Chapter 21

Sophia Hope

A startled cry leaves my lips before the same hand clamps over my mouth.

"What are you doing out here?!"

I recognize Alex's voice, and I look up at him, my heart pounding.

"Me?!" I glare at him, trying to ignore the way his hand feels as I push it away. "Are you trying to get me caught?! Stop sneaking around!"

My mate studies me with an amused look. "I'm not the one sneaking around, Sophia. And who breaks into a library?"

I flush. "Maybe I have the urge to read. Ever think about that?"

"At two in the morning?" Alex asks drolly. "Must be some reading material."

I poke him in the leg with a hairpin. "Why don't you scream and alert everybody in the damn vicinity while you're at it!"

"I wasn't—"

"Stop talking and go away. I'm busy."

In response, he crouches next to me, silently refusing to leave.

I curse under my breath, and he whispers, "You've got a dirty mouth."

I close my eyes, trying not to lose my patience by counting to ten.

"Are you stalking me, Alex?" I demand.

"No. I saw you leave the bar, and you weren't heading home," he replies steadily. "You looked like you were up to something."

"No, I didn't!"

He gives me a pointed look, inclining his head toward the back door of the library that he found me trying to open. "You're right. It was just my imagination."

He's acting way out of character. And my urge to strangle him is growing stronger by the second.

"Why are you still here?" I demand.

"I don't want you to get caught doing whatever it is you're doing," Alex informs me.

Frustrated, I glare at him. "If anybody's going to get me caught, it's you. Go back to the motel."

However, from the stubborn gleam in his eye, I know he's not going to.

I don't have time to argue with him, so I shove my phone into his hand. "If you're going to be an ass about it, make yourself useful. Point the flashlight toward the keyhole."

Surprisingly, he complies obediently. Two sets of hands are always better than one, and as I fiddle with the mechanism of the lock, Alex remarks, "I didn't know you knew how to pick locks."

"Is that a hint of admiration in your tone?" I murmur, focused on the task at hand.

"Maybe." Now I hear amusement in his voice.

"There's a lot you don't know about me," I whisper, hearing drunken laughter from the road.

"I'm starting to realize." There's a strange undercurrent to Alex's words, and I spare a glance at him. He's watching me intently.

That piercing gaze of his makes my mouth go dry, and I immediately tear my eyes away from him. Being in close proximity to Alex reminds me of how his hands felt tracing over my body, holding my legs open. It takes a surreal amount of self-control even to attempt to banish the image from my head.

"I thought we decided to stay away from each other," I remind him. Alex is silent, and this time when I look at him, he has a guilty expression on his face. A tired sigh leaves my lips, and I lower my hands to my knees, focusing on him. "You're not making this easy on us."

There is regret in his voice. "I know. But when I see you, I can't help but want to follow you around."

My face feels hot at his confession, and I wonder if he went and hit his head somewhere.

He has always acted so aloof, so cold. So, why is he behaving this way now?

I purse my lips and pick up my makeshift tools again. "You're making it sound as if you're in love with me or something."

I brace myself for a disdainful laugh or a cruel response, but nothing reaches my ears. I fiddle with the lock mechanism, my hands unsteady. Why isn't he denying it?

Fortunately, we are spared from having to continue this conversation because a satisfying click pierces the silence. I pull the handle on the door, and to my excitement, it opens easily.

Entering the library, I close the door behind us and take my flashlight from Alex. I know where Mr. Felton keeps his keys; I saw him put them in his desk. It's a huge ring with lots of different keys. But when I open the drawer, the keys aren't there.

"Damn it!" I hiss. "The old geezer took them with him."

"Took what?" Alex asks, peering over my shoulder into the desk drawer, which only has a thin file in it.

"The keys to the archive room."

"What are you looking for in the archives room?" Alex questions me curiously.

"Information about the Silver Wolf."

I don't have to look at him to know that he is taken aback by the answer.

"Why are you looking for—?"

"Because you need the Silver Wolf to help your pack." I flash the light around and find the stairs to the basement. "And I told you that I would help you."

The door of the archives room is made of cast iron, and the padlock on it is an old one. I've never tried to pick a lock quite like this one, but I'm going to have to give it a try.

