Chapter 8
Sophia
“...stronger…You have to grow stronger, my daughter.”
The voice of the woman warning me is frail. But I can hear the desperation behind it.
I’m standing in the underground dungeon again. The smell is worse, so much worse. My feet take me to the last cell on my right, where I know the silver wolf is laying. She’s barely breathing now, a rattling sound coming from each breath that wracks her frame.
“You have to grow stronger, child. Trust no one.”
She’s not speaking, but the voice in my head has to be hers.
I grasp the iron bars of the cell, nausea building up inside me. “Mom? Are you my mother?”
The wolf stirs.
“Get stronger.”
“Are you my mother?” I let out a gasping sob. “Where are you? Tell me how to find you! I’ll save you. Please, just tell me where you are!”
Each time I see this wolf in my dreams, I’m overwhelmed with emotions. This time is no different. My heart is unable to bear the condition she is in. It’s obvious that she’s barely holding on. And the fact that I can do nothing for her is killing me.
“Please, say something!”
“Grow stronger.”
The wolf opens one eye, and it is red.
I jerk awake, sitting up in bed, covered in sweat.
My heart racing, I stare blankly at the wall. For a few seconds, I feel delirious.
Where am I?
My surroundings don’t make sense to me.
But as I begin to calm down, I recognize the flower-patterned wallpaper of the guest room I’ve been staying in. Supporting myself with my hands, I look to the other side of the bed.
Alex is gone.
I pull myself into a sitting position before touching his side of the bed. The sheets are rumpled and cold. He must have left quite a while ago. The wall clock says it’s three in the morning.
He left the other night, as well, once I was asleep. And when I asked him where he’d gone, he never told me. His excuses were vague at best.
I climb out of bed, no longer sleepy, and turn on the lamp next to me. The room fills with a warm light. My stomach rumbles, and I remember that I didn’t have dinner last night.
We went on that picnic, I recall. It was so lovely.
I kept expecting Alex to make some sort of move, but he didn’t. He simply wanted to spend time with me. While my wolf was disappointed by the lack of physical contact, it was also quite pleased at the respect Alex showed.
There’s an electric kettle in the small kitchenette, and I add some water from the tap to it before turning it on. Alex left some instant coffee sachets and some tea bags for me. I’m not in the mood for coffee, but a soothing tea might help me relax.
As I wait for the water to boil, I sit at the table and think back to the dream.
It has to be my mother. I’m convinced of it. But where do I begin looking for her?
She must be somewhere in South Alliance territory. I’ll have to go back there to look for her.
When we left the South Alliance and made our way to the North, we used the stretch of land that is unclaimed territory. It is often used by travelers who do not want to request permission from packs to pass through their territory.
Both the North and South Alliances have small areas between pack territories that allow people to pass through without encroaching on pack land. We were quite lucky that we were not spotted by travelers, even though these paths are quite old and not many people use them anymore, especially since there are now cars and planes for travel. Another reason is that, after not being maintained for centuries, these trails have become overgrown with trees and overrun with wildlife. Most packs have set up fencing around their territories as a result.
We could use the same route to re-enter the South and look for my mother, but Robert will have hidden her somewhere deep within Red Rock Wolf territory.
I rest my elbows on the table, which I stare down at in frustration.
How am I supposed to find her? If I had even an inkling of the area she is in, I would go. But I don’t have any idea.
The water begins to boil, and I get up to pour it into the mug, teabag already there, before sitting down on one of the arm chairs next to the window. The curtains are closed, and as I sip the hot tea, I pull one aside slightly to catch a glimpse of the quiet village.
It’s dark outside, the whole village resting in the early hours of the day. I’m about to release the curtain when I see something. It looks like movement. Narrowing my eyes, I focus on the spot, and that’s when I see them.
Two men are approaching the guest house. I’ve seen a lot of Alex’s soldiers in the village, and they all dress in the same customary, red and gray uniform. These men are wearing black.
I have no problem with anybody dressing the way they want and roaming around the village at this time of night, but there’s something about the way these two men are walking toward the guest house, their strides so purposeful, that has the hair on the back of my neck rising.
I glance back at the empty bed. Alex isn’t here. My first instinct is fear.
But I’m the Silver Wolf. While that may not mean much in terms of strength, I remember that I can practice magic now.
There are only two ways to get inside this room: through the window and through the door. I quickly form a barrier around the window, infusing it with the same electric current that I used to kick Alex out the other night. I am about to do the same to the door when I remember that Lily is sleeping down the hall.
I don’t know what it is, instinct perhaps, but I’m certain that if they can’t get in through my window, they’re going to try hers. They’ll ambush her!
I throw open the door to my room and rush to Lily’s. When I try to open it, it’s locked.
Great.
