Chapter 185: Information

The silence stretched after Orion’s words, long enough for the faint crack of settling ice outside to slip through the stone walls. Tobias leaned back in his chair, boots creaking against the cold floor, eyes narrowing at Orion as if searching for something in his expression.

Then he sat upright.

"All right," he said, his tone sharpening. "What is it you need me to do for you?" A pause, soft but weighted. "Is something the matter?"

"Relax, Tobias," Orion said with a small smile. "It’s not that serious."

"You sure about that? Because you have the same look you had on your face when Ronan stole your favorite cloak years ago," Tobias told him.

Orion chuckled.

"But that’s not it. It’s about Sophia," he said.

"Sophia?" Tobias asked, brows furrowing.

Orion didn’t answer right away. Instead, he leaned forward, elbows resting on the scarred wooden desk, fingers threading together.

"Yes," he said at last. "It’s about her."

Tobias frowned. "What’s wrong with her? Did something happen?"

"No. That’s not it." Orion exhaled slowly, the sound almost a sigh. "But that’s the thing. Nothing’s happened. And it should have, by now."

"What are you talking about?"

Orion gestured vaguely toward the window, toward the snow-draped forest beyond. "She’s been here for a while now, Tobias. And we still don’t have even the slightest idea who she really is."

Tobias’s gaze flickered, the wheels of his mind already turning. "And you want me to find out who she really is."

"Yes," Orion said, leaning back. "I want you to... listen. Keep your ears open. See if anyone — traders, rogues, wandering packs — mentions a lost girl or a missing relative. Someone with her description. We just need something, Tobias. Anything."

Tobias stared at him for a long beat, then leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "Why now? We’ve had her here all this while. We’ve all been careful, sure, but... you’ve barely pushed the issue. You’re telling me this suddenly keeps you up at night?"

"It’s not sudden," Orion said quietly. "It’s been on my mind for a while now, and we need to know who she really is."

"What if she’s a threat?" Tobias asked.

"I doubt that," Orion replied.

"You seem sure about that."

"That’s because I am."

Noctis had already told him that Sophia wasn’t part of the Enclave — and the person who had led him to her wasn’t either. The only enemy they had for certain was the Enclave, so he doubted Sophia was a danger.

But he needed the information because at some point, he was going to stop hiding their relationship. He had been the one to suggest they keep it a secret, but he wasn’t sure how long he could keep doing that.

And if he was going to make her his acknowledged mate, he needed to silence the doubt surrounding her existence.

"All right," Tobias said after a pause. "I’ll do it. I’ll keep my ears open, see what blows in with the trade winds. If there’s a whisper of someone looking for a girl who looks like her, I’ll find it."

Orion nodded. "Thank you."

"Now that that’s out of the way," Tobias said, leaning forward, "I heard you’re teaching the trainees to fight."

"I am."

"What possessed you?" Tobias asked, narrowing his eyes in mock disbelief.

Orion sighed. A woman with black hair and a sharp mouth that he just couldn’t stay away from. But he didn’t say that. Instead, he remained silent.

"Tell me," Orion asked, deflecting, "would you be interested in teaching a little before you leave?"

"How much will you pay me?" Tobias asked immediately.

"How much do you need?" Orion countered.

"At least twenty gold coins."

"Are you trying to wreck me, brother?" Orion asked dryly.

"You have more than that. That’s hardly enough to wreck you."

"How about ten?" Orion asked.

"Twenty-five."Tobias countered without missing a bit.

"Fifteen?" Orion tried.

"Thirty?"

"Twenty?"

"Nice doing business with you," Tobias said with a wide grin.

Orion cursed under his breath when he realized he had been played — again. How Tobias still managed to pull this trick successfully, he would never know.

"Make sure you deposit it in my account. I’ll only show up after seeing the money," Tobias told him.

"I want to say I hate you," Orion muttered.

"Too bad you can’t lie," Tobias replied with a laugh.

---

Elsewhere in the pack compound, Sophia walked the narrow path from the dining hall toward the medical facility, her boots crunching against the snow. Her breath curled into pale wisps against the icy air.

When she reached the medical facility, she pushed open the door. She wasn’t sure Lysander would be inside — he’d been spending most of his time with Brynhild lately — but fortunately, he was.

"Sophia?" he called out in surprise. "First it was Orion, and now you? Did the Moon Goddess give you both a push or something?"

Sophia chuckled. "Nothing like that happened."

"Are you injured?" he asked, scanning her quickly.

"No. I came here for something else."

Lysander observed her quietly, curious. "What is it?" he asked.

Sophia hesitated for a moment as she looked around. The medical facility smelled of herbs, parchment, and faint ash from the heating stones. Cabinets lined the walls, filled with labeled jars — crushed moonwort, wolfsbane, dried mint, powdered bone.

Lysander stood behind a table, a book half-open in his hand, sleeves rolled to his elbows.

"Sophia?" he called again.

"I’m here because I made a promise," she said at last. "And I have to make good on it."

"Okay?"

"I need to recover my memories," she told him.

Lysander fell silent, studying her. The last time they had spoken about her memories, Sophia had looked moments away from running for the hills.

"Is that what you want?" he asked softly. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

She nodded. "It’s high time I tried to get them back. I can’t run away from it forever."

There was another reason — one that had developed recently. If she was going to be Orion’s partner, she needed to spare him the trouble and gossip of having a mate who didn’t even know who she was. And more than that, she needed to know if she was a threat to them or not.

"All right," Lysander said finally, voice steady. "If you’re sure about that, then let’s get started."