Chapter 246: The Fever From the Rainstorm

Orion’s curse tore out of him before his mind caught up. The heat from Sophia’s brow was a furnace against his palm; when he brushed a hand across her forehead the damp fabric clung, and the scent of rain — cold, sharp, iron — hit him.

"Damn it," he spat, the word half anger, half helplessness.

Marta had been faster than he’d expected. She moved with the blunt, practical confidence that had saved lives long before his name ever mattered in the pack. "Get her to a vacant bed," she ordered without preamble, already sliding aside the crusted blankets and clearing space. Her voice had no room for theatrics. "Change her out of those wet clothes. Something dry. Now."

Orion answered with motion rather than words. He lifted Sophia and felt her small weight in his arms. He set her gently on the bed and picked up one of the dry tunics he had asked the other healers to provide.

His own clothes dripped with moisture because he was outside under the rain too.

"Fuck!"

Marta glanced at him then, her eyes flicking from his face to Sophia’s shivering body. It was only then she realized Orion was a male and that it would be awkward with him undressing Sophia.

"Orion, let me do it. I’m the only woman here after all," she told him.

Orion almost chuckled at that. While Marta was a woman, Orion was Sophia’s mate and this wasn’t the first time he was undressing or dressing her.

"No need. I’ll do it," he told her.

"Orion! You may be in charge of the pack, but I’m in charge here. I will not have a male putting his hands on an unsuspecting female," Marta told him.

Orion didn’t even have the energy to argue. He stopped and let Marta change Sophia’s clothes. He stood as Marta began changing Sophia, and she glared at him.

"Are you that horny to see her nakedness? I know you have a crush on her, but this isn’t the time or place to be ogling her," Marta said sternly.

Even with how annoyed Orion felt, his lips twitched a bit.

"Wouldn’t it be better to take her to a different room? I mean, the beds here are exposed and anyone could see her nakedness if they walked in," he told Marta.

Marta considered his words for a bit before she nodded. "Help me pick her up," she told him.

Orion didn’t have to be told twice. He carried Sophia to one of the vacant rooms, and immediately after he placed her inside, Marta sent him out.

"Get your perverted and wandering eyes out of here." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"I’m hardly a pervert..."

"I know all about you and Ronan’s history with the women in the pack," she told him.

"That hardly makes me perverted," he replied but stepped out of the room all the same.

Marta went to work, pulling off Sophia’s wet clothes and making sure to replace them with dry ones. She wiped down Sophia’s body first, and it was only as she was wiping that she noticed the mark on Sophia’s back. It was beautiful and huge.

It was a silver crescent surrounded by tiny, luminous moons, delicate yet distinct. It pulsed faintly, like it had its own heartbeat. It was like a tattoo but also more than that. Marta knew instinctively what it was.

Her ex-husband hadn’t been her mate; she wasn’t one of the lucky ones. But she knew what this was because she had wanted a mark like others so badly that she and her husband decided to put a tiny tattoo to signify that while they may not be mates blessed by the Moon Goddess, they were lovers recognized by her.

But from what Marta knew, mating marks weren’t this large. And she had another question too: if Sophia was mated... then who was she mated to? And if she was mated already, where did Orion fit in?

There was no way Orion would be able to still get her, especially because she was mated now—well, except if she rejected the bond.

Marta shook her head. She shouldn’t concentrate on that, she told herself. She placed a dry tunic that swallowed Sophia’s frame over her and got to work using a herbal compress.

It was just a fever resulting from the cold after all, and there wasn’t much to do. It’s just that... from what she was doing, Sophia was exhausted. She could see it just from treating her.

Marta frowned. Sophia’s mate must have worked her to the point of exhaustion.

"Your mate has no pity for you," Marta told Sophia with a huff. "If Orion were your mate then things wouldn’t be like this. I’m sure Orion would take better care of you if he was your mate."

Orion stood outside the door and his lips twitched as he heard Marta’s words.

*If only she knew you are the mate who worked Sophia to the point of exhaustion, Noctis said dryly.*

"Sophia has not had enough rest for a while now," Orion told him.

*Partially because of you.*

"Us," Orion corrected him, then sighed deeply.

"What... what was that dream about?" Orion asked Noctis.

*What dream?*

"I had a dream before I woke up... I was in a dark space and I heard Sophia crying for Brynhild and begging to be let out," Orion told him.

*It could be due to the mating mark,* Noctis told him.

"I know that, but what I want to understand is why? And how is it that just after I woke up, I followed her here and saw her begging Lysander to let Marta take charge... it does not make any sense."

*And yet it does,* Noctis told him.

"What do you mean?" Orion asked him.

Noctis wasn’t able to reply when Marta opened the door to the room. She took a look around and made sure no one was available before telling Orion to come into the room.