Alpha Asher By Jane Doe

Chapter 211

I was so unfathomably tired of death.

The pale rider and I knew each other intimately. We were partners in a dance I no longer remembered the movements for, one I wished would end already but knew never would.

There were so many fallen wolves. So many families to contact, so many devastating blows to land.

Just as many, if not more, witches littered the ground.

They had friends, I‘m sure. Families that would wonder where they were or if they were ever coming back. They would be mourned by someone, somewhere.

It had taken me months to no longer have nightmares of my father‘s severed head tumbling from his shoulders, rolling across the ground in a sea of blood. Every

time I escaped the pull of a nightmare, a new one sprouted in its place, brought on by all of the death and carnage.

Even now, after all these months, I couldn‘t even look at grass without seeing flashes of it covered in blood.

I kept to Asher‘s side, shifting between human and wolf as I killed in both forms. Each life I took broke something inside of me that could never be fixed.

Asher was horrifically elegant in his wolf form, slashing throats and sinking his teeth into anything that wielded magic. He knew the dance moves, knew death much longer than I had. There were rare beings in this world born and bred to send people to the other side.

Asher was one of these beings. The more ! killed and slaughtered, the faster I realized that I was not.

So, I piggybacked off his strength and ferocity, letting his one–track mind

smother my feelings of regret and doubt.

We searched through the sea of crimson high and low looking for Ember, but she wasn‘t here.

I used my magic sparingly, diffusing some of the more powerful witches before they had a chance to kill any more of our warriors. I‘d just slashed through a miniature fucking tornado when I hesitated.

The witch that had conjured it was a child, barely a pre–teen.

Her face was round, her cheeks plump and flushed with blood. The rise and fall of her chest were heavy, spattered with blood that could‘ve easily been hers or someone else‘s. Seeing my hesitation, she blinked in surprise. Her lips opened to form a small‘o,‘ and her fingers twitched like she wasn‘t sure what to do next.

Staring at her through Maya‘s eyes, all I could think was that she wasn’t supposed

fighting on a battlefield against trained warriors. She should be starting high–school, frantic and on the verge of tears as she tried again and again to pick the perfect outfit for her first day. Worried

my hesitation almost cost

face as she twisted it into

‘Lola, watch out!

partially thrown by Asher as he barreled into the witch creeping up behind me, a curved blade in her

tell them to stop, a wolf with wheat–colored fur tackled the young witch and crushed her neck in its maw. The warrior dropped the dying girl and was onto the next witch, going through the same motions as everyone

panted, letting out a huff of hot air from

I couldn‘t. The girl was laying there, gurgling as she choked on her own blood. Within seconds the light faded from her eyes, and the future she deserved was ripped out

I whispered. ‘She‘s

his tail twitching as he saw the truth for himself. Despite his strength, he had a heart just like anyone else, and I could feel it

spine and hold his

He replied softly. ‘A

tired of killing.‘I closed my eyes, hearing nothing but the carnage

had no choice but to face him when he brushed his snout along my neck. His voice

the

support, because the moment I

I knew

locked away in a cell as inspiration for

it pelted my face and arms, but the clothes I kept as I shifted into my human form, protected the rest of my

twisting as they climbed higher and higher above our heads. Each one moved on my command, an extension of my body that reminded me of having over a dozen extra limbs. I swung my arms to the left, and the number

into the sky,

roots wrapped around them, securing each

lowered my arms, dragging the ones I‘d captured down to the ground where they remained pinned in place. Witches scrambled to escape the roots I commanded left and right. I began to

my tongue, but I held on until the witches were driven back into the forest,

sky and victories were bellowed in the only song

on two feet, I peered up at Asher, losing

He said, his voice oozing

The point of this was to end the fight, to stop the senseless killing. We had six witches

my magic was supposed to get easier.” I grumbled. “It feels like it‘s getting harder.”

been using it a

to keep using it. I’ve got a town of

weakly, “Tell Cordelia we‘re going to need more Hemlock…lots

work to do. Once the Hemlock was delivered, we administered doses to the witches and brought them to their own holding cells in different parts of the underground