Chapter 4
Sophia's POV
The forest was wrong. All wrong.
Silver wire wrapped around every tree trunk, glinting with malicious moonlight. The metal cut into bark and flesh alike, creating a maze with no exit. My wolf claws were heavy with blood—whose blood?—and the scent of betrayal hung thick in the air.
Snow fell sideways, driven by winds that screamed with voices I almost recognized. The cold bit deeper than any silver blade, numbing my limbs until I could barely stand.
"Traitor." The word echoed from every direction, spoken by a dozen mouths I'd never seen. "Traitor. Traitor. Traitor."
The wire tightened around my throat.
"—Alpha's completely lost his mind over that Silver Moon girl."
Cameron's voice drifted through the haze, pulling me back from the nightmare. My eyes stayed closed, but my body felt real again—warm blankets, soft mattress, the familiar scent of pine and stone.
"I'm telling you, man, she's the one who pushed him into the lake," another voice said. Younger. Nervous. "Nearly drowned our fucking Alpha, and he just carried her back like some kind of princess."
"Keep your voice down," Cameron hissed. "And watch your language. That 'Silver Moon girl' has been through hell."
"Yeah, but she's dangerous. My cousin was there when it happened—said Alpha was underwater for at least thirty seconds before she let him up. That's not normal behavior."
I heard Cameron sigh. "Nothing about this situation is normal. You know we've got that other one in the back room, right? Karen? She's been unconscious for three days now. Silver arrow to the gut."
Karen?
"Looks just like this one," the younger voice continued. "Same hair, same build. Think that's why Alpha brought her back? Guilt over the other girl?"
"Maybe. Or maybe he actually gives a shit about—"
The voices faded as darkness pulled me under again.
"You're not leaving this outpost again."
Ethan's declaration came three days later, delivered with the kind of finality that made my wolf snarl beneath my skin. Cameron stood behind him like a shadow, hand resting on his weapon.
"Cameron will escort you anywhere you need to go," Ethan continued, setting a fresh vial of moonbane on the table. "Meals, fresh air, whatever. But you don't go alone."
"I'm not a fucking prisoner," I snapped.
"No," he roared, "you're someone I can't afford to lose again."
The moonbane glowed softly between us, and I could feel its pull—that artificial calm it promised, the way it muffled my wolf's rage until everything felt distant and manageable.
I hated how much I wanted it.
"Just drink the damn thing, Sophia."
Ethan's patience had worn thin after watching me stare at the vial for ten minutes. His eyes flickered silver when he reached for it.
I grabbed the moonbane and hurled it at his chest.
"You just don't fucking get it, do you?" I screamed, backing toward the window. "Every drop of that shit you make me swallow is another day I can't remember who I really am!"
Ethan moved faster than thought, his hand clamping around my jaw with bruising force. Those silver eyes were blazing now, his wolf barely contained beneath human skin.
"Can't you just obey me once?" he growled. "Just once, for your own goddamn safety?"
I smiled through the pain. "Never."
His grip tightened, and for a moment I thought he might actually hurt me. Then his expression crumbled, and he released me so suddenly I stumbled.
"The full moon is tomorrow night," he said quietly. "Without the moonbane, your wolf will tear you apart from the inside. Is that what you want? To die just to spite me?"
'Maybe.' The thought was cold, honest. I wanted my wolf to be strong enough to rip his throat out, or strong enough to end my own suffering.
He didn't force me to take the medication anymore. Instead, he just gave me a deep look before walking away, his gaze surprisingly filled with a hint of pain and protectiveness, which left me utterly confused.
Suddenly, what Cameron had mentioned about the girl in the back room flooded my mind. Perhaps I should go and see for myself.
The back room behind the outpost looked like a graveyard in the afternoon light.
I'd brought one of Ethan's silver daggers—not to harm anyone else, but because touching the metal kept my memories sharp.
As I scanned my surroundings carefully, I found nothing out of the ordinary.
"Could Cameron have been wrong about Karen being here?" I wondered to myself.
I'd been outside longer than I'd planned, so I decided to head back.
Ethan's voice carried across the courtyard long before I saw him. He was arguing with someone—Dr. Winston, maybe, or one of the healers. By the time I made it back to the main building, he was carrying an unconscious woman through the front door.
Karen.
She looked exactly like I'd imagined from Cameron's description—same dark hair, same slight build. But where I was all sharp edges and barely contained fury, she seemed fragile, broken.
"Silver poisoning," I heard Dr. Winston saying as they disappeared into one of the back rooms. "The wound's infected. Without proper treatment..."
Ethan didn't sleep that night. I watched from my window as he paced the hallway outside Karen's door.
He never once came to check on me.
'Like she mattered more than I ever could.'