Chapter 8

Alex

Sophia keeps surprising me.

One minute, I think she needs protecting, and in the next, she is terrorizing an entire group of Alphas because they show her disrespect.

My mate has a soft heart but she's also got guts. I think it will take a lifetime to figure this woman out—a very interesting lifetime that I'm looking forward to.

But throughout the hours leading up to the banquet, and during the banquet itself, I noticed the strain in Sophia's eyes. Her hands were constantly clenching and unclenching, and she wasn't very interested in the food or the conversation.

Impatience.

That is what I sensed from her. She seemed very impatient and tense.

However, I didn't realize how much the burden of her situation was weighing on her, and how much she was concealing within herself, till I stood outside the door to our shared suite and heard Elsa comfort her.

I could've gone in. I could've taken over. But I think she needed Elsa more than she needed me in that moment.

I did go in eventually, once silence had to place the sobs.

They were sitting on the couch, Sophia's head in Elsa's lap. My mate had cried herself to sleep, and a wave of despair and agony washed over me.

Although Elsa assured me that this had nothing to do with me, how was I supposed to feel calm when Sophia was struggling so much?

The hours are ticking away, and she's now resting beside me. I can't sleep, worry for her plaguing me. I overheard most of the conversation between her and Elsa. Everybody can get overwhelmed at times, and Sophia is no exception to the rule. But I wish she had come to me. I wish she had let me take care of her.

We're supposed to be out by the entrance of the mansion when the sun rises. Cars will take us to the airfields. Planes have been arranged for us, and we'll fly out. The weather in the South Alliance is different from the weather in the North. The cold has faded away. Although it is the winter months, it's warmer here. That's the beauty of living in the southern hemisphere. Sophia kicks off the blanket in her sleep, her forehead scrunching in irritation. I get up to turn on the air conditioner for her, and when I return, she seems more relaxed.

There are still a couple of hours for her to sleep I simply stroke her hair, wishing she would confide in me. Life hasn't been easy for Sophia. She's struggled to adapt and adjust to our bond. She's done better than I have. She's always the one trying to compromise. She's always the one bending. I know she loves me. I can feel it within her, within our bond.

Has too much pressure been placed upon her?

Are we expecting too much from her?

If I could, I would take her away from everything, but now, too many eyes are on her, and her status has elevated to a point where our desires can no longer come first.

"Alex?"

The scratchy voice filled with sleep has me blinking, and I look down at my mate.

Her eyes are half open. "Why are you awake?"

She looks so young and so vulnerable right now that I can't help myself. Leaning down, I kiss her on theforehead. "I was just watching you."

"Why?"

"Just because." I smile down at her. "I'm thinking how lucky I am to have found you."

In the vulnerability of her drowsy state, she's unable to hide her emotions, and I see the love sparkling in her eyes. "I'm also lucky. I sometimes wonder if it's a dream. I sometimes think that all of this has been a nice dream."

I run my fingers through her hair and grin. "And then I do something to mess things up, and you know you're not dreaming, huh?"

She chuckles lightly. She's just watching me sleepily, clearly enjoying the head scratches.

"Why don't you go back to sleep?" I suggest.

"I want to watch you too. My mate is so handsome."

My lips cursed slightly. "Are you flirting with me? Because it's working."

Her laughter is soft and sleepy, and she pulls herself up to rest her head on my arm. Some of the sleep fades away from her eyes. "When did you get back?"

"I was right on your heels," I admit. "You were having a moment, and I realized you needed Elsa, so I stayed outside."

A shadow falls upon Sophia's face. "You were outside?"

"I wasn't trying to eavesdrop," I reassure her. "I just didn't know what to do."

Sophia turns her head away from me, and I close my eyes regretfully.

The silence lingers between us, and then I say, "I'm here for you, Sophia. You just have to lean on me. You don't have to bear everything by yourself. Even if it's something you don't think I'll like to hear, you can still tell me."

"I don't…"

She sits up, scooching until her back is against the headboard of the bed. "I don't mind the burden. I just…I just feel everything else is taking priority over saving my mother. I know your pack has to come first. I know you're worried about your people. It just seems like I'm the only one worrying about my mother. I understand she's not your mother but…"

I sit up as well. "That's not it, Sophia. We are not going to delay this any longer. I've already talked to Brian. We are just going to drop my people off at Ricker Town, and Brian will stay there. You just have to find a temporary leader to look after the pack, and then we are out the same night. We cannot take Grace with us. We have to leave her somewhere safe. I've already had a conversation with Brian and my soldiers. And Elsa is also aware of everything. They are going to stay and guard your mother while we make the journey to the Central Alliance."

