to other shifter packs, but even with Xavier culling those believed to have been involved with The Master’s cult, White Dawn was still the largest.
Alice paused at the edge of the trees, not sure what to make of t
he festivities that presented her on the larger field. Fifty or so wolves, not all naked some even in wolf form. They all sat or stood in a large circle, the centre stripped down to bare earth, surrounded in crudely created wooden posts. Flowers decorated the edges, some even placed delicately in the women’s hair and around their throats in a chain. Spikes cut into the ground, flames dancing as the clouds threatened to darken the early afternoon sky.
She took her time, sweeping her gaze across everyone who turned to stare at her on the edge, Roman howling in greeting beside her. His eyes were alight when he turned, his startling irises a circle of red much like when Kyle lost control.
“You ready?” he asked, holding her hand in an iron grip. She would have thought he held her for comfort, but from the tightening of his fist she thought it was to stop her from running. What the fuck was he afraid of? She couldn’t outrun a wolf, never mind the fifty that watched her with both hostile and curious eyes.
Ready for what? she thought, but her voice didn’t respond as her attention settled on the twin Alphas that stood to the side, watching her with different expressions. Theo, the scar that split his face red against his pale flesh watched her with horror, while Rex gave his usual poker face.
She approached, her boots crunching the grass and twigs as the twin Alphas stood up in greeting. Mac caught her attention from the left, his head shaking carefully from one side to the other as Theo stood forward.
Mac didn’t want her to do something? Do what?
“What is this?” Theo asked with a tight smile.
You tell me? she thought, but instead she remained silent before her mouth got her into trouble.
Maybe that was what Mac was warning her about?
“She came because I asked,” Rex growled in a voice that caused the hair at the back of her neck to stand on edge. He angled his head, nose scrunched as he scented her from across the dirt circle.
Her eyes settled on Roman beside her, who shrugged with a frown.
An old woman tugged at Alice, handing her a rope made of fresh flowers. “Usually you would be bathed beneath the moon, and covered in flowers picked by our female elders,” she explained. “But we assumed you wouldn’t be traditional.”
Alice couldn’t remain silent anymore, panic starting to flare at the overwhelming attention. “Traditional what?”
Rex nodded, his long hair sweeping forward in a half bow. “Our mating ceremony.”
“Did you just say ‘mating ceremony?’” Alice choked. “You have got to be fucking kidding me?”
“What?” Roman scowled, tightening his hand in hers. “Rex, you never said anything about a mating ceremony? You said you could help her if she came?”
“A witch can never be an Alpha’s mate,” someone hissed.
“I will never see her as Beta!” another added.
“This is bullshit!”
Howls and shouts erupted around her, but Alice cut them all off with one sharp glare that ended with Rex. “I will not mate you.”
“She doesn’t know?” Theo asked his twin, nostrils flaring before he returned his attention to Alice. “Rex started the bonding process, and while the mating connection takes time to be accepted it leaves the remaining pack vulnerable. It was why we’ve been having a few problems with neighbouring packs trying to take over territory.”
“How did he start the bonding process?” Alice felt like she was on Mars. “What the fuck is going on? Why are shifters so draconic?”
“You gave me permission,” Rex growled, deepening his voice as his eyes glittered in memory.
A flush burned across her body. She had given him consent for sex, and by goddess she wished it hadn’t have happened, but for mating? Hell no. “Are you telling me that the thirty seconds we spent together was enough for you to assume I agreed to mate you?”
A few chuckles that immediately stopped at Rex’s snarl.
Alice shifted the hair off her shoulder, keeping her head high even as her heart raced. She knew it was a low blow, but she wasn’t feeling pretty friendly in the situation.
“Do I not get a choice?” She desperately looked between the brothers, but neither Roman or Theo would look at her. “You’re Alpha Theo, not…”
“I’m still Alpha,” Rex interrupted. “My twin can’t take the role unless he defeats me in battle.”
“Where’s Xavier? He would never accept a witch as an Alpha’s mate.” Alice carefully took a step back, but some of the wolves had moved behind her. Not threatening, but there all the same. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to be your mate.” She raised her voice, so every wolf could hear. “I’m not your Alpha.”
“We know that,” a woman purred to the side. She stood up, naked but for the flowers in her long, pale blonde hair. “Which is why I challenge you for the right to mate with the Alpha.”
“Oh, Olivia,” Alice muttered, her attention naturally dropping to the large, dark nipples of the women she met only the night before. “Fan-fucking-tastic.”
