Look at me!!!! Two updates in the same week…I'm really rolling now. I'm going to try and keep up with the story, but we'll see how college goes. It's pretty hectic right now. I don't know whether to say fortunately or unfortunately……this story is coming to a close. I'm thinking 3 of 4 more chapters should finish it up nicely, but who knows???
Luke, Sherman, and Matt had been traveling for what seemed like hours. It didn't take Luke long to realize they were traveling in circles either. Normally he would have been complaining about this and demanding that they hurry the hell up so they could get to the safe house and he could be with Sophia again. Then again, these weren't normal circumstances though, now were they? This was perhaps the only time that his being away from Sophia would be the way he could best protect her. So this ONE time, the young wolf deferred the leadership role to the older, more experience Matt Donner and simply kept moving and his mouth shut.
Sophia's feet were long past aching and had begun to burn, her chest felt like an anvil had been dropped on it, she was sweating worse than in any gym class, and she was straining muscles she hadn't even known existed. Despite all this pain, Sophia kept her mouth shut and just kept walking. She felt obligated too; after all it was her fault that all of this trouble had come to Wolf Lake….the trouble that would only stop when it had her in its grasp and at its mercy. She also thought that she was going to go crazy if someone didn't say anything soon. Not a single word had been spoken since shortly after they left. Sophia had asked Vivian where they were going, and all she had gotten was a stern look from her that Sophia had read as a signal to shut up….so she did. That had been hours ago, and, though Sophia had never been a chatterbox, she desperately needed to talk to someone. Since Vivian and Maggie weren't talking, Sophia did the only thing she could think of to strike up a conversation, short of talking to herself. Besides, she had tried that already but had gotten bored with herself after only 10 minutes.
"Luke, can you hear me, Luke?" Sophia emitted her thoughts, hoping Luke could pick it up on their newly established private link. "Luke, if you can hear me, please answer. No one's talking here and that's starting to scare me as much as anything else."
On the other side of the town, Luke was suddenly hit by a wave of emotions that were shortly followed by a stream of conversation flowing from Sophia. Luke was ecstatic to hear anyone talk, but especially Sophia. Matt and Sherman's silence had been as painful on Luke as Maggie and Vivian's had been on Sophia..
"Of course I can hear you," Luke thought, careful to keep his emotions passive to the other men wouldn't know what was going on. He couldn't, however, keep a small smirk from grazing his face. And Sherman, happened to see the young pup's face and the way his eyes lit up suddenly. Sherman knew exactly what was going on, but he decided to let the pup have the private conversation with Sophia. "I know that the silence is intimidating, but Sophia, don't be scared. Before you know it, we'll be in that safe house and we can be together and figure out what we're going to do next."
Sophia and Luke continued their conversation for almost half an hour before Sophia noticed she was beginning to feel rather ill. All of the sudden she felt weak and dizzy. She was also experiencing some nausea. She was about to tell Vivian or Maggie that they needed to stop until this feeling passed. Sophia assumed it was because of the extensive amount of traveling they had done so quickly without stopping for rest or food. As she began to voice her concern, Luke responded over their private link, and this stopped Sophia.
"Sophia, it's not from the travel, though I bet that's going to start affecting you. It's the strain of using our link. It's still new to you, and the further away we get from each other, the more it hurts you to try and talk with me." Luke sent out, feeling Sophia's pain as if it were his very own.
"Luke, it's getting really bad. I can barely breathe." Sophia rasped out, her mind going fuzzy at the effort. She knew they should stop, but she desperately felt the need to keep the connection with him…as if her life might depend on it.
"Sophia, we're going to stop for awhile, okay?" Luke sent the thought to her, but not liking it one bit. "Sophia, I'm not sure how long it's going to be before we can talk again, so there's something I need to tell you." Luke paused here, waiting. He was trying to gauge Sophia's response to this as well as trying to muster up enough nerve to continue what he needed to say. When Sophia didn't interrupt, Luke continued.
"I know that this…that we have always been complicated. I know that I caused most of the awkwardness, because of the way I act and the things I do. Sophia, those things don't matter anymore. This…what's going on right now is bigger than anything anyone could have imagined. I just want you to know….no I need you to know that I care about you. I care about you more than I've ever cared about anyone in my life." Luke paused again, not sure if he should continue but he knew he had to get it out before his heart exploded in his ears. So he continued with his little speech. "Sophia, what I'm trying to say is I think I'm falling in love with you."
Sophia was more than shocked. She had figured that Luke had felt something for her. Why else would he spend so much time with her? But she still never expected that he would confess his blossoming love for her. She was about to respond and tell him that she felt the same when Vivian let loose a terrible growl. Sophia was terrified because she had no idea what to was going on. All of the sudden Vivian yelled at Sophia: "RUN!!!!"
Sophia didn't think twice she, just started running. She heard someone behind her and they were gaining on her fast. Sophia risked a glance behind her and saw that it was Vivian and Maggie. Vivian was quickly closing the gap between her and Sophia. Maggie on the other hand, being only a human, had started to fall behind. Sophia faced forward and focused on running again. She heard a gasp and then a short cry. She looked back and beyond Vivian, Maggie had fallen and there were men all around her. There were also men who continued to pursue the pair left. Soon, Sophia realized that Vivian had stopped running. Sophia ventured one more look back and was stunned at what she saw.