Sophia studies me and I take her hands in mine and press my lips to them. "Your mother has always been a priority, Sophia. I know it doesn't seem like that, but she is. And I know things seem to be moving at a snail's pace. They usually do when the life of a loved one is at stake. You want to save her and everything else seems like extra noise around you. But everything had to be done in the right order so that we could ensure your mother's safety. You and I will leave for the Central Alliance once the sun is up. It's not even risen yet. We have a lot of things to get done, but we will get them done in time."

Sophia looks at me for a full minute before sinking into my arms.

I just hold her.

"I've got you," I murmur. "Through thick or thin, you're mine, and I've got you."

It seems she finally believes me.

***

Connor Fenris is like a new man when he sees us off at his airfield. He thanks Sophia multiple times for her graciousness, before flying off. I have to give it to the man. He's prepared multiple commercial-sized planes to carry my backpack and the soldiers, including Brian, Elsa, and Sophia's mother. The journey takes us a couple of hours, and when we land, it's in one of the closest cities to Ricker Town. Sophia doesn't know the area since she was never let out of the orphanage, but Elsa does. She quickly arranges buses to drive us to the town.

There's a growing tension within my mate as we make the last leg of the journey.

She's going back to her hometown. She's taking her mother back to the place where her life was destroyed.

I take her hand in mine and squeeze it.

"You've got this."

She gives me a shaky smile, but some of the confidence returns.

Ricker Town is a large area with a population of around five thousand individuals. At least, that's what it says on the sign that we pass by on the road.

There's a sprawling forest and a well-maintained town, and it's obvious to me that most of the residents are pack members.

When we get out at the station, the pack security team is there to greet us.

Their faces are rigid. It seems that word has reached them. They instantly recognize Brian. The lead guard says, "Welcome, King WolfFan—"

Brian shakes his head. "There's been a change in leadership, as you must be well aware by now. You should be greeting Queen Sophia."

Every member of the pack security team stiffens. The dislike and wariness in their eyes are evident.

When none of them says anything, Brian asks, his voice dangerous. "You're not going to greet the Queen of the South Alliance?"

The leader of the security team sneers at Sophia. "Forgive us, but we don't consider this girl as the queen. She's a murderer. She's a fugitive in our pack. Alpha Black…"

"That's another piece of information you might not have received," Brian says, scathingly. "Robert Black and Noah Black have committed crimes—unforgivable crimes. Noah Black is no longer the Alpha of the Red Rock Wolf Pack. Now, either your pack can pay for the crimes of your Alphas, or they can accept Sophia Hope as their new Alpha. The choice is yours. You have a few minutes to make a choice. Based on whatever you decide, we will either annihilate everybody in this town and this pack, or you will be given the opportunity to start fresh under Sophia's leadership."

The leader of the security team looks angry. "You're going to annihilate our pack simply if we don't offer respect to this little bitch? She's not worthy of licking the bottom of my sho…"

The words are barely out of his mouth before he's choking on his blood, my hand thrust through his chest.

His eyes are bulging out as I pull my bloody arm out of his chest, revealing a gaping hole where his heart used to be. His body crumples to the ground. Looking around, my voice pleasant, I ask, "Does anybody else want to disrespect my mate?"

The security team members look like they've seen a ghost as their gaze lingers on their fallen leader. I expect them to fall into line, but I'm proven wrong when two of them step forward. "Her mate? This girl was spoken for. She was betrothed to Alpha Black. And now she belongs to his successor. She's a broodmare, nothing more. We will never…"

Both heads go rolling onto the ground as their bodies fall forward, blood spraying in the air.

I wipe my hands on my shirt before looking around. "Who's next?"

The other members step back, but the hatred in their eyes tells me that they're going to be introuble.

"I don't mind killing them all," Sophia finally speaks, her voice cold. "I don't see why I should leave them alive. Once they're dead, your pack can move in, Alex. Seems like a reasonable solution to me."

Hearing such bloodthirsty words from my mate's mouth has me blinking in surprise. Even Brian seems taken aback, but both of us are quiet. This is her decision.

