Chapter 20

Sophia

"It was the fog," Logan tells me as I give him the flask to drink some water. He sips the water slowly, before setting it down. "We didn't see it coming. As soon as you stepped out of our sight, the fog just rolled in. We didn't even get a chance to react before the paralysis set in."

"The witches must've been waiting," I say darkly. "I was able to create a barrier and I tried to get back in time but…"

"It wouldn't have been any use," Logan reassures me. "The attack was fast and planned. The fog paralyzed us within a few seconds. The portal opened up and soldiers arrived, attacking Alex. I tried to step in, but the effect of the paralysis was stronger on me than it was on him. He still had some fight left in him, but they knocked him out, and he was pulled into the portal right before my eyes. We heard you scream, but we couldn't respond."

He looks guilty and I shake my head. "There is nothing you could have done. You're lucky to still be alive. Alex was probably able to fight of the effects because of our bond. But I know who has him. We'll get him back."

I gaze into the fire, my wolf snarling inside my head. My voice is low, filled with a rage that I so rarely experience. "I'll get him back, or I'll burn down the entire North Alliance trying."

"If you know where he is, let's go after him," Logan urges.

"It's not going to be that easy. Queen Karina wants me to act recklessly. She's not going to kill Alex. Killing him means my death. She wants to get her hands on the Silver Wolf. She's playing a lot of her cards all at the same time. The attack on the humans, the attack on Alex. She's probably figured out that we're going to try and stop the attack, so she's trying to divide us. She's right. Alex is a priority."

"You have a plan in mind?" Logan asks me, studying my expression.

"We're going to continue on to the South Alliance." I hate myself even as I utter the words. I don't know what condition Alex is in, but I know that going alone into the North Alliance is nothing short of a suicide mission. If Karina captures me, it's over for all three alliances. She'll get what she wants.

"My plan is a little strange, but if you can cooperate with me on this, Logan, we will be able to cut our journey in half."

"Three days?" Logan stares at me. "I thought Ricker Town was at least a week away, and that was if we pushed ourselves."

I look up at him. "No breaks. One of us sleeps while the other runs. And we switch roles. When I run, you sleep on my back. And when you run, I sleep on your back. When we switch, we eat and continue."

The older man stiffens. "That's ridiculous. I can't…"

"This is not about what you want," I cut him off, my tone severe. "Or about what is proper or now. This is about us getting to the others in time and letting them know what's happened. We have to prepare the soldiers. A lot has to be done and we don't have time to waste now. Like I said, if you're willing to cooperate with me, we can do it this way, or I can just go by myself and run without stopping. When I collapse, I collapse. It's your choice."

Logan studies me and then sighs. "Let's go."

I lift my hand. "Not like this. You've not recovered yet. Eat and sleep for a few hours. We'll leave once the sun is about to rise."

Logan doesn't have the strength to argue with me. And after eating some dinner, he falls asleep. I tighten the barrier around us and lean against the tree, unable to sleep. Thoughts of Alex haunt me. Is he hurt? How bad is his head wound? Is he awake? How much pain is he in? What is Karina doing to him?

My eyes are unseeing as I gaze into the fire.

There's a lot going on in my mind. Sleep evades me, and when Logan wakes up, the darkness is fading to give way to the sun.

He takes the first shift. He points out that there are dark circles under my eyes.

I pack some of the meat to save us time when it comes to hunting. Once Logan begins running with me on his back, it's the strong beat of his heart that finally helps me to nod off. When I wake up, he's stopped and is unloading the bag. It's dark outside, and he looks tired, but he doesn't say a word. However, as soon as we eat, I quickly shift and he climbs onto my back. The next three days go like this. We work in tandem, silently. He doesn't offer me any comfort and I'm grateful for it. I know that Alex is alive. That is all I need to know for now.

It's nightfall when we reach Ricker Town, and the first person I lay eyes on is Nathan.

"Why are you carrying a man on your back?" Nathan demands, his tone outraged as he approaches us. "How dare you touch our Alpha Female!"

