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After two days of negotiating and discussing terms, Sofia and Caleb finally reached a mutual agreement. The most important clause for Sofia had been that should anything happen to her, Caleb would accept her wolves into Summer without question.

Sofia had rejected Caleb\'s suggestion that her wolves should go ahead and move closer to Summer. Instead, she insisted they would not forfeit their lands unless they had no choice.

Caleb had contacted Axel, and they each agreed to send units to Burning Ember. Reinforcing their borders to protect them from a potential retaliation for Sofia\'s rejection of Autumn\'s terms.

All in all, Caleb felt very good about this new alliance.

He was packing the last of his things, preparing to return home when there was a knock at his door.

“Come in,” he called.

The door opened and on the other side stood Sofia.

“May I enter?” she asked.

“Of course,” Caleb replied.

Sofia stepped inside. Behind her was one of the men that were always with her. He entered the room and set down a small box on the table before stepping back out, closing the door behind him.

Caleb looked at the box and then at Sofia.

“What\'s this?” he asked.

“Well, it\'s been a long time since Burning Ember has had a proper ally. So, I couldn\'t remember all the traditional pomp and circumstance. But I was reminded of the most important one.”

Sofia spoke as though she were already bored with the topic. But a slight curve of her lip told Caleb she was only hiding her excitement.

“Oh?” Caleb smiled, crossing his arms and tilting his head to the side. “And what is that?”_{-ɴ(0)ᴠᴇʟ.}

Sofia smiled, trying to keep it to a light grin, but the shine in her eyes gave away her delight. She leaned forward and opened the box. Inside were two small, curved blades made of obsidian.

Caleb\'s eyes widened as he looked closer at it.

It was a karambit, similar in style to the ones he had designed for Ashleigh to be able to summon from her suit. The only difference was that these were genuine obsidian and had a small flamed design at the handle.

“They are beautiful,” he said.

“Aren\'t they?” Sofia smiled. “I\'m not much of a fighter myself, but my father had me on the forge by the time I was three. Ten years without practice made me a little rusty, but I think I still did a decent job.”

“You made these?” Caleb asked in surprise.

“Course I did!” Sofia replied with a mild offense. “That is the tradition. The Alpha of Burning Ember hand forges a weapon for the Alpha of the allied pack, or, for his Luna.”

Caleb picked up one of the daggers. He was surprised by how lightweight it was. He held it in his hand and carefully maneuvered it back and forth.

It was nice. Ashleigh would love it.

“So, I\'m curious,” he asked, looking at Sofia, “why did you choose to make a weapon for my wife instead of me?”

Sofia laughed.

“Because the person that recommended you in the first place told me that your wife was your everything.”

Caleb eyed her suspiciously.

“Oi, don\'t look at me like that,” Sofia rolled her eyes. “It\'s not a weakness or something to be suspicious of.” _{ɴ(O)ᴠᴇʟ}

“Generally speaking,” Caleb said. “Mates are often used as weapons. So, it\'s not comforting to hear that I was specifically mentioned to potentially have that weakness.”

“A strong bond with your mate and partner isn\'t a weakness,” Sofia scoffed. “Yes, it\'s a risk that he or she will be used against you at some point. But until that point, that bond makes you stronger. It gives you something to hold on to. To fight for. To protect.”

“I agree,” Caleb smiled.

Sofia chuckled softly.

“My friend didn\'t tell me that as a way of giving me ammo against you. They knew that I was scared to reach out. To form an alliance of any kind. I am the only female alpha that I have ever heard of. And I am not a warrior.”

Sofia laughed, but the look in her eyes was serious.

“It was a risk to invite you here. To show you who I am,” she said. “I rejected Autumn, but even they don\'t know I have taken this pack. They believe it was Soren. The man that you outted immediately.”

Sofia took a breath.

“My people have warriors, but we aren\'t like your people, Caleb. Or Eclipsed or Broken Crag. You could take us in a day if you really wanted to.”

