Maya's POV
Maya has known Sophie since they were seven years old and she's never seen her best friend look like this.
Sophie comes home from work one afternoon and she's smiling. Not a fake polite smile. A real smile. The kind of smile that means something good has happened and Sophie's whole body is humming with it.
Maya puts down her phone and watches carefully.
Sophie is softer lately. Her shoulders aren't as tight. Her jaw isn't clenched like it usually is. She's moving through their shared space like she's floating instead of walking. Like the ground is lighter underneath her feet.
Something has changed.
"Okay," Maya says, cornering Sophie in the kitchen. "What's going on with you?"
"Nothing," Sophie says too quickly.
"Don't lie to me. We've been best friends for sixteen years. I know when you're different and you are definitely different."
Sophie tries to walk past her but Maya blocks the doorway with her body.
"You're happier," Maya continues. "You're softer. You came home yesterday with your hair down and you were humming. You never hum. The Sophie Marlowe I know doesn't hum."
Sophie sits down at the kitchen table and Maya sits across from her. This is serious. This is the kind of conversation that requires full attention.
"There might be someone," Sophie says carefully.
Maya's eyes go wide.
"There might be someone? You're talking to someone?" Maya leans forward. "Who? And don't tell me it's nobody important because you have never looked like this for nobody important."
Sophie doesn't answer directly but her face gives everything away.
"Oh my god," Maya breathes. "It's him. It's the Alpha. You're talking to the Alpha."
"We're just talking," Sophie says. "Getting to know each other. It's not a big deal."
"Sophie." Maya grabs her hands across the table. "It's a huge deal. You rejected his mate bond in front of the entire council and now you're spending time with him? The whole pack is losing its mind trying to figure out what's happening."
"What do you mean the whole pack is losing its mind?"
"I mean people are talking constantly," Maya says. "The council members are worried that you're some kind of threat using unnatural power to seduce the Alpha. The females are jealous because you rejected him and he's still interested in you anyway. The males are confused because nobody understands why the Alpha would chase someone who said no."
Sophie looks down at her hands like they belong to someone else.
"People are saying you're corrupting him," Maya continues. "People are saying you rejected the bond on purpose to make yourself more powerful. People are saying all kinds of crazy things."
"I don't care what people are saying," Sophie says quietly.
"You should care. You should care a lot actually." Maya squeezes her hands. "I support you. I support whatever makes you happy. But Sophie, getting involved with an Alpha is dangerous. There's politics involved. There's expectations from the council and the pack. There's the possibility that this ends really badly and you get hurt in ways you can't even imagine right now."
Sophie looks up at her and there's something in her eyes that Maya has never seen before. Something like hope. Something like purpose. Something like she's finally found a reason to stop running.
"I know the risks," Sophie says. "I know this could fall apart. I know the pack doesn't understand. I know it's complicated and messy and potentially terrible."
Maya waits because she knows there's more coming.
"But for the first time since my mother died," Sophie continues, and her voice is shaking, "I feel like I'm living instead of just surviving."
The words land between them like a bomb.
Maya wants to argue. Wants to tell her that feeling alive isn't worth the danger. Wants to remind her that this is exactly how her mother started. One person making her feel important and then slowly consuming her entire life.
But looking at Sophie's face, Maya realizes something. Sophie isn't becoming her mother. Sophie is still fighting. Sophie is still choosing. Sophie is still Sophie. She's just finally letting herself want something other than independence.
"Okay," Maya says slowly. "Okay. But we need to talk about what happens if this goes bad. We need a plan."
"A plan for what?"
"A plan for when the council comes after you. A plan for when the Alpha has to choose between you and his pack. A plan for how you're going to survive it if everything falls apart."
Sophie stands up and walks to the window. She looks out at the forest beyond their cabin like she's looking at something Maya can't see.
"I don't want to plan for it to end," Sophie says. "I want to believe that maybe this time it doesn't have to."
Maya joins her at the window and puts her arm around her best friend's shoulders.
"Then we'll plan for it to work," Maya says. "But Sophie, if it doesn't work. If he chooses the pack over you. If the council forces him to abandon you. You have to promise me you won't just disappear like your mother did. You have to promise me you'll still be you when it's over."
Sophie leans her head on Maya's shoulder and for a moment they're just two females looking out at the forest and thinking about all the ways this could go wrong.
"I promise," Sophie whispers.
But as she says it, Sophie realizes that she's lying to her best friend.
Because if Jaxon chooses her, she's already changed. Already opened herself up to the possibility of needing someone. Already let him in past the walls she spent years building.
If he's suddenly gone, there's no promise in the world that's going to put her back together the way she was.
And somehow, standing there with Maya's arm around her shoulders, Sophie realizes that she's willing to risk that anyway.
She's willing to risk everything just to see if maybe this time, love doesn't have to mean disappearing.