Moving to the side, I turn to face the river, toying with a stone in my hand as I watch the surface of the water ripple.
“I think I understand now…” she whispers as she stares at the ground. “But it's still hard to accept.”
“Of course it will be hard. You've lived your life as a human, born to the human world. You wouldn't have known unless the valley was becoming desperate, and that ritual led me back to you. Or, perhaps the demons already knew, and that's why they were after you in Hamilton.”
Sophie nods gently, lifting her face to the sky with a sigh as if she's breathing in the moon as it comes up.
“Is that why you married me? Because of the ritual? Because the valley is dying?”
I clock the insecurity in her voice, her vulnerability, and soften my voice.
“When I first learned about the ritual, I was torn. I thought it meant starting a life with someone different. Someone who wasn't you. I only went through with it to save my people.”
“But then you discovered it was me....” She lets out a nervous half-laugh.
“And I'd never been more relieved,” I admit sincerely, and a moment of silence stretches between us, so I wait for her next question.
“Why?” is all she asks.
I turn to her this time, meeting her eyes with conviction when I reply, “Because falling in love with you was inevitable. Not because of a ritual, not because of what my pack was facing, but because it was you. It was always you. And when I'd given up all hope that there could be a future for us, the ritual proved me wrong. I thought I was saving you from my world, but now you're saving us in it.”
Sophie holds my gaze for a few long moments, until she breaks it and turns her face back to the moon.
“I don't know if I'm ready to accept any of it yet….”
“You said you needed time, and I want you to know that you'll have it.”
“And when it comes to this marriage?”
Her question makes me realize just how badly she'd been hurt by the breakup, and that she doesn't trust me yet. It just means I'll have to earn her trust.
“Especiallywhen it comes to this marriage. You are not obliged to pursue anything with me that you don't want. You being here is enough already, and I won't pressure you into being with me.”
She lets out a long, drawn-out sigh that leaves the air humming with a question of my own. It's almost like the thing she can't accept is being with me, or knowing that I've always wanted her.
“The council will call you for a meeting in a few days,” I inform her when the silence becomes too heavy. “They want you to start training.”
Sophie takes a deep breath, inhaling the moon again. “That won't be necessary. I'm not ready to start training and learning how to control this,” she says as she curls her hands into fists, then uncurls them to stare at her palms.
I open my mouth, about to respond to her and assure her that I'll buy her some more time, when a chill whisks through the air, my wolf senses kicking in as the fine hairs on my nape prickle at attention.
Quickly getting to my feet when the air starts to smell like grease and death, I hold out my hand toward Sophie.
“You have to go inside,” I warn her as she takes my hand. “The demons are coming.”
Sophie rises, and her brows furrow, her chest heaving uncontrollably as she stares ahead. She can feel it, too; she feels the demons approaching, and something inside her shifts, and she shakes her head slowly, meeting my eyes.
“No,” she responds firmly, dusting her hands against her dress. “I'm not…I can't hide anymore.”
She turns to me, and there are flickers of flames in her eyes, and for the first time, it appears as if she's conscious, in control of her power, when she says, “I'm not hiding from my power.”
There's a part of me that's proud of her, but there's also a part that wants to keep her safe, and not expose her to the demons—not when she hasn't fully gained control over her powers. But the fiery determination in her eyes tells me thatthere's no denying her fight; it's as inevitable as the fated mate bond.
Chapter 16 - Sophie
The pressure hits my chest before I even see it.
It’s subtle at first, like the moment just before a panic attack crests, when my lungs forget how to work properly and my spine prickles with a heat that doesn’t belong to fear. The air along the riverbank thickens, turning heavy and metallic, and something deep inside me answers it instinctively.
