Page 107 of Rejected By the Alpha King

“She would be first in line to hand me over to Emerson. Are you certain this isn’t a trap?”

“I’m certain of nothing yet. You don’t think I haven’t thought of that?” I was harsher than I intended, but I still couldn’t figure out how the hell she smelled like Emerson. No one had reported an incident to me. “Do you think I haven’t thought of that? I can’t accuse her just because she doesn’t like you. If I did that, I’d have to accuse most of my pack.”

Cheeks flushing, she stared down at the body. “I don’t recognize her, but I also can’t smell her.” Head swiveling, she glanced around and frowned.

“You can’t pick up a trail, can you? Neither could Kenzi. It’s as if she was dropped from the sky,” I said darkly and pulled her away from the body. Nothing about this crime scene made sense. The only thing I could say definitively was that she was dead.

And chances were good that she was killed by a wolf.

Deep gouges scored her chest, shredding the black tank-top she’d been wearing. Below her waist, she wore a pair of cotton black pants with witch icons printed on them. Broomsticks, a witch’s hat, a black cat, and a cauldron. They looked like pajamas.

Blood splattered her bare arms and her face, but that was it. There were no bruises or cuts.

Her face was naked. Not a speck of make-up on her, and her blonde hair had been piled up in some kind of bun on the top of her head. Her feet were bare, but there were no cuts on them or leaves sticking to them.

It looked as if she’d just gotten up from bed, was slashed with wolf claws, and teleported here to die.

The death was recent. She was still warm, and Kenzi, in all her babbling, swore up and down that the woman was still breathing and moaned.

“Were her shoes removed?” Anna asked quietly, as if she could hear my thoughts. “We’d smell a trail then. Maybe she was drugged, placed here, and then killed.”

“Can you see a spell on her?”

“No, but I can only see active magic. If the spell’s worn off, I wouldn’t be able to see it.

Although now that I think about it, I can’t see all active magic either or I would have seen the spell in you and Finn,” she said bitterly before she glanced around and frowned. “Emerson was with me when we heard Kenzi. He should have followed me.”

I growled, and she shot me a warning look. A group of wolves were joining us from my left.

Maeve and her guards.

Just as Maeve started firing off questions, London and his guards joined us. A few minutes later, Emerson ambled up. As soon as he saw Anna, he smiled and fury coursed through me.

My duties came first.

I explained the situation and let each of the alphas study the body. All of them confirmed that she was not one of their packs.

“We should get the witches here to look at her. If her clothes are any indication, she may be a dead witch,” London observed. “The question then remains, what is she doing on your land, Jax?”

“More questions than that. Why doesn’t she smell?” Emerson said with a frown.

“The witches are here,” Maeve announced. I turned to see Jenson and a dozen of my guards surrounded Irene and the other pack witches. Thankfully, Lunessa wasn’t with them.

The four witches stared down at the dead body. Irene and Ava both visibly paled.

“You know her?” London demanded.

“Her name is Amaya,” Ava said in a shaky voice. “She was a solitary witch who wanted to be part of Darkwyn coven. When the last crone passed away, the roles shifted and a spot for Maiden opened up within the coven. Amaya was one of the top choices.”

“And how do you know this?” London scowled.

“I was also one of the choices, but the spot was Irene’s to take,” Ava continued. “When Amaya and I learned that, we met with Irene to see why she didn’t want to be part of the coven.

Her opinion was enough to make me drop out, and the role was given to Amaya, but she disappeared. Another witch was chosen.”

Lunessa.

“When was this?” I asked. “How long has she been considered missing?”

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