Chapter 110: Sweet Lies

The silence between them stretched long after Orion’s first swallow, as if the woods themselves held their breath to watch him. Sophia leaned forward on her elbows, studying every twitch in his jawline, every shift in the shadows across his face. When he lowered the wineskin, his lashes stayed down for an extra beat. It was such a small thing, but she caught it, the flicker of surrender, of letting the taste linger longer than necessary. Her lips curled.

"It’s sweet, isn’t it?" she asked, unable to keep the note of triumph from her voice. Her grin split wide, softening the tension she had carried since climbing that tree. "Ronan gave it to me. I thought it was alcohol at first but then I found out it wasn’t."

Orion cracked an eye open and met her stare. There was a strange softness in his expression, like dawn sneaking into a storm. One corner of his mouth tugged upward. "Sweet and deceitful," he said, voice low, almost fond.

Sophia sat straighter, encouraged. "See? Not alcohol."

He tilted his head, gaze flicking toward the second wineskin she held. His hand twitched like he wanted to take it right away, but instead he said, "You said Ronan told you it wasn’t alcohol."

She nodded. "He did."

That earned her a short, rough laugh. Orion pinched the bridge of his nose as if fighting the absurdity of it. "Of course he did. Fucking Ronan. He tricked you."

Sophia blinked, baffled. "How could he trick me? It tastes like juice. Sweet juice."

"It’s called grapejuice, yes. That’s what everyone calls it because it’s thick with sugar and masks the burn." Orion’s voice was steady, but the humor in it betrayed him. "It’s fermented. More than fermented. The sweetness is just bait. You drink once, it tastes like crushed fruit. You drink twice, it goes down smoother than water. By the fifth, you’re not standing upright anymore."

Her jaw dropped. "You mean...it is alcohol?"

"Not just any alcohol. Strong alcohol." He gave her a pointed look, one that managed to be both chastising and amused. "The kind that could floor grown warriors if they haven’t built tolerance."

Sophia gasped. "But...he said it wasn’t! He looked me dead in the eye and said it wasn’t alcohol."

"And he was lying."

Her hands flew up in exaggerated despair. "That sneaky wolf!" The groan that escaped her was dramatic enough to make Orion chuckle out loud.

"You should’ve warned me!" she cried out.

He smirked, shaking his head. "Sophia, by the time I saw you with it, you already had half of it down. There wasn’t any room to warn you. You drank like you were fucking parched."

"That’s because I was." she shot back, hands flailing. Her tone made it sound like an unassailable defense.

That earned another laugh from him, softer this time. His shoulders loosened, and some of the storm in his eyes seemed to settle. He looked at her then..not just at her, but into her, as if trying to memorize the way she wrinkled her nose when she was indignant.

Sophia huffed and folded her arms, then muttered in a quieter voice, "Well whatever...it’s very sweet. I like it."

"You like it?"

"Yes." She lifted her chin, refusing to feel guilty about something so small. "It’s sweet."

"You don’t care that it’s alcohol?"

"Why should I? It doesn’t even burn. And..." She hesitated before adding stubbornly, "I’ll just keep on drinking it."

Before she could so much as tug the wineskin closer, Orion leaned over and plucked it neatly from her hands. The motion was quick, like he’d done it a hundred times before. He rolled it in his palm, testing the weight, his expression unreadable.

"Orion!" she protested, her voice sharp with indignation.

"You’ve had enough." His words were clipped, the command in his tone unmistakable. "It doesn’t hit right away. That’s the danger. Some people can’t hold a proper conversation after just two swallows, and you’ve had more than that."

She pouted, folding her arms tighter and glaring at him. "But I don’t feel anything."

"Exactly," he said dryly. "Which is why it’s dangerous. If you keep going, it’ll hit you when you least expect it."

She puffed out her cheeks, then let out a dramatic sigh, leaning back against the trunk as if the world had personally wronged her. "You’re no fun."

The sight of her sulking, lips pursed, made something in Orion’s chest tighten unexpectedly. The urge to lean forward, to press away that pout with his mouth, startled him with its sharpness. His throat closed around the thought, and he forced himself to clear it, shifting slightly so the bark dug against his back. He had to ground himself somehow.

Her gaze softened, the playfulness fading into something more intent. "Now that you’ve taken my drink hostage," she said, voice quieter, "you owe me. You have to tell me why you’re sad."

His head turned sharply at that. "I’m not..."

"You are." She cut him off, leaning closer. "I heard it in your voice earlier. You sounded sad. And now you’re sitting here acting like you can swallow it down just like that drink."

Her eyes were steady, searching his face like she could pry open every hidden place he kept locked away. Orion’s jaw tightened. He didn’t want to speak about what he was feeling. He never even thought that she’d be able to see the fact that he was sad but she surprised him. The same way she had been doing for a while now. Both bad and good.

"Sophia..." He began.

She shook her head. "If you are about to lie to me or deny the fact that you are sad, don’t do it. I’m taking a note from your book and," she paused then scrunched up her face and in a voice that didn’t even remotely sound like his, said "don’t even think about lying to me, tell me honestly, why are you sad?"