Back and Stronger: Alpha's Daughter
Chapter 78

Benson turned around and offered Sophia a reassuring smile, as if she was actually trying to help her. Sophia sensed something was off with that smile though, and after seeing the way she sliced through everyone on their way out of the courtroom, Sophia acknowledged to herself that she was a bit more than scared. She was petrified. She knew that she didn’t have the skills to go against that.

Matthew careened around a bend, the car nearly tipping over onto its side. The door rammed into Sophia’s side, and she bit back a yelp of pain from the sharp jab her ribs had taken. He let out a maniacal laugh that reminded Sophia of her father and sent chills running up and down her spine. As the car righted itself, Sophia shifted closer to the center of the seat. That was a big mistake. She looked in the rear-view mirror and locked eyes with Matthew. He sneered at her, and she could see the lust and rage in his eyes. How was Benson missing this? It was like she was on an amusement park ride, whooping and hollering with laughter at the high speed and recklessness of Matthew behind the wheel. It’s not a fucking roller coaster, Sophia silently fumed.

She thought about jumping out of the car if it ever slowed enough that she could do it. She had seen it done on television. The way the person curled and rolled on impact to protect themselves from the worst amount of injury. But he was going so fast that she was being thrown all over the back seat. She didn’t trust herself enough to have gotten out of the car before one of them grabbed hold of her. She also didn’t think she could outrun Benny or Matthew if they decided to take chase, and she knew without a doubt, without a rational thought for the reason why, that they would both chase her down.

Shit...Benny. Scott and Neil had both said that Benson had been hunting down the Lycans when they met her. She was a Lycan. Her brother was a Lycan. She needed to get the fuck away from them, and fast. Matthew slammed the brakes on to avoid hitting a bus and Sophia flew forward. She cracked her head off the back of his seat and her vision blurred. When she closed her eyes stars flickered behind her eyelids like the spinning bursts from cartoons. No, absolutely fucking not. She would not give in to this shit. She fought to focus her vision, but it was so hard with the car lurching forward again. Why the hell was he even driving like this? she thought. Sophia peered out the back window, trying to clear her vision. It didn’t look like anyone was pursuing them. Why wasn’t anyone pursuing them? Where were Neil and Scott and Leo. Where the hell was Connor for that matter? She hadn’t seen him in the courtroom. Though they weren’t close by any means, his absence made her feel a tad bit sick to her stomach. She hoped he was alive. She hoped Scott had gotten her brother to safety. She hoped Neil was okay because it had been a full-on war in that courtroom. She knew he could take care of himself, and tried to hold on to that, but the image of him falling through the door after the fight with Cain blinked in her mind like a flashing traffic light. Scott and Connor hadn’t been in much better shape.

The car hit a bump at such a speed that it went airborne. Sophia held her breath as she looked out the window. Holy shit, the ground was a good two feet below them. She felt like she was in some 70′s television sitcom as they soared through the air. The tires hit the ground and the car bounced, once, twice, three times with each one propelling them forward. There was a popping noise and Sophia grabbed a hold of the seat, expecting that a tire, or all the tires, had blown on impact. When the car continued at full speed she went back to thinking of what the hell she was supposed to do.

A ding-ding sound came from the dashboard, and she tried to peer around the seat to see but was distracted with the smoke puffing out from under the hood. It blew past the windows and dark clouds. She could smell the smoke, but neither Benson nor Matthew seemed concerned.

Goddess, she prayed. Help me. Help me out of this. She avoided eye contact with Matthew in the rear view, but she felt his gaze returning to her again and again. She avoided Benson’s looks between her riotous woops. Her head was throbbing and the houses along the street were nothing but colorful blurs as Matthew continued to push the car to go faster. His random laughter would fill the car and join with Benson’s sounds of amusement. Fucking nuts, they’re both fucking nuts.

Sophia gripped the seat so tightly her knuckles whitened with the force, trying to steady herself. She closed her eyes, alternating between praying for help and trying to replace her own way out of this. She had no clue where they were taking her, she didn’t even know if they knew where they were taking her, but they’d soon reach the outer limits of the territory. She knew Benson’s territory and Lucian territory were only separated by a dense forest, of which neither had rights to and both liked to claim. No way in hell she could let them take her out of Lucian territory.