I shift back and Logan jumps to the ground.

"Where's Alex?" Nathan looks around. "Sophia…"

I hold up a hand, stopping him in mid-sentence. "We need food. Get Brian and the others. We have a situation to attend to."

His face pales.

***

"What are we waiting for?" Nathan slams his hand on the desk, causing the food on my plate to lift a few inches in the air. "We should go after them now!"

"We have no proof!" Patrick retorts. "We'll be going in blind. We don't even know where he is!"

"I'm with Nathan here." Jared looks angry.

Saul shakes his head, looking at Patrick. "We at least need to infiltrate Karina's pack. We'll figure out where she's keeping Alex and we go from there."

As the others argue, I chew on the hastily thrown together burger, processing my thoughts. Brian, who's been silent up till now, looks at me. "What are your thoughts, Sophia?"

I pick up the glass of water before me and take a sip, trying to push down the dry bread of the burger bun. Setting it down, I look at every face in the room. "She wants me to go in blind. She's attacking on two fronts. Me and the humans. She has all the witches in the North under her control now. If we choose to prioritize Alex, we won't be able to prevent the war. If we prioritize the war, she might dangle Alex at the end of the conflict to force me to switch sides."

"Which is exactly why we say fuck the war and go after Alex!" Jared raises his voice.

I ignore him, turning my attention toward Brian. "You told me that you were told a prophecy about the war and the Silver Wolf. Can you tell me exactly what it was?"

"Not off the top of my head," Brian frowns, "but the gist of it, was that a war between alliances would take place and the Silver Wolf would be the deciding factor. Around the time you were born, several witch covens began to come to me with prophecies about the Silver Wolf. At the time, I still considered you a myth, so while I listened, I didn't pay much attention. But Karina probably listened. She's probably trying to get you under control to turn the tide of the war in her favor."

I point at him, looking at the others. "What he's saying."

"He's talking witches and prophecies," Nathan snaps. "Why can't you see…"

"A war is about to break out." I meet Nathan's gaze steadily. "Out of all the people in this room, I am the most desperate to get Alex back. But I know that if I walk into Karina's trap, not only will three alliances be destroyed, Alex will be lost forever. I cannot afford to let that happen. She's not going to kill Alex. She'll hurt him, but not kill him."

I feel queasy as I say the words, but I harden my heart. "If Alex was here right now, he would be telling you the same thing. Don't you dare deny it."

Everybody falls silent. After all, these four people know Alex best. They know I'm right even if I hate to be right in this moment.

"I want nothing more than to go after Alex right now. Believe me, if he had been nearby after the attack, I would have. But they used a portal to transport him, and I don't know to where. Brian, Alex told me that you have an extensive spy network. Can we utilize it?"

He nods. "I'll start sending out feelers. Somebody out there must know something. I'll find out what I can."

"Patrick, after Alex, who is in charge of his underground spy network?" I look at Alex's righthand man.

"That would be me." Saul lifts his hand. He exchanges a look with Brian and says, "I'll do the same."

"You need to look for two other things. One, see if you can find out any information about the witches who have gone missing. And…" I hesitate, knowing that my last request might not be as important to them, and one they might consider selfish. But my mother is not dead yet, so I will be selfish.

"I need to look into my father. I'll talk to Elsa and see what she knows, but I need some people looking into his location. There's a chance he might be alive, and Robert has stashed him somewhere like he did my mother. If he is alive, he's the only one who can save my mother now. All I can do now is extend her life by a little bit more, but that will be it."

To my surprise, the others nod in agreement. "We'll do that."

"Tomorrow morning, let's convene here again, and let's hold a meeting with the other Alphas. We need to mobilize all our forces. Once we get an idea of where Alex is, myself and a few others will go after him, and our soldiers will protect the humans. Even if we are unable to stop Karina's attack entirely, the human governments will know that we are on their side. It might negate some of the ill will toward us. We cannot afford a war to break out. The South Alliance is now declaring war on Karina. She's an unfit ruler. She has to be removed."

