Chapter 5

Sophia

The next few days are long and tiresome.

We travel in the daytime and rest once the sun sets. For some reason, Elsa is able to provide my mother with some stability. I don't know what it is that she's doing, but she's able to keep her vitals stable. However, it's draining a lot of power from her and my mother is already so thin and weak. How long will Elsa be able to keep this up?

I use my magic to cast barriers around us once we set up camp. It lets everyone take a rest without worrying about being attacked. As we near the South border, the cold also lessens. Since nobody stops for a break in the daytime, we're all exhausted by the time we stop to rest. We eat and then pass out till the morning. Even Alex's soldiers have a hard time staying awake.

I tried sharing my life force with my mother again, but Elsa caught me and I was severely scolded. Alex was not too happy about it either, but he kept his opinion to himself, something I appreciate. But aside from that, we've been able to move steadily without any issues.

The whole journey is supposed to take two weeks and as the days pass by, I begin to feel a sense of relief. If Karina were going to attack us, she would have done so already.

However, when we are just a few days away from the border, something changes.

I feel a ripple in the barrier late at night.

I sit up, instantly alert.

Alex, who had his arms wrapped around me, is forced awake at my jerky movement.

"What is it?" he asks, startled.

Supporting myself by the palms of my hands behind me, I look around the clearing.

Everybody's asleep.

My heart is trembling. Wetting my lips, I wonder if I just imagined that strange sensation.

"Sophia?"

Alex's voice is now concerned.

Brian, who is a few feet from us, also wakes up at the sound of our conversation. "What's going on?"

I shake my head. "Nothing. I must've imagined it."

I make to lay back down, but Alex studies me. He's insistent. "Still. Why did you wake up like that?"

I can't visibly see my barrier but…"It felt…it felt like something was scratching against my barrier. I don't know. Maybe I was just dreaming."

I've placed a wide barrier, encompassing the small stream nearby so that the soldiers and the Alphas are free to go and drink from it.

Brian looks at Alex, his expression grim. "Maybe we should check it out."

"No!" I feel a sense of foreboding as I clutch Alex's wrist. My heart is pounding.

Something's not right, but I don't know what.

"Elsa," I mumble, turning my head to look in the direction of the sleeping witch. She isn't looking so great and I know it's because she is expending a lot of magic on stabilizing my mother.

Getting to my feet, I approach her, giving her a light shake and feeling guilty as I do so. "Elsa?"

However, she doesn't wake up. Instead, she slumps down by the tree she was leaning against, and falls on her side to the forest floor.

Alarm fills me.

"Elsa?"

I turn to look at Alex, panicking. "What's wrong with her?"

Alex is by my side in a heartbeat. Crouching down, he presses his fingers against her neck and then sniffs her. His eyes darken. "She's not sleeping. She's unconscious."

We've been making quite a racket, but nobody has woken up and asked us what is going on. Brian approaches the Alpha closest to us and checks him. Getting to his feet, he frowns. "Also passed out."

One by one, he and Alex inspect all the men lying still on the forest floor and come to the same conclusion. "All of them are out."

"How?" I look at the two men, bewildered. "I cast a barrier around us. No magic should be able to come through."

"Assuming this is magic," Alex murmurs.

My eyes settle on Brian. "Why are the three of us not affected by whatever this is?"

Alex looks between the three of us. "What did they do that we didn't?"

His sentence tapers off, realization dawning in his eyes. "The stream. They went to the stream to get some water. You shared our water, Brian, the water from last night. That's why you're fine."

Brian tenses. "Was the water poisoned?"

Alex shakes his head. "When we went to the South a few months ago, it was fine. We stopped by this area. There are no poisonous plants here that would affect the water supply."

"What if it was poisoned recently?" I get to my feet. "What if somebody messed with the stream here? But why would they do that?"

"Karina had no way of knowing we would use this route, did she?" Brian is looking at Alex now.

