Chapter 27

Alex

Karina's death is so anticlimactic that I stare at the body for a few minutes, dazed.

Sophia's hand on my back as she crouches beside me helps me focus.

"She's gone," I whisper. "Just like that. I always thought I would… I always imagined how I would kill her and then she died just like this. I just broke her neck."

My mate's fingers ran through my hair, her hands shaking. "This was the best way. She didn't deserve your time and effort. She craved attention and importance and you didn't give her either. This is the best way for her to die."

I turn my head and bury my face in her chest. It seems childish, but I need her comfort. Sophia's arms wrap around my head as she holds me to her. "It's going to be okay. You can finally move on."

I hold her to me, breathing in her scent, relieved that she is fine.

"The things she promised to do to you—" I begin, but my mate shakes her head. "Forget it. Forget her. We managed to prevent the war. You are safe. And we are together. That is all that matters. Everything else comes last."

Just then, I hear a scream. "Grace!"

Sophia's head jerks up and I look over to see her mother convulsing on the ground.

A large white wolf rushes towards her, but another is closer and faster. Logan shifts into his human form and picks up Grace. "We need a healer he-"

He doesn't even get to finish the sentence before he collapses, Grace still in his arms. Sophia tries to approach him but a strange glow is emanating from her mother. No, it's coming from both of them. I shield Sophia's eyes as the entire world turns bright, far too bright. And then it's gone.

Everything is back to normal.

However, both Logan and Grace are lying unconscious on the ground.

The white wolf reaches them first and shifts into Cyrus.

But his eyes widen and he stumbles back. "How is this possible?"

"What's going on?" Sophia cries out, heading over. Then she too, goes still.

The fighting stopped the minute Karina died. I walk over to see what has everybody so shellshocked and that's when I catch it. Grace and Logan's scent. It's intermingled.

It's like that of two mates.

Sophia looks at me slowly. "Tell me I'm dreaming."

I crouch down and check the side of Logan's neck. I see a clear mating mark where there had been none before. Her mother has the same mark on her neck.

"I told you she concealed the mating mark." There is smug satisfaction in Marlene's voice. "Who knew that her mate was with you all along. You should've been nicer to your father-in-law, Alex."

I glare at her before muttering, "He always said I wasn't good enough for Sophia. Now he's going to hold it over my head, probably blame me for getting captured as well."

Sophia sinks to the ground, staring at her two unconscious parents. "How is this possible?"

"Your father must've been captured by the dark witches." I put my hand on her shoulder.

Sophia shakes her head at me. "Shouldn't he have recognized my scent? I mean, he's my father."

"I think it's better for you to take the two of them away from here," Marlene advises. I glance at Cyrus, who looks like his entire world has fallen apart. He'd probably hoped his daughter's mate was dead.

"Your mother." I nudge Sophia. "Look at her face. Her color is getting better."

Her cheeks are flushed a bright red and Sophia purses her lips, trying to calm down. "Okay. We have to get them to a safe location. Everything else can be figured out after."

"The closest place here is my old hometown," I say, hesitantly.

"Alex?"

I look over my shoulder to see Patrick standing a few feet from me.

"Patri…"

"What do you mean our home town?" he blurts out, his face pale. "Karina destroyed it. She said she built something on it."

"She lied," I tell him. "No resort, nothing has been built on it. It was sealed away by one of her dark witches. That's where she buried me."

"Buried you?" Sophia turns rigid. "Like in the ground?"

I wrap my hand around hers. "It's fine. I'm all right. But we can take your parents there. It's close to here. It'll also give us time to sort things out here before we take them to another, more secure location."

Jared and Saul have also reached us at this point, obvious relief showing on their faces upon seeing me.

"You can stay here," one of the humans offers.

Sophia looks like she is about to agree, but I shake my head. "I'm sorry, but not all the humans in your city will be welcoming toward us, especially after an attack like this."

The humans may not have suffered any losses but the panic that Karina's unexpected attack caused will make them hostile toward us. When the humans exchange a look saying nothing, I know they've considered the possibility.

"Thank you for your offer," I continue, "but we can protect our own."

We've lost a lot of people , I muse silently as I look around at the witches being rounded up by Marlene's coven, and the dead shifters on the ground. The entirety of Karina's army is gone.

"Why don't we ask one of the witches to open up another portal to the South?" Nathan demands. "We can simply go to—"

"Portals don't work like that," Elsa says as she holds Grace's head in her lap. "It's very strong magic. It can exhaust the witches. One portal is hard enough, opening up multiple is very hard on the physical body as well. Look at them. They're already exhausted."

