141 - Soulbound

Sophia's POV

My whole fucking body ached as I slowly opened my eyes. All of the exhaustion I felt last night instantly faded away as Jacob's smiling face flashed right in front of me. It seemed he'd been awake for quite awhile.

"Morning, beautiful," he greeted, brushing his thumb on my lower lip.

"Morn-" Jacob cut me short with a sweet and long kiss. When our lips were apart, I punched his chest. Was about to reprimand him, but he flinched. My eyes roamed down, and saw the bite and claw marks I inflicted against his chiseled chest. Gasping slightly, I trailed down and looked at them with guilty eyes.

Jacob held my hand and kissed it. "Why do you look so sad about it, my Luna?"

"It didn't heal?" I whined, releasing my pheromones, but he stopped me.

"No. Not yet," he pressed. I looked at him with a confused face, and he smirked, "I quite love your work of art, Sophia."

Rolling my eyes at him, I gently pushed him away and got off our bed. The torn pieces of last night's events were still here on the floor, and my cheeks flushed seeing them. Remembering all of what we did. I immediately ran to the bathroom and opened the shower. Quickly took a bath, and when I was done, Jacob kissed me as he went inside and me went to change clothes.

Someone knocked, and when I asked, it was Trent. "Luna? Is Alpha with you?"

"Uh yeah, he's inside the shower; should I call him?"

"Nah. It's alright, Luna. Just tell him to come down with you when both of you are done." That was the last thing he said as I heard footsteps receding.

My mate came out and asked why Trent was bothering us so early in the morning. When I told him what our beta had just said, his eyes widened in shock and quickly changed clothes. I chuckled at the sight of him. They are being so obvious, but they're cute, so I'll pretend I didn't know.

Jacob accompanied me downstairs, and I could feel everyone's presence. They didn't even bother to conceal themselves. Once we arrived in the living room, some party poppers popped and.. I was genuinely surprised. My family and friends came into view, and they all beamed, "Happy Birthday, Luna Sophia!"

Laughter and chitchat echoed throughout the whole pack as we partied and danced all night.

-----

Monday quickly came, and all of us are currently sprinting to class. Alongside the Suits, Noah, Sandra, and Miley. Our wolves took the helm as we all relaxed in the corner of our minds. Three kilometers away from school, Jacob and I noticed that something was off.

'Jacob.' I mind-linked through our group chat.

'Yeah, something must've happened.' He replied, and everyone was slightly confused. Until we reached the one kilometer mark..

All of us jolted, as we could already hear the screams of growls and begs. The eight of us wasted no time and hastened our pace.

We passed by the school gate, which was slightly damaged with Goddess knows what happened here. The students.. Are fighting amongst each other. One party only trying to knock the other out, not kill. Whilst the latter seemed to be rampaging wolves on the brink of their sanity. Could feel their begs to just end their lives as they breathed that every fiber of their muscles hurt.

"What in the world happened here!?" Sandra huffed as all of us quickly moved to help knock down the rampaged wolves or at least tie them to something, restraining and denying them their movements.

We all agreed to split and spread out to maximize time and strength.

Glancing at my friends, they are all doing their best not to hurt our schoolmates. Sandra's the nearest to me, and I saw her expertly tie two wolves to a tree. Noah knocked out three rampaging wolves with his hind legs and ultimately rendered them unconscious.

The Suits fought their own battles as well. Xander tried to bait five wolves at once and sprinted away just to let them bump their heads into one strong tree or even a wall.

'Goddess, you're being too violent with them!' Sandra scolded her cousin through the link, to which the latter just responded with a quick, 'I don't have much choice!'

I saw Ben and Henry at the corner of my eye, assisting my classmates. Ben danced alongside Harley, managing eight crazed wolves by themselves. When Harley was almost bitten, Ben quickly pierced its leg to drive the wolf away from her. The two had such amazing coordination. Harley headbutted one she-wolf and kicked one male wolf with her back legs when they were about to strike Ben.

Was in awe and amazed by everyone, but not until Hatchett showed up in front of me. "Missed me?"

"How did you–?" I gasped and looked around. Saw Ricky and Yarrow injecting some kind of red liquid mixed with an oddly familiar white serum into those who were yet to be affected.

"STOP RICKY AND YARROW!" I growled, and Jacob instantly went to fight the both of them head-on.

'I'll go; will you be alright with her?' He asked with such a worried tone in his voice. I smirked and replied, 'I'm your Luna, silly. Of course I got it covered.'

I felt his loving response through the link as I focused on the opponent in front of me. "You really just won't stay still and rot in prison, do you?"

"After you stole everything from me!? Never!" She hissed and ran towards me like her life depended on it.

As Hatchett lunged with so much ferocity and passion, my instincts naturally kicked in. With Lia's help, our werewolf senses heightened. Lightning-fast reflexes, I sidestepped Hatchett's attempt, causing her to stumble forward. Using the momentum to my advantage, I swiftly countered with a powerful kick to her side, sending her crashing into a nearby wall with a loud thud. She grunted in pain and hurriedly stood on her four paws as she glared at me. Promptly sprinting to try and land another strike.

Narrowing my eyes, I prepared myself for another round. However, before we could engage in combat again, Jacob's voice echoed in my mind through the group link.

