Chapter 4 : The Unusual Escape

Sophia's breath sawed in her lungs as she sprinted down the shadowy alleyway. The screech of tires faded behind her, but her pursuers couldn't be far behind. Spotting a recessed doorway, she ducked into its meager concealment, praying whoever owned the building was gone for the night.

Pressed against the scarred wood, Sophia clenched her eyes shut. Just days ago her life had still made sense—before Viktor's thugs had dragged her into their grim underworld. Before she'd seen the feral hunger in Lukas's gaze when he rescued her trembling form.

A lone tear tracked down Sophia's cheek. She ruthlessly dashed it away. Now was not the time for self-pity. She strained her ears for any sign of footsteps over the thunder of her pulse. It couldn't be a chance that she'd escaped her kidnappers. The unlocked van door, keys dangling invitingly—someone had helped orchestrate this. But who? And where could she possibly hide now that she'd embroiled herself in the cutthroat rivalry between these two dangerous men?

Just then a smooth voice spoke from the darkness. "You can stop running. I'm here to help, Sophia."

She gasped, peering toward the sound until the alley's shadows congealed into a tall, imposing figure—Lukas's second in command. "Nikolai?"

He gave a sharp nod. "None other." In quick strides Nikolai was at her side, pressing something into her palm—a tiny tracking chip.

"But why?" Sophia stammered. "You almost died during that raid..."

"Because the Pack protects its own." His expression softened marginally. "And since our Alpha has clearly claimed you, your life is now our sacred duty."

A shout at the alley's entrance snapped Sophia from her shock. Nikolai grasped her wrist in an unbreakable hold, half-carrying her toward a sleek motorcycle idling at the curb.

"We must go quickly. Viktor's men won't rest until they drag you back to that monster."

Lukas stalked through the devastation of his ravaged safe house, royal fury threatening to shift his human shape into snarling lethality. The lingering scent of Sophia's blood seemed to taunt him. He'd failed her—allowed his enemies to steal his priceless treasure out from under his muzzle.

A guttural oath tore from his throat. He would visit hell's wrath upon those who took her. Let Viktor dispatch a hundred assassins. None would touch his Sophia again once she stood under Pack protection.

The high-pitched whine of an incoming video call jolted Lukas from his temper. Seeing Nikolai's ID, he tapped the screen eagerly.

"Report," he rasped once his second's face appeared. His harsh tone softened at Sophia peering over Nikolai's shoulder.

"My Alpha, apologies for the retreat. We were gravely outmanned." He drew Sophia closer. "But I secured our prize."

Lukas dragged a palm over his jaw, emotions at war within. "Secure her here safely. There are details to discuss."

Sophia touched the screen, her voice tremulous. "Lukas, I...thank you. For coming after me."

A fierce longing to feel her skin threatened to crush his sternum. Soon, malyshka, he silently vowed. Soon we shall never be parted again.

Viktor gazed out his rain-lashed office windows, fury coiling ever tighter in his chest. Raphael was fortunate his miserable corpse was unidentifiable after Viktor had finished with him. To have victory so close, only to see Varano slip through his clutches...

Lightning forked across the black sky. No matter, Viktor mused, pupils contracting. The healer's escape only strengthened his resolve to harness her gifts at any cost.

He reached unhurriedly for his encrypted phone. One ring and his call connected.

"I have a special assignment for you," Viktor purred to the professional killer on the line. "Lukas Varano must suffer before he dies. But bring his Omega to me alive."

The assassin named an astronomical figure, non-negotiable. Viktor smiled without mirth.

"Money is no object. Just see that it's done."

He ended the call, spine cracking as he stretched slowly. Patience was key now; let Varano grow complacent again. When the Alpha believed his woman safely hidden away, Viktor would tear that fantasy down forever.

And Sophia would take her rightful place kneeled at his side. This game was far from finished.

Sophia peered through the SUV's tinted windows as they glided through the waking city. Earlier, she'd slipped unseen from Lukas's hidden estate with Nikolai after a brief, heated exchange with the Pack Alpha. He hadn't pressed her for a response yet regarding aligning with him more formally. But the possessive fire smoldering in Lukas's eyes whenever he looked at her told Sophia time was running short.

She shivered despite the vehicle's warmth. Being the rope in this lethal tug of war between shifter factions set her every nerve on a razor's edge. And yet...when she recalled Lukas's iron-banded arms shielding her after Viktor's attack, Sophia couldn't deny feeling protected in his embrace. Could she trust her attraction when so much was at stake?

The SUV halted half a block from Sophia's modest apartment. Nikolai waited, engine idling, while she slipped upstairs through the shabby foyer. Inside, she froze. The entire studio had been ransacked—furniture overturned, belongings strewn wildly across the floor. Sophia frantically rifled through the debris. Cash, electronics, clothing...all of it was gone.

