Sophie's POV
The whispers started before dawn.
Sophie woke to voices in the compound. Not the normal sounds of pack members going about their day. These were urgent. Serious. The kind of voices people used when something bad was happening.
She got out of bed and stood by the window watching fighters move through the courtyard below. They were organizing. Gathering. Checking weapons.
Sophie's stomach dropped.
Carson had sent the message. Now the pack knew why. They knew that Sophie was the reason soldiers were being called to prepare. The reason weapons were being collected. The reason young wolves who'd been safe were now going to have to fight.
It was her fault.
The realization made it hard to breathe.
Throughout the day people kept appearing in the compound. Fighters from distant territories. Warriors who'd been living peacefully in their homes now being summoned because of her. Because Lucas had decided to claim her. Because she'd been stupid enough to run into the forest instead of dying when she was supposed to.
That afternoon Lucas finally came to get her.
He didn't say anything. Just opened the door and gestured for her to follow. Sophie followed him down to the great hall where what felt like the entire pack was gathered.
It was massive. Hundreds of wolves in human form standing in rows. All of them looking at her. All of them with the same expression. She was the reason they were here. She was the problem that needed solving.
Lucas shifted into his Alpha form. Not completely wolf but that dangerous in-between state where he was powerful and terrifying and absolutely commanding.
The crowd went silent.
"Sophie Mitchell is under my personal protection," Lucas announced. His voice carried through the hall like thunder. "She belongs to this pack now. Anyone who questions that decision is welcome to challenge me for leadership of Northern Ridge."
He let the words hang there.
Sophie waited for someone to step forward. Waited for Derek or one of the other strong fighters to say something. To challenge him. To tell him he was making a mistake.
No one did.
But she could see the doubt in their eyes. Could feel the uncertainty rolling off them like heat. They didn't agree with him. They didn't think Sophie was worth going to war for.
Derek stood at the back of the crowd with his arms crossed. His expression was completely blank but Sophie could feel the anger radiating from him. It was like heat from a furnace. Like he was burning with something that was too big to contain.
Lucas looked directly at Derek.
For a moment something passed between them. Some kind of communication that didn't need words. Derek's jaw clenched and he looked away first but the damage was done. Whatever loyalty Derek felt toward Lucas just shifted into something else. Something dangerous.
The meeting ended and people began to leave. As they passed Sophie they looked at her like she was a disease. Like her presence was poisoning them. Like she was the reason their lives were about to become complicated and painful.
Sophie wanted to say something. Wanted to apologize. Wanted to tell them all that she would leave. That she would go back to Carson and stop this before anyone had to die.
But the bond wouldn't let her.
The thought of leaving Lucas made the bond scream inside her chest. Made her wolf panic. Made her body feel like it was being torn apart from the inside.
She was trapped.
That night Lucas didn't come to her room.
Sophie waited as the sun set. Waited as darkness fell outside her window. Waited and hoped that he would appear like he had every night since she'd been here.
He didn't.
The compound was restless. She could hear warriors moving through corridors. Could hear the sounds of armor being checked. Could hear the preparations for a war that was coming whether they were ready or not.
Sophie lay in Lucas's bed trying to feel the bond through all the distance. Trying to understand what he was feeling. She could sense him somewhere in the compound. Could feel his stress. His anger. His absolute certainty that he would fight for her no matter the cost.
She realized with perfect clarity what she'd done.
She'd made him choose between his pack and his heart. She'd forced him into a position where protecting her meant risking everything he'd built. She'd become exactly what his father had feared. She'd become the thing that was going to destroy him.
And he was going to let her.
Sophie got out of bed and pressed her face against the window. The courtyard below was transformed. Weapons lay in neat piles. Fighting mats had been cleared. This was a war camp now. This was a pack preparing to lose people.
Because of her.
Guilt crashed over her like a wave. She wanted to scream. Wanted to run down there and tell them all to stop. Wanted to offer herself back to Carson if it meant Lucas's warriors could go home to their families.
But the bond held her prisoner more effectively than any locked door ever could.
Around midnight the sounds changed.
Sophie heard the deep horn that Lucas had told her about. The alarm horn. The one that meant danger was approaching.
She wasn't imagining it. This was real.
Fighters began moving with new urgency. Not organized. Frantic. They were gathering weapons faster now. Moving toward the eastern exit. Calling out to each other in voices that were tight with fear and readiness.
Sophie's heart started racing.
She could feel Lucas through the bond. Could feel him shifting into his wolf form. Could feel his absolute focus on the danger approaching. Could feel the way he was preparing to go to war.
More warriors arrived. Dozens of them. Then hundreds. They emerged from the compound carrying weapons and shifting into their wolf forms. The courtyard below became a sea of fur and muscle and deadly intent.
Sophie pressed her hands against the glass.
She could see the direction they were looking. Could see them gathering at the eastern border. Could see them preparing defensive positions.
And in the distance, so faint she almost missed it, she heard it.
Howls.
Not Northern Ridge howls. Blackstone howls. Carson's pack calling across the mountains. Announcing their arrival. Announcing that war had come.
Sophie's hands were shaking.
This was happening. Carson was actually here. He was actually bringing an army. And Lucas was going to fight him because she'd let herself be claimed. Because she'd let the bond pull her toward something that was tearing apart two entire packs.
The horn sounded again.
And then the compound exploded into motion.
Warriors poured out toward the border. The sounds of fighting erupted in the distance. Screams. Howls. The unmistakable sounds of wolves tearing into each other.
Sophie stood at the window watching it happen.
Everything Lucas had feared was coming true because of her.
And she was locked in his room unable to do anything except listen to her people die.