Brian goes still. "The other Alphas of the north will not agree to it. They have no choice, but to obey her because of the children…"

"You leave that to me," I say, simply, my brain cooking something up. "I'll handle them."

The others look relieved that I have at least some semblance of a plan in mind. As they file out, Patrick and Brian linger behind.

"That man that you brought with you," Patrick begins, "he refuses to enter the town."

"Leave Logan alone. Just send him food, water, and clothes. He'll be coming with me when I go to get Alex."

"Are you sure you can trust him?" Patrick asks.

I give Patrick a faint smile. "I trust him. As does Alex. I need to see my mother and rest. I'll tell you about him in the morning. Just make sure he has food and a place to sleep, even if it's outside."

Patrick studies me for a moment before nodding. "I'll take care of it. You rest."

As he heads out, he stops by the door and looks back at me. "We'll get him back, Sophia. We will."

I don't answer him because I'm doing everything I possibly can to hold myself together right now. As soon as the door closes behind him, I let out a rush of breath, and then bury my face in my hands.

Brian's hand comes up to rest on my shoulder. "This is a tough time for you, Sophia."

I laugh, humorlessly, and he adds, "You are doing a fine job. You've really stepped up and become the leader I knew you could be."

I lift my head and gaze at him. "A leader? Brian, I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I don't have leadership skills. Right now, I'm just saying what I think is the right course of action. It is you, Alex, and the others who are experienced leaders. I'm just fumbling in the dark."

"We are here to guide you," Brian tells me firmly, "but nothing you have said so far is wrong. You're making the right decisions."

His words do little to bolster me.

"I just want Alex back. I want a peaceful life. But the fates keep slinging problems my way. I wasn't thinking about the North Alliance. I just wanted to save my mother. But now," my eyes are flashing as I look at Brian, "if I don't get Alex back, I will burn down the North, make no mistake about that." The air around me crackles with the magic of fire and electricity. "And if anyone gets in my way, they'll burn too."

Brian's face doesn't so much as twitch. "Understood. You should go see your mother and get some rest."

Once he leaves, I lean back in the chair and close my eyes, finally allowing my grief to take control.

Marlene had wanted to teach me a locator spell but we had run out of time. I have her number. Maybe I can…

Walking out of the office with the small crossbody bag I've been carrying with me ever since I left the South Alliance, I make my way to the business center of the town. It's late, but maybe there's a shop open where I can a buy a new phone. Mine was left back in Oakrest Town. However, the shops are all closed.

The bars are open though, and a few drunk shifters are roaming around. Not all of them are drunk. A group of males see me standing in the middle of the street and approach me. I watch them cautiously, not scared, but wondering what they want.

They don't seem drunk to me.

"Look boys!" one of them jeers, pointing at me. "There's our new Alpha, the little Queen of the South."

They surround me, all three large, hefty-looking male shifters. "Whose dick did you have to suck, bitch?"

"Man, they just let anyone rule over us."

"Maybe she's really good with her mouth."

Hoots of angry laughter.

"Come on. Show us your technique, Alpha Whore!"

"I think you meant Queen Whore."

Snickering all around.

"Open wide!"

They're reaching for their pants, their intentions all too clear. But I'm not scared.

My insides feel cold as ice, surrounding a raging fire within me.

"What're you men doing?" comes an angry shout in the distance, but they don't pay attention to Jared. And neither do I.

They've already fished out their cocks and I eye them, unimpressed.

"If my mate was here," I begin softly, the ice inside me deadlier than the inferno it's concealing, "he would have ripped you all to shreds for even daring to touch your pants in front of me. But I don't need him to protect me from useless lumps of flesh like you."

I point my finger at the man in front of me, sending out a thin stream of fire.

His little manhood catches fire and he lets out a piercing scream. The others haven't caught on to what is happening, staring in horror at their companion who is screaming and hopping around, trying to stop his dick from burning. Without even bothering to watch the little show he's putting on, I do the same to the rest of them.