Vivian had quickly transformed into her wolven form and was attacking their pursuers. Sophia heard Vivian's telepathic plea for Sophia to run as quickly as she could to the safe house. Vivian would hold them off as long as possible. Sophia was torn between following the female Alpha's order and running for her life and staying behind and doing what little she could to help Vivian and maybe try and save Maggie. In the end, she chose to run, not out of fear, but only after the continued pleading of Vivian.
"Sophia! You have to run! You have to get to Matt and the others." Vivian's thoughts were bombarding Sophia, and it was hard for her to remain hidden from the view of Vivian's attackers. "Sophia, you have to get to Luke. Luke will take care of you…he always takes care of the ones he loves."
That last message seemed to kick Sophia into gear, and she realized what she had to do. Sophia turned away from Vivian, although reluctantly, and began to run. She wasn't strong enough yet to try the link with Luke so she just ran. She just ran and was praying to God that she was heading in the right direction. She ran only a few minutes before she realized she had run in a complete circle. She was back in the beginning of the clearing the group had been in when they were attacked. Everyone had cleared out, taking Maggie but leaving Vivian behind. Sophia stayed in hiding for a few more minutes, trying to decide if it was really safe to come out. Deciding it was, she ventured out, hoping to help the mother of the boy she loved. As she reached Vivian and kneeled down to help her, Sophia felt a rather painful prick in her neck. She immediately began to feel dizzy and slumped down to the ground. Her last image was of a small group of people approaching her and Vivian. All was darkness after that.
All the males in the other group that was heading west had heard the cry of Vivian directed towards Sophia and Maggie. All three males began to run in that direction. Luke was soon hit with another alert wave. This one, if it was possible, scared him even more. It scared him more because it came from his mate, it came from Sophia. She was terrified, not for herself but for Vivian and Maggie. As she became more and more frightened, Luke's panic grew higher and higher. Matt and Sherman could sense the boy's increasing tenseness and knew that it wasn't a good thing.
All Luke knew was that he had to get to his future mate, for that is what Sophia was to him he now realized, as quickly as he could. And running as a human definitely wasn't the quickest way. So he gave into his instinct. The one he had been fighting since the groups had spilt up. He shifted effortlessly into his pelt and started to sprint towards the distress call of Sophia. Matt quickly followed Luke's lead and shifted as well. Soon the two males were running at full speed toward their destination. Sherman, unable to shift into a wolf, simply picked up the males' clothing and stuffed it in the pack Matt had discarded in order to flip. After that, he simply took off at a trot, knowing sprinting would do no good. He would soon tire out if he went all out and he had a feeling he had a long trek ahead of him.
By the time Luke and Matt reached the clearing, the place where they had placed the distress call, it had completely cleared out. There had clearly been a struggle. Everywhere were trampled plants and signs of fighting. From what the men could discern. Maggie had fallen behind to try and protect the others. When she fell, Vivian took up the fight by shifting. This was a last ditch effort to keep Sophia from them. This thought left Matt with hope, thinking perhaps his little girl had gotten away and was hiding in the forest. Luke, however, had to dash those hopes when he showed Matt a bracelet…Sophia's bracelet. It was the last gift her mother had given Sophia before she had passed away. If Sophia didn't have it on, something terrible must have happened.
At that moment, two howls were heard through all of Wolf Lake. One was filled with anguish over losing a daughter and disappointing a wife. The other was the angry, mournful cry of a wolf that had failed his mate and might never see her again. As Matt and Luke continued to vent, Sherman finally showed up, sufficiently winded and sweating to show his exertion.
Confusing Sherman's distressed face for that of loss over realizing the girls' had been captured, Luke and Matt started to sniff around to see if they could pick up any scents. Sherman soon stopped them, after he had had a few minutes to catch his breath.
"Boys, we need," Sherman panted, "to get out of here."
Luke and Matt both looked at Sherman as if he were nuts. By this point, they had shifted back to human form and were changing into the clothes Sherman had recovered. They knew they had to spend a little while in human form to recover from the energy exerted from the chase. Luke completely disagreed with this plan. His senses were heightened, and his panic over losing his love was evident. He was about to protest Sherman's plan when he was silenced by a hand. Sherman soon began to speak again.
"People are following us. They have some kind of weapons. We need to get out of here. We can keep looking for the girls later." This statement was pointless. Luke and Matt had already sensed the approaching figures, stunned they hadn't noticed them earlier. It was, without a doubt, because of the fact that they had been completely focused on the pursuit of the girls.
Luke and Matt got on either side of Sherman to try and protect him from whatever impending danger approached them. This effort was futile. Matt soon dropped to the ground, unconscious. Sherman followed after him and landed in a pile. Luke looked down and saw that each man had a medium sized dart in his neck. Luke's eyes turned gold as they scanned the horizon. He heard the whiz of the dart but was unable to move in time. He was hit once and stumbled but kept moving. Then he was hit again and again. Soon, Luke fell to the ground, ten feet from where the others had fallen. As he fell, in the exact same spot Sophia had, he clutched that fallen bracelet of Sophia's in his hand. His last vision was of men moving Matt and Sherman and of men coming towards him. His last thought was of Sophia and how he had managed to fail in his mission to protect her and now how he had failed to protect Sherman and Matt. As the men prepared to carry the boy off, they heard him softly mumble, more to himself than to him, a single word: "SOPHIA."
Okay guys, well that's it for this chapter. I am going to try and update later this week, but if not then, it will be soon. Review and let me know what you think of these chapters.