She's looking toward a group of women who are tending to injured white wolves. One of them is using healing magic and I can only assume these women are the witches from the Central Alliance.

"They are," Cyrus admits. "They've opened multiple portals. And Sophia needs to stay in the North till everything is sorted. I can take Grace with me…"

"And my father." Sophia suddenly looks up, her eyes flashing. "Don't forget about him."

I see Cyrus grimace. "How can I?"

"We'll take them to our old hometown till we arrange something else. Grace and Logan aren't going to the Central Alliance."

Cyrus bristles but Sophia nods in agreement.

I'm about to pick up Logan, when Patrick steps forward. "I'll do it. You go talk to Sophia."

His voice is low, meant only for my ears.

It doesn't seem that Sophia is focused on me right now. She is watching her parents. She tries to help her mother, but Elsa denies her that opportunity, asking Nathan for help instead. The witch nudges her toward me. "You should talk."

I wonder why both Patrick and Elsa's urging sounds so ominous.

Sophia isn't meeting my gaze, her fingers fiddling with each other.

"What's going on, Sophia?"

I'm beginning to feel a different sort of fear. "What happened?"

She shakes her head. "It's nothing. How did you escape? Karina said that there was no way you could get out of the place she had…"

"She put me in a cage under my hometown." I run my hands over her shoulders, arms, my voice anxious. "What is wrong, Sophia? Whatever it is, just tell me. Don't keep me in suspense."

We have stepped away from the others and Sophia finally looks up at me. "I didn't go after you."

The guilt in her eyes is enormous, and I realize that it is weighing down on her.

"You mean when Karina's men took me?"

She hesitates. "I wanted to go after you. But I didn't. She used a portal to transport you. I knew I would be going on a wild goose chase, so I returned to the pack. I didn't even try to look for you."

I cut her off before she can begin spiraling. "I'm glad. I'm glad you didn't come to look for me because that is exactly what Karina wanted."

My mouth is dry as I look at the tired and guilt-ridden eyes of my mate. "That is the one thing I prayed for the most, that you would not come after me. Karina told me what she had planned out for you. She told me that she would force you to surrender. And I was terrified that you would."

"I didn't, surrender that is," Sophia whispers. "If it had been you, you would have done it in a heartbeat. I tried to do the logical thing. I tried to consider the pack. I convinced myself that if I stopped the war, I could look for you. But none of it matters. When you needed me, I wasn't there."

I force her to look at me, my thumb and forefinger holding her chin and lifting her face. "You did the right thing. You did what I wouldn't have been able to do. You're right, I would not have been able to control my impulses, and I would have gone after you. but if I had done that, I would have ruined everything."

She doesn't look convinced. "You're just saying that because…"

"If you hadn't stepped up and done what you did, the three alliances would have been destroyed," I tell her firmly. "You would never have found me. Karina would have imprisoned you within your own mind."

She looks away, her eyes wet. "You don't understand, Alex. You're always there. If anything happens to me, I know you'd search for me. I know you'd come. And when it was my turn to do that, I failed you. I failed you."

"You didn't fail me." I take her in my arms, breathing in her scent and wanting to laugh at how soft my mate's heart is where I'm concerned. "You don't have to prove your love to me, Sophia. I know how much you love me. I can feel it in your every breath. You are part of me now. Our bond tells me how much you care."

Pulling back slightly, I look down at her. "You once asked me why Brian thought you had leadership potential when you didn't see it. Now you do. You didn't let your emotions guide your decisions. You put the lives of everyone in front of your desires. You were logical, you were practical. I'm sure it sucked doing that. I have plenty of experience, and it is the worst feeling in the world. I'm proud of you."

Jared chooses that moment to butt in. "I wouldn't feel so bad, Sophia. You had more faith in him than we did. Karina was convinced that you would be traumatized, but Sophia told her she was underestimating you. It was very romantic."

Saul and Patrick loop their arms around Jared's neck, dragging him away. "Sorry. I forgot this one needed watching."

I look at my mate. "This was necessary, Sophia. You knew that coming after me was dangerous and could destroy everything. You made the absolute right decision. Don't second-guess yourself. You saved us from a terrible fate."

I don't have her completely convinced, but she does accept my words. "I'm glad you're safe. How did you get out?"

It's my turn to wince. "About that. I had some help."

"Help? From whom?"

"You won't like this next part," I mutter.

Turning around, I look in the direction I left Tina and call out, "Come on out."

When Tina walks out, the first person to let out a strangled sound is Elsa.

"Tina?" Sophia looks furious. "What are you doing here?"

Elsa rushes past us, grabbing her daughter's face. "What happened to you? Why do you look so weak?"