I don’t have time to knock and wait for her to let me in. Using all my weight, I shoulder the door open, hearing a loud cracking sound in the process. Lily sits bolt upright up in the bed, but I ignore her, quickly closing the door and pushing her dresser in front of it.
“What’s going on?!” Her voice is dazed, filled with sleep.
“It’s me.” I whisper, gesturing to her with my hands to be quiet.
She stares at me, confused, and then asks, “What are you doing? Why did you break down my door?”
“Because I felt like it, Lily,” I snap. “Now, will you please stop talking? I don’t want them to hear us!”
I hurry over to her window and place a magical barrier over it.
Lily gets out of bed and tests the strength of my barrier. “That’s a strong one.”
Then, as I head back to the door, I feel the sensation of her using magic, too. The walls of the room glow for a brief second before returning to normal.
“What are you doing?” I whisper.
“Soundproofing the room,” she replies casually. “You were so worried about being overheard, I figured I may as well do that. Now, what’s going on?”
I finish placing the barrier on the door and then turn to face her. “I saw two men approaching the guest house.”
Lily gives me a long look. I expect her to make light of my words, but instead, she takes me seriously. “Did you recognize them?”
“No, and they weren’t wearing the clothes that Alex’s soldiers wear. And these guys were definitely soldiers. It was evident from their posture.”
“Why were you awake?”
“Bad dream,” I mutter. “Does it really matter?”
“What about Alex?” Lily demands with a frown now. “I thought he was plastered to your side.”
“Weird choice of words,” I say, glaring at her. “He left once I was asleep.”
“Why?”
I can see the curiosity in her eyes. “I don’t know, Lily,” I growl, frustrated. “Why don’t you ask him next time you see him?”
“Oh, I will.” Lily pats my shoulder before climbing on top of the dresser, crouching down, and pressing her ear against the door. “I can’t hear anything. Can you?”
I listen for a few moments then shake my head. “There are guards at the front door of the house. The two men will probably try to come in through a window.”
The words are barely out of my mouth when we hear a scream of pain. Not even a second later, loud, thudding footsteps pass by Lily’s door, going in the direction of my room.
That would be the guards.
“What did you do?” Lily looks at me with wide eyes.
“Why do you think I did something?”
Lily’s lips curve in a wicked smile. “You did do something. Spill.”
“I created a barrier around my window that has an electrical surge. I was just trying to make sure they wouldn’t get in. I would have done the same for my door till I remembered that you were down the hall, probably sleeping. So, I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
Lily’s eyes turn warm. “You came here to protect me?”
“Of course.” I feel a little awkward with the way she’s looking at me.
By now, the alarm has sounded, and I can hear the echoes of a fight taking place outside.
“Should we look?” Lily can barely hold her excitement.
“I think it’s best to stay put, out of sight. Alex will find us.”
Sure enough, after half an hour, I hear Alex’s voice roar my name. “Sophia!”
“That’s your cue.” Now sitting cross-legged on the bed, Lily looks at me. “He sounds upset.”
I push the dresser away from the door and remove the barrier. I’ve just barely pulled open the door when somebody shoves it toward me, making me stumble back. A firm hand wraps around my wrist and yanks me forward, straight into Alex’s chest.
“Are you all right?” His voice is a scratchy growl.
“I’m fine!” I try to pull away, but he seems to have no plan to let me go. “Where were you?” I demand, looking up at him now. His expression flickers, and my eyes narrow. “Alex? This isn’t the first time you’ve left my bed. If you want to sleep in your own house, that’s fine. Just tell me first, so I don’t wake up in the middle of the night to see you gone.”
It’s not like we’re doing anything in bed. We just started sleeping next to each other after we left my pack. I never even questioned it. And now it feels weird, asking him where he was.
He lowers his voice. “I’ll tell you later. You really are okay?”
“Yes. I saw two guys dressed in black making their way toward the guest house. They didn’t look like your men, so I came in here, and Lily and I fortified the room.”
“That was a smart decision.” Alex looks relieved. “Those were Karina’s soldiers. They must’ve figured out that I wasn’t here. They tried to break into your room through the window, but they got a nasty shock. Their shouting alerted the guards, who alerted me.”
“Karina’s soldiers? The ones who guard the nannies?” I ask, alarmed.
He nods. “I’m glad you’re okay. And I’m glad you didn’t decide to try to fight them. Karina’s soldiers are not men you should be taking lightly. Don’t ever try to engage with them.” He looks over his shoulder and barks, “Jared!”
A moment later, Jared enters the room, and Alex orders him, “Stay here with Sophia and Lily. I want to deal with this mess outside.”
Jared enters the room and closes the door behind him. “If you two ladies want to get some sleep, I can keep guard.”
“Sleep?” Lily blinks. “Who could sleep now? I’m going to go take a shower. And then I want to have breakfast.”
“It’s four in the morning,” I point out.
