Chapter 16

Sophia

Things are moving so fast that I can barely keep up. One minute I'm talking to Alex, and the next, Hilda is calling out to the enemy wolves. The shock on Alex's face will be etched in my memory forever.

"We have to run!" one of the soldiers shouts when I try to turn around to go back to Alex. "The tunnels are going to collapse any minute. We need to get past the safety marker."

"But Alex—"

Lily grabs my hand and pulls me with her. "Alex is the Alpha, Sophia. He knows what he's doing. We must leave now. Alex will find you."

I want to go find him, but when I look at the scared faces around me, I realize I have no choice. The soldiers cannot force me to go with them, but they're not going to leave me behind, either. If I become stubborn and dig in my heels, everybody else is going to pay the price.

"Alright," I cave, defeated. "Let's go."

We are told to shift into our wolf forms, and I see a few pack members eyeing my silver fur. Lily touches my shoulder and whispers, "I can't run as fast as you."

I nudge her with my head, silently telling her to climb onto my back.

However, one of the soldiers who has not shifted yet intervenes. "No. Nobody rides on the back of the Alpha Female. You can ride on one of us."

Lily looks like she wants to argue, but the soldier simply picks her up and deposits her on the back of one of his companions. She sighs in irritation, but the soldiers begin running, carrying bags in their teeth. The rest of us follow them.

The tunnels are wide and well lit. I don't know how far we go, but the whole time, I can feel a strange grief within me. It's not my pain, but Alex's. He's upset. Helpless, I squeeze my eyes shut and try to focus on getting to safety. My wolf is miserable, wanting to comfort our mate. But he's not here.

Where are you Alex?

Why are you hurting?

What happened?

But there's no answer to my silent questions.

The soldiers seem to know exactly where we are supposed to go, ignoring the side tunnels that we pass. Every couple of hours, we stop for a brief rest during which we shift into our human forms, and water bottles and food are passed around out of the soldiers' bags. Nobody talks much during these breaks. Everybody just huddles together, quiet and subdued. My own mind is on Alex, and the few times Lily tries to talk to me, I am generally unresponsive.

At some point, the soldiers begin to slow our pace. During our next rest stop, one of them informs us, "About two more hours, and we should be underneath one of the human cities."

"What do we do after that?" I ask.

"The tunnel will open up in a cabin in the woods. There's a garage there. We're going to shift into our human forms, change our clothes, and use the jeeps parked there to head into the city. Apartments have been set up; they're owned by the pack. We can stay there indefinitely. Your new identities will be handed out to you, and you will have to make sure to remember those names. We don't know if Karina's people are going to come looking for us or not, but just in case, we have to be careful."

Alex really did think of everything. I look over my shoulder, back the way we came.

Will you meet me there?

I want nothing more than to emerge from this tunnel and walk straight into his arms.

The throbbing in my chest has not subsided. It's still there. My mate is in pain. He's suffering.

Sadly, there's nothing I can do but grit my teeth and wait.

***

Everyone is exhausted by the time we reach the end of the tunnel. There's been no way to gauge the passage of time, but if I had to estimate, I'd say we probably ran for two days straight. Or possibly more. The children are fussy and tired. Needless to say, everyone is relieved when we climb up through the trap door and into the cabin.

Quietly, we change out of our dirty outfits and into the clothes that are waiting here for us. The garage attached to the cabin has five open-air jeeps ready to go. Each soldier jumps behind the wheel of one of them, and the rest of us spread out to join them in the passenger seats. Everyone is too tired to ask questions or even show the relief that we're all feeling. I think the whole group just wants to rest now.

However, as we drive through the forest, I feel a strange sensation on my arms. It's rather familiar, one I'm sure I've experienced before.

As I look around, I can't hear anything aside from the sound of the jeeps' engines. There's no sound of wildlife or even wind rustling the tree leaves. My eyes dart back and forth, but nobody else seems to have noticed this oddity. A dirty sensation creeps along my arms, and I look for Lily. She's just ahead of me, in the first jeep. Unlike me, she doesn't seem to have noticed anything out of the ordinary. I keep an eye out, observing our surroundings.

