Page 124 of Rejected By the Alpha King

The better way to protect me, no doubt.

It wasn’t hard to find the clearing where Cam had been attacked. Unlike where the witch died, there was plenty of blood. The slash of a wolf’s paw.

The first thing I started hunting for was clothes. Cam had never seen my wolf, so that meant for her to identify, she would have had to see me as a wolf.

But the injuries on her were from a wolf, so if it was another shifter, clothes would have been shredded in the process. I doubt the killer had a conversation with Cam while they undressed before they attacked her.

“I’ve got a few torn fibers here,” I told Jax as I scoured the area. “But just that. Whoever attacked her took their clothes with them. Or maybe they weren’t a witch at all. Attacked Cam with something that would resemble wolf claws.”

So either a witch working alone or a witch and a glamoured wolf.

“I just do not understand why they would glamour me,” I murmured to myself. “Unless they want me dead.”

Jax nosed my hand, as if to tell me that he would never let that happen. I wanted to believe him, but whatever was happening now had been set in motion a long time ago. Who knew who all the players were.

Magic glowed briefly in the circle around us. I was about to shout a warning to Jax before the magic died and Lunessa walked through the glow of silver. “Sorry about that. I’ve been using magic sparingly so I don’t alert the other witches, but I heard Cam’s scream. I’ve been waiting to see who showed up. Will others be joining you?”

“Maeve might come.” I hesitated. “Cam is conscious, and she says that I’m the attacker.”

“Are you?” Lunessa didn’t even look up as she placed her hand on the ground. “No, too much magic to be you.”

Well, that was good. Now I had two alibis. Too bad I’d have to tell the others that Lunessa was here and that I was a null.

“Can you sense what kind of magic?”

Lunessa looked up briefly and then did a double take. “Why is your mate a wolf?”

“Maeve was ready to take my head off, and Emerson, who provided my alibi, started to insinuate that it wasn’t an innocent alibi. I think Jax is having a hard time shifting from I’ll-rip-his-head-off mode.”

Jax growled and started to shift. When he was human, he glanced mildly at me. “My sense of smell is better as a wolf.”

Rolling my eyes, I went in search of clothes for him. Most packs stashed sweats and T-shirts all over the woods. It was less about modesty and more about protection against the elements. It didn’t take me long to find a bag wrapped around a tree truck. When I returned. Jax and Lunessa were mid-conversation. They stopped immediately and stared at me.

“Sure. That’s not suspicious at all,” I complained as I threw the clothes at him.

“We were just making certain that it was you.” Lunessa sighed. “I was just explaining that it’s hard to know if these new attacks are related to the crone’s vision. It seems that someone wants to create some ill-will when it comes to you.”

“One attack. There’s no proof that I did anything to that other witch. And a lot of people would like to see me gone. Even dead, but to kill to do that?”

“Who says the attack on Cam was aimed at killing? She is not a strong witch,” Jax mused.

“And yet she was able to get free when some much stronger witches were not?”

I wrinkled my nose. “We can’t assume that she was complicit. That’s just rude, and anything could have happened to scare the attacker off.”

Jax’s head whipped around. “Someone is coming.”

Lunessa took a deep breath and focused. After a few murmured words, the air around her started to shift. Then, in her place, Irene stood.

Then, as if nothing had happened, she turned around and walked away.

57

Jax

“Are we just supposed to pretend that didn’t happen?” I said under my breath.

“Jax? You are here.” London stepped into the clearing. “I just heard about the attack.”

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