“So?” Lily grabs a change of clothes. “I’ve been traumatized. I need food to make me feel better.”
With that, she slams the bathroom door shut, leaving me and Jared alone.
“How ’bout you?” he asks.
I shake my head. “I can’t eat anything. I just want to know what happened.”
Jared makes himself comfortable, perching on the dressing table. “They probably tried to break in to stop the negotiations.”
“What?” I’m having a hard time following him. “What negotiations?”
“About the shop opening here.” Jared explains. “The story is that you and Lily are here to consider opening a clothing store, right?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“One of the things that Karina has her people do is to make sure to stop any progress in the pack,” Jared says grimly. “When Alex started setting up businesses in the village, they were badly sabotaged to the point that a couple of buildings were burned down. That’s why Alex has started ventures in other territories. While Karina can interfere in isolated pack territories, she isn’t able to do much in cities where the human governments are in charge, even if those cities are part of a pack’s territory.”
Alex did tell me that he has businesses in other parts of the North Alliance, but I never asked him why. I should have.
“Right now, the soldiers have no way of sending a message to Karina about your and Lily’s arrival here. All telecommunications have been jammed by us. They can’t even let her know that Alex is back.” Jared’s expression is grim. “But this won’t last long. Karina is going to get suspicious and may decide to make an appearance to check on things. In the meantime, the soldiers have a simple order from her: if anything is happening that can financially benefit the pack, deal with it. They were most likely planning to either kill you and Lily or threaten you into leaving. The former would be my best bet.”
Jared’s tone is so matter of fact, it’s almost frightening. It’s bad enough that Karina destroyed their pack, which was once one of the strongest in the North. For her to try and stop them from trying to recover and grow is awful.
I simply don’t understand. “Why, though? She is the Queen of the North Alliance! She has what she wants! Why is she still after all of you?”
Why is she trying to make Alex suffer?
Jared lets out a heavy sigh. “She’s paranoid. When somebody seizes power that is not rightfully theirs, they’re always going to be paranoid. Alex is growing stronger than she ever anticipated. She can’t kill him without causing riots throughout her territory. As we speak, every pack within the Alliance that has been suppressed by Karina is watching Alex.”
Agitated now, Jared gets to his feet. “A rebellion is on the verge of happening. Everyone knows it. Karina crossed a line for each pack when she dragged their children into it. If Alex takes a stand against her, the others will as well, and Karina knows it. She is trying to find a way to remove Alex from the picture completely. That’s why she has been forcing Julia into Alex’s life: so that once Julia is the Alpha Female, she will be the one in power. Karina wants to make Alex a figurehead, putting all decision-making in Julia’s hands.”
I remember Julia.
My relationship with Alex has been far from smooth sailing. Littered with misunderstandings and miscommunications, and Alex’s desire to save the children of his pack, we’ve had a rocky start, to say the least. But one of the biggest hurdles while we were still in Oakrest was the arrival of Julia, his fiancée.
That is how she introduced herself, anyway. At the time, I didn’t realize how psychotic Julia actually was. She seemed like such a beautiful, sophisticated woman. Everything I was not. Alex later informed me about the true nature of their relationship. He told me about the abuse he’d suffered at her hands after becoming the Alpha at the age of ten. Although he has tried to keep the majority of his experiences with her to himself, I’ve been able to piece together enough to know that she is the one person he hates desperately.
“You said that all telecommunications are jammed. What does that mean?”
Jared grins. “Nathan and Hilda, for all her faults, are both IT experts. Alex invested a lot of money in getting them educated. They have online university degrees and several certifications. Together, they’ve been able to create jammers around the village that prevent any sort of signals from coming through or going out. No telephone calls, no internet.”
“But isn’t that inconvenient for the rest of the pack?”
He chuckles. “It sounds like it would be, doesn’t it? But those who need or want phone or internet access have special devices they can use. Karina’s soldiers are not even aware that this blockage was created by us. They think the service is so bad because we’re located in such an isolated setting.”
I’m impressed. “Devious.”
“And now that Alex is back, the soldiers will not leave the nannies’ sides to try to send Karina a message.”
“So, how do they communicate with her?”
“She sends scouts. And we don’t keep the telecommunications systems down all the time. It’s usually just when there’s something we don’t want leaked immediately.”
I’m surprised Hilda is in charge of something so important, but I suppose I have a personal bias against her. She has been with this pack her whole life; obviously, they trust her.
I glance toward the door. “What do you think Alex is doing to those two soldiers? He can’t kill them because their lives are tied to the children’s, right?”
“Correct,” Jared replies, grimacing. “He can beat them up, though. I’m sure that’s what he’s doing. As long as they’re alive, the children are fine. I mean, Karina will not be happy, but there’s no way Alex is going to overlook the actions of those soldiers. Even if he has to suffer some form of retaliation.”
I remember hearing about one of those instances. Alex was whipped in public.