There's something off about this place. Something is not normal.

My wolf raises its hackles. We are not safe here.

My eyes catch a flicker of movement in the trees beside us. It's a dense forest, and the path that we are driving on is man-made. We are surrounded by trees and thick shrubbery on both sides.

There!

Something is following us. I see it again.

It takes me a couple of minutes to realize it's not one thing but several, on either side of us. My body reacts to it. It's a grimy feeling, an uncomfortable prickling along my skin.

There's no mistaking it this time.

Dark magic.

It can't be!

The jeep gets closer to the trees, and as it does, the prickly sensation intensifies. I realize I felt the same thing when those wolves attacked Alex and me, and Lily came to our rescue.

I'm sitting between two mothers. To my right, the woman is holding her three-year-old son. The boy is waving his arm outside the jeep. I see the movement in the trees again, and a feeling of foreboding takes over. It's as if the world slows down for a minute. The child extends his arm, and something comes out of the forest. Without thinking, instinct taking over, I grab the child and pull him toward me. Just in time, too.

The wolf that jumped out of the trees nearly bit his arm off. Suddenly, it's no longer one wolf, but an entire pack. Their eyes are pitch black, and all of them seem to be fixated on me.

"What is this?" the boy's mother cries out in alarm. "Why are they chasing us?!"

"Lily!" I shout as loud as I can. The witch stands up in her jeep, holding onto the metal frame to steady herself.

"I see them!" she responds frantically. "Look out, Sophia!"

One of the wolves has jumped onto the back of my jeep. It tries to bite me but instead gets hold of the jacket on the little girl sitting on her mother's lap to my left. The attacker yanks its head back, and both girl and wolf fall from the jeep.

The mother instantly tries to jump out to go after her daughter, but I hold her back, knowing she would only get herself killed. "I'll get her!" I tell the woman as I climb onto the seat and leap down onto the dirt road. The driver of the jeep slows down, but I shout, "Don't stop! Keep going!"

Grabbing the little girl, who has landed a few feet from the wolf, I throw her in the direction of her mother. It's a gamble, but the woman catches her daughter by the hands and swings her into her arms with a choked sob.

I begin running in the opposite direction of my jeep, shouting and gesturing wildly at the ones coming toward me. "I'll distract them! Go!"

But the rest of the jeeps are also stopping. Idiots! Why don't they understand?!

"It's dark magic!" I scream at them. "Go! You can't do anything here! I'll meet you back at the cabin later!"

I feel one of the wolves snap at my heels, and I immediately turn around, creating a barrier and forcing it back.

Lily is calling out my name and struggling to get out of her jeep, but the soldiers are finally listening to me. They have children with them, after all. Lily's jeep speeds off with her still in it.

I have to lead these wolves away from the rest of the jeeps. Shifting to my animal form, I begin running in the opposite direction, then into the woods. They chase after me, confirming my suspicions.

I'm the one they're after.

I'm trying to stay calm, telling myself not to panic. But it's a little hard when an entire pack of wolves that look to be undead are trying to hunt me down. I don't know how to get rid of them.

As I go deeper and deeper into the forest, the unfamiliar terrain becomes even harder to navigate. Large, jagged rocks are everywhere, and unlike the zombie wolves behind me who don't have to worry about getting hurt, I have to avoid them. I come to a screeching halt at the edge of a steep cliff. Turning around to face the wolves advancing on me, I know I have no choice now but to fight.

How do you fight something that is already dead?

Taking a deep breath, I strike them head on, my attacks ruthless, survival the only thing on my mind. However, they don't feel pain. Even when I tear off their limbs, they don't stop. My fur is stained with my own blood, my legs covered with bites and scratches. I was already weakened due to the magic I used back in the village and the two-day run through the tunnels. Now, my body is breaking down.

How do I get away from these zombie wolves? I think to myself desperately. Lily knew the spell to stop them. But in my panic and fear, I can't even summon any basic magic.