With her eyes closed tight, her breathing regulated, she blocked out Matthew and Benson. A thumping sound roared in her ears, but it was as if it was from a long distance away. In seconds she was standing beneath a waterfall in the woods that she and Neil had gone to. The clearing where he taught her to shift wouldn’t be far from there, she knew. The sounds of the woods, the wild animals cracking twigs and the roar of water filled her ears. She no longer heard Matthew, Benson, or the car. She was somewhere else.

“Sophia,” she heard, the voice delicate, soft.

“Sophia, pay attention.”

She strained to replace where the voice was coming from but couldn’t.

“Listen to me.”

The voice sounded like it was coming from behind the waterfall, from the ledge of the cavernous cave that broke the rushing water. Then Sophia let out a cry as a vision appeared. Standing before her, though not solid in form, was her mother. She was dressed in silver and white, and a daisy crown circled her head. Her ethereal beauty was magical. Oh, goddess, she’s so beautiful. Her hair was a beautiful blond, a blond much the same as Sophia’s natural color. It cascaded in gentle waves around her shoulders. Sophia would forever be thankful of this image, as it canceled out her last image of her mother’s bloody and lifeless body.

“Sophia, you need to listen. I only have but a moment. We can’t take advantage of the goddess’s kindness in allowing me to speak to you. To see you. ”

“Mother,” Sophia whispered into the mist that floated between them.

“Daughter, you’re so beautiful.” Her mother’s voice hitched, and she daintily cleared her throat. “But we must hurry. Listen carefully and think back to what Neil had taught you. Not what he taught you in the car.” Her mother chuckled softly. “What he taught you in the clearing. Remember everything he said. The feeling. How to force a shift. You know your Lycan now. With that knowledge comes the size and strength of all who have accepted who they are. It will be different after you are in full were. You mustn’t hesitate, just accept it. For what you have, comes from me and mine, and it is pure. Go, quickly now. Do what Neil said and get out of there, fast.”

“But I don’t know if I can,” Sophia said.

“You can. I know you can, now you need to believe it. Time is running out, and you’re needed. Go now, my darling. Tell your brother I love him, as I do you and know that I am always here.”

Her mother lifted a hand to her heart and with the loud twitch of a twig, Sophia was back in the car with Benny laughing and Matthew alternating between laughing and glaring intensely at Sophia in the mirror.

She knew she would have to shift quicker than she had in the woods. That she would have mere seconds before Benny or Matthew would see or sense something was happening.

Thank you, mother. Thank you Goddess.

She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. It was difficult being slammed around the car, but she let her mind drift and only focused on breathing. In for four counts, hold for five and then out for eight. She did this a few times until she was almost in a trance. She remembered Neil’s words. She focused on her muscles tightening until she could feel them knot within her skin. She continued the meditative breathing, blocking out the sounds in the car.

She next focused on her hair, on her arms, legs, face, each follicle that covered her skin. Section by small section, until they tingled. She knew she must hurry, but she stayed focused, fusing the breathing, the tightening muscles and the goosebumps showing her fur was ready to emerge. She imagined Neil’s hands running over her body, guiding the shift with his touch. Her feet and arms grew numb, like cold rushing water was flowing through her veins. She felt the change of her muscles, and the crack of her bones. She channeled the energy, she harnessed it.

She opened her eyes, lifted her chin high and howled. She was massive, she was ferocious. She took up the entire back seat and strained for more room. Matthew screamed and the car swerved. Her eyes zeroed in on the golden mark on Matthew’s collar bone and with one mighty paw, she swiped across his neck, tearing the mark from his skin. He would never again bare the mark as her mate. Not waiting to see how Benny was reacting, she jumped at the rear windshield, shattering glass throughout the car. She soared through the window, bending the top of the frame like it was a piece of paper. Matthew’s cries of pain and Benson’s roar of outrage drifted into silence as Sophia’s powerful strides ate up mile after mile as she ran back to the courtroom.