Chapter 24

Sophia

"Where did they come from?" I hiss, looking at the wolves walking out of the tree line. "We got here faster than they should have been able to travel!"

"They're watchers," Patrick responds, his wolf in his eyes. "They're sent to survey an area hours before the actual attack. It's an old battle technique."

"And is carrying witches part of that technique?" My eyes settle on the unmoving cloaked figures sitting on the backs of the wolves.

Patrick is silent.

Logan bends down and picks up a rock from the ground, tossing it in the air and catching it. "There are only a few of them. Let's take them out."

Before I can stop him, he takes aim and throws the rock with such speed and precision that it hits one of the witches in the forehead and she slumps to the ground, dead.

The others don't react. They are still sitting astride the wolves, waiting.

"Creepy," Logan murmurs. "They should have screamed or something. Why are they so unnaturally still?"

He picks up another stone and just as he's about to throw it at the next witch, I grab his wrist, forcibly lowering his hand. "Wait."

My eyes narrow at the witches. If I could see their hands, it would be easier to discern whether they were casting magic. Then something occurs to me.

My hand still around Logan's wrist, I ask quietly, "How precise is your aim?"

"How precise do you need it to be?" Logan raises a brow.

"I want to knock off her hood." I point at one of the witches.

A slow, wicked smile forms on the mercenary's lips. "Consider it done."

He takes aim and throws the rock. The witch's hood is pushed back, revealing a young woman. Even from this distance, I can see the glazed look in her eyes. But it's her mouth I'm more focused on. Her lips are moving.

"They're casting a spell." A feeling of foreboding settles within me.

The guard behind us looks terrified. "What's that? Why are those wolves here?"

"Sound the alarm. Evacuate the city," I tell him, my eyes fixed on the witches. "An army of wolves are on their way to wipe you out. Stop gawking at us and go!"

The guard doesn't wait around. He runs off, and a few minutes later, loud gongs begin to sound in various parts of the city. That has Karina's shifters stirring. The witches' lips begin to move faster and a moment later, they lift their arms.

"Oh, shit."

I immediately raise my barrier, all the way above the walls. I'm just in time too. Out of nowhere, the witches create bows in their hands, bows made of pure fire. An arrow of fire is already lodged in the bow, and they pull, releasing them.

Patrick and the others step back in alarm, but I don't flinch. The arrows of fire smash against my barrier and disappear.

"What happened?" Nathan looks shocked. Their stunned expressions tell me that they've not seen the extent of how much my magical abilities have grown.

"We have to buy time for them!" I feel a surge of frustration as more arrows fall upon the shield. My barrier has the ability to block magical attacks, but that does not mean that I can sustain it for eternity.

"Jared, Nathan! Find out how long the evacuation will take!" I can already hear the fearful screams of the citizens. A city is far larger than a town. I doubt more than half of them are even aware of the attack. They're probably just wondering about the alarms going off.

"Sophia," Logan warns me. "Look."

I look in the direction he's pointing and my heart sinks as I realize that the numbers of the enemy have begun to steadily increase. We are no longer dealing with just the watchers.

Karina has arrived.

"So, this is where you were." Karina is sitting on the back of one of the largest wolves as she makes her way to the front of the group. "Quite sneaky. I shouldn't have underestimated you. You've grown quite skilled in magic. You nearly had me fooled back there."

Her lips curve, but her eyes are furious. "I will not make the same mistake twice."

I infuse a different sort of magic into the barrier, making it even sturdier and expanding it. It will prevent both physical and magical attacks. But this kind of barrier is the hardest to maintain.

"The humans already know that you're here," I hiss at her. "I won't let you hurt them. I won't let you start a war."

"And how are you going to stop me?" The Queen of the North Alliance tilts her head. "With that flimsy barrier that you've put up? How long will you be able to keep it up? And just how many attacks can it absorb?"

"As many as it has to!" I lie through my teeth. As long as it takes for the humans to escape . Although, I'm starting to think that I've not really thought this plan through. Even if they escape, where will they go? Karina can still chase after them.

Nathan who had hurried inside the gates at my orders, returns. His voice is low and urgent. "They have no way out. They had one other exit, which had been blocked off by Karina's soldiers."

Karina lets out a shrill laugh. "Oh, dear. Were you planning to help the humans escape? You really are a foolish child."

I glare at her, feeling like an idiot. She continues. "I've been doing this for far longer than you. Of course I would block off any escape route. The humans aren't going anywhere. And neither are you. It's already over for them, Sophia. There is nothing you can do for them. Nobody is coming to help you. The South Alliance is under attack and they're too busy saving themselves to come do your bidding. Your mate is imprisoned. You have to be a special kind of delusional fool to think you can stand against me and my entire army with just a handful of people and win."