"Here," I shove my phone into Alex's hand as I drop to my knees. I tinker with the lock, my movements cautious. It looks positively ancient, and I'm afraid I'm going to break it. Since I was just asking about the archives room today, I have a feeling that if I wreck this thing, the librarian is going to know exactly who to point the finger at.

"Why are you looking into the Silver Wolf?" Alex persists.

"Because," I answer softly, my mind focused on the task, "we need to know how to identify her. Just going around looking at the color of every shifter's fur isn't going to cut it. How has the Silver Wolf been able to disguise herself all this time? There have to be other ways to identify her."

I suck in a sharp breath when I nearly snap my hairpin in half.

"Also, you do not seem to have a very clear idea about what her powers are." I move the hairpin to the side, searching for a tumbler. "If we can find out how her abilities work, it should be easier for you to figure out how she can help you."

"So, you're doing this for me?"

I let out a sharp laugh. "Alex, I'm doing this so that you can find her and leave Oakrest, so that I can get back to my normal life. And partly because I don't like the idea of little babies being held as hostages."

I only admit that last part to myself, under my breath.

"I see." Alex doesn't sound very happy. I try not to care and keep working on opening the lock. After a moment or two, he asks, "How did you learn to pick locks?"

My lips curve in a dark grin. "It was a survival skill. When I was a child, I was often punished by the Director of the orphanage because I kept getting into fights with the other children, who would bully me. As punishment, I would be forced to skip lunch and dinner."

As I got older, I noticed that none of the other children were ever deprived of food. That punishment was always reserved for me. I remember that once, one of the older boys slammed a baseball bat against my head and split my forehead open. I bit him in response, but the Director—even after seeing my bloodied state—only punished me. I wasn't allowed food for two days. I wasn't even taken to a healer.

In my mind, I normalized those incidents and the handling of them. A part of me began to believe that I was deserving of such treatment.

I hear Alex's gasp and realize I was speaking out loud.

"Your Alpha allowed such things?!" he growls.

I shrug. "He hated me. Still does. Anyway, I was six years old when I picked my first lock. I had been confined in the broom closet for three days because…Well, I don't even remember what I had done. But I was starving."

I recall the desperation and that gnawing sensation in my belly. It felt like my insides were eating themselves. I feel numb when I think of that time, almost as if it was an out-of-body experience. As if it happened to somebody else.

"I stuck anything and everything I could get my hands on into the keyhole to get that door to open, and then it did. That was when I realized I could open locks without a key. I never starved after that." A proud smile forms on my lips. "Every time the Director punished me and locked me up somewhere, I would pick the lock once everybody was asleep and then break into the kitchen and eat to my heart's content."

Those memories don't bother me anymore, but when I look up at Alex to tell him to keep the light steady, I see the distress in his eyes.

"They were so cruel to you."

I move my shoulders in a casual shrug. "I try not to dwell on the past. Besides, once I have the money I need to get out of here, I'm never going to look back."

"What do you mean?"

I sink my teeth into my lower lip, angry at myself. Me and my big fat mouth. Why can't I just shut up when I'm around him?

"Forget you heard anything."

"That's a little hard to do, Sophia. What's this money you're talking about?" Alex asks sharply. "Where are you going?"

I lower my hands and look up at him. "I'm planning to buy my freedom from the Alliance. I'm going to leave this town."

Alex stares at me. "Leave? And go where?"

I shrug once again. "Europe, maybe? I heard the rules are pretty lax over there. I want to travel and explore the world. I want to live on my terms."

"And where are you getting the money from?"

"That's my business."

The last thing I need is for him to start prying into my personal affairs. This man doesn't understand the meaning of the word boundaries .

He opens his mouth, but I say, "Just hold the light steady. This isn't the time or place to have a full-blown conversation. We don't have that luxury right now."

"You're so bossy," Alex says, but he shines the flashlight at the lock.

"You are welcome to leave. Don't let me stop you."

"You'd just love that, wouldn't you?"

"Mm-hmm."

He doesn't say anything further, and I work in silence. It takes me a couple of long minutes, but I finally manage to open the padlock. Carefully putting it aside, I try to pull open the door, and my shoulder screams in protest.