Tina doesn't push away her mother, tears in her eyes. I remember how cold and ruthless she had been toward Elsa, so to see her accept her mother's embrace is a little surprising. But I guess everyone needs their mother. I know how much Tina's behavior hurt Elsa. She tried not to talk about it, but it had been obvious.

Sophia looks at me. "What happened, Alex? Why is she here?"

"It was Tina who saved me. She knew where I was, and she helped me escape."

I had expected Sophia to be grateful. My soft-hearted mate has far too much empathy for her own good, but when she looks at Tina, it is with anger and wariness. "Why did you save him? What do you want?"

Tina has a hard time meeting Sophia's eyes. "Alex is safe and alive. You owe me a favor now."

There is no arrogant edge to her voice, but there is desperation.

"What do you need a favor from Sophia for?" Elsa pushes Tina's hair away from her face, forcing her daughter to look at her. "What's wrong, Tina? Tell me."

Tina is struggling to speak, and it doesn't surprise me. The witch I remember was exceedingly arrogant and cocky. And from what Sophia told me, once she betrayed Sophia, she had treated Sophia and her mother in the cruelest manner she could.

Tina's betrayal had shaken Sophia to the very core. My mate had just begun to trust again. Tina was the first person she had trusted after finding out her entire life had been nothing but a lie. But when Tina turned around and stabbed her inthe back, it broke something inside Sophia.

For Tina to have to bend the knee in front of the girl she had once tortured must be hard. I didn't sympathize with her, but I could understand her. She must be desperately in love, or she wouldn't be willing to do this.

"I want you to save Noah's life."

Elsa releases her daughter, her face turning pale. "You're still with Noah."

Tina wraps herarms around her stomach. "He's my fated mate. And we are already full mates. He gave me his mark. Karina…I told Noah not totrust her, but he wouldn't listen to me. After what happened at the banquet hall, I told him we should leave. I didn't care about power and all of that to begin with. He wanted power. I just wanted him. But he got involved with Karina, and she betrayed him."

She finally meets Sophia's eyes. "You can undo dark magic. I can't, but you can. She injured him. And she did something to that injury with dark magic. He can't die, but he is suffering. Just…"

She falls silent, her body shaking. When she speaks, her voice is hoarse. "If you don't want to save him, don't. I won't blame you. But you can end his suffering, can't you? I can't see him suffer any longer."

Elsa's eyes widen at her daughter's request and she grabs her shoulders. "If he dies, then, you will also…"

Tina shakes out of her mother's hold, looking away. "I don't care. Without him, I have nothing. I just want his suffering to end. Even if it means I have to let him go." She looks at Sophia. "I saved your mate. Save mine."

Sophia is silent, and I don't know if she's going to refuse or not. It could go either way. But from the anger in her eyes when she looks at Tina, I'm getting the hint that she's not going to help her. It would be against her nature, but then Sophia has had to make harder decisions lately. Either way, I will not blame her. I did what Tina asked. I asked Sophia. That is all I can do.

"Where is he?" Sophia asks, after a prolonged silence, her voice sounding strange.

Tina glances at me, worry in her eyes. "I hid him where Alex was buried."

Once again, Sophia is silent. Her eyes settle on Elsa, who is looking down at the ground. Her voice, soft my mate asks, "Are you going to ask me to help your daughter, Elsa?"

A tear slips out of Elsa's eyes, but she's quiet.

Her hands tighten around her daughter's arms, but no sound escapes her.

Sophia covers the distance between them and then hugs the older woman. "You love Tina. No matter how badly she treated you, you love her. And you've been a mother to me when I've had none. You were a sister to my mother and a mother to me. I'll save Tina. But I'll do it for you, because I don't want to break your heart."

Elsa lets out a choked sob, burying her face in her hands. Sophia just hugs her tighter. "I would never have made it this far without you. Even though you were looking after me because of my mother, you've been family to me. There is nothing I won't do for you, Elsa. Remember that."

Tina's eyes are wet as Sophia looks at her. "I'll save Noah. But not for you and not because you saved Alex. I won't be manipulated that way. I'll do it for your mother because, despite everything you've done to her, she still loves you."

I look at my mate in wonder.

It's been months since I first met her. Our lives have changed so much. Sophia always underestimates herself, but she doesn't see herself from my perspective. She's changed. She's grown and adapted. There's still that impulsive streak in her, still that recklessness that I adore, but she's gained control of it. I don't think she'll ever realize how special she is, how remarkable and clever and smart.

She's changed the world and she doesn't even realize it. And not just my world, but everybody else's as well.

And to think that Karina wanted to destroy this.