"Round them up," Sophia orders, and my soldiers who have been standing behind her, grab the security members, subduing their efforts to fight back.

However, when Sophia approaches them, the men don't look very scared.

"What're you going to do?" One of them spits at her. "Cry at m…"

She slices his throat in a way that has my eyes widening. My wolf is watching with unconcealed interest as she steps to the next man, the previous one on the ground, clutching his throat.

"You bitch."

She extends her hand toward his face and I can see when he begins to struggle to breathe.

"Suffocating is a painful manner of death," Sophia tells him, calmly.

When she steps toward the next man, there is stark fear in his eyes. He immediately falls to his knees. "Spare me! Spare me!"

The others follow suit.

Fear.

That's one way of getting them under control.

When Sophia tilts her head to look at me, she looks cool as a cucumber, but I can see the way hands are shaking. She doesn't do well with violence.

"Brian." I look toward the older man who nods.

He steps toward the remaining man on his feet. "It would be best if you summon the entire pack to gather within the hour in one location so that Sophia can address them. One hour."

The security team members scatter almost immediately. I take my mate by the hand and pull her into the closest room, which happens to be the bathroom. Closing the door behind us, I watch her throw up into the waste basket.

She crouches on the dirty floor, shaking.

"You had to do it," I tell her, firmly. "It was the right decision."

"I killed them," she breathes as if she is still not able to believe it.

I crouch next to her, forcing her to meet my gaze. Her eyes are filled with shock.

"You had to. Shifters respond well to a display of power, to fear. That is our nature. This is not going to be the first or the last time, Sophia. I know it's hard for you, but violence and death will have to go hand in hand with this new role you have. Nobody will ever obey you or respect you till they know you are more powerful than them—that you can hurt them."

"I hate it," she whispers, her voice thick with tears. "I know that makes me weak."

"No, it doesn't." I shake my head. "It doesn't make you weak. But what you did out there…"

She hurls into the garbage again, and I rub her back. I've never met a shifter who abhors violence to this degree. But funnily enough, it's only when the violence is from her hand that she blanches at it. And it's not like Sophia hasn't killed before. There have been situations when her wolf has taken charge like when she killed Robert and his witch. It had been like something had snapped inside her.

She's capable of the violence every shifter is, but it's mostly when she's pushed to her limits.

I help her to her feet. "You did what you had to. The position you are in, Sophia, it's kill or be killed. Nobody's going to take you seriously until you show them how dangerous you can be."

"Everybody keeps saying that." She looks toward her reflection in the bathroom mirror, her voice hoarse. "And all I can think of is how many families I destroy when I take a life."

I close my eyes briefly. Empathy can be a very dangerous emotion.

"You can't afford to think like this," I tell her. "Not when you have so many lives depending on you. Do you understand me?"

She nods jerkily.

"Atta girl." I kiss her, fiercely. "You've got this. Now come on. Wash up, and then we'll go out and deal with the rest of the pack."

Sophia stops me as I'm about to open the door. "Alex."

"What is it?" I turn to face her.

She presses her lips together as if struggling to say something.

"I'm glad you're here with me. All of this, I'm only able to do all of this because you're standing by my side."

I smile at her and then give her a peck on the lips. "I adore you. Every bit of you. And I have more faith in you than I have in myself. Just remember that."

***

As I had expected, the rest of the pack is not so keen on having Sophia as a leader, but in front of them, she shows no weakness. Her gaze is ruthless, her words, harsh and unforgiving. And the battalion of my men standing behind her puts enough fear in the hearts of the Red Rock Wolf Pack that they swear fealty to her as the new Alpha. Of course, the threat of facing punishment for the crimes of their Alphas also has something to do with their willingness to swear their loyalty to Sophia.

I'm not entirely convinced we can trust them, though.

"When Noah Black appears, we don't know how the pack will react," I murmur.

Brian agrees with me. "We'll have to keep this pack in control."

"Let's start by replacing the entire pack security team." Sophia looks between the two of us, her arms crossed over her chest. "I'll show you to Robert's office. I was sent there a few times as a kid. We'll need somebody to run an audit, figure out who has how much influence in the pack, and nip threats in the bud."

I whistle. "Look at you go."

Sophia's cheeks are stained with bright red spots. "I'm just talking common sense."

