The Alpha's Secret Luna

Chapter 16

The heavy oak door to the council hall slammed shut behind Orion as he walked out. The tense silence lingered, but it was broken by the swift, sharp footsteps of Brynhild as she spun on her heel and stormed after him, her cloak billowing behind her like a dark flag in the bitter wind.

The frosty air bit at her skin, but she barely noticed. Her heart pounded with frustration and something fiercer, perhaps anger for the pack's sake. She caught up to Orion just as he was about to vanish toward the quarters carved out near the edge of the compound.

"Orion!" her voice sliced through the cold. She didn't wait for him to turn. "What the bloody hell do you think you're doing, sending her away like some damned plague?"

Orion paused, his broad silhouette tense against the waning daylight. His voice was low but firm, edged with cold resolve. "I'm protecting the pack. That's what I'm doing. Nothing more."

Brynhild stepped closer, silver eyes flashing, her breath fogging in the air between them. "Have you lost your mind? Protecting the pack by throwing away someone who doesn't even have a clue about who she is? How does that make any damned sense? She's harmless, you know that." Her words tumbled out, rough and raw like jagged stones scraping skin.

Orion didn't flinch. His voice grew sharper, frustration simmering beneath every syllable. "I don't know that, what I do know is that she could be more dangerous than any of us want to admit."

Brynhild barked a harsh laugh. "Haven't you ever heard the saying 'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer'?"

He looked at her, eyes narrowing dangerously, voice dripping with coldness. "And there's also the saying that if you don't keep your enemies at arms length it'll come to bite you in the butt."

Brynhild blinked. "There's no saying like that."

"Of course there isn't. I'm just trying to protect the pack and you are obviously telling me I'm wrong, which I don't get because Sophia isn't your lost twin sister that you're desperate to protect."

The knife in his words landed hard and deep. For a heartbeat, Brynhild's expression faltered. Her mouth tightened, and she swallowed, the sharp words catching like a bitter stone in her throat.

Then, regaining her composure with a defiant lift of her chin, she spat back, "Go fuck yourself, Orion. I'm not doing this because she reminds me of anyone."

"Then explain why."

"Fine.You want a fucking reason? Fine, then know this, I'm not replacing my twin, and if you think this is about her, you're damn wrong. I can't replace my sister. This fucking scar reminds me of that bloody night and I know I can't fy king replace her you idiot but at least I know that but you," she pointed at him. "You're not protecting the pack. You are protecting yourself because you're fucking scared."

Orion's jaw clenched, nostrils flaring. "I'm protecting more than myself. I'm protecting this entire pack."

Breathing heavily, Brynhild stepped closer until the space between them was charged, tense, like the calm before a storm. "Then ask yourself what would you do if she wasn't a threat? What if she's innocent, lost but harmless? And you send her away, cast her out… and that death, that ruin, will be on your hands."

Orion scoffed, shaking his head with a bitter edge. "She won't die. Tobias will drop her off somewhere safe, somewhere she can find her own way if she's clever enough."

Brynhild's gaze sharpened, her voice hardening into a warning. "That's the dumbest thing I've heard all night. You'll regret this. I'm telling you now."

Without waiting for a reply, she spun away, her boots pounding against the hard-packed earth as she disappeared into the chill night, leaving Orion alone with the wind's cold howl.

Orion released a low, irritated sigh, the weight of the argument twisting in his gut like a knot of fire and ice. The night felt colder than the day had been. He turned, muscles tight, and made his way to his room where Sophia sat quietly, wrapped in the thick cloak he'd thrown around her earlier.

His footsteps echoed heavily as he entered. She looked up, confusion clouding her face.

"You're leaving first thing tomorrow morning. Tobias will be here to take you," he said without preamble.

She blinked, mouth opening to ask who Tobias was, but before she could speak, he turned and strode out, leaving the question dying before she could even speak it out.

Sophia grumbled and tried to go after him but slipped on her own feet.

"Ugh!" She groaned as she adjusted. Luckily for her,she had fallen face flat on the bed which cushioned her fall.

"You're leaving first thing tomorrow morning. Tobias will be here to take you," she mocked Orion's words as she adjusted on the bed. "I don't know anyone named Tobias and where the fuck was I even going? Fuck you, you big oaf." She grumbled.

Alone, she wrapped Orion's cloak around her body tighter. There was a fire to keep her warm but she wasn't used to the cold. She took in the room where she was. She noticed how Orion's scent was more intense in this room. It was overpowering but she didn't hate it. Instead, she liked it and that was saying a lot because she didn't like the person in topic.

She was going to stay in the room until he came back and then he was going to explain what he meant by her leaving because as far as she knew, she wasn't going anywhere yet. At least she had no intention of leaving yet.

Meanwhile, after Orion delivered his message, he made his way back to the spit where everything had started two months ago, to the gnarled old tree where he had first found the mysterious woman. His boots pressed deep into the hard earth, and the cold bit all the more sharply beneath the blanket of night.

He stopped beneath the twisted branches, their silhouettes stark against the dark sky. His voice barely rose, rough and ragged.

"Give me a sign. Let me know this is right."

Hours passed, the moon rising high before the first faint hint of dawn. Yet, no sign came. Only the whisper of the wind through the bare limbs.

"Are you going to tell me if I should let her stay or not?" He asked aloud but there was still no answer.

"At least show yourself! You were here months ago and now you're not? Especially when the woman you told me to help may be in danger?" He asked but there was still nothing.

"I thought you heard the voice in the shrine?" Noctis asked him.

Orion made a grumbling sound and trekked towards the shrine, repeating the same process, hoping for even a little sign but he got nothing.

Orion's irritation deepened, darkening into restless worry. He clenched his fists but said nothing more and walked out of the shrine.