"Let me." Before I can object, Alex picks me up by the waist and sets me down behind him. I'm still processing the fact that he just moved me like a piece of furniture when he pulls the door wide open, with ease.

"That's nothing to brag about," I grumble, ducking under his arm and snatching my phone from him.

I hear his chuckle, and it annoys me that even the sound of his laughter is enough to get my heart beating like a drum.

It was so much easier to hate him.

The walkway leading into the archives room is covered in a thick film of dust. I look around for a light switch, and I make a face when I see the cobwebs on it.

"Ew. Spiders."

To my surprise, Alex reaches out, clears the cobwebs with his hand, and flips on the light switch. "I didn't know you were afraid of spiders."

"Fear and dislike are two very different things," I inform him, feeling flustered.

I'm not a fan of spiders. They make my skin crawl.

With the light now flooding the basement, I blink in surprise when I realize that the archives room is larger than I imagined. It seems to be bigger than the library upstairs. I think this basement may run under the neighboring buildings, as well.

I put my phone in my pocket and take a deep breath. "We'd better get to work. I have a feeling they don't have a computerized system to help us with our search."

"What are we looking for here?" Alex tucks his hands in his pockets, his eyes taking everything in.

"History books. Anything on the Central Alliance." I look around for some sort of register that might have a list of the documents and books in this room.

"The Central Alliance?" Alex gives me an odd look. "What makes you so sure the wolf belongs to the Central Alliance?"

"Sure?" I scoff. "I'm just winging it at this point. Silver is closer in color to white than black or even the brown of the South Alliance wolves. That's all I've got, but we have to start somewhere, right?" My heart sinks as I see the number of bookshelves. There's a lot we're going to have to go through. "Unless, of course, you know something that can narrow down our search?"

Alex rolls up his sleeves. "No, you're right. The Silver Wolf probably belongs to the Central Alliance. That was some smart thinking."

Eyeing him suspiciously, I ask, "Are you mocking me?"

"Of course not!" Alex replies indignantly.

"Sure sounded like it," I mumble to myself—but of course, he hears me.

"You need to learn to take a compliment, Sophia. You're a smart woman. Am I not even allowed to acknowledge that?"

Flustered, I push up my own sleeves and try to change the subject. "Your pack must have its own archives room, right?"

Alex shakes his head. "We used to. But when Karina took over the North Alliance, she confiscated everything of value. Archives are extremely valuable for packs. Entire histories are recorded in them. Even deadly secrets."

Every time he mentions the Queen of the North Alliance, I feel a wave of disgust. I can't imagine somebody being so cruel as to do what that woman has done. All for the sake of power?

I've never been interested in power of any sort. I've always believed that if you have authority and control, you should protect your people. It's one of the reasons why, despite everything, I begrudgingly respect Alex. He's willing to do anything for his pack. No matter the cost to himself, when it comes to his people, there is no line he won't cross.

No heart he won't break.

There's a stack of registers on the table in the corner of the room, and I blow the dust off before opening the first one. A smug smile forms on my face, and I call out, "Wait. Found it."

I run my finger down the directory, going over the names. "Aisle five, shelf number three. There should be a book called The Birth of the Three Alliances ."

Alex doesn't question me; he simply follows my instructions. As he does so, I begin calling out the names of other books and their locations. Not surprisingly, there aren't many books on the mysterious Central Alliance, but there are a few that are solely dedicated to it.

It takes us an hour to gather all the books and set them down on the floor.

I check my watch. "We have four hours before sunrise. We should try to be out of here by then, even though Mr. Felton doesn't open the library until nine a.m."

"I think we can manage this in four hours," Alex assures me confidently. "I'm a fast reader."

"Then, let's get to work."

There's not much about the Central Alliance in the first couple of books I examine, aside from the color of their fur, which we already knew is pure white. There's no mention of any silver-furred wolf. But in the fifth book, I come across a strange paragraph.

"The blood of the white wolves carries a magical strain that is passed on to one child in every generation. That child is protected by the Central Alliance and concealed from the rest. The leader of the Central Alliance refers to the child as the last hope for the unity of wolves. She is of their people, but she is not one of them. She is born wolf, witch, and human. With the strength and cunning of a wolf, the powers of the greatest witch, and the heart of a human, she is unity itself."

