Chapter 23

Sophia

"What is going on?" Nathan looks around, tense.

The uniforms the shifters are wearing are a dead giveaway to their identity.

"It's Karina's soldiers," Patrick murmurs in a hushed voice. "She must've been waiting for us."

"How is that possible?" I look at the men surrounding us. They're not moving or attacking. They're just blocked every escape route. "She shouldn't have been able to know where we arrived, or that we were arriving at all."

"We're not at the entrance of the North border," Jared points out, his eyes trained on the cloaked witches standing behind the soldiers. "This is the near Karina's territory."

"Why did Elsa send us here?" Patrick is furious. "She was a trait…"

My voice is hard. "Elsa didn't betray us. Something else must have happened. Somebody must've interfered with her magic."

The sound of a slow clap has me looking sharply to the right. The soldiers and witches move aside to let a woman through.

Karina.

She claps her hands, slowly. "Well-spotted. No, your little witch friend didn't betray you. I've had witches monitoring you and any magic cast around you for a while now. I couldn't track you within the Central Alliance, but outside of it,tracking you was easy. It's not that hard for a witch to mess with a spell that is in the process of being cast."

Karina is wearing a deep red jumpsuit, her dark hair tied into an intricate braid that flows past her hips. Her icy blue eyes look entertained, and there is a cruel glint in them that makes me shiver.

There's something wrong with her eyes.

"Are you looking for Alex?"

I take a step toward her. "You kidnapped my mate. I want him back."

"I'm afraid I can't do that." Karina smiles at me again.

My eyes narrow into slits. "Are you willing to start a war with the South Alliance? Kidnapping my consort is grounds for a war."

Karina's smile broadens. "A war? Me? You are the one who just crossed into the North Alliance without asking. You do know there is protocol, don't you? You have to ask permission before entering my territory."

I sneer at her. "Don't make me laugh. If you want to play that game, you entered the South Alliance to kidnap Alex. I don't play politics, Karina. I want my mate."

Karina arches a brow. "Fine. Then let me be blunt as well. You and your mate humiliated me at the banquet. Did you think I would ignore a slight like that?"

"Humiliated you? You were trying to capture me. And when you couldn't have me, you were attempting to force me into captivity by capturing Alex. You were in the wrong the whole time!"

Karina shrugs. "It's a pity you're not interested in playing politics. You won't go very far in life, Sophia. If you don't want your mate to suffer, you will surrender willingly."

She brings out a collar and leash and throws them at my feet. "You humiliated me. Now it's your turn to live a life of humiliation."

My companions snarl at the insult. I don't even bother looking at the collar and chain at my feet.

"I decline."

Karina chuckles. "You can stop acting tough. You're barely just an adult. I fear the South Alliance leaders were hasty in choosing you as their queen. You have no experience. And from what I've heard, you don't even have an education. The only thing you have is your mate. You will never see him again." She gestures with her hands. "You're free to look around, but you won't find him. It's better to surrender."

I stick my hands in my pockets, rocking on my heels. "You're right. I don't have much of an education, and maybe the Alphas of the South were a little hasty in choosing someone so ignorant as me for their leader. But the fact is, I am still the leader. I know about the war that you are planning. I know you want to control me so that you can win this war. That's not going to happen."

I bare my teeth at her. "Uneducated and inexperienced as I may be, I do understand responsibility. And as the Queen of the South Alliance, I'm pretty sure I should be preventing a war from breaking out, no matter the personal cost to me."

Karina narrows her eyes and I continue with a shrug. "At least, that's what Alex would tell me to do. But I have no intentions of making any sort of personal sacrifice. Alex is, and will always be, my first priority. That does not mean that I am going to let you start a war that will ruin our lives. I am not going to surrender to anybody."

Karina scoffs. "Is your little speech done?"

I don't bother with a response.

She lifts her hand and points to the left. "You see that? That is where the human city is. My soldiers are going to reach it within another couple of hours. They're going to destroy that city and kill all the humans. I know you were trying to stop the attack. But how will your soldiers make it to the North when every pack in the South Alliance is currently under attack?"

A smile blooms on her face.

Every pack?

I exchange a quick look with Patrick, whose body is stiff.

"It seems that the only ones who can protect the humans from the big bad queen is your little party of six." Karina laughs. "Against my entire army. What a joke."

She's clearly enjoying this. "So, who will you choose? Alex or those humans? You should keep in mind that the place where I have stashed your precious mate is one that can traumatize him for life."

Her smile is a little unhinged and my heart flutters in panic.

"What did you do to him?" I demand.

"I had years to work on him," Karina informs me. "I had years to develop a form of torture that can break his mind. Alex tries to be all tough and strong in front of you, but you don't know his deepest, darkest fears. I do. Because I created those fears. I put them in his heart. I put him in a place that he considers his personal hell. Every minute there is worse than physical torture for him."

She's giggling now. The mere sight is enough to make my blood run cold.

"So, who will you choose, Sophia?" Karina studies me, delighted. "The humans and this war, or Alex?"

