Chapter 378: Demon Among the Snow

Sophia’s boots crunched softly against the snow, each step deliberate as she twisted away from the path Holly had been following. Her body was tense, muscles coiled, senses razor-sharp. She could feel Holly’s presence somewhere behind her, stalking, watching, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. But Sophia had a plan—she would turn the hunt back on Holly.

A swift pivot, another road taken, and Sophia appeared behind Holly, stepping lightly over a snow-laden root. Her shortswords gleamed faintly in the filtered light that fell through the trees.

"What do you think you’re doing?" Sophia asked, her voice low and measured, but carrying that edge that made Holly freeze mid-step.

Holly’s eyes snapped toward her, fury coiling in her gaze. Without hesitation, she swung her sword in a wide arc. Sophia met the attack instantly, crossing her shortswords in a metallic clash that sent sparks dancing off the frozen ground. She blocked, twisted, and slid backward, letting the force roll harmlessly through her shoulders.

Holly’s eyes widened, narrowing with a mix of surprise and suspicion as they flicked to Sophia’s weapons. "Where did you get those swords?" she demanded, her voice shaking with rage.

Sophia frowned, then looked at her swords. "Are the swords the reason you followed me?" Sophia asked calmly.

Holly didn’t answer her question. "You’re a demon... a thief. Tell me, where did you steal them from?"

Sophia rolled her eyes, tilting her head in mild exasperation. "If this is all because of the swords, then you should have said so," Sophia told her calmly.

"And unlike you," she said smoothly, "I don’t covet what does not belong to me. My mate gave them to me."

The words landed between them. Holly immediately got the insinuation from Sophia’s words.

Her teeth clenched. Her eyes narrowed further, glowing with hatred, and a low growl escaped her throat. "I’ll kill you," she hissed. "I’ll expose you to the entire pack! They’ll know the truth! They’ll know you are a fucking demon."

Sophia could not even make out what nonsense Holly was saying because, to her, that was all it was—nonsense. It made very little sense. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"Are you okay?" she asked Holly.

Holly didn’t reply. She lunged again, attacks coming in rapid succession, each one leaving almost no space for reaction. But Sophia’s reflexes were honed and unrelenting. She met every strike with fluid precision, blocking, parrying, twisting, and in the same motion, landing strikes of her own. Her shortswords cut across Holly’s shoulders, leaving stinging welts beneath the fabric.

"You’re insane if you think I’m a demon," Sophia said, her voice sharp and controlled. Her eyes never left Holly’s, reading every twitch, every movement, just like Orion had taught her.

Holly laughed then, a sound so unhinged it made the forest seem to shiver. "The pack will know soon enough!" she cried, spinning her sword with manic energy. "When I kill you, they’ll finally be free of the spell you cast on them! They’ll know the truth! Orion will be mine!"

Ah, there it was, Sophia thought to herself. The real reason why Holly was attacking her—she hated that Sophia and Orion were together, which was laughable to Sophia.

Sophia stepped in, her hand meeting Holly’s cheek with a sharp slap, cutting through the haze of rage. Holly made the mistake of turning the other cheek, and Sophia slapped her again and again and again.

Holly tried to attack her, but Sophia didn’t let her. "If you have an issue with me and Orion, then take it up with the goddess."

Holly glared at Sophia. "The goddess has nothing to do with this," she gritted out.

"You sure about that? Because from what I know, the goddess is the one who makes two people mates," Sophia told Holly.

"Except the person is a demon who bewitched a full pack," Holly gritted out.

"Are you even okay?" Sophia asked her. "How do I bewitch a pack? What about me screams demonic? The fact that Orion is so taken with me? The fact that we are—"

"He should be mine!" Holly screamed at Sophia.

But before Sophia could even reply, a hiss sounded.

A soft, menacing hiss that slid through the trees like smoke curling from a fire. Both women froze instantly, the sound carrying a primal warning. Holly’s eyes went wide, panic overtaking rage. Sophia felt a cold dread crawl up her spine as the hiss repeated, closer this time, louder, and filled with intent.

Holly stared behind Sophia, frozen, every muscle tense, and Sophia knew. The forest had revealed its predator. She turned slowly, every movement deliberate, and the snow seemed to pause beneath their feet.

There, directly behind her, stood two Trihydras.

Massive and terrifying, their obsidian-scaled heads swiveled independently, yellow eyes glinting with cold intelligence. Their tails coiled and flexed like snakes ready to strike, each movement precise and lethal. The snow around them was churned and torn, a testament to their size and power.

The first head lunged at her. But Sophia twisted, leaping out of the way, snow spraying into the air. Holly held her sword with trembling hands, boots sliding in the loose powder. Her knuckles whitened as she raised the blade to defend herself against the oncoming assault.

Another head struck, and Sophia reacted instinctively again, dodging, pivoting, sliding across the snow-filled ground. Holly tried to meet the second Trihydra’s attack, but the beast lashed with its massive tail, striking her with devastating force. She slammed against a tree, the bark splintering as her body crumpled under the impact. Pain shot through her ribs, her sword arm nearly twisted from the force.

Meanwhile, the first Trihydra attacked Sophia again. She met it head-on, ducking under snapping jaws and spinning in a roll, her shortswords cutting at the thick scales wherever she could find the vulnerable joints. Even though she was smaller, weaker, and far less experienced than the monsters before her, she moved with unmatched precision. Every dodge, every strike, every spin was a testament to her skill and instinct—but even with all that, she still could not injure the Trihydra.

The second Trihydra, the one that had struck Holly, hissed angrily and shifted its attention back to her. But Holly didn’t move. She remained pressed against the tree, frozen in shock. The creature hissed again, frustration bubbling through the reptilian growl, and turned sharply toward Sophia instead.

Sophia’s chest heaved, every muscle screaming in protest. There was no way she could fight two at once. Their coordinated strikes, the intelligence behind their attacks, their raw strength—it was overwhelming. She pivoted, cutting at an exposed flank of the first Trihydra just to buy herself space, and then, without thinking, she ran.

Her boots skidded across the snow, leaving deep prints. Her breath was ragged, fogging in the icy air. She ran blindly, heading into the dense forest, twisting around gnarled roots and icy trunks, trying to put distance between herself and the monsters. Every step felt like it could be her last.

Then her vision blurred. A strange, terrifying sensation overtook her body. Her blue eyes rolled back, leaving only the whites visible. Her limbs stiffened and gave way as her body collapsed face-first into the snow.

Holly, who had been trailing silently behind, had feigned unconsciousness before, planning to strike at the perfect moment.

But when she saw Sophia’s eyes roll back and watched her fall flat on the snow-filled ground, a thought struck her. Sophia was helpless right now, and what better way to kill her than to let the Trihydras sort it out? And besides, from what she had just seen, she was certain that Sophia was a demon.

This was the proof Holly had been seeking all along—the "demon" Sophia, exposed and at the mercy of creatures no one could control. Holly’s grin widened. Her heart thumped with a mixture of triumph and anticipation. If she allowed the Trihydras to strike, she would accomplish her goal without lifting a finger. To her, this was perfect justice.

She sprinted silently into the trees, disappearing from view, leaving Sophia completely surrounded. The hiss of the beasts grew louder, closer, sharper. The Trihydras’ eyes glimmered with unnatural intelligence, and their tails coiled.