As I read the paragraph aloud, Alex looks up. "That's referring to the Silver Wolf, isn't it?" he asks.

"I don't know," I reply hesitantly. "It sure sounds like it, but it's not explicitly mentioned."

"Let's keep searching." Alex picks up another book.

Although I am knee-deep in research, I can't stop myself from looking over at Alex every couple of minutes. I'm trying to keep myself focused, but having him so close to me keeps reminding me of how he was in bed with me.

I bet he has a lot of experience with women. I've heard that the first time is always uncomfortable and awkward; I was in the thrall of the aphrodisiac, but I don't think anything about our time together was uncomfortable or awkward in the least. I could tell Alex's touch was experienced. In fact, I have a hard time not thinking about it.

I feel a hint of shame for wanting to be with him again in that way. It upsets me that I need him so desperately. He's acting so normal, so casual, that I can tell he's completely unaffected, while my heart aches with an unidentified pain. I know I'm simply assuming the worst and shouldn't agonize too much over this, but his casual attitude with me is hurtful. I don't know how to tell him that.

"There's a cage fighting ring," Alex says abruptly, out of the blue. My head jerks up, and I look at him, frozen in place. The way he's watching me has my insides squirming. "I believe the Silver Wolf is taking part in those matches."

This is the perfect opportunity for me to tell him that he's looking in the wrong place. But I don't want to give myself away. I still need to take part in the fights to make more money.

It's always been hard for me to trust people. I know Alex won't hurt me, but the barriers between us stop me from telling him the truth. I have an innate fear that he'll turn around and stab me in the back. My wolf is adamant that he's trustworthy, but the human side of me—the one that has faced the dark, treacherous side of people for far too long—refuses to listen.

My lips part, and I try to figure out the right thing to say.

"I want to ask you—" Alex begins, but I cut him off tersely.

"The Silver Wolf isn't taking part in those fights."

Alex watches me, and I see a subtle disappointment in his eyes. "And how do you know that for sure?"

"I—I just know. If you're looking for the Silver Wolf in the cage fighting ring, you're looking in the wrong place, wasting your time."

"There is a shifter taking part—"

"It's not her."

I see Alex's hand curl into a fist, and his voice is a little harsh as he demands, "Tell me how you know, Sophia."

I give him a tightlipped smile. "It's a small town, Alex. I just know. Do you really want to waste our time talking about the cage fighting ring right now?"

Why do I see hurt flash over his face? I don't understand. A part of me wants to apologize for something that I don't quite get, but I simply stay quiet. Setting another book aside, I pick up the second-to-last one in the pile beside me.

And that is when I hit a gold mine.

"Here. Look at this."

Alex quickly scoots over to me, and I point at a line a few pages into the book as I read it to him. "The Silver Wolf is an anomaly born from the original Alpha bloodline that stems from the remaining pack in the Central Alliance. The ability to practice magic is a gift bestowed upon this child, but unlike witches, the Silver Wolf has the ability to become a source of unimaginable strength and power. Only those who have the blood of the Silver Wolf can produce another. Knowledge of the Silver Wolf is limited, and it is said that to harness the power of the silver-furred creature, it must be done under a blanket of mutual affection or destruction." I look at Alex. "What do you think that means?"

He looks thoughtful as he stares down at the text, and then he reaches out and grabs another book from his own pile. He opens it to a specific page. He doesn't show it to me, but after reading some of it, he frowns. "I think what it's saying is that for the Silver Wolf to share her power with somebody, it has to be done willingly. If she were to be coerced, she might…it might not work."

"So does ‘mutual affection' mean the Silver Wolf has to love somebody in order to help them?" I ask.

Alex looks as confused as I am. "In this book, it says ‘willingly.' So perhaps it just means she has to want to help the person."

"What happens when she is forced?"

That is when he shows me the passage. "There have been two recorded instances where forced matings of the Silver Wolf resulted in a disappearance of her powers." Alex closes the book and says, "So, if one forcibly puts their mating mark on the creature, she will lose her abilities."

I raise my eyebrows. "Well, nature certainly has its ways." Alex looks troubled, and I study him. "Don't tell me you were planning to force your mating mark on the Silver Wolf."

