Chapter 106: Orion’s Favourite Spot

The weight of the two wineskins tugged gently against Sophia’s arms as she wove her way through the lingering crowd. Their rounded shapes pressed against her sides where the straps crossed, clinking softly together with each step.

The festival still hummed, though less frenzied than in the square. Here, closer to the outer gates, the celebrants were scattered, forming pockets of laughter and chatter that drifted through the cool night air. Torches and decorative lanterns lined the dirt path toward the gate, their flames snapping gently in the breeze, casting orange light that flickered across faces.

Children darted between groups, their laughter still giddy from sweetmeats and too much running. The older ones lounged near makeshift stalls, sipping drinks and debating stories of the day’s games.

Sophia adjusted the wineskins, her eyes flicking to the guards posted at the edges. There were fewer of them than she remembered.

Normally the pack gates had a solid watch, two at the base, one in the tower, and another making rounds. Tonight, however, she counted only two standing visibly, and one shifting uneasily with his spear propped against his shoulder. The others, she suspected, had let the pull of the drums and laughter drag them toward the festivities.

She couldn’t really blame them. If she had lived her whole life in Nirvana, maybe she too would have found herself slipping away to dance, to sing, to drink.

Her boots scuffed softly against the dirt until the shadows of the massive gates loomed ahead. The wood was carved with curling patterns that caught the torchlight, grooves she hadn’t noticed before. They seemed to twist like vines, climbing upward until they disappeared in the dark arch overhead.

One of the guards straightened when he noticed her approach. He was broad-shouldered, with cropped black hair and a scar tracing his cheek like a lightning strike. His expression was neither welcoming nor hostile but simply that cool, measured look soldiers wore when uncertain of someone’s purpose.

"Where are you headed?" His voice carried authority, even though it wasn’t loud.

"I’m headed to see Orion." She told him.

The guard’s eyes narrowed slightly, his posture tightening at her words. "The Alpha?"

"Yes. Ronan sent me to deliver something to him." She told him showing him the wineskins she carried.

His gaze lingered on it, then flicked back to her. After a short pause, he turned his head to his partner standing by the tower base. "I’ll escort her."

The second guard gave a small grunt of acknowledgment and shifted his weight, resuming his watch.

The first guard stepped forward, nodding to Sophia. "Come along then."

Sophia released a quiet breath of relief and let the wineskin drop back against her side. Together they moved through the gates. The night air beyond was cooler, sharper, carrying scents of damp earth and pine. The festive noise dulled into a muffled hum behind them, as though the thick wood of the gates themselves swallowed it whole. Out here, the world seemed quieter, broader, touched by the kiss of moonlight.

Sophia walked a few paces behind the guard at first, adjusting her steps to his stride. She recognized the path immediately , they had passed this exact place in the morning when they went to the shrine. It was becoming obvious that she wasn’t as attentive as she thought she was after all.

The tree revealed itself gradually, rising like a giant in the clearing. At first she thought the torchlight played tricks on her eyes, because the shadow it cast against the ground stretched impossibly wide. But as they neared, her breath caught.

It was enormous.

Its trunk was thicker than three men standing shoulder to shoulder, bark rough and furrowed like the hide of some ancient beast. Roots jutted from the ground in sprawling ridges, some taller than her waist, curling around each other before plunging back into the earth. The branches stretched outward and upward, vast arms reaching for the stars, so high and wide that it seemed the sky itself bent to accommodate them. The leaves moves softly in the breeze, a constant hush like a secret being spoken just out of reach.

Sophia stopped short, eyes widening. "How... how have I walked past this numerous times and never realized?"

The guard gave no answer, merely kept walking with the steady tread of someone who’d seen this sight so often that awe no longer reached him. But for Sophia, the tree was nothing short of breathtaking. Ronan’s description hadn’t done it justice. It wasn’t just beautiful; it felt ancient, sacred, as though it held a memory older than Nirvana itself.

She trailed her fingers across one of the raised roots as she stepped closer. The wood was rough, cool, grounding. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Movement above startled her. A rustle of leaves, a faint scrape of bark. Her gaze snapped upward and there he was.

Orion.

He lay sprawled on a thick, sturdy branch, his back pressed to the wood, one knee bent lazily, the other leg dangling off the side. His arm was slung over his face, shielding his eyes from the moonlight. For a moment, Sophia thought he might actually be asleep, though that idea seemed too vulnerable for him. Then his head tilted slightly, enough to reveal that sharp glint of awareness in his eyes. He had noticed them.

"Alpha," the guard called, voice respectful but even.

Orion shifted his arm, lowering it enough to look down. His gaze landed on Sophia, lingered for a heartbeat, then flicked to the guard. "I’ll take it from here."

The guard gave a sharp nod then turned on his heel and began his trek back toward the compound, boots crunching against dirt until the sound faded behind them.

Sophia remained rooted to the spot, staring upward.

It wasn’t just that Orion was in a tree. It was the way he was in the tree utterly at ease, as though gravity had no claim on him.

Her brows furrowed as she circled slowly around the base of the tree, craning her neck upward, trying to trace the path he might have taken. The trunk was rough but steep, the first sturdy branch several body-lengths above her head. She couldn’t picture him climbing like a child scaling a backyard oak. Yet there he was, lounging like a king in a throne of bark and leaves.

Sophia muttered under her breath, "How in the world...?"

Her steps took her in a slow orbit, hands brushing bark as she searched for footholds she couldn’t see. Her frown deepened.

"What are you doing, shorty?" Orion asked her with barely contained amusement.