RAMON’S POV

I took a long shower, washing out the stress of the previous night. The hot water cascaded over my shoulders and back, easing the tight knots that had formed from hours of holding Sonia close. Steam filled the bathroom, carrying the faint scent of pine soap, but it did little to erase the lingering fear that still clung to me like a shadow.

It had been one heck of a scary occurrence, and I hoped it never repeated itself. The memory of her limp body in my arms still made my chest tighten painfully.

Turning off the shower, as I finally felt refreshed, I picked a towel and tied it around my waist. Water droplets trailed down my chest as I stepped out of the bathroom.

I walked out and found Lorena leaning against the wall, waiting for me. Her eyes lit up the moment she saw me.

"I was going to join you there, but I didn’t want to be rejected again."

She hopped forward and stopped in front of me, close enough that her perfume, something sweet and cloying, wrapped around me.

"Have you gotten the mourning part out of your system now? Because we need to hold a burial before her corpse starts to rot," she said, and smiled wildly, her eyes gleaming with something dark and satisfied.

Irritation from the deepest part of my soul sprang mercilessly. My wolf surged forward with a growl, claws itching beneath my skin. She seemed excited at the prospect of Sonia being dead.

But before I could rebuke her, I caught myself. I enabled this behaviour from her. If I had not basically given her the voice to say whatever was on her mind, she wouldn’t have the guts to project her glee to me.

"Are you done?" I asked, keeping my voice flat.

She frowned and pouted. "What did I do this time? I’m just saying you should be glad that one of your burdens is out the way. When Ferins gets the news, he’ll bring the fight to you. Isn’t that what you want? You’d be at an advantage if the war happens here. Then when you defeat his wolves, you can storm his pack."

Her eyes shone delightfully. She had all of these mapped out beautifully in that twisted head of hers.

I wanted nothing more than to burst her fantasy. But again, something held me back.

There was no point telling her Sonia was alive. She would only give me grief about it, and I wasn’t in the mood to be dumped on with hysteria.

"Get out of my room, Lorena. I want to dress up."

"Don’t be like that, Alpha," she bounced on her toes childishly, as her hand reached out to the knot that held the towel around my waist together. "It’s been way too long, don’t you think? We both need the release."

Yeah, she was right about that one. I needed to release the stress of the recent weeks, but I didn’t want to release it on her.

She just didn’t excite me the way she used to. My only problem was breaking it to her in a way it finally dawned on her.

"Let go, Rena. I’m not in the mood."

I turned and began walking to my closet.

"Fine!" She stomped her foot and folded her arms across her chest. "At least tell me where her body is, so I can go laugh at her. Everyone in the pack is excited about her death."

"What?" I paused and turned to her. "Everyone in the pack knows about her death?"

"Okay, don’t look at me that way. I didn’t tell anyone. At least, I didn’t mean to. Someone overheard Daniel and the elders talking about it, and then brought it to me as if they already knew. I just confirmed what I knew." She shrugged.

I sighed in exhaustion. How was I supposed to explain how she was suddenly alive?

That was even going too far. What if whoever the spy was carried the news of her fake death to Ferins?

We would be getting an attack unlike we’ve never seen before.

My new recruits needed just one more month to be fully ready for war.

I absolutely couldn’t throw them out there for Ferins’ dogs to devour them.

"Just leave, Lorena."

"What did I do? It wasn’t even my fault."

"Leave, Lorena!" I growled at the same time the door opened, and Ivy stepped in.

"Sorry," she said, and quickly closed the door.

"You’re being too mean to me, Alpha Ramon. I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all."

She turned around and walked out of the room.

As she closed the door, I sighed in relief, feeling like I could breathe again.

Going to the closet, I picked out a simple wear and hurriedly dressed up.

Ivy entered the room just when I was done dressing up.

She dashed towards me and hugged me tightly.

"She’s fine, Ramon. She’s alive, and so gloriously fine," she cried.

I wrapped my protective hands around her and stroked her hair as she cried into my body.

It always amazed me how deeply she cared for Sonia.

I was beginning to sound like a broken record, but it was just really fascinating.

She finally pulled away after crying to her heart’s content.

"Look at me, crying like a child," she said as she wiped off her face with the back of her hands.

"It’s because you care about her."

"I do." She nodded in agreement.

"So why did you send for me? Is Lorena being annoying again? When exactly do you plan on cutting her loose?" She asked all at once.

"Someone’s chatty," I chuckled. "But let’s leave Lorena aside. I need you to go to the kitchen and have them prepare some food for Sonia. She needs all the strength she can get."

She smiled, as her eyes trailed all over my face.

"What?" I asked.

"You’re being nice to her. You were with her all through the night, and this morning right? Have you suddenly fallen in love with her?"

"Don’t be weird, Ivy," I scoffed. "It’s just food."

"Uhuh— you’re rejecting Lorena, and doing something nice for Sonia. But sure, it’s just food."

"Do you want me to change my mind?"

"No way! I’m on my way out already!" She turned around and ran to the door.

"Make sure you go see her tonight," she said, before running out the door.

I shook my head, but as I turned, I heard a beep.

My eyes went to the landline on the table. A message had dropped.

I walked up to the table where the landline was and pressed a button.

"Ramon, it’s Daisy. What the heck happened to Sonia?"

My heart skipped a beat. It had begun.