Alpha Asher
Chapter 204

This was bad. The battle was no longer waging on the outskirts of town, not with our lack of numbers and the witch's arsenal of weapons.

Many of the Vampire's here weren't hardened warriors but families without a home, desperate form somewhere safe to raise their children and watch them grow. Seeing as Asher and I refused to force anyone to fight, fearful they'd be killed and ripped away from those they loved, it left us at a huge disadvantage. Deacon had been right. That much was clear in the feverish way the witches fought, banding together in small groups as they used both magic and human weaponry to take us dowwn. There had to be over a dozen of them, possibly more. They could've waited until the sun had risen and claimed this town as their own, but there was always that chance I wouldn't be here.

It was a risk they chose not to take, and probably our only advantage.

The witches had silver, and plenty of it. Clutched in the hands of many were guns with plated bullets, daggers etched in the shimmering metal, and crossbows with tips coated in liquid moonlight.

"That's right. Come and get me shadow mutt." A voice spat, one that instantly ignited my rage.

Ember, surrounded by three other witches, was goading Breyona from the forest line. I couldn't see my best-friend, but somehow I knew she was in there, watching and frothing at the mouth for a second chance at devouring the flame throwing witch she'd fought before. A screech rang out, this one belonging to Dina as she flew through the air and made an attempt at killing Ember. Dina must've gotten the dagger from one of the witches, which she swung the moment she was within range. It was no ordinary blade, curling and forming the shape of a crescent moon, it's edge uncomfortably sharp.

Ember bent backwards, her body arching in the same fashion as Dina's stolen blade. For a moment, it looked like she might fall over. She narrowly missed losing her head, and as the dagger passed inches above her face, she straightened up and launched an attack that clipped Dina in the shoulder.

Dina's shirt was singed and smoking, but the Vampire barely seemed to notice. She swung again, pushing forward when a beastly snarl exploded from the forest. Breyona materialized from pure shadow, her fur flickering and waving like the curls of smoke that wafted off Dina's burnt flesh. She barreled into Ember and all three of the witches, sending them scattering.

Her maw had been open, revealing pearly white teeth that begged to be coated in blood. At the last second, Ember had thrust another witch in her place, who was instantly snatched into Breyona's jaws and flung across the street, landing in a heap on someone's front yard. Ember went ballistic, throwing orb after orb of flame, raising walls of it and launching them at Vampire and Werewolf alike. I had just locked eyes on Giovanni when a prickle of awareness raced up my spine.

I whirled around in time to meet the wide-eyed gaze of a witch just feet away from thrusting a blade into my back.

Before I could act, there was a blur of black and white, followed by a face identical to my fathers, right down to eyes of glistening ice.

Deacon had his hands around the witches' neck, hoisting her off the ground even as she kicked and thrashed. Her eyes began to spark, flickering with a golden light that made my adrenaline spike. My uncle made quick work disarnming her, then finished her off by thrusting the blade she carried into her stomach.

What are you doing, kid?" He barked, already moving onto the next one. "Get out there!"

It wasn't Deacon that sent me spiraling into action, but the dull flash of pain blossoming in my shoulder, burning red-hot the way all wounds created by silver did. What was worse was that the pain wasn't my own. No, it flooded the bond between Asher and I with a potency I'd never felt before.

Even though it had been some time since I'd last shifted, there was no pain when I exploded into a mass of fur and teeth. Though my clothes had been torn to shreds, I could still feel the amulet Rowena had given me smug around my neck.

The thud of my feet hitting the ground lasted but a second and I was off, dashing through the individual battles that were raging, past burning cars and trampled gardens. I followed the pull in my gut, the one that ran soul deep until I spotted the wolf whose fur was as dark as Breyona's, like he too was made from shadow.

Asher in his wolf form, fighting against multiple enemies, was a sight to behold.

He moved with a deadly grace that was unusual for a wolf, but it held traces of that feral brutality I loved so much, like he truly was a wild animal with no thoughts other than to kill and devour. There were four witches still surrounding him, one with a shield of pulsating energy flowing from her hands. Three lifeless bodies lay around him, all splattered in crims on blood.

My eyes homed in on a spot below his shoulder blade. His fur glistened brighter there, and I knew even without the metallic scent filling the air, that he had been wounded.