"Ricky and Yarrow are down. We need to regroup and contain the situation." Jacob's urgent tone cut through the chaos. Sparing a glance towards him, I saw Ricky and Yarrow, panting as blood gushed out from their wounds. It seemed my Alpha attacked them with a personal grudge. As tons of syringes spread out into the soil, Hatchett's eyes widened. "No.. NO!"

She screamed her heart out, and I took advantage of her state, speedily lunging towards her and successfully subduing her. She kept on shrieking profanities at me, but I just let her be.

"You think it will just end like this?" She growled, and I shrugged my head. "Whatever you plan, stop it, Hatchett. Before it's too late. Just surrender already and stop this mess of yours!" I ferociously roared. She scoffed, "Stop? At this point, Addison? If you were me, you think you would?!"

I sighed and just pinned her to the ground as I awaited Jacob to come. Ricky and Yarrow were already defeated, as they could not even stand anymore. Besides, the syringe that made the students turn was destroyed by my mate. So what else would happen? Little by little, the grim situation is being contained with everyone's help. The professors also helped with everything. Didn't notice them earlier, but they also joined in the fight. Until Sandra shrieked at the top of her lungs, "Sophie, behind you!!!"

In the split second, I remembered everything that I had forgotten because I felt Oliver's silhouette behind me. That's right, he was a part of it too! When I turned around, it was impossible to evade the attack.

But.. just then. A pure black wolf flashed in front of me to take the strike. Jacob..

I howled in agony, and my heart sank. I quickly let Hatchett go, shifted, and caught his body. He was full of blood, and there was a silver dagger stuck to his chest. No.. His heart! My shaky hands quivered as I cupped my Alpha's face.

Jacob was having a hard time breathing, and I felt his pain as if it were mine.

It should be mine. The one lying on the ground should be me!

"Why did you have to do that!?" I roared as I kept on crying, and my tears landed on his face. The world around us dissipated, and I could not even hear or sense anything. I released my pheromones, even though I knew they would be of no use.

"I promised you.." He croaked in between heavy pants. "I won't let you die."

"Wouldn't let you either, my Alpha.." I said, and my eyes changed. Could feel my energy swirling deep within me as I tried to use my witch's power to think of something. It blasted off, but it didn't hurt anyone. Instead, it magically healed the rampaged wolves.

It healed everyone except my very mate.

"No. No! Please!" I begged and cried. Jacob smiled, and I could already feel his heart slowly fading.

"Don't leave me alone, Jacob. Please." My voice cracked as I tapped my energy within me. Activating another surge and wave of energy. It created a whirlwind of chaos, like what happened to the garden. My powers are getting the better of me again, but I didn't care for as long as I could save him. Until my half-moon necklace glowed. And there was a silhouette right in front of us.

"Stop. At this point, you'll both die." I heard an unfamiliar voice. When I lifted my head, it was a middle-aged woman who seemed out of place with her unusual choice of fashion.

I just ignored her and kept on emitting both my pheromones and witch's power. Heard her sigh and snapped her fingers. That made my power stop leaking, and I sharply turned my head at her, "What did you do!?"

"I'm trying to save both of your lives, you reckless girl. You are just like your mother! Stubborn. So stubborn." She clicked her tongue and held her temple.

Naia. My grandmother. It is obviously her. Besides, I don't have the time to confirm. I don't care either way, even if she were a demon. She glanced at me and asked, "You want to save this mutt?"

"He's not a mutt! He is my mate!"

"Whatever. So do you want to?"

I nodded with determination, as I'm willing to do whatever it takes for him. "I would do anything."

She stared at me and twirled her fingers twice, then.. Time froze. Literally everything stopped. Could feel no air, and if it weren't for my witch's power, I think I'd already be suffocating within this space that she obviously created. I looked down at my mate, and he also stopped breathing. Was in a panic, but she told me that she did this on purpose. To prolong his life in the meantime.

"You need to cast the Soulbound spell. It is the only one that could save your already dying mutt. It ain't any simple spell as it is a witch's curse. A high-level one at that. It is risky and forbidden," she started. "Upside? Both of you are bound together by fate for eternity. Whatever or wherever lifetime or universe you're in."

That actually sounds great! I'm sure Jacob would also love that, if anything, he'll cherish this idea. An eternity of lifetimes that we'll spend with one another.

"Now don't be too happy just yet. Every pro has its cons." She sighed in disbelief when she saw me beaming. "If you fail, not only would both of you die in this lifetime, but also you and this mutt would be doomed. You will never cross paths with each other. No matter which universe or timeline. No matter how much effort you put in just to find him. And.. You will remember everything. Everything, Sophia," she sadly stated. Trying to dissuade me.

"This life of mine is already his anyway. If I'm not with him in this world, then what is even the point of living?" I directly stared into her eyes, and she blew in a sharp breath. "I see. If anything, the three of us had something in common. Hard-headed and stubborn."

She chuckled and said one last thing, "It would require a sacrifice to activate this forbidden curse."

"Name it."

"You'll never be able to use your witch's power ever again." She assessed my expression and looked for any hesitation in my face, but there was none.

"That's all? So be it," I confidently stated.