When I'm silent, she presses, "Let me explain your options to you. If you choose to prevent this war, not only will your mate resent you, but by the time you find him, if you ever do that is, he'll be a shell of himself. Don't think that just because you have faith in him, he's going to survive. And even if you do prevent the war, I am the only one who knows where he is. Walking across the North Alliance will not help you find him. His location is rather unique. I will never tell you where he is, Sophia. And I made arrangements that even if something were to happen to me, he will not die. I want him to live like this, stuck in a place where all he knows is torment."

I want to rip out her tongue, claw out her eyes.

"But, if you choose to surrender, I will allow you to see him occasionally. How does once a year sound?"

A cold, tight knot forms in my gut, and my pulse races as I stare at the woman before me. My heart is racing. My response is on the tip of my tongue, but I press my lips together.

The smugness in her eyes as she gazes back at me infuriates me. She knows she has me by the throat.

"Do you ever shut up?"

Karina's eyes narrow into tiny slits. "Excuse me?"

I infuse my voice with every bit of irritation and disgust I can muster up in this moment. "You just keep yapping and yapping. Do you think I'm so stupid that I will believe anything you have to say? I'm not going to hand myself over to you just because threaten Alex's life. For all I know, you're lying through your teeth."

"You…" Karina glowers at me, two spots of color on her otherwise pale cheeks.

I pick up the collar and leash and throw them at Karina's face. "Don't insult me by underestimating my mate. Alex is more resilient than you will ever understand."

Patrick and Jared grunt in approval at my words. Nathan is pale but he stands taller.

"You think you managed to break Alex, didn't you?" I sneer at her. "All you succeeded in doing was hardening his resolve. He can adapt to any situation. He has the patience of a fucking saint. I can guarantee that wherever you put him, no matter how hard it is for him, he'll break free. And, let's just say if he doesn't, he knows I'll be coming for him. I'm not going to be intimidated by your threats. You're nothing more than a bully and a coward."

Karina's face turns red in anger. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

Anger thrums within my blood. "You will never control the three alliances. I won't let you. The world you are trying to build is one of destruction and bloodshed. I have too many people I care about who live in this world. Your dream is never going to come true."

"Seize her!" Karina has had enough. "Kill the rest but capture the Silver Wolf!"

To my surprise, the soldiers don't move, but the cloaked witches do.

Logan instantly shields me, but he can't protect me from the magic-imbued attacks.

The others clutch their heads in pain, their knees buckling. Without hesitation. I form a barrier around myself, the magic sliding off. Logan is sliding to the ground near me, his expression strained.

I expand the barrier, inch by inch, all the while summoning magic from the earth. We can't escape by running through the soldiers surrounding us.

I begin building the portal.

I can, at best, get us a few feet away from Karina's people, but that is all the distance we need. But creating a portal takes time and I have to let Karina believe she is succeeding.

Logan is the closest to me and the first one the barrier covers. As soon as I see his body relax, I whisper, "Don't get up. Karina can't know."

Logan immediately understands what I mean, because he remains on the ground, his eyes on my left hand, which is gathering tendrils of magic from the forest ground.

As the barrier expands and the others begin to feel relief, I murmur the same instructions to them. The witches seem frustrated, because they double down on their attack.

"What's wrong?" Karina demands.

"Our attacks…" one of the witches closest to Karina speaks up, strain in her voice. "Their brains should be turning to liquid, but nothing is happening!"

I know the jig is up when Karina makes an outraged sound. "She's blocking it! She's doing something! Grab the Silver Wolf! Go after her first!"

The soldiers move at her orders, and that's when I pour the last remaining magic into the orb, creating the portal.

"Come on!" I yell at my companions. "Let's get out of here!"

The others are on their feet, rushing toward me and Karina screams, "Stop her!"

But the witches can't interfere with the portal when I have set up a barrier that doesn't allow any magic to enter. It's a trick I learned from one of the younger witches in Marlene's coven. I didn't know that it would actually come in handy at some point.

The tugging sensation of the portal begins and I warn, "Be prepared to shift and run. Don't stop. We're not going that far!"

True to my word, the portal drops us a short distance from Karina. We can still see the group of witches, but it takes them a few minutes to see us because trees are blocking their line of sight. Using that to our advantage, we shift and begin running. As we do, I use my magic to wipe out our scent. Karina's people will be able to follow us, but not for long if our scents are missing. I make sure to linger at the tail end of the group to wipe out each individual wolf's scent.

I keep looking over my shoulder to make sure they're not on our trail, my anxiety thrumming through me.

We keep running for a couple of hours before we come to a stop.

I quickly draw up a barrier to hide us from the outside world, before shifting back and letting out a ragged breath. "We're in the clear."

Hands on my knees, I catch my breath, the combination of running in my wolf form and casting such strong magic, taking its toll on me.

Logan approaches me. "What's wrong?"

Gasping for breath, I gesture at him with one hand to give me a minute.

The others are looking around, worried.