Within minutes, the men are howling in agony, clutching their exposed dicks, which are now on fire. The fire isn't spreading, not even to their clothing.

"Don't bother putting it out," I say, coldly. "It will burn until your dicks are crisp."

"Sophia!" Jared reaches me. looking in horror at the sight before him. People are rushing out of the bars and open restaurants to stare at the spectacle.

"What did you do to them?" Jared shrinks from the men who are now gasping, their voices hoarse.

"I taught them a lesson in respect," I reply, unaffected. "They wanted to teach me my place, so I taught them theirs."

I turn on my heel and begin walking toward the housing units Elsa and my mother are staying in. "Leave them be. Nobody touches them. Once the rest of the pack wake up, I want them to see what I can do. This is me being merciful."

Jared takes out the two-way radio attached to his belt and calls over some soldiers, conveying my instructions to them, before following me.

"Was that really necessary?" he asks, concerned. "You could have just knocked them out or something. Or let me deal with them."

"My mate isn't here to protect me," I say bluntly. "They're lucky that's all I did to them. I could have forced that fire inside their mouths. let them burn from the inside out."

Jared pales. "Why're you being like this? You're not…"

"Not this violent?" I whip around to face him. "Is that what you were about to say? Do you think I need somebody coming to my rescue all the time? If I'm the Queen of the South Alliance, I should have the ability to stand up for myself."

Jared opens his mouth, but I don't let him get a word in. "The Red Rock Wolf Pack isn't going to accept me so easily. They thought they could intimidate me, that they could hurt me. After tomorrow morning, this pack will think twice before coming after me."

Jared looks tense. "You could also start a rebellion."

"Those will rebel who have sided with Robert and Noah and profited from their corrupt practices. And if anyone rebels, I'll deal with that as well. This is why I was so reluctant to come back to this place. It has nothing but bad memories for me. You don't know these people. You don't know how corrupt and evil they are. Was an audit conducted of all the businesses here?"

I begin walking and Jared trails after me.

There is newfound respect in his voice as he replies, "Yes. Certain businesses were not paying any taxes but were sending money directly into Robert's bank account. Some were being forced to pay exorbitant amounts of tax money. That money was also going to Robert's personal fund. What do you want to do about that?"

I come to a halt and give him an assessing look. "This whole tax issue can wait till we get Alex out. I'm not an expert on this whole tax issue. Get somebody from your pack, a trusted accountant and get them to look over the entire tax issue. Tell them to study Robert's bank accounts, and his incoming and outgoing payments. See what they can find. If money was being embezzled from businesses, return it. Also make sure that both Noah and Robert's accounts are blocked from being accessed by anybody but me or the accountant who's handling things right now."

Jared nods.

In my head, I made sense, but I don't know if I made sense to him. I hope so.

Once we reach the apartment building, Jared stops me. "I'll make sure to spread the CCTV footage of the attack right now. If you want to earn respect through fear, I'll make sure it happens."

I give him a weary smile before heading inside. Closing the door behind me, I lean against it.

I wanted those men to hurt.

But their pain only gave me temporary satisfaction. They needed to be taught a lesson. Even if I don't like the idea of inflicting pain, it doesn't mean I can't do it.

When they surrounded me, considering me easy prey, all the anger and darkness within me had risen up, wanting to crush them like insignificant insects. I have always been impulsive. Alex told me that plenty of times, but I never listened to him. Things always worked out for me, one way or the other.

I am going against my instincts right now by returning here and not going after Alex. It's not easy to make decisions when I am forcing myself to be rational and level-headed. I don't want any of this responsibility tossed my way. I only want the responsibility of finding Alex. Screw everything else.

But the weight of all these lives depending on me is too heavy a burden.

Sighing, I rub my eyes, tired and hurting.

"You'd better be alive and in one piece when I find you, Alex," I sniffle, making my way to my mother's room, "or I'll kill you myself."