Orion's Luna (slow updates)

Chapter 6

"Edrei. Edrei, wake up," Mae's worried voice echoed around me.

I felt her hand softly tapping against my cheek, trying to get a response. My eyelids slowly opened, vision blurry until they slowly focused on the older wolf standing over me.

Pain shot through the side of my head, causing me to groan and close my eyes.

"You have a small bump on the side of your head, nothing too serious," she said.

I pushed myself to open my eyes against the throbbing. I slowly looked around, trying to get a grasp on where I was. Lifting myself up from Mae's couch, I swung my legs over and buried my face in my hands.

"What happened?" I asked.

"You tell me," she replied. "One minute I'm cooking up some herbs and the next there is a knock on my door with Edrik carrying you. I thank the Goddess it was Edrik who found you and not our dear Alpha, otherwise, that door would probably have gone caput." She turned to the entrance of her home. "Edrik's gone to get him now. That reminds me, I should leave that door open."

I smiled thinking about the last time Kaelon and I were here. I looked up, watching as Mae wobbled to the door before opening and kicking a small wood stump next to it.

The thought of the two us visiting Mae brought back a string of memories from when I was pregnant, soon those memories melted away, allowing the one I had forgotten to rise up.

Turning to Mae, knowing that she wouldn't beat around the bush, I mustered the courage to ask her if what Sascha had said was true.

The cowardice inside me was afraid that Mae would confirm it, that the pack is really forcing Kaelon to do this. I was scared, but knowing was better than not knowing.

"Can I ask you a question?" I asked Mae as she walked back to her seat.

Taking a seat in front of me, the healer nodded.

The question ran through my mind a million times, never going beyond the tip of my tongue. Clearing out my throat, I forced myself to say it out loud.

"Is it true that Sascha's going through her heat and that the pack is demanding Kaelon mate with her?"

Mae pressed her lips together, eyes darting around my face as she tried to figure out the wording to her reply.

Just as she's about to speak, Kaelon barges through the door, sweating and half-naked. He walked over to me with Edrik close behind him.

He kneeled down in front of me before placing a palm over my forehead. "How is she?" he asked Mae.

"Physically? She's fine... Mentally and emotionally? There's no medicine for that other than time rest."

Kaelon nodded before he attempted to scoop me up. Pressing my hands against his chest, I moved away from his touch.

"Stop," I said. "Before you do anything I want to know what you didn't want to tell me before."

He pressed his lips together, shaking his head. "Now isn't the time for that."

I couldn't deny it anymore. Sascha was telling the truth.

Tears rimmed my eyes as I pushed myself off the couch. I felt nauseous as the thought of the two of them together exploded in my head.

The wave of emotions that crashed into me was hard to explain or put into words. My heart felt like it had been crushed and every inch of my soul felt like it had been stabbed by each and every one of my pack mates.

I felt betrayed by everyone in this pack, everyone who had demanded this and everyone who sat by and allowed it. I breathed in out, trying to steady myself.