He pauses, then admits, "In my desperation, it's not as if the thought hasn't occurred to me. But it wouldn't be right. I'm hoping to convince her to help us, maybe win her heart."

Hearing him speak of winning another woman's heart makes me experience a crippling pain, but I keep a straight face. As I speak, my smile is insincere, an attempt to hide the raging wound inside. "Well, you'd better whip out your best courting strategies then."

Alex studies me. "It bothers you."

It's not easy to maintain my smile. Not when it feels like somebody is stabbing me in the heart. But I try. "It doesn't. I told you I'd help you. Let's just leave it at that." I check my watch, and my eyes go wide. "We're running out of time. We only have half an hour till sunrise."

Alex glances around. "We've been through most of the books. Maybe we should stop here."

I shake my head. "No. You said you're a fast reader. You go over the remaining books. The ones we're done with, I'll put back."

He looks at me for what seems like a long time, then gives me a nod.

I make sure that every book is returned to its rightful place. The sun is probably rising in the sky once Alex is done; he helps me put back the remaining books.

"Find anything?" I ask him.

"Something about the blood of the Silver Wolf. The writing was smeared, so I couldn't make it out. I saw the word ‘frenzy,' but everything else was blurred out. And there was no other identifying feature about it."

I am not disappointed, though. "At least we found out how the wolf's powers work."

Alex agrees with me. "It's more than what I knew before breaking in here."

I make sure I have all my things with me before we leave. It takes some effort, but I manage to lock the padlock again, and we exit the library through the back door. The sun is already in the sky.

I gesture to Alex with my hand. "You should get going. People in this town are early risers."

He shakes his head stubbornly. "Not till I know you are safely out of here, as well. I don't want you getting caught."

It takes some time for me to lock the door of the back entrance.

"Go," I tell him urgently once I'm done. I don't know why Alex looks so reluctant, but he needs to move it. When he finally does leave, I watch him until he is out of sight before making my own exit.

Using the back alleys to wend my way home, I don't come across anybody, and when I enter my apartment, I don't even bother changing out of my dusty clothes. I collapse face down on the bed with a loud groan.

I'm both physically exhausted and mentally drained.

Turning my head to rest my cheek against the pillow, I stare at the wall, thinking about everything we've just discovered.

I need to go see Rita. I need to talk to her. But exhaustion catches up with me, and my eyes flutter shut. I make a mental note to do it after I've rested.

I just need to sleep for a while…

I'm back in that dungeon. This time, the wolf with the dirty, silver-gray fur is awake and watching me. It is still chained to the wall.

I clutch the bars of its cage. "Who are you?"

Why does it hurt to see this wolf in this miserable state?

"Why are you in chains?"

The wolf's head is on its paws. It blinks slowly, looking at me. Its eyes look defeated, and my own swarm with tears. Why do I feel so desperate and heartbroken? I don't even know who this wolf is.

"Tell me how to help you."

It just watches me, as if it doesn't have the strength even to make a sound.

I pull at the bars, but they don't budge. I see gashes on the wolf's hind legs, as if somebody has sliced the muscles to prevent it from moving. I notice the rotting smell of feces filling this place. The wolf is lying in its own filth.

"Who are the monsters keeping you here?!" My voice is growing more hysterical by the second. I have to get it out of here. I have to help it!

But there is nothing I can do. I feel so utterly powerless right now.

"At least tell me your name! Can you shift into your human form?"

Nothing happens. I can see the pain in its eyes, but when it looks at me, I can also see love. I fall to my knees and start trying to dig into the cement floor.

"I'll get you out of here!" I slam my claws against the cement. "I will!"

Some of it cracks, but I barely make a dent in the floor.

The wolf closes its eyes. I know somehow that it is going back to sleep.

"No!" I shout, slamming my hands against the bars. "Tell me who you are!"

Once again, I hear the sound of footsteps down the hallway. I turn my head.

My eyes fly open, and I'm back in bed. My mind is racing as I stare at the ceiling.

My eyes are wet, my heart is pounding desperately, and my wolf is howling inside my head, miserable. I curl onto my side, sobs racking my body. I don't know why I am crying. But my heart feels shattered. Beyond repair.

Who is that wolf? Why is it coming into my dreams?

And where is it?