Every contraction in my muscles as I raced for them was welcomed, right down to the stinging burn of silver gracing my fur-covered skin. As I slammed into the witches that surrounded my mate, I pictured that force field of magical energy flickering, falling to let me pass through. The look on the witch's face as her magic failed, obeying my own instead, was intoxicating.

Something fleshy and soft found it's way into my mouth, and I bit down the moment it slid into place.

The arm I had my teeth buried in belonged to the witch whose crossbow reeked of Asher's blood. She tried to turn the weapon on me, to fire it at my face, but a crossbow wasn't a suitable weapon for close combat. It thudded to the ground when I bit harder; digging my teeth in deeper.

Her scream was raspy and loud, but was quickly drowned out by the chaos, death, and blood.

I can handle it from here. Go help Mason! Last I saw he was fighting some b***h with super strength.

Asher's voice flooded my head through the mind- link, gritty with determination as he rolled across the grass leapt over a fence, drawing the witches attacking him further away.

I turned around and began sprinting, my feet thundering against the asphalt as the houses began to flit by. Colors blurred, all tainted by flickering hues of red and orange-of flame. 'Mason, where the hell are you?" I shouted.

His reply came instantly, as did his pain.

'Behind the houses..the one with the broken fire hydrant.

That was easy enough to spot considering water was still spewing into the air, falling down over our heads like fat droplets of rain. One witch in particular, an elemental from the looks of it, pulled most of the water towards her. It ran down the street in little streams, oozing through the cracks in the sidewalk to pool around her ankles.

Her golden mane of hair was wild and bright, even soaked through. She flung her hand out and a sheet of ice crackled along the surface of the road, shimmering like diam onds under the streetlights.

Sean, whose wolf was justa few shades darker than my own, had been close to snaring her with his teeth when he spun out on the ice.

Without slowing my pace, I dipped into the well of magic I could feel humming, as though it were begging me to use it, and forced the water to stop flowing. The hydrant sputtered and forced out one last pathetic burst of spray. The witch then whipped her head in its direction before setting her sights on me. Her eyes widened with recognition, and I briefly wondered if she knew who I was or what I'd done.

There was no time for her to attack considering that brief distraction was all Sean needed to gain his footing. I pushed the muscles stretching and contracting in Maya's body and soared through the air, over the privacy fence that was standing on its last leg.

I could now hear the snarls and yapping coming from Mason's wolf. Both he and the witch he fought were drenched, making his slate-grey fur darken to the color of ash. I didn't miss the mottled patches of blood on his fur, or how they drizzled down his torso and seeped into the earth.

Chunks of splintered wood were everywhere, some coated in blood and others drenched from the hydrants spray. There was an overturned swing set off to the side, coated in both mud and blood, pieces of the metal irreparably bent or broken entirely.

When Asher had said something about a witch with super strength, I didn't quite understand how that was possible. Now, staring at the muscular woman with runes and sigils tattoo ed over every part of her body, I understood.

Her pale skin glowed-actually glowed, with a light that could only be from magic. Despite the bulk of muscle that covered her body, the way she moved was lithe and graceful, like she was dancing rather than trying to kill one of my best-friends.

She cartwheeled out of Mason's grasp, flinging herself on his back as she wrenched her hands into his maw. I watched as she began to force his mouth open, inch by inch until every one of his teeth were exposed.

She wasn't stopping, her muscles straining as she kept pulling and pulling. He bucked and thrashed, trying to get her off him but to no avail.

I couldn't watch any longer and raced for the two of them. At the last moment, I hit a patch of mud and slid. Adrenaline masked the pain of slamming into both Mason and the witch, but I felt every shard of wood that pierced my flesh as I sent us all careening through the other side of the fence. When I righted myself, my fur caked with mud that held the metallic scent of Mason's blood, I went to help him but paused. He had the witches neck in his mouth and was carrying her off, his tail twitching irritably as she screamed and tried to beat at him.

'Appreciate the help, but this one's mine.' He growled, promptly ending the mind-link.

I shook myself off, flinging mud in all directions.

Another snarl rang out, one I recognized as Sean's. Before I could race off to help him, another voice entered my mind, this one wrong in so many ways as it split my head in two.

'Lola-Lola, help me! Help me, please! They've got me-they've got me. Ah, it hurts! It hurts so bad.

They're going to kill me, Lola. Please-PLEASE!"

The witches-they had Breyona.