“Me too!” Another woman climbed to her feet, her modesty covered in a sunflower patterned dress. She was younger, barely out of her teens. Another followed quickly, taking the women up to three.
“Alice, may we speak in private?” Rex asked, hair covering his expression. “Please,” he added quietly.
He went to take her hand, which she immediately snapped away, crossing her arms.
“Follow me.” With hard eyes he moved towards the privacy of the tree line.
“I don’t want this,” she said as soon as he nodded that they were out of ear shot. “What the fuck were you thinking?”
“We both know I wasn’t thinking,” he snapped, the first sign of real anger she had seen in… forever. “I hoped it would have helped, our mating would create a strong pack. Right now the pack magic is damaged because we haven’t finished the ritual, as Alpha I need to repair it.”
“Then turn it off!” Not that she had any idea what she was asking to be turned off, she knew nothing of pack magic.
“It can’t be turned off,” he said, insulted.
“Rex, this has nothing to do with me,” Alice said, desperately sweeping her gaze across the waiting pack.
What the fuck had she gotten herself into?
“Doesn’t it?” he growled, taking an aggressive step forward. “This is your fault.”
“What?!” Alice felt like he slapped her. “How can It be my fault?”
“Because of you I’ve lost everything, my brothers trust, my pack, even my fucking dominance. If it hadn’t been for you, it wouldn’t have been ruined.”
Heat at her fingertips. An overwhelming power threatening to break free. “You did all those things to yourself, Rex,” she said, her voice darker, smoky. “You made the deal with The Master, not me.”
“No…”
“You endangered your own pack.”
“NO!” he roared.
“You almost killed me because of your problems.” She swallowed back the power, her chi pulsating along with her heartbeat, ready. “Your problems, Rex. Not mine, and definitely not your younger brother’s who went through hell because of your choices.”
“YOU OWE ME!” Rex snapped. “TOGETHER WE COULD HAVE DESTROYED HIM, YET YOU DID NOTHING!”
She punched him, hard enough he staggered back with a red welt across his jaw. Her hand screamed in pain, the angle wrong and her thumb possibly bruised, but she didn’t care.
“How dare you,” she whispered, barely controlled rage making her voice warble. “There is no one to blame but yourself.”
Rex cooled his features, betraying nothing. “You can’t just walk away. The pack bleeds as it waits for the connection to be completed. The only way that it can be repaired is if I take a mate, or my declared mate dies.”
“Then take a mate, just not me.”
Rex growled. “You might think us beneath you because we can’t do magic in your sense, but pack magic is natural. An Alpha’s job is to control the strength and flow of the pack magic, helpin
g packmates control over their animal. It stops them being overwhelmed with instincts. It’s why you’ll very rarely find low dominance shifters outside a group or pack, or you’ll see the packs of weak Alphas destroyed from the inside. The pack magic calls to you as I chose you beneath the light of the new moon. You have to answer otherwise you will jeopardise the dominant flow of my pack, and I will not let that happen.” He bent, making them almost nose to nose. “And you know the lengths I would go to for my pack.”
Alice straightened her spine. “Is that a threat?”
“You need to show them you have the strength to lead them by my side. If you wish to mate me, you need to win.”
“So I have to lose?” Alice looked back towards the women, three strong shifters who were both stronger and faster. “Witches don’t mate.”
“Packs aren’t just shifters. Humans, witches and even some Fae have mated in.”
“I don’t love you,” her voice cracked. Actually, right then she hated him.
Rex’s features tightened, but he still betrayed no emotion. “Not all mates choose love, some mate for convenience.”
“Convenience?” Alice laughed, the noise on the edge of hysteria. “It’s always nice to be just a convenience, I guess.”
A pulse beat against the skin on his cheek. “I’m sorry, if there was another way…” He allowed silence to finish his sentence.
Alice looked away, her chi vibrating as she fought the anger that threatened to spill. “You’re not sorry.”
Chapter 14
Theo had taken a seat on a newly placed bench, Roman quietly talking beside him. Leaving Alice to stand alone Rex took his place beside his brothers, the women hissing beneath their breath. Theo noticed the welt on his twin’s jaw, the mark almost healed.
A man stood forward amongst the crowd, his dark skin covered only in a pair of blue denim jeans. Black hair covered his chest, thick and coarse.
“Sire,” he said with his eyes trained forward. “I wish to leave White Dawn.” Murmurs behind him, the wolves looking to one another before Theo stepped forward, placing a heavy hand on the man’s shoulder.
Knight's War: A Witch Detective Urban Fantasy (Alice Skye series Book 5) Page 10