They're surrounding me now, and it's beginning to occur to me that this is it. I can't win against them. My legs are so badly wounded that I can barely hold my own weight. Sure enough, they collapse beneath me, and I fall to the ground. Not wanting to see my own fate, I squeeze my eyes shut as the wolves charge at me.

But they never reach me.

I hear a low growl, and when I open my eyes, there's a brown wolf standing before me. Unsure of what is happening, I watch in confusion as the shifter takes on the undead wolves, tearing them apart one by one.

Of course, he is also outnumbered.

I don't recognize him till he comes a little closer to prevent one of the wolves from getting to me. Through the smells of blood and dark magic, I catch his unique scent.

Drew!

How is that possible? What is Drew doing in the North?

The wolves are advancing on him as a group now. Although he's been doing a good job holding his own, there are simply too many of them. I can't let Drew do this alone.

I may not know the spell to get rid of these zombie wolves, but I do know how to interfere with a witch's magic. Concentrating, I shift into my human form and search for the dark threads that should be tangled around these wolves. I can see the magic binding them together, and I start ripping it apart. I'm not being careful, as I was with the children. I yank the threads, breaking them mercilessly.

My body is already battered, and I'm reaching my limit. However, I know I have to keep going. Slumped on the ground now, I keep tearing the threads. My vision is fading, but I have to see this through. Otherwise, both Drew and I will die here.

The wolves are dropping one after another, and at some point, Drew seems to understand that I'm the one doing something. My body feels icy cold as I continue ripping the threads apart as quickly as I can. The dark magic makes my skin shudder in revulsion. I only hope I can get rid of all of it before my body completely shuts down. As I tear the last thread, darkness fills my field of vision, and I can no longer fight it off. I crash to the ground, completely unconscious.

***

It's dark when I open my eyes. My body is aching and cold. I can hear the crackling of a fire, and while my skin feels warm, there is an icy chill permeating my bones. Groaning, I try to sit up, and I fail.

"Easy, there." I hear Drew's voice as he puts his arm around my shoulder and helps me into a sitting position.

He leans me back against the large rock I was lying next to, and I look at him, shivering. "Are you hurt?"

He shakes his head. "Not as badly as I could have been. You really saved my ass back there."

Noticing how cold I am, he wraps a fur cloak around me. "Here."

I'm quiet for a few moments, trying to figure out what to say. "I'm glad you're okay."

He rocks back on his haunches, an odd combination of misery and relief in his eyes. "You saved my life back in Oakrest, you know. You didn't have to, but you did. I've been wanting to thank you, but I never thought I'd have the opportunity to do so. I never thought I'd see you again, Sophia."

I'm struggling with my own feelings. On the one hand, I'm happy to see Drew, someone I always considered family. But on the other hand, his lies and deception really hurt me.

When I don't say anything, he murmurs. "You look good. Happy. I told you that you should be with your mate. And you're practicing magic now!"

"Well, I am the Silver Wolf." I wish I didn't sound so harsh. "If I hadn't been lied to my whole life, I would have learned magic much sooner."

Drew flinches at my words.

I was sent to Oakrest at the age of sixteen only to be shunned by the pack members who resided there. At the time, I believed it was because of my latent wolf; I could not shift into my animal form. But now I know better. It had all been plotted by my Alpha, Robert Black, who wanted to isolate me and break me till I had no choice but to accept him as my mate. He wanted to use me for my powers and have me give birth to more silver wolves. Unfortunately for him, things didn't go exactly the way he had envisioned.

But when I discovered Alpha Black's plans for me, I also unearthed the web of lies that Drew had told me as part of it all.

"Where's Tim?" I ask pointedly. "Don't tell me you did something to him, too—"

Drew's head whips up, shock in his eyes. "Of course not! Tim is…" He hesitates, a spasm of grief crossing his face. "Tim is with his maternal grandparents. I was selfish. The whole time he was living with me, he was trying to repress the memory of when I killed his mother. It became too much for him."

There are tears in his eyes, and he lowers his head. "I told them—I told Katie's parents what I did and why I did it. They deserved to know the truth. They forgave me. I didn't deserve it, but they did."