When I finally feel able to speak, the first thing I do is reassure them. "Even if they come by here, they can't see us or hear us. I can maintain this barrier for at least thirty minutes at most, but we don't need that long."

"What were you doing back there?" Jared asks curiously. "I felt the pain, but then it was gone."

"I put up a barrier. There are different sorts of barriers. I put up a really strong one. It prevents any magic from reaching us. It also prevents any from going out. I dropped it immediately when I touched the portal. It was a huge gamble." I give him a weak smile. "Massive fucking gamble."

Saul looks at me. "What are we going to do about Alex? Karina said she has him stashed…"

"Don't believe everything Karina says," I cut him off, tense. "Alex is more resourceful than she thinks. He won't succumb to whatever she is trying to do to him. I know him."

"Are you saying we shouldn't go look for him?" Nathan curls his upper lip. "Because that's not happening."

I give him an annoyed look. "Calm down. I didn't say that. We have to look for Alex. But we also have to prevent this war, and to do that, we have to stop the attack on the humans in the next few hours. Help isn't coming. The packs in the South will be too busy defending themselves to come all the way here, and by the time they do manage to arrive, it will be too late. So I have another idea."

All eyes are on me.

"Patrick, you, Jarad, Saul, and Nathan go look for Alex. Logan and I will head to the human city and warn the government of the impending attack. That way, they will be able to evacuate their people in time."

When nobody says anything, I feel nervous. "I'm not saying it's the best plan. But it is the only option I see right now. At least this way, they will know that it is only Karina who is trying to attack them and the South Alliance is standing by their side to protect them. It might ensure that the humans don't see us as the enemy . Karina doesn't speak for the entire shifter community. If we can get the humans to realize this, our common enemy will become Karina."

"The idea is fine," Patrick says slowly. "But you are batshit crazy to believe for even a second that I'm going to abandon you to go look for Alex. He will kill me. I'm coming with you."

Nathan makes a sound of agreement. "We can warn the humans and then go look for Alex. I don't like the idea of separating. You'll be too vulnerable."

Jared and Saul both nod silently.

"If anything happens to you, Alex will not take it well," Patrick agrees. "We'll go with you to the humans. We'll warn them, and then we'll begin searching for Alex."

I look around at the faces of the men who have sworn their loyalty to Alex. "He could be suffering right now. Aren't you angry that I am not prioritizing him at this moment?"

Nathan is the first one to speak first. "If a war breaks out, finding Alex will be next to impossible. There will be too much chaos to conduct a search."

Jared nods. "Too much blood will be shed. You were right when you said that Alex would not want that. Even if we're desperate to find him, if he were standing here right now, he would tell us to focus on preventing this war."

"You're making the right decision, even if it is hard," Saul pitches in, his eyes heavy. "And I can tell that it's hard on you, Sophia. We have your back. Don't worry."

Turning around, I try to control the emotions raging in my heart and say, "Let's go then."

Logan is surprisingly silent throughout the discussion. The human city is a few hours away from us, but we run at breakneck speed to get there. To my surprise, the city is fortified.

"The humans and shifters of the North have an uneasy relationship," Patrick explains, seeing my confusion. "Around the time Karina came into power, her soldiers would often kidnap human females. When the human governments contacted her to complain, she waved off their complaints, denying responsibility. As a result, the humans have increased their security. Although walls are not going to be enough to prevent an attack, it was enough to keep the shifters out at that time."

Worried, I look at the tall walls surrounding the city. There are human guards stationed at the entrance, and when they see us, one of them growls, "You are not humans."

He points his rifle at us. "Your kind is not welcome here."

He looks human, so how does he know what we are?

Logan seems to read my thoughts. "He's not human. He's got some shifter blood in him. I can smell it."

Patrick looks at him in surprise. "You can?"

Logan frowns. "You can't?"

The others shake their heads.

"He probably can't shift. He's not even a half-shifter," Logan muses. "It's a fraction of his blood. One of his ancestors was a wolf shifter, most likely."

I take a step forward. "We need to meet the leader of your city. You are in danger. We came here to warn you."

The man scoffs, "You're here to warn us? And why should we believe you?"

Logan glances at me. "Do you want me to rip off his head for you?"

I blink at the sudden violent threat. "Ah, n-no thanks."

The guard goes pale on hearing that, and it doesn't help when Logan bares his teeth, showing him a mouthful of sharp canines.

I elbow him. "We're trying to save them, not give them nightmares. Stop that!"

He scowls. "I was just trying to help."

I turn my attention back to the guard, who's trembling now. "Look. A pack of shifters is coming to attack your city. We have to meet with the mayor of your city to warn him. You humans have to evacuate before…"

I don't even get to finish the sentence.

An ugly feeling crawls down my spine just as I hear a whistling sound. My instincts have me whipping around, holding out my hand to create a barrier.

The arrow that had been aimed at me, bounces off the barrier, and as it does, I focus my gaze behind us at what had at first seemed like trees. But with the barrier between us, the camouflage fades and my heart sinks in shock and horror at the wolves standing near the tree line watching us.

And they're not alone.