Page 41 of The Alpha's Fated Destiny

I catch Alex looking at me and for a moment, I see a troubled expression on his face.

"What is it?"

He shakes his head. "Nothing. Let's go."

I let out a deep breath before shifting into my wolf form.

It's time to go save my mother.

***

We move under the cover of darkness, and whenever we stop to rest, I put up a barrier. While it does give us time to rest peacefully, the more magic I use, the weaker I get. Because of my growing exhaustion, we've had to stop every couple of hours. Alex isn't complaining, but he's definitely concerned.

He's skinning a couple of rabbits as I splash water on my face at the stream where we've stopped. I look down at my reflection in the clear water and the strain around my eyes is obvious. I'm just so tired.

I've even begun sleeping more, and Alex has had to shake me awake so we can get moving again. It's becoming more and more frequent that I struggle to wake up.

My hands are trembling, and I clench them into fists, glancing over my shoulder warily. I don’t want Alex to notice this. I don’t understand what is going on with me. Elsa believes that it is the result of our mating bond. I don’t want to believe that. I don’t want to believe that something that brings me so much joy is capable of sapping my life energy.

Because that is what it feels like right now.

Using even the slightest bit of magic is draining me now. I'm a little more stable in my wolf form, but in my human form, I'm fighting sleep at every moment.

It has to be something else. Maybe Tina did something to me. Maybe she put some sort of curse on me. However, no amount of searching reveals any trace of her magic. Desperation to not jeopardize this mission has me keeping my mouth shut. I know Alex will prioritize my safety and health. And I can't let that happen. My mother is running out of time now.

“Sophia?” I hear Alex call out my name.

"Coming!" I get to my feet and close my eyes when a wave of dizziness washes over me. When I open my eyes, my vision is blurry, but gritting my teeth, I return to the firepit where the rabbits are roasting. I sit down beside Alex, leaning against his hard body. He's studying the map in his hand.

“Everything okay?” I ask.

“I was looking at the map I got from the town’s general store." He presses a kiss on the top of my head, absentmindedly. "There's something wrong with it."

"What do you mean?"

He pauses for a second before laying the map down on the forest ground. He then picks up another map and holds it out to me. "See for yourself. We passed three specific locations marked on this map that I found in Robert's office. None of these locations are on the map I got from the shop."

I straighten up, alarm bells ringing in my head. "What?"

"See for yourself." Alex points at the location where we are supposedly standing on the store-bought map. "Do you see the stream here?"

He's right. I don't.

Bodies of water, even ponds, are carefully marked for travelers.

"On the other hand, look at the map you're holding." He places his finger on a spot. "See this cross? We're here. It shows the stream. It shows the massive boulders we just passed around seven hours ago. But on this map," he holds the store-bought map, "there's nothing."

"It's a fake?" I ask, slowly, troubled. "You think the store owner screwed you over?"

"No." Alex shakes his head. "I went to multiple stores, and all the maps were the same. I was looking for the most updated version of the map. The man behind the counter I got this fromtold me that Robert had taken part in a survey of the South Alliance,along with the other territories, and he had recalled all the existing maps and replaced them with updated ones."

"Only, the ones he released were not real," I murmur, slowly, realizing what Robert did. "The one you found in his office is the actual one."

"Seems so." Alex looks confounded. "I don't understand why, though. Seems like a useless thing to do."

I stare at Robert's map, my eyes narrowed. "What are these crosses on it?"

I trail my finger along them, as if connecting the dots. "They go all the way to the Central Alliance border. What if…when did the shopkeeper say Robert changed the maps?"

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