The Alpha's Secret Luna Chapter 141: Orion and His Family II

Chapter 140: Orion and His Family II

He rested his elbows on his knees. "And Daniel..." His mouth quirked, amusent breaking through grief. "He still drinks too much at every gathering. It’s like the man’s got a sixth sense for ale. But he’s loyal. He’s the kind who’d walk through hell if it ant protecting the pack. And he stood up as a father figure and a leader when you guys left. He cried most nights and he still cries every ti this festival rolls around but he’s better. He’s laughing now and always arguing with Ronan talking about how Ronan wouldn’t settle down. If you guys were here you’d tell him to look in the mirror because he claims Ronan is worse than he was."

He glanced up at the graves. "And Ronan? Still the sa pain in my neck. Always nagging about paperwork and responsibilities. You’d think being Beta gives him the right to act like my second conscience. But... he keeps in line. Thats a secret I’m never going to admit to him so do a favor okay?"

A breeze tugged at his hair, soft and cool. He took it as agreent.

"And Madam Tyler," he went on, rolling his eyes. "Still... well, Madam Tyler. The sa sharp tongue, the sa stubbornness. She’s still the sa person, reverent and always alluding that everything that happened is due to the moon goddess.

A small laugh escaped him. "Any ti there’s a eting with the elders, she always argues with Caspian."

"And Caspian is still the sa old trouble maker. He’s still alive too. That’s shocking isn’t it? He’s the oldest in the pack and still the sa trouble so man."

He paused to take a breath, exhaling slowly as if to steady the wave of mories. "Zena’s gone. We saw her earlier this morning. She passed away quietly."

He bowed his head again, and for a few monts, the only sound was the faint sigh of the wind through the lanterns.

"Brynhild is captain of the guards now...I don’t know if I told you that."

He released a laugh. "God! I want to tell you guys everything but I can’t rember them all. I should have co earlier then maybe it wouldn’t be so rushed now and I wouldn’t be scrambling to rember things."

He drew his knees up, resting his chin on them for a mont. "We’ve made a life there. Hard, yes, but a life. People are laughing again. There’s hope. Maybe that’s all that matters."

He looked down at the smallest stone then brushed his hands over it.

"I like to think that’s what you wanted for us."

The silence stretched again. A single leaf fell from a branch overhead, spinning lazily before landing by the base of the gravestone. Orion brushed it aside gently.

He took one wineskin and uncorked it. "This is sothing we started brewing here in Nirvana. It’s like we are a totally different people. There’s new food we never even thought existed and this drink...its alcohol but I know how you both like drinking. It’s sweet and according to soone, it doesn’t matter if it’s alcohol...its sweet." He poured a little onto the ground before each marker. "For you," he murmured. "The old way."

The air slled faintly of grapes and earth.

He leaned back on his hands, staring up at the faint shimr of stars through the lantern glow. The next words ca more slowly, hesitant, as if drawn from soplace deep.

"There’s sothing else," he said quietly. "Orion rather soone else. She’s the reason I’m even here after years. She’s the one who pushed to co here and truthfully...I should have known from the mont she showed up that she would crash my life...in a good way."

"She’s annoying, beautiful, very annoying, a pain in my ass but she’s also... different," he admitted. "Not in the way everyone says. Not because she’s from sowhere else, or because she can read what others can’t or that she doesn’t rember her life before I found her. She’s different because..." He stopped, then shook his head, smiling faintly. "Because she makes people rember what it’s like to feel alive."

He turned the wineskin in his hand, watching the liquid swirl. "At first, I thought she was a problem. A burden, even. She asked too many questions, spoke without thinking, and managed to get under my skin every single ti. Hence why I say she’s annoying" His voice softened. "But like I said, she’s also the reason I’m standing here right now."

He looked at his parents’ nas again, eyes burning. "She’s the one who reminded to visit you. I don’t think she even realizes what that ans."

He rubbed at his chest, over his heart. "I didn’t want to admit it not to myself, not to anyone but I care about her. And I think...it’s more than I thought it would be. She’s waiting sowhere..."

Orion turned searching for Sophia but found her silhouette close to the gate lying on a bench as she slept soundly.

He chuckled lightly. "...she’s sleeping. We’ll do the introductions later. I hope you thank her because if not for her... I wouldn’t have co tonight. I wouldn’t have thought about what I’ve been avoiding all these years."

"And before I go..." He searched the ground for any life of stone and when he found one, he crouched down and first wrote on his father’s grave, drawing the words out softly as he wrote.

"...a strict father who loved bedti stories from his wife, a good listener, a brave warrior, a man with a booming laugh that was borderline annoying...a father is also wanting to have if I get a second life..."

He bowed to it before moving to his mother’s.

"....a great cook, a healer who served bitter tonics, a mother who always listened to the stories of every child, a best friend, a diator, a woman whose smile could lt away one’s worries, a mother is want to have again if I was given a second chance at life..."

He bowed then moved to last headstone.

A child who did not get to experience the world. But was still a huge part of his life. They had no na. They were still young when his mother had died so Orion thought to give her a na. It was simple but it signified sothing that every pack mber had.

Hope.

When he was done, he bowed his head. Then stood up anybowed his head at all three headstones.

"I’ll make sure to co back every year." He told them.

He knelt then bowed his head three more tis before he turned his back.

The graves here didn’t have bodies in them. Most had just sothing that signifies the person who died during the attack. Orion found every of his friend’s family, Ronan’s family, Brynhild’s and even Lysander’s along with Caspian, Eldric and the others and bowed at each one. When he got to the gate, he bowed deeply three more tis by the ti he was done, Sophia was awake, rubbing at her eyes.

He turned to her with a soft smile on his lips, "finally awake?" He asked her.

She pouted at him. "I didn’t sleep that long." She told him as she approached him. "Did you enjoy spending ti with your family?"

He gave her a smile. "Yes, it’s ti to go, I have sothing for you."