I settle my arm over her shoulders, feeling proud. "Yes, you are. And you're absolutely right. Brian, how long will you stay for?"

"Until you come back," Brian replies. "My pack knows what's going on. I have people to manage the affairs there."

"I'll leave my men with you." I gesture toward Nathan and the others. "They'll help you. I would like to leave Patrick as the acting Alpha, if that's okay with you, Sophia? He's taken up the mantle plenty of times in my absence, and he knows what to do."

"Sounds good to me."

"You and Sophia should go. We'll deal with everything here."

Sophia glances at me. "Elsa used to live in this town. She'll be able to help Brian and Patrick navigate everything. You can coordinate with her. I want to check something out."

She walks away without another word, and I follow after her. "Where are you going?"

"I wanted to go look at the orphanage where I grew up. Just a quick look."

Her tone is heavy and I ask, "Want some company?"

She shoots me a grateful look. "Sure."

We walk to the edge of the town where a path opens through the forest. I raise a brow, and Sophia catches my surprised look.

"Robert didn't think having the orphanage in town would be good for business. He didn't want orphans running around causing a mess. His words, not mine."

She says it so matter of fact, as if she was not once one of those orphans.

"You never left the orphanage, right?"

She sticks her hands in her pockets. "We were allowed outings twice a month into the town, but I was never allowed to leave. But I was sent to Robert's office a couple of times. I never went by myself."

"So you stayed inside all those years?" I ask slowly.

Sophia chuckles. "No, no. I would play in the forest, at least, the parts we were allowed to venture into."

There's overgrowth on the path, and it's obvious this area has been neglected.

We walk in silence and I watch my mate look around as if reminiscing. She's wearing a blank jumpsuit that Connor's people gave her. A long, beige trench coat flaps around her ankles as she walks. I wonder if she knows how stunning she looks right now. Her gray hair is tied into a bun at the base of her neck.

Maybe it's just me, but I feel mesmerized when I watch her.

She's the embodiment of strength and vulnerability—struggling to survive and come out on top, and incredibly powerful at the same time.

Sophia suddenly comes to a stop on an arched bridge over a stream. Standing in the middle of it, she looks down into the water.

"Noah tried to drown me here."

Her voice is quiet.

"I feared him before, but never like this day. I thought he would kill me. We were so young and he despised me so much. I could never understand why. The others were laughing as he held my head in the water."

Her eyes are dark with emotion as recounts the events of that day from her childhood. "Robert showed up and stopped him. Noah never bothered me after that, but that incident stayed with me."

My blood boils at the mention of Noah Black. Before Sophia and I had gotten together, Noah had become sort of a rival. He had attempted to drug Sophia with an aphrodisiac to get her into his bed as well. Only the situation turned around on him when my mate sought me out instead, resulting in our first time together.

"Goddess, I hated him," she murmurs. "And yet I forgave him. I should have known better."

"It's because you're…"

"I swear to God if you say empathetic one more time, Alex." My mate shoots me a threatening look. "I don't know what I'll do to you, but it'll hurt."

I chuckle. "You shouldn't threaten me. It turns me on."

Sophia rolls her eyes at me before looking back at the stream. "I was a schmuck, plain and simple. I was the same way with Lil…"

She pauses and concern has me watching her carefully.

Lily. Tina's deception had left a scar on Sophia's heart. She had truly liked Elsa's daughter. For the first time, I had seen Sophia trust somebody so openly. She never warmed to somebody like that. Did Tina truly not even care a bit for my mate?

Sophia lets out a heavy sigh. "Anyway, I've come to the decision that I'm not the best judge of character."

I cover the distance between us and wrap my arm around her shoulders. "I don't think that's true. You picked me after all."

She gives me a tiny smile. "True."

"I think you're a good judge of character, Sophia. You were just deliberately misled. And so was I, remember?"

She leans her head on my shoulder. "You were wary of Tina from the beginning."

"Yeah, but not enough. I trusted her with you and that was a mistake. Maybe we're both schmucks."

When my mate laughs, I feel pleased.

"Come on." She tugs at my jacket. "Let's go. I don't want to stay here any longer."

My arm is around her as we begin walking back. I look over my shoulder one more time before silently promising myself that one day, I'm going to replace every one of Sophia's worst memories with good ones—ones filled with love.

There will come a day when she will look at this place and smile, rather than wear that lost expression on her face—the look of a heartbroken child.