Chapter 16 Into Enemy Territory
LISA'S POV
Silver Creek Pack territory lay four hours north, and we drove through the night with Viktor's deadline counting down like a bomb in my chest. Ryan had his phone pressed to his ear, speaking with Alpha Samuel—Sophia's adoptive father, requesting permission to enter their lands. The conversation was brief, professional, surprisingly easy.
"He granted permission," Ryan said, hanging up. "Said he's shocked by the accusations against Sophia and wants to get to the bottom of this." He glanced at me, doubt flickering in his eyes. "It feels too convenient."
"Everything about this feels wrong," I agreed, watching dark trees blur past the window. "They're just letting us walk onto their territory? Either it's a trap or they genuinely don't know what she is."
Daniel leaned forward from the back seat. "Alpha Samuel has a reputation for being honorable but blind to his family's faults. He adopted Sophia as an infant and raised her as his own. He might truly believe she's innocent."
Nathan checked his weapons for the third time. "Or he's complicit and playing us all."
The Silver Creek estate appeared just before midnight, a massive compound that screamed generations of wealth and power. Stone walls surrounded perfectly manicured grounds, the main house rising like a castle against the night sky. Security guards flanked the entrance, their eyes tracking our vehicle with professional wariness.
Alpha Samuel met us at the front doors, his Luna beside him. Both looked exactly as I had imagined—distinguished, powerful, with the kind of bearing that came from centuries of Alpha bloodlines. Alpha Samuel's face showed genuine confusion as we explained why we had come, his Luna's hand flying to her mouth when we mentioned the murder attempt on my father.
"Sophia would never," Luna Margot breathed. "We raised her to value pack loyalty above all else. There must be some mistake."
"Then let us search your estate," Ryan said firmly. "If Emma's not here, we'll apologize and leave. But if she is, you need to face what your daughter has become."
Alpha Samuel's jaw tightened, pride warring with duty. Finally, he nodded. "Search wherever you need. My guards will accompany you." He paused, pain flickering across his weathered face. "I pray you find nothing. But I fear you won't leave empty-handed."
They were either excellent liars or genuinely ignorant of Sophia's true nature. I couldn't decide which was worse—parents who knew and supported their daughter's crimes, or parents who had been so thoroughly deceived they never saw the monster they had raised.
The estate was enormous, room after room of expensive furniture and family portraits showing Sophia growing up in luxury. We searched the main floors quickly, then descended into the basement levels where the air grew cold and damp. Nathan found the hidden door first, concealed behind wine racks in the cellar.
"Here," he called softly, pulling the racks aside to reveal a steel door with an electronic lock.
Alpha Samuel's confusion looked genuine as his head guard punched in an override code. "I didn't know this room existed," he murmured. "This section was supposed to be sealed off decades ago."
The door swung open onto a small room lit by a single bare bulb. Emma lay on a cot in the corner, unconscious, her hair matted with dried blood. I rushed to her side, my hands shaking as I checked for a pulse. She was alive.
"Emma," I whispered, brushing hair from her bruised face. "I'm here. You're safe now."
Daniel moved to lift her, his arms sliding under her shoulders with surprising gentleness. "We need to get her to a hospital—"
"I wouldn't do that just yet."
The voice came from the shadows beyond the doorway, cold and amused. Sophia stepped into the light, looking nothing like the polished politician who had charmed Moonstone Pack. Her hair hung loose, her clothes casual, her smile sharp as a blade. Behind her, I felt Alpha Samuel and Luna Margot freeze in shock.
"Sophia?" Luna Margot's voice cracked. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at Moonstone—"
"Playing the perfect temporary Alpha?" Sophia laughed, the sound empty of warmth. "That performance got exhausting. All those council meetings, pretending to care about pack welfare, acting like I wanted Ryan for anything other than access." Her eyes found Ryan, full of contempt. "You actually thought I loved you? You were a key, nothing more. A way into Moonstone Pack's leadership so Viktor could execute his plans from the inside."
"You escaped house arrest," I said, standing slowly. "How?"
"Elder Catherine helped me," Sophia said casually. "She's been on Viktor's payroll for months. The council was never going to hold me, half of them are compromised. You really think you can fight a conspiracy that's been building for decades?" She circled closer, her movements predatory. "You're the last silver wolf, Lisa. Everyone wants you dead or controlled. You just haven't figured out how many enemies you actually have."
Alpha Samuel stepped forward, his face pale. "Sophia, these accusations, tell me they're lying. Tell me you didn't try to murder Alpha Marcus."
Sophia's smile was pitiful. "Oh, Father. Still so naive after all these years. I tried to kill him because Viktor needed Lisa to be desperate and alone. We needed her weak enough to make mistakes." She turned her attention back to Emma's unconscious form. "And this one—she's not just bait. She's proof."
My wolf senses screamed a warning. "Proof of what?"
"Watch what happens when a dormant half-blood is forced to shift."
Sophia moved faster than I could react, producing a syringe filled with something dark and viscous. She plunged it into Emma's arm before Daniel could pull her away. Emma's eyes flew open, her back arching off the cot as she released a scream that echoed off stone walls and buried itself in my soul.
Her body began to change, bones cracking and reforming with sounds that made my stomach turn. But this wasn't a normal shift—it was wrong, painful, a transformation that looked like torture. Emma's screams turned inhuman as her body fought against something it wasn't ready for, something forced rather than natural.