Drew murdered his pregnant mate on Alpha Black's orders. He then pinned the murder on Freddie, a pack delinquent who had a history of getting in trouble.

His confession surprises me. Of all the things that I expected him to do, giving Tim up wasn't one of them. I could always tell how much Drew loved his son. To give him up must have torn him apart.

"And what about Tim? Are you in contact with him?"

Drew shakes his head. He looks like a man who is has lost everything. "I left a letter with Katie's parents to give to him when he's older. But I sat him down and explained to him what had happened—a watered-down version, anyway. I apologized, not that it's going to mean much. And I told him that he would be safe now. I'd been the monster in his life, and the monster was leaving."

My heart aches as I think of the young boy who used to adore his father. "He's going to miss you," I murmur.

Drew smiles painfully. "I don't think so. He was terrified of me, Sophia. I hope he forgets all about me, or that over time, I just become a distant memory, a bad nightmare. His grandparents will love him and provide him with a happy home. This is what Katie would have wanted. She wouldn't have wanted me to raise our son."

I don't know what to say to him. I never expected him to go this far.

After a pause, I ask him, "Why are you here? Why are you in the North?"

The words are barely out of my mouth before I begin coughing. I smell the blood before I taste the metallic flavor in my mouth.

"You're hurt!" Drew looks alarmed.

"I need to rest. I've exhausted all my reserves." I shake my head slowly and then lean it back against the rock.

"Stay here," he says as he gets to his feet. "I have some meat. Food will make you feel better."

Alone now, I stare into the fire, trying to come to terms with Drew's sudden appearance. The scene in the forest with him and Alpha Black plays over again in my head. I still remember each and every word from that night. Although it happened only a few weeks ago, it feels like a lifetime has passed.

Drew was trying to help me. For whatever reason, he chose to help me and betray Alpha Black. But in the process, the Alpha revealed Drew's true nature and what he'd done to his mate and his unborn child.

I'm so lost in my thoughts that I don't realize Drew has returned till he sits down a few feet from me, holding a couple of dead rabbits in his hands.

I watch as he starts to skin a rabbit. He's not saying anything, but I have questions. Questions I couldn't ask him back then.

"I want to know something, Drew."

He looks at me warily. "What's that?"

"Alpha Black said that Katie got lost in her morals. That you had to kill her because of it." I see Drew's body turn stiff, his hand tightening on the knife he's holding. "What did he mean by that? When Alpha Block told you—"

"Don't call him Alpha Black," Drew hisses. "He was never a good Alpha. He doesn't deserve that title. Call him Robert."

"Fine. When Robert told you to kill Katie, why didn't you just take your family and run? Why were you so loyal to him?"

"It wasn't about loyalty!" Drew says tightly, anger and pain in his voice. "Katie found out—She wasn't from our pack, Sophia. She was from another pack in the South Alliance. She didn't know how things worked with Robert. She found out you were being isolated in Oakrest, but she didn't understand why. I tried to conceal the truth from her, but she found out what was going on, and she was against it. She wanted to help you escape. She didn't think it was right for the Alpha of a pack to groom a child to be his broodmare."

His shoulders slump, and he gazes into the fire, a lost look in his eyes. "I told Katie to stay out of it. I knew Robert would not react well to her interference. I told her to think about our family."

Drew lets out a shuddering breath. "One of the reasons I fell in love with her was that strong spirit of hers. I used to imagine, if she had been alive when you and I met, that she would have taken you under her wing. She was like that: nurturing, protective. Of course, because of her nature, she didn't listen to me."

Bitter laughter spills from his lips as he wipes his eyes and begins skinning the rabbit even more aggressively. "She tried to rally some of the pack, to convince them how wrong it was, what Robert was doing to you, but it backfired. Robert sent his orders. My entire family was condemned to death."

