Page 39 of The Alpha's Fated Destiny

Her tone is heavy and I ask, "Want some company?"

She shoots me a grateful look. "Sure."

We walk to the edge of the town where a path opens through the forest. I raise a brow, and Sophia catches my surprised look.

"Robert didn't think having the orphanage in town would be good for business. He didn't want orphans running around causing a mess. His words, not mine."

She says it so matter of fact, as if she was not once one of those orphans.

"You never left the orphanage, right?"

She sticks her hands in her pockets. "We were allowed outings twice a month into the town, but I was never allowed to leave. But I was sent to Robert's office a couple of times. I never went by myself."

"So you stayed inside all those years?" I ask slowly.

Sophia chuckles. "No, no. I would play in the forest, at least, the parts we were allowed to venture into."

There's overgrowth on the path, and it's obvious this area has been neglected.

We walk in silence and I watch my mate look around as if reminiscing. She's wearing a blank jumpsuit that Connor's people gave her. A long, beige trench coat flaps around her ankles as she walks. I wonder if she knows how stunning she looks right now. Her gray hair is tied into a bun at the base of her neck.

Maybe it's just me, but I feel mesmerized when I watch her.

She's the embodiment of strength and vulnerability—struggling to survive and come out on top, and incredibly powerful at the same time.

Sophia suddenly comes to a stop on an arched bridge over a stream. Standing in the middle of it, she looks down into the water.

"Noah tried to drown me here."

Her voice is quiet.

"I feared him before, but never like this day. I thought he would kill me. We were so young and he despised me so much. I could never understand why. The others were laughing as he held my head in the water."

Her eyes are dark with emotion as recounts the events of that day from her childhood. "Robert showed up and stopped him. Noah never bothered me after that, but that incident stayed with me."

My blood boils at the mention of Noah Black. Before Sophia and I had gotten together, Noah had become sort of a rival. He hadattempted to drug Sophia with an aphrodisiac to get her into his bed as well. Only the situation turned around on him when my mate sought me out instead, resulting in our first time together.

"Goddess, I hated him," she murmurs. "And yet I forgave him. I should have known better."

"It's because you're…"

"I swear to God if you say empathetic one more time, Alex." My mate shoots me a threatening look. "I don't know what I'll do to you, but it'll hurt."

I chuckle. "You shouldn't threaten me. It turns me on."

Sophia rolls her eyes at me before looking back at the stream. "I was a schmuck, plain and simple. I was the same way with Lil…"

She pauses and concern has me watching her carefully.

Lily. Tina's deception had left a scar on Sophia's heart. She had truly liked Elsa's daughter. For the first time, I had seen Sophia trust somebody so openly. She never warmed to somebody like that. Did Tina truly not even care a bit for my mate?

Sophia lets out a heavy sigh. "Anyway, I've come to the decision that I'm not the best judge of character."

I cover the distance between us and wrap my arm around her shoulders. "I don't think that's true. You picked me after all."

She gives me a tiny smile. "True."

"I think you're a good judge of character, Sophia. You were just deliberately misled. And so was I, remember?"

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