Savior of the Wolves

Emma’s POV

Last night was horrific. I was racing deep into the forest, where the pack was telling me they were, only to be met halfway with my battered son. My son, who fell from a cliff that should’ve killed him. But somehow, he lived. The same cliff that only one other has fallen from, and he didn’t survive the fall. All for this girl. The girl who I had grown quite fond of.

But why?

I watched her soaked frame, limp from exhaustion, being carried carefully by Chris and I wept.

Why did she run off into the woods?

I still couldn’t read her. There were those moments where I got foggy glimpses. Like a veil had been lowered. Nothing that I saw looked dangerous. I could see her love for her mother. It was powerful. I saw short flashes of abuse the poor child had endured. But these were all human memories. I didn’t see witches or scourges. I just wasn’t getting enough to make any concrete decisions.

What I did know was that my son almost died for her and the men told me that she fought with strength she shouldn’t have had to save him in the water. A human would’ve never been able to do that. She somehow fought the cold and his massive weight and wouldn’t allow him to drown.

Ron even said he believed she would’ve drowned with him before letting him go.

I was starting to believe he’s right.

***

And then, something changed.

She growled.

We were shocked beyond words. But no one more than her. She was confused and scared.

Poor child.

Barely eighteen and no one had taught her how to live...as a wolf. She only knew how to live as a human. But we’re figuring out that that was a cover. For something else.

The magic around her was unique. So rare. And it was throwing my family around like we were looped in a whirlwind. My sons...most of all. There were oddities that Aiden had first noticed, and he was beginning to hold onto hope.

Hope for them…for what he was feeling for her.

But I am their mom. I had seen both of my boys. Josh was more mature. He had felt the same pull, but he wasn’t near when Aiden jumped off the cliff after her. When Aiden was hurt, and she wasn’t, his love for his brother allowed him to pull back. He was able to give them time…to give his injured brother time. That was no small feat. He gave the order…he was restrained at times to avoid going to her.

But as we all gathered next door to Sophie’s room, waiting to see if Sophie needed us, we found out that Sophie didn’t need us at all.

Jess did.

She was a smart girl. With what little she understood, she figured out enough of what I now feared. If the tears, blood, and sweat could get through this magic and the boys reacted to her this way...it could be one of two things.

It was the magic. Plain and simple.

Or…she was a female noble.

No matter how impossible it seemed, the evidence was pointing toward her being a fem.

But from what family?

I snuck into the library while Aiden was resting. I tried not to disturb his research as I looked in depth for the records of other family nobles in lists and journals. She just didn’t fit any of the names or locations. I couldn’t find any noble families that she could be from. And I knew most of them.

I’m not naïve. I suspected what my sons suspected. I too know that there could be fems that aged up without our knowledge. With the danger, it’s not impossible to keep her or others like her, hidden. But hidden this well? And as a human?

Our pack was always on alert because we knew no matter how well we hid Sophie one word could escape that could lead an enemy to believe she existed.

Some packs, not many, knew of Sophie. But no one knew of this girl.

I flipped through the pages. Could there have been a name change when she was young? But she didn’t say so. Her name is irrelevant because her father admitted to not being her biological father. So that doesn’t help. It just seemed to be a lot of dead ends. Someone hid her well. This took a lot of planning.

Deep down, I sensed Aiden wanted to believe she was a noble. He forgot how complicated this could make things...for her...for them...for his brother...for the pack.

And as the tears broke free from her, even through the walls, I could see a little more into her mind. There was a terrible fear of hurting one of my sons and absolute torture over losing one of them.

As the tears worsened, the boys suddenly escalated from worried to uncontrollable. They were as desperate as when her blood ran onto the ground just days ago. Their wolves became frantic and their father, their Alpha, knew what he had to do.

“I’m sorry,” he linked to me, and I quickly looked at him. His eyes bore the burden of being an Alpha…and their father. He gave the command, “Confine them!”

The details surrounded our sons and escorted them to a holding room. Jess wasn’t in any danger so the boys couldn’t resist their Alpha’s order. That didn’t mean that they didn’t growl, fight, and plea.

I knew it was the right thing to do...but I had to turn away. I couldn’t watch them being forced away against their will.

As I sat in the room next door to the young girl, I felt heavy-hearted. I sent for Odia. Tonight we’d lift the magic on Jessica. But I had to know all that there was to know.

Ethan and I would fight fate if fate thought about taking her tonight. I was just beginning to see the magnitude of this. If something bad happened to her...it might destroy my sons.

As the girls spoke next door, Sophie linked privately to me to share her concerns as they arose. And she was right...the scourges could find Jess if the magic was unlocked, and she turned out to be a noble. That brings them closer to my daughter as well. She remained hidden for ten years to prevent that very thing from happening.

I would tell Ethan. He would have to call his pack together. I knew he had a plan for when this could happen to Sophie in a few weeks. I just hoped the plan was ready now.