"Don't listen to her," Logan snarls. "Let us be delusional fools. An honorable death is better than being a prisoner."

I give him a long look. "That's cheerful. Thanks for the pep talk."

"He has a point," Patrick snarls as he looks at the sheer size of Karina's army. "Let's be real here, Sophia, we don't have a very good chance. However, I would rather die than be captured. And if I go down, I want to go down fighting."

The others agree and I feel despair.

"No matter what, I will get us out of here," I vow, my jaw clenched. "I'll find a way out. You won't die here."

"How sweet," Karina remarks. "Delusional but sweet. Your companions will die, but how they die is up to you. I can give them a merciful death if you surrender. If you choose not to do that, I can make sure that the manner of their deaths is something straight out of a nightmare. And I'm quite creative when comes to killing. Your companions are well aware of this. After all, they watched me murder their parents."

Jared's face is pale. His hands curl into fists by his side, his knuckles white. "Let's just get rid of the old bat. If she dies, her army will scatter."

"So optimistic." Karina sighs. "So, have you made your decision, Sophia? What's your answer?"

I show her my middle finger. "This my answer."

Karina smiles at me, her eyes angry. "That finger will be the first one that I break. Break down that barrier!"

At this point, my barrier has increased to cover the entire city, and I am expending a lot of magic. However, determination is also a form of fuel. I'm determined not to die.

Karina's soldiers run in my direction and start slamming themselves against my barrier. My companions shift, but I hold out my hand, stopping them. "As long as you're in here, you'll survive. The minute you step out, her witches will weaken you and her soldiers will do the rest."

"You want us to hide in here like cowards?" Patrick shifts back and snarls. "That is not how we fight!"

I turn my head to face him, my eyes flashing. "That is how I can keep you alive right now! We don't have the numbers to win and dying pointlessly is useless. Stay here where you are safe. If it was only the soldiers, it would have been fine. But she's using cheap tricks."

Logan has also shifted back, and he looks at Patrick. "Fight smart, not stupid."

Patrick bristles. "I'm sure you are used to being a coward since you're a mercenary…"

"Enough!" I snarl at the two of them. "This is not the time to turn on each other. I'm telling you to stay. That is my order. You will not join the fight till I am able to take out all the witches!"

Unfortunately, we are close enough to Karina for her to hear everything and she laughs. "Take out the witches? Do you know how many witches I have at my disposal? You can take out a hundred and you won't even scratch the surface."

Tweaking the magic within the barrier is no easy feat, but manipulating magic is a skill that the Silver Wolf has in abundance. However, I'm not an expert at it yet. It takes me time and effort to weave the magic together that will allow my attacks to land through the border but not vice versa.

Sweat is beading on my forehead and upper lip despite the cold. I have to concentrate on two tasks at the same time and both require me to use a lot of power. Maintaining the barrier and making changes to it requires my utmost focus. But I have to take out the witches at all costs.

"Sophia?" Logan catches me when I stumble back.

"I'm fine," I gasp, my muscles straining.

"Don't touch our Alpha Female so casually!" Nathan snaps, pushing Logan away and steadying me.

"This is so not the fucking time," I grit out. "Logan, throw some rocks, will you?"

Nathan stares at me, but the older mercenary picks up on my plan and smirks.

"Gladly."

Gathering a bunch of rocks from the ground, he begins aiming.

The witches go down one by one. They are not fast enough to avoid the stone projectiles.

But Karina doesn't look bothered. As she said, they're easily replaced. More cloaked figures step over the dead bodies and come to stand by the large wolves.

"Should I keep going?" Logan asks, making a show of tossing a rock in the air and catching it.

"Yes. Nathan, go inside the city and ask for guns or any human weapons that can be used from a distance. And if they have a police force, get them out here."

Nathan heads inside, and the others follow Logan's lead, picking up pebbles and stones and attacking the witches. Patrick is not very happy about this, but I couldn't care less. I'm not going to have unnecessary blood on my hands.

As the others begin using the rocks, I take advantage of the distraction and solidify my barrier even more. Once I am sure that nothing can get through to us, that's when I begin targeting the witches. It unnerves me that Karina is not the least bit bothered. We have taken out about fifty of her witches at this point, which is no small number.

Nathan returns with the police and some other humans carrying rifles.

Karina's soldiers go down along with the witches, but more replace them.

Attacking Karina is pointless. The witches working for her have her protected with their barrier. Anything thrown at her bounces off.

Why isn't she worried?

I soon notice something else. At first, I had thought that the speed of the projectiles attacking the witches wasn't giving them time to avoid them. But now I notice that it is not the case. They simply don't care. It is as if even the idea of death doesn't bother them.

My blood chills.