She sank down against the wall, head in hands. Of course Viktor would target her home, cutting off any safe return after her escape. Fight or flight instincts screamed inside her, when she noticed the still form crumpled across her demolished bedroom.

"No!" Sophia cried out, crawling desperately through rubble to reach Liam's limp body. Her childhood best friend's face was savagely battered, shirt stained crimson.

"Liam, oh god, wake up!" She searched frantically for a pulse. Finding the faint heartbeat, she exhaled in relief. Laying her palm against his cold cheek, she summoned her healing gift, watching his wounds slowly vanish.

Moments later he stirred weakly. Sophia clasped him close, half laughing, half weeping. Outside, a car engine revved, tires squealing away into the morning. Viktor's scouts likely report back her location. It wasn't safe to remain.

She helped Liam downstairs to the idling SUV. Nikolai's expression hardened seeing the injured human, but he said nothing, holding the rear door open.

Sophia glanced uncertainly up at Lukas's lieutenant. "I know somewhere we can go."

The abandoned cabin hunkered deep in the forest outside city limits. Sophia had discovered it as a child, claiming the crumbling structure as her secret sanctuary from the world. Now its isolation could mean safety for them all.

Inside the musty interior, Sophia covered Liam with spare blankets as he shivered. She smoothed her friend's hair back from his clammy forehead. "I'm so sorry this happened..."

Liam attempted bravery even as he grimaced against fractured ribs. "Part of the deal being friends with a powerful Omega. Occupational hazard."

Nikolai paced the small space. "You understand this location won't hold long once Zavarelli expands his search." He crossed his arms. "I need to inform Varano. The Pack can offer sufficient refuge."

Sophia exhaled slowly. "Please, just one night? I need...time. To think everything through."

The wolf sentinel clearly wished to refuse. But under Sophia's entreating gaze, he nodded. "One night only. I'll stand watch outside."

Once the door thudded closed behind Nikolai, Sophia sank down beside her friend. She had always shunned entanglements with either side of this secret world—until fate dragged her unwillingly into the clash between these two formidable forces. Sophia dropped her head wearily to her knees. Her heart couldn't withstand losing Liam or anyone else to this violent conflict. But the thought of Lukas assuming control of her life brought equal dread.

"Maybe we should run away somewhere...start over," Liam murmured drowsily, as if reading her thoughts. He drew Sophia's hand into his own. "Together."

Sophia squeezed his palm, wishing passionately to accept the tempting vision—a quiet life again with her dearest friend beside her. Could she abandon this city in chaos and fledgling supernatural peace efforts? Viktor and Lukas would always be relentless threats shadowing her path.

She gazed at where early sunlight etched the cabin's rough plank walls, heart and mind at war. Stand together against gathering darkness or light two solitary beacons?

Lukas stood granite-still before his elite guard, jaw muscle feathering. "Someone explain precisely how Zavarelli's forces penetrated our borders...twice over?"

The alphas maintained disciplined silence under their leader's arctic tone, but fury rippled through the gathering. That the Pack could be so damaged by mafia vermin was humiliation beyond measure.

"I tracked Varano's whore to her hovel," spat Dmitri, a muscle-corded enforcer. "The place was demolished. Investigators scoured it before we arrived."

Lukas seized the front of Dmitri's shirt, baring lengthening fangs. "You will show respect when speaking of her!"

He released the beta, nostrils flaring. None here understood Sophia's importance securing his empire. But they would accept her place at his side in time.

"I want patrols doubled at our borders," Lukas ordered. "Bring the human she was harboring to our medical ward. He's clearly leverage keeping Sophia away."

For now, securing greater territory took precedence with Zavarelli on the warpath. But once Sophia accepted her destiny beside her Alpha mate, Lukas mused darkly, her lovely throat would wear his eternal bite. And heaven preserve the fool who tried stealing his prize then.

Viktor flipped idly through surveillance photos, Sophia's lovely, haunted face peering up. He paused on one where she gazed at Varano with unguarded yearning that made his mouth twist contemptuously.

"Never lost a trophy to another before, have you?" Ilya goaded softly. Viktor's spymaster ignored the warning and shot in his direction. "Our guest seems to have gotten under that wolf's fur and yours equally."

Viktor surged upright, venom in his tone. "I have no equals! She will serve my aims...in time."

His brethren dared not mock him so openly again. Yet privately, they too wondered at their Master's unprecedented obsession with an elusive girl.

In the quiet, Viktor's encrypted phone vibrated. His contact with the city's most notorious assassination ring relayed success tracing recent requests on Varano targets. Viktor bared his teeth, satisfied. The wolf had grown smug, taking Viktor's rare inaction as surrender. Now the fool Alpha would relearn painful lessons about reaches of Zavarelli vengeance.