My mate is quiet for a moment, his brows knitted together. "This is the free zone. She might've suspected it but…"

He doesn't get to finish the sentence, because I clutch my head suddenly, a feeling of filth and unease crawling over me, followed by a wave of crippling nausea.

"Sophia!"

Alex steadies me before I crumble to the ground.

"The barrier," I gasp. "I wasn't imagining it. Something is attacking the barrier!"

I look up at Alex, my eyes squinting in pain. "It's that same feeling. Dark magic."

Brian pales. " Surely you don't mean somebody is using dark magic to attack us?"

"I think so…" The words are barely out of my mouth before I throw up violently. Dark blood is expelled out of my mouth.

My insides are burning like araging fire has been lit inside me. I can't breathe.

Alex is supporting me, but I push him aside, falling onto my hands and knees. What is happening to me?

Each time I throw up, I feel the vibration against the barrier become almost painful.

I blindly reach out and grab Alex's arm, my claws digging into his skin, drawing blood. "D-Dark magic. The barrier. It's the barrier."

Whoever is attacking the barrier—no, it's not one person. It can't be.

I can barely form any coherent thoughts right now.

It feels like my skin will melt. My wolf is snarling, pushing aside my human consciousness. Before I can stop it, my survival instincts are taking over, and I transform into my wolf form.

I howl in fury and pain.

With my wolf in control, the agony inside me decreases in volume. It's still there, but I can manage it.

In my wolf form, there is clarity within me. My barrier is being attacked and not just from one side.

It's not one person but multiple individuals. My magic flows through me, and I blink. Suddenly, I'm no longer looking at the people standing in the clearing before me. I can see the barrier or maybe the barrier is acting as my eyes. I can see the cloaked figures surrounding it, their hands outstretched, their dirty magic being thrown against my barrier.

I growl.

My wolf is raging.

How dare they? How dare they try and attack me?

In my human form, my magic is restrained. In my wolf form, it flows freely. With my wolf at the forefront, its control of my magic is beyond anything I could have imagined. I reinforce the barrier that I created, sending out tendrils of my magic. One of the cloaked figures falls to their knees.

I pour more and more magic into the barrier, and another cloaked figure collapses.

Somebody is touching me. Somebody is calling my name. But I need to focus. I need to get rid of the enemy. Burn them. Kill them. They are a threat to me and my mate.

The figures fall one by one, and my body moves toward the barrier. In my human form, I couldn't see the barrier. But now I can.

Suddenly, my head whips to the side.

One of them is not like the other. They're more powerful. Whoever that person is, they're managing to create a gap in my barrier.

I turn my attention toward the threat, but I'm being assaulted from all sides.

Growling, I run along the length of the shield, trying to find the culprit responsible for the crack in my magic. I can't find them. Suddenly, something whooshes past me. Alex grunts, and I abandon my pursuit, turning around for my mate, fear sour on my tongue.

There's an arrow protruding from his left shoulder.

A black arrow.

He's about to grab it when I run toward him, shifting into my human form in mid-air. "Don't touch that!"

I've seen that arrow before. I saw it in Drew's back.

Poison.

I had smelled it then, the night I had escaped from Robert Black's control. I don't know who had shot the arrow, but Drew had been poisoned.

Before Alex's hand can even touch it, I grab it with my right hand and yank it out. My skin sizzles, but I don't care. My other hand comes to rest on Alex's wound, and I pour every ounce of healing magic I have into it.

I'm not taking any chances.

But in my haste, it didn't occur to me that, with all my magic being focused on Alex, my barrier is growing weaker. I can see the grayish hue around Alex's mouth, and he tries to tell me to stop, but I know poison when I see it. When I worked for Elsa at the bar, she used to collect herbs and talk to me about different poisons. At the time, I had just chalked it up to her having a weird hobby, but I'd also been morbidly fascinated by the topic.

Thank the Goddess I paid attention!

I can feel the cracks appearing in my barrier, but nothing is more important to me than my mate's life. He has to live.

Desperation fuels me as I push myself to the limit, pouring everything I have inside him.