His hands are shaking. "There was no escape, Sophia. We couldn't leave without being hunted down. If I had taken Katie and Tim and fled, not only would we have been caught, but the punishment and torture inflicted on my family would have been inhumane. You never understood Robert. You never saw the side of him that I did. He craved power and control. He didn't care about the pack. He didn't care about anyone. He killed his own mate when he found your mother because he wanted the power of the Silver Wolf."

My body jerks at Drew's words, but he's not done. "One thing Robert absolutely despised was not being obeyed. He would have given my Katie to the pack security to use and violate. My son wouldn't have been spared, either. You were shielded from the harsh realities of our pack, Sophia, being hidden away in Oakrest."

Drew picks up a stick and pierces the skinned rabbit with it before setting it down near the fire. He turns his attention to the other rabbit and begins the process of skinning it.

His voice is hollow. "I begged for Tim's life. I knew Robert would not let Katie live, so I begged him to show mercy to my son. In exchange, I would swear complete loyalty to Robert. He allowed it, but his condition was that Katie had to suffer. I had to torture the woman I loved, the mother of my child, before I killed her. I brought her into the forest and told her everything. I told her the truth. She begged me to—"

His voice breaks, and the rabbit and knife slip from his grasp as he buries his face in his hands.

"She begged me to wait until our daughter was born," Drew sobs. "She begged me to give the baby to her parents to raise. She just wanted the time for that to happen. She said Robert would never know. But we were not alone in those woods. Robert had sent other members of the security team to make sure I carried out his orders. I had to kill Katie. She begged me not to, but I had to. She understood why. She knew I was trying to save our son. But she—"

He stares down at his hands, his voice hoarse. "I see her in my dreams every night. Every night, she comes to me in nightmares, and I see the light go out of her eyes all over again. I hear her voice screaming in my ear, begging me not to kill our daughter. I didn't deserve Tim. I should've given him to her parents a long time ago. But I was desperate to hold on to him. I was desperate to hold on to some piece of my family."

It's hard to maintain my composure when I see Drew breaking down before me. His mate tried to help me. Another death because of me.

Drew lost everything because of me.

I know it's not right to blame myself, but this feeling of helplessness is painful. Not once has Drew lashed out at me. He could say a lot of things, and they would all be true. All of this happened to him because of my existence. If Katie had turned a blind eye to my situation like everybody else, she would be alive right now.

"Drew," I murmur, unable to help myself and needing to absolve myself of this misplaced guilt. "I'm sorry."

He wipes his eyes roughly and gives me a tired smile. "You have nothing to be sorry about, Sophia. You were just a child, trying to survive in the world that had been against you since the moment you were born. No, all of this was the price of my own sins as part of the security team. How could I expect to live a happy life when I was responsible for the destruction of so many families? My hands are stained with blood, Sophia. I can't even count the number of people I've killed. Even if I was just following orders, I still ended lives and shattered families. Why shouldn't I have suffered like they did? No, what happened to me was not your fault. It was punishment by the Goddess."

He straightens up and skewers the second rabbit, placing it on the fire. His voice is a bit steadier now. "When I first moved into your building, I was told to keep an eye on you. I did blame you at the time. I blamed the entire world. But you were so kind. I was at my lowest; I couldn't even take care of myself, let alone Tim. And there you were, always trying to help us, looking after us. At some point, I realized the only person to blame was myself."

He turns the skewer before looking at me. "You were a friend to me when I was lost in my grief, Sophia. Both Tim and I began to depend on you. Our family was fractured, and in a way, you became the glue that held us together. I soon saw that I was now in a position to protect you. I knew all of Robert's plans. After what I'd done, he never doubted my loyalty. Instead, he trusted me even more. That's why, when I heard about your fated mate, I pushed you toward him. I wanted you to be happy. I wanted you to be safe, and more importantly, I wanted you as far away from Robert as possible."

It now makes sense why Drew was so adamant that I forgive Alex and be with him.

I have more questions, but they're just going to hurt Drew ,and I think he's been hurt enough. So, I decide to change the topic.

"I still don't understand why you are here, Drew," I say slowly.

He looks up at me, his voice hollow. "I'm trying to right another wrong that was done to you. I'm trying to find your mother."