Elena POV
I can't stop thinking about what Sophia asked me.
"If something bad happened to me, would you forgive yourself for being part of it?"
I'm sitting in my room at home staring at the ceiling and those words are still echoing in my head like a song I can't get rid of. It's been a whole day and I still can't make sense of it. The question was so specific. So knowing. Like Sophia already knows the answer.
Like she already knows I'm going to be part of something bad.
That doesn't make sense. Sophia is my best friend. She's been my best friend since we were kids running through the pack grounds pretending we were warriors. We've done everything together. We've told each other everything. We don't keep secrets.
Except Sophia's been keeping something.
I noticed the change in her weeks ago but I didn't want to acknowledge it. I didn't want to admit that my best friend was becoming someone I don't fully recognize. The old Sophia was anxious all the time. When James and his father mentioned money problems, she got quiet and worried. She'd ask me questions like maybe we were all in danger. She'd stress about things that weren't even her responsibility.
But new Sophia is different.
New Sophia listens to the same news about financial troubles and just says "I'm sure things will work out fine." Like she already knows they will. Like she's not scared of anything anymore. When I brought it up, she hugged me and said "I just decided to stop being scared of things I can't control."
And I believed her because I wanted to believe her.
But there's something else underneath that confidence. Something that doesn't fit. Sometimes Sophia looks at me with this expression that's almost sad. Like she's grieving something that hasn't happened yet. Like she's mourning a version of me that only exists in her head.
It's creepy when I think about it too hard.
I get up and pace my room trying to figure out what she could be hinting at. What could I possibly do that would make her look at me that way? What could I be part of that would require her forgiveness?
The answer doesn't come.
But the feeling stays. The feeling that something is coming. The feeling that Sophia knows something I don't. The feeling that my best friend is living in a future I can't see.
The next morning I decide I need answers.
I see Sophia leaving her house around midday. She's dressed in a simple dark outfit like she's trying not to be noticed. She's moving with purpose toward the edge of pack territory. Away from the main houses. Away from where anyone would normally go.
I know I shouldn't follow her. It feels like a betrayal of trust. But the question she asked me is still burning in my chest and I need to know what she's really doing.
I keep my distance as she walks through the woods. She doesn't look back. She doesn't seem to notice me even though I'm not trying very hard to hide. She's too focused on where she's going. Too determined.
We walk for what feels like forever. Past the training grounds. Past the pack meeting hall. Toward the neutral territory that sits on the edge of pack lands. It's where the pack meets with other supernatural creatures. Where business happens that's not pack business.
Sophia stops at a clearing and waits.
I hide behind a tree and watch. My heart is pounding because I know I'm seeing something I'm not supposed to see. I know this is private. I know Sophia would be angry if she found out I followed her.
Then a man steps out of the trees.
He's tall and dangerous looking. He has scars on his face and his eyes are cold. I've never seen him before. He's definitely not pack. He moves like someone from outside our world.
And Sophia looks at him like she knows him. Like she trusts him. Like maybe she loves him.
"You came," the man says. His voice is rough.
"I said I would," Sophia responds.
They talk for a while but I'm too far away to hear the words. I can see their body language though. I can see the way Sophia's shoulders relax around this stranger. The way he looks at her like she's the most important thing in his world.
It's the same way James looks at her sometimes. But different. This is protective. This is possessive. This is someone who would burn the world for her.
I'm so focused on watching them that I don't hear the footsteps behind me until it's too late.
A hand covers my mouth.
I try to scream but the sound is muffled. I try to struggle but whoever has me is too strong. I'm being pulled backward away from the clearing and I can't do anything to stop it.
Then I hear a familiar voice.
"Don't scream and I won't hurt you."
The hand drops away from my mouth.
I turn around and find myself face to face with Callum Ashford. James's best friend. The enforcer. The man who looks like he'd kill someone with his bare hands if the pack Alpha asked him to.
"Callum?" I whisper. "What are you doing here?"
He looks past me toward the clearing where Sophia is still talking to the stranger. His expression is intense. Jealous. Like watching her with someone else is physically painful.
"The same thing you are," he says quietly. "Trying to understand her."
And I realize something that makes my blood go cold.
Callum has been following Sophia too. He's been watching her. And the way he's watching her isn't protective. It's obsessed.
"You need to leave," Callum tells me. "Before she knows you're here. Before she knows either of us is here."
I nod because I don't have a choice. Callum is scary when he's calm. He's terrifying when he's focused on you.
As he releases me and I start walking back toward pack territory, I realize that whatever Sophia is planning, it's big enough to attract attention from multiple people. It's big enough that Callum Ashford is obsessing over her. It's big enough that she's meeting with dangerous-looking men in neutral territory.
And somehow I know that I'm going to be part of it whether I want to be or not.
Just like she said.