What is Karina up to? Why is she so unconcerned as I take out her witches? More than an hour has passed and now Jared and Patrick are holding me up. My limbs are trembling.

How long can I maintain this barrier?

Karina's smile is broadening by the minute. She knows I am weakening.

"The offer is still on the table," she calls out. "I'm feeling generous, Sophia. Put on the collar and leash, and I will kill your friends with as much mercy I can find in myself. If not, I will cut them open and take out their innards while they're still alive. My witches can keep anybody alive for hours. I didn't climb all the way to the top without learning a few things about prolonged torture, after all."

I find my confidence wavering.

Patrick's hold on me tightens, his voice grim. "Don't worry about us. You keep doing what you're doing. You're not going to surrender."

I try to create a portal, but I've just managed to gather a few tendrils of power when I let out a pained scream. My hand is burning.

Releasing the magic, I nurse my hand against my chest, whimpering in agony.

Karina shakes a finger at me slowly, making a tutting sound. "You didn't think I would let you try the same trick twice, did you? You don't know much about magic, it seems. Portals require a specific type of magic drawn from the earth. My witches tainted it. You can't use it. Don't even think of trying to escape."

The palm of my hand, where I had been gathering the magic, feels like someone is stabbing a knife into it over and over again. One look at it has me hissing. It's turning black.

"What the hell did you do to me?"

"Wolfsbane." Karina smiles. "You may be the Silver Wolf, but you're not immune to wolfsbane. I know more about magic than you do. Pity. You would've made an excellent witch."

I curse under my breath. I had hoped to get the others out of here, using a portal. But now?

This is a losing fight.

Even though the humans are fighting alongside us, not asking any questions, it doesn't matter how many shifters and witches we take out. More keep replacing them. Bodies are piling up around the front line and some of Karina's soldiers are dragging them off, tossing them to the side. If we had our soldiers, it would have been easier. But this is an impossible situation. No wonder Karina is so calm and confident. She's just wearing me down.

I can't afford to be captured. Not when Alex's life hangs in the balance. I have to figure something out. And fast.

The weight of the barrier is too heavy. While my capacity for magic is more than that of a normal witch, it is not unlimited.

I look at Logan helplessly, and he meets my gaze.

"Keep going," he tells me calmly. "I won't let her capture you. Even if it means I have to break your neck when the time comes."

"But Alex…"

"If you die, he dies," Logan says darkly. "She won't be able to use either one of you, nor torment you for a lifetime."

"Don't even think about it!" Patrick growls. "You're not going to kill her!"

Logan squares off against Patrick. "You've never been captured, have you? It's obvious. Whatever that woman has planned for Sophia is not going to be pleasant. She will make her suffer. I would rather she die a painless death than suffer for an eternity, being constantly humiliated like I was!"

I'm silent, my whole body trembling. I don't know what decision to make. If I'm captured, Alex will be tortured. His suffering will be never-ending. If I'm captured, nobody will look for Alex because my capture means his friends will also be dead. A war will have broken out. Karina will have succeeded. There will be no one to look for us. Do I really want Alex to suffer?

It seems like I'm giving up, but I can see nothing else in front of me. There is no way out. For the first time, I'm looking into darkness. Nothing is coming to mind, not even a sliver of a plan. Helplessness courses through me.

Karina laughs. "Why are you even trying? You're just wasting your time. Nobody will come to save you, Sophia. You should have run when you had the chance. But you just wanted to be a hero. The war had nothing to do with you." She looks like she's watching an entertaining show. "You could have gone looking for Alex and then run off into the sunset with him, letting the world burn around you. But no. You wanted to save the world. How's that going for you?"

She has been dangling the chain and leash in her hand for a while, and she tosses them my way. They hit the barrier and fall to the ground.

"Put it on." Her voice is gentle. "Spare yourself all of this. If it makes you feel better, after a couple of years, this collar will leave you a drooling, mindless creature. You will live as the Silver Wolf, not as Sophia. You will forever be in your wolf form, my loyal dog. The pups I breed from you will share the same fate. But you won't know anything."

She chuckles. "I'm not so cruel as to humiliate you for a lifetime. You will never know what I'm doing to you. You will just want to please me. So put it on. You're not going to win this. There is nobody standing with you right now. And nobody will ever come to help you. Put on the collar like a good girl."

I'm silent, my blood boiling.

Alex's friends are snarling at Karina.

But nobody gets a chance to speak up.

"How dare you try to collar the granddaughter of the King of the Central Alliance!" A familiar voice thunders.

For a moment, I'm certain I'm hearing things because it is simply not possible for that voice to have called out at this moment.

But when I look up, I see my grandfather riding on the back of a large white wolf. He's not alone, though. Hundreds, no, thousands of white wolves are with him. They form a line alongside him, snarling with their hackles raised.