Magic Trials (Half-Blood Academy #1)(7)

“Enough!” the werewolf alpha barked. Just like any alpha male, he wasn’t keen on letting someone else take the limelight.

I slid him a sidelong glance.

In his human form, he was bulky and shorter than I expected for a pack alpha. He also had greasy hair, which I didn’t like. Man, if you wanted to lead, at least set an example for your minions on hygiene.

But voicing that opinion would get me attacked right away.

He pointed his thick index finger at me, and the tip was a bit yellowish. “Is this the nasty bitch you told me about, David?”

I sighed audibly. So far, I’d smiled at all of them, and my smile was sweet. I knew that since I’d practiced it before the mirror. So it wasn’t me. It was them.

I hated to say this, but the alpha didn’t impress me. But I couldn’t remember any male who ever left a good impression on me, except for Jasper.

“Yes, Alpha Rocco,” David said, and he even bowed a little.

I wasn’t a fan of that name either, but he might not want my advice on changing his name.

“That’s the mad-cow bitch,” David added. This was the fourth time someone had called me a bitch today. Just my luck. “I promise you she’ll fetch a top price at market after your men have their way with her.”

My heart skipped a beat. While I was busy hunting and living my own life, the criminal lords in Crack had gotten into the human trafficking business?

I met Rocco’s nefarious, dominant stare. He growled when I didn’t avert my gaze, which reminded me of the customs of the shifter packs. They had this submissive game that required anyone who was lesser than an alpha to lower their gaze, unless they wanted to challenge the alpha.

I was sick and tired of all this bullshit, especially when they should have just let Jasper and Circe go home to make stew and let me go to the market to trade for some necessities instead of harassing us.

I was in a bad mood now. So, no, I had no intention of looking away or lowering my eyes.

I had as much right as he to look anyone in the eyes and keep looking.

Werewolf magic rolled off the alpha, demanding attention. The human gang members dropped their gazes to the ground. The pack members in their human forms dropped to one knee in submission, and the ones in werewolf form lowered themselves and bowed their heads.

This wasn’t a weak alpha, which made me think of all the lives he’d had to snuff out to rise to the top of the pack.

Even Jasper wanted to lower his head, and Circe shook behind me, both under the influence of his power.

That enraged me.

I brushed off his werewolf vibe and stared at him harder, but added a sardonic smile. A flick of surprise flitted through his eyes, soon replaced by anger and the promise of punishment.

“Surrender now, bitches,” the werewolf alpha demanded, “and I’ll let you live to serve me and my pack as our whores. Resist, and we’ll tear you limb from limb.”

Jasper snarled. I bumped his head with my hip to tell him to hold back.

David snickered in vile delight. He thought he’d brought the bigger gun and finally had a chance to get back at me. He’d called this day my doom day.

“Hey, Rocco, right?” I asked. “How are you doing? Do you smoke?”

“What?” he snarled, trying not to appear confused by my question or my boldness. “Are you stupid or what?”

“I’m not stupid, but I’m curious,” I said. “If you aren’t a smoker, how come your fingers are so yellow? Also, as a woman, I don’t appreciate being called a whore. I’m not too pleased to have been called a bitch four times today either. In a nutshell, I don’t like the way you treat women.”

Like a flash, I drew a gun from the inside of my leather coat and shot the alpha between the eyes.

It was either that or be dragged off and sold as a whore.

I didn’t wait to see if he dropped in a heap or not and wheeled toward the human gangs.

I fired five shots in rapid succession. While talking to David, I’d made a mental note on who carried guns. So, the gunmen had to go first.

David didn’t get a chance to call me a crazy bitch one last time before he closed his eyes and died.

“Didn’t expect this, dicks?” I murmured. “I’m full of surprises.”

I’d tried not to waste bullets, since they were costly, but we were outnumbered and I wouldn’t take a chance of getting Jasper and Circe killed.

Extreme circumstance required extreme actions.

I slipped my gun into a holster around my hips, pulled two daggers, and hurled them at two werewolves. I didn’t stop there as two more of my daggers followed suit.

I’d packed a dozen daggers for hunting—that was my style. I wasn’t exactly a trigger-happy kind of chick, but I could never be faulted for being prepared.

Jasper crashed into a massive werewolf who’d been wounded by my dagger. They locked jaws, snarling, pounding, biting, and clawing with animal brutality.

Circe threw her spells at the remaining humans and werewolves without discrimination. Purple smoke rose from one, and I prayed that she’d tossed the right spell this time.

Yells, curses, tearing sounds, and steel crossing steel echoed all around.

“Sorry, dudes,” I shouted at my foes amid the chaos. “I forgot to warn you first. I know I’m a crazy bitch, but you should not mess with this crazy.”