I don't know what kind of poison this is, but his muscles are seizing. I can't sense any trace of magic in it. It must be from herbs. I can't use my normal method toget rid of whatever this is. But healing magic will work to push out the poison.

I hear Brian howl, and I see him jump over my head to attack someone.

"Sophia." Alex is struggling free of the effects of the poison. "Brian needs my help. You have to let me go!"

I can't speak; all my focus on the healing magic.

Brian isn't important. My mate is. Why can't Alex understand that?

My body feels weak now. One of my hands slips and I press it against the forest floor, still pouring magic into Alex's closing wound.

From the corner of my eye, I can see the tendrils of my magic streaking through the grass. I don't care where it is going.

"Sophia!"

Alex finally grabs me by my upper arms just as I collapse on his chest.

My body feels so fragile right now. It's like I've been drained of everything. I can't even move. My body feels like a hollow thing.

I'm trying to clear my head. The enemy is still here.

Alex is saying something to me as he settles me against a tree. And then he's moving away from me. I want to ask him where he's going. Why is he leaving me? Doesn't he know how dangerous the enemy is? He could get hurt!

My vision dims, andI see him shift into a large black wolf before he rushes to fight alongside Brian.

But the witches are too powerful.

Dark magic is different from normal magic. It is fueled by death. I struggle to grow more alert. I have to help my mate. He needs my help. He can't do this alone. This isn't a fight he can win through brute strength.

I see one of the cloaked figures lifting their hands towards Alex, and I slam my fist into the ground, using the lingering magic within me to cast a shield around my mate. The dark magic slides off the shield, and then I notice another one of the witches turn to face Alex. A strange fear rears its head within me.

Are they targeting Alex?

I grab the trunk of the tree I'm leaning against with both arms, wobbling to my feet.

"There's another one," I mumble to myself.

They are. They're fucking targeting my mate.

I'll kill them.

I am beyond weak right now, but there's no way in hell I'm going to let them put a scratch on the man I love. He's all I have. He's not getting rid of me this easily.

I stumble forward, my steps uneven.

"This is the time you're supposed to come out," I gasp at the greatly weakened wolf within me. "Shake it off. I need you."

My wolf struggles to its feet, a weak growl resounding within my mind.

"I need you," I breathe, each step hurting more than the previous one. It's like I'm walking on needles.

My hand is outstretched. I don't know how to kill somebody with my magic, but I can create severe electric shocks, which is exactly what I plan todo. The witch closest to me suddenly begins screaming as the smell of burning flesh fills the area.

Its companions turn around to look at what is happening, and I focus my attention on them. Every bit of magic I use is deadly to me right now. I've drained myself far too much.

The second witch goes down within seconds, clawing at their face. Their hood falls back, revealing the face of a woman. I can't make out her features because they're so twisted in pain.

The screaming is intense.

I collapse to my knees. My heart will stop. I can't breathe.

More and more witches are now approaching us, intent on harming Alex. Alex is battling them, but his attacks are useless against their magic. He realizes this at some point, because he bounces back in my direction.

"Stay away from him!" I wheeze.

"Sophia, stop!" Alex begs, gathering me into his arms.

When did he shift back into his human form?

Brian is faring no better right now. He's being pushed back, wounds covering his body, the smell of his blood thick in the air.

It's just the three of us. We don't stand a chance. Not with the way I am right now.

I finally have to stop. I have nothing left to give anymore.

I try to wrap my arms around Alex in a last bid to protect him. However, he picks me up, looking around.

I know what he intends. We have to run.

But we're surrounded.

My breathing is shallow. Maybe if I try one more time. Maybe I can set them on fire. I just have to kill them. I just have to…

The problem is, I am out of every bit of my magic.

The dark witches extend their hands, and my heart is slowing down. I can count the number of beats per second. My vision is blurring. My wolf has collapsed within my mind.

We have no way out. I know that now.

So be it, then. I turn my eyes toward Alex's strained expression.

If I die, I want his face to be the last one I see.

"I don't think so!" comes an angry voice from my left.

Elsa!