My resolve hardens.
No matter what, I want—no, I need to break the link between the children and Karina’s nannies and soldiers as soon as possible. I know Patrick told me that Alex has no intention of fighting Karina anymore, but I’m not going to let that woman live. She doesn’t deserve to live. She doesn’t deserve to be the leader of the North Alliance. That is Alex’s rightful place.
Once I find my mother, dealing with Karina is going to be next on the agenda. I have a feeling she’s never going to let Alex be until he’s dead and buried.
And I’m not going to stand by and let that happen.
***
Nathan shows up an hour later with some food. He relieves Jared, who is sent off somewhere else.
However, Alex does not return till late in the afternoon. And when he does, he looks exhausted and furious. The first thing he does is check on me.
“Have you eaten?” he demands.
“Yes, I’m fine,” I try to reassure him.
We head outside for a walk, and I can smell blood everywhere. Alex doesn’t look injured, and it doesn’t smell like his blood, so I’m assuming that he really did beat up those two soldiers.
“Where did you go last night, Alex?” I ask him. “You weren’t here the other night, as well.”
His silence is heavy.
“There are some things that cannot be done in the light of day, Sophia. There are meetings held at night in secret locations. I have to be part of them.” He doesn’t offer more information than that. Instead, he suddenly looks angry. “I should have been there. I don’t know why I thought you would be safe with a couple of guards out front. I should’ve brought you with me.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I tell him firmly. “As long as nobody’s hurt, that’s all that matters. Alex, I talked to Lily, and I think we should begin working on breaking the link. We don’t have any time to waste.”
Alex gives me a dubious look. “Are you going to be safe?”
“Yes,” I reply confidently. “She’s going to stabilize me. If she thinks I’m slipping away, she’s going to yank me back. It’s a magic thing; she can explain it much better than I can.”
“Well, I’ll be having a word with her,” he retorts grimly.
“Alex,” I say, stopping and making him face me, “we need to hurry. You’re delaying things by worrying about me. I can take care of myself. The longer you postpone this, the higher the chances are of Karina figuring out that you’re back. Stop thinking about me and start thinking about the pups. Because if you don’t get on board, I’m going to ask Nathan and Patrick to bring me the children anyway.”
Alex’s expression stiffens. “How can you ask me not to be concerned about you?” His hand reaches up to cover my cheek, his fingers caressing my skin. His eyes are tormented. “I’m trying —”
My tone is blunt. “You are fighting with yourself. Do you think I can’t sense it?” I demand. “There is some conflict going on within you. I understand the situation is dangerous, and while I’m happy that you’re putting me first, I don’t need you to when it comes to this. I admit that in the past, I needed protection. I was weak. But things are changing for me now. I want them to change, and I want you to have faith in me and in my strength. These people are important to you, Alex. And that makes them important to me. Let me do this. Stop dragging things out.”
We’re standing on the side of the street, and Alex looks down at me. After a prolonged silence, he says, “You’ve made up your mind, haven’t you?”
“Yes, I have.”
He takes a step closer to me. “And if I try to stop you?”
My heart skips a beat at his proximity, and I force myself to meet his eyes. “I’ll still do it. I won’t be sheltered.”
Alex gives me a long look before murmuring, “It’s very hard to deny you anything.”
His eyes are burning into mine, and his mouth lowers to brush against my lips. The entire world goes still as heat blooms inside me at his touch. His other hand comes to wrap around my throat in a possessive hold.
We are not alone. There are people around us, but he doesn’t seem to care.
Just one kiss, and my knees turn weak.
Even though he’s been sleeping in my bed, he hasn’t touched me. At least, not the way I expected him to. But when he’s wrapped around me in bed, his arm across my waist, one leg draped over my hips, I’m hyperaware of him. I crave him in those moments. But I’m too shy to spell it out for him.
As he kisses me now, I feel overwhelmed, and my need explodes.
I want his hands on my body. I want to feel him touch every inch of me. I want to feel what he made me feel that day when he fucked me. Although it hasn’t been that long, it feels like forever.
Wetness forms in my pussy, and Alex pulls away, leaving me hot and bothered. I make a sound of discontent, and there is wicked laughter in his eyes.
“Did you want something?”
He’s clearly teasing me.
“Jerk.”
He laughs at my complaint before wrapping his arm around me and pulling me to his side. “I forgot we had an audience.”
His voice is low, but he seems quite pleased.
I look around and see a few women gathered at one of the cafés, watching us. The women are considerably older than us, and they’re beaming at Alex. When they catch my eye, they wink at me before heading off.
They don’t seem annoyed that Alex is kissing an outsider. If anything, they seem happy about it.
Or maybe I’m reading too much into this.
Either way, I’m going to have to encourage my mate to kiss me more often.
And if he is adamant on being a tease, I can be the same to him.