Sofia clenched her jaw, and Caleb could see the sheen of tears in her eyes.

“So, inviting you here, never having met you, was the same as inviting a fox into a hen house and just praying he wasn\'t hungry.”

She swallowed and looked away. She let out a soft laugh to cover the sniffle.

“My point is knowing that you are a man that loves and honors your mate and a man that would protect the survivors of another pack. Those are the things I needed to know to make a smart decision about you.”

“Well, you still tried to trick me,” Caleb joked.

“Come on now, girls gotta play it safe,” Sofia laughed.

Caleb chuckled and then set the blade back in the box. He looked up at her with genuine appreciation.

“Thank you,” he said. “For this and for trusting me not to be hungry.”

He smiled, and she laughed.

“It wasn\'t trust. It was hope,” she said and then added with a laugh. “And a good referral.”

Caleb laughed.

“Yea, guess I need to send Jonas some kind of gift of gratitude….” Caleb sighed. “You know him better than I do. What do you think he would like?”

“Jonas?” Sofia questioned. “The Alpha of Broken Crag?”

“Yea…”

“I barely know him at all,” she said.

Caleb furrowed his brows and looked at her with honest confusion as she continued to talk.

“Met him once or twice when I was young. I knew his daughter a lot better. We played games together while our dads tried to work out deals that never went through for one reason or another. But I don\'t think I have ever had a proper conversation with him.”

“I don\'t understand,” Caleb said. “Wasn\'t Jonas the one that recommended you speak to me?”

“No,” Sofia replied with her own confusion. “What made you think that?”

“You said that person knew about Eclipsed and my taking the survivors… You didn\'t seem to know Axel… so I assumed it was Jonas.”

“No,” Sofia shook her head. “The person I\'m talking about isn\'t an alpha.”

ɴ(O)ᴠᴇʟ “Who was it then?” Caleb asked.

“The same person that kept me from losing myself in the brothel. And the one that gave me the dagger that slit Dillon\'s throat,” Sofia said with a soft hint of a smile.

Caleb swallowed, feeling a strange foreboding in his gut.

“And who is that?”

Sofia looked carefully at Caleb, considered him, and then decided.

“She said not to mention her, that you might misunderstand her intention,” Sofia said.

Caleb took a deep breath.

“Sofia, please… who was it?” He asked.

She sighed.

“My word is my bond,” she said. “But I will tell you, only because I\'m trusting that you are the sort that will judge someone by the things they do when no one else sees them.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Caleb asked.

“I\'ve known her for years. I know the things people whisper about her. I know some of the awful things she\'s done. But I also know the person that no one else seems to see. The one that snuck food to the children that begged on the street.

“That snuck into the brothel when the guards had already made their rounds, to talk with us, to tell us stories and make us smile. To teach us how to protect our minds from what was happening to our bodies.”

“If she could sneak in, why didn\'t she help you escape?” Caleb asked.

Sofia let out a gentle scoff.

“There were twenty of us, my age,” she said with an anger that flared under the surface but never rose any higher. “Should we have drawn straws to see got out and who stayed?”

Caleb looked away, clenching his jaw.

“It wasn\'t her problem to solve. If she had tried, we all would have paid for it,” Sofia said. “It may not seem like she did much to you. But for us… for those of us that felt like the world had nothing left but pain and misery… it was everything.”

Sofia paused and took a breath.

“The last time I saw her was the night before I left the brothel for the last time. She told me where I was going and then gave me the dagger. She said whatever happened after I walked out those doors was my choice.”

Sofia looked at Caleb, a firm resolve in her eyes.

“I made my choice, and I am proud of it. But I couldn\'t have made it without her. I wouldn\'t be here today without her.”

“What is her name, Sofia?” Caleb asked, already knowing the answer.

Sofia took a deep breath through her nose.

“Alice,” Sofia replied, “the Spring doll.”