Orion

Fifteen. Sleep

unedited

"Luna-"

"Mo."

"Mo," It was so interesting to see this huge, bald man trip over his words because of her and this fear-like respect he had for her. She smirked from her place on the couch. He was in the kitchen calling to her.

"Uh, what is this green stuff... these leaves that are in your lemonade?"

"Use your nose, Gian. I'm sure you can pinpoint what they are."

There was a pause, then a chuckle that echoed the one that had left her mouth seconds before, "Luna, I am not a witch, the only herb I can pick out is Bane and that is only because we were taught to keep away from it as pups until we were fully grown and no longer susceptible to its poison. And I know what mint is, too. These could very well be leaves from a tree for all that I know."

Now she was full out laughing, though it felt strange once more. She was tickled, but her laugh was empty.

"It's basil."

"Is this a witch thing?"

"Yes...you could say so. They have healing properties the other races don't usually know about. I put it in the lemonade because I noticed your alpha sneaking to drink it in the middle of the night after telling me a few nights ago that he didn't like lemonade."

She left out how she'd woken up seconds from tears because when she'd come to, even with her eyes closed she knew he wasn't holding her, that he wasn't in the room. She'd almost had a panic attack because Orion wasn't in the bed with her, holding her. Her chest had been closing up when she'd heard his footsteps approaching that fifth step creaking like he knew she was awake and he was silently telling her that he was coming and that all was okay. When Orion had climbed back into the bed, he hadn't said anything but, "I'm here," and when he had, his breath had smelled of lemonade. In that moment Orion felt like home. Mo couldn't even bullshit like that was a one time thing either. If it weren't for that man, she'd get no sleep.

"Basil has calming properties, Gian," She sighed from her spot on the couch, "Doesn't seem to work on him. It's supposed to help clear your mind. I have a bad temper, my aunt used to put it in my drinks when I was a child, I continued it when I was old enough to know how to. My mother did it to my father as well. He was half wolf... I think, but something was wrong with- anyways, he had a temper and my mom did too and she learned some tricks along the way growing up because of her temper so they got passed down, and I figured I'd try basil on him. Guessing it didn't have time to kick in yet seeing as we're sitting here now and he's out somewhere with Adriel trying to get him not to kill me... Taste it. It's really good, trust me."

A couple of minutes later Gian was back in the living room sitting in his seat once more nursing the drink after agreeing that it was actually really good. Mahogany watched him for a moment, worrying her lip before speaking as she wrung her hands, "Gian, thank you for putting your neck on the line like you did, you know, stepping in front of me like that. I really appreciate it."

The large wolf blushed and broke eye contact with her, looked at the muted TV, then towards the staircase, and after that the ceiling as he answered, "This is my job. I knew when I earned my title that I would have to put my life on the line for my Alpha, and eventually the Alpha couple soon or later, I just never thought that protecting my Luna from my Alpha would be in my job description."

Being in a coven wasn't the same as a pack, obviously. There was no alpha, no alpha couple. There was a Mother and a Father and they weren't necessarily a couple. Her coven didn't have a Father at that time, and their Mother was a woman by the name of Eeda. Everyone was thinking that Mo was the next in line to take over as the Mother of the coven, though Mahogany had known that wasn't her path. She hadn't known she'd be the leader of a pack instead, so this was a little strange for her. She found that she was already developing relationships with the members of this pack... of her pack that she'd already met. Baby Jonas was so sweet. Orion was still an ass wipe. Adriel and Gian she was so thankful for already, protecting her like they'd known her for decades instead of days in Adriel's case and minutes in Gian's.