She's walking toward us—more like stomping—anger etched into every line of her face.

"Drug me, will you?" she shouts.

Dimly, I study her. I've never seen her this angry.

Behind her emerge wolves. They are black and brown, both from the South and the North, their teeth bared, their eyes glinting with barely concealed fury.

As I had thought before, if we had the numbers we once did, the witches would not have been able to get this far. The only way they managed to stage the attack was because they found a way to knock everyone out. But now, the shifters are back. I don't know how, but I just squeeze my eyes shut and lay my head against Alex's chest, relieved.

Another life-threatening situation, successfully escaped.

I can hear the fighting taking place around me, but I just let myself rest now. I've done all I can. The others can do the rest.

I'm exhausted.

***

The battle goes on till the early hours of the morning, but with a witch defending the shifters from the dangerous magic of the dark witches, it's evened out the battlefield. Also, if the Alphas were angry, Alex's soldiers were even more enraged. They failed to protect their Alpha and do their duty. In their eyes, this was unforgivable. Aside from one or two witches, they slaughter the rest.

I only know this because Elsa told me, as she forcibly fed me food and shared some of her life force with me, to prevent me from dying. Something I had gotten perilously close to doing, apparently.

"Not everything has to be a suicide mission," she scolds me as she stuffs the herbal concoction down my throat. "Running away is always an option. You don't always have to fight. Only idiots stay and fight in a dangerous situation. Are you an idiot, Sophia?"

I swallow the bitter liquid before replying in a hoarse voice, "If the witches didn't kill me, you yelling at me might just do the trick. And did you really expect me toleave you and my mother here? Besides, things happened so fast…"

"Did I tell you to talk?" Elsa glares at me. "Did I give you permission to speak? Shut up and drink this."

I make a face as she holds out another liquid that she has spent all morning preparing for me.

As I swallow it, I hear her muttering angrily. "Won't listen to me but has an answer for everything."

The taste of this herbal tonic is even worse than the previous one, but I'm scared of complaining. She's already smacked me on my head twice. I'm afraid that a third time might cause permanent damage to my brain.

My traitorous mate is nowhere to be seen. Only his soldiers are watching us, alert.

"You saved us." I give Elsa a weak smile, hoping to pacify her. "I didn't think I would make it out of there alive."

Elsa gives me a narrow-eyed look and I add. "I put everything into that healing magic. Completely drained me. And then there was maintaining the barrier."

"But it shouldn't have."

Elsa's voice is grim. "Your capacity for magic is unlike that of any other, Sophia. A little healing magic shouldn't have brought you to the edge of death. I've been noticing something else. Day by day, you are growing weaker."

I frown. "I feel fine."

I do feel a little better than I was during the fight.

"You don't see it, but I do." The older witch shakes her head at me. "Ever since…"

She trails off as if something has struck her. My head is in her lap and I look at her. "What is it?"

She has a somber expression on her face. "Have you noticed a change Alex's abilities?"

Alex chooses that very moment to make his appearance. He is striding across the clearing with Brian and the Alphas, and he seems to be in a deep discussion.

I tear my gaze from him and look back at Elsa. "No. What are you talking about?"

"Have you shared your power with Alex?" Elsa asks, seriously.

"Maybe during the banquet."

"And after that?"

I'm slow to reply, considering her words. "Not deliberately, no. But I would feel it if I was sharing my power with him."

"He's grown faster," Elsa tells me, heavily. "It's obvious to everyone. He's stronger, he's faster, and even the strongest Alpha within the South Alliance will not be able to face him."

I try to sit up, but she pushes me back down. "Not yet. You can't sit up after taking this tonic."

"Maybe he is." I feel a little defensive. "Or maybe he always was that way. You don't know."

Elsa is watching my mate and I feel tense.

"No, he wasn't. I don't think he was. For some reason, he's growing stronger and you are growing weaker. And I'm starting to wonder if it's because of the mating mark that you gave him."

Elsa's cool words have me swallowing.

That's ridiculous.

Isn't it?