Chapter 247: The Quiet Between Heartbeats

Orion followed Marta without protest. Marta shut the door behind them with a soft click and steered him toward a narrow corner a distance away from where Sophia lay unmoving on the bed.

Outside, the earliest hints of dawn were beginning to lift the sky. The storm had passed, leaving behind a heavy, trembling hush. Water dripped steadily from rooftops and gutters, each drop echoing faintly in the quiet corridor. The air smelled of wet earth and washed-clean cold. Birds, brave or foolish, were already singing in the distant trees — soft notes woven through the fading rumble of thunder far away. It was the kind of dawn that didn’t quite know if it was ready to embrace the day or sink back into night.

For all the kindness she could show, Marta had a bluntness that left no room for the polite fog of excuse. She leveled Orion with a sharp look.

"What the hell just happened?" she demanded.

Orion frowned, confusion tightening his brows. "I don’t know what you mean."

"Do not play dumb with me, Orion," she said sternly.

"I’m not. I genuinely do not understand what you mean."

Marta exhaled sharply and then jabbed a finger at the air between them.

"Sophia came in... frantic. She insisted. Said Lysander shouldn’t be the one leading. She said—" Marta shook her head. "She told me to take charge instead of Lysander. How... how did she know? How was she so certain?"

Orion frowned deeper. He had no idea how Sophia had been so certain.

"And she knew Brynhild wouldn’t be able to give birth naturally," Marta added quietly. "She knew... how?"

"I don’t know the how," he said.

"You don’t know?" Marta repeated, incredulous.

He nodded.

"Then why did you tell us to listen to her?" she asked, eyes widening in shock.

Orion shrugged. "There was no reason not to listen to her. And also... I had a feeling she was right. And I was scared of what could happen if... if anything bad happened to Brynhild."

Sophia’s screams echoed in his head — the sound from his dream, the tears he had heard but couldn’t explain. That was the real reason he had backed Sophia without hesitation. He hadn’t lied to Marta, but he hadn’t told her the whole truth either. He couldn’t. Not when Sophia was burning up with fever on the bed behind them.

"So... you just backed her up because of a feeling?" Marta pressed.

Orion shook his head. "It’s more than that but..."

His eyes drifted toward Sophia.

"You don’t want to tell me," Marta concluded.

"No," he admitted. "Not yet."

"Do you think this is something we should tell Madam Tyler?" she asked.

Orion turned to her sharply, almost startled. "Why would we even need to tell Madam Tyler anything?"

"Because this could be more, Orion. More than what we think. Lysander froze." Her voice lowered. "When he saw how badly Brynhild was hurting. His hands trembled, Orion. You know him — he’s usually steady even during the worst medical complications. But he froze like a man on a precipice. If he had been in charge... even that slight moment could have been detrimental."

She shook her head slowly.

"If not for the fact that Sophia insisted I take charge, I would have wasted time trying to snap him out of it instead of acting myself."

Orion’s jaw clenched. Lysander never faltered — not even facing death or disease. Hearing that he had frozen was almost unbelievable.

"What would have happened if Sophia hadn’t come in here insistent on the fact that I take charge?" Marta asked quietly. "What would have happened if you hadn’t told us to listen to her?"

Orion swallowed. Hard.

His dream flashed before him — the dark space, the hollow sound, Sophia crying for Brynhild. He wondered again if it had anything to do with what had unfolded tonight. If it had been a warning. A sign.

He looked toward Sophia. He wanted to ask her everything but she lay sick and unconscious, burning with fever because he hadn’t been firm enough to make her change her wet clothes earlier. The guilt pressed into him sharply. If he had insisted harder... maybe she wouldn’t be lying here now.

"I don’t know if this is enough to alert Madam Tyler," he said finally. "Maybe we just need to keep watching. If something like this happens again, we can inform her."

Marta studied him, then nodded. "I’ll trust you. You’re the Alpha after all. You know what you’re doing."

"Thank you," he murmured.

"Which brings me to a different topic..." Marta said abruptly — then grabbed him by the ear.

"Ow!" Orion hissed.

"You’ve been dragging your feet and that’s why you’re out of luck now," she scolded.

Orion scowled. "What are you talking about?"

Marta lowered her voice to a harsh whisper. She leaned close, eyes flickering toward Sophia as if afraid the unconscious girl might rise at any moment.

"When I was changing her clothes, I saw something on her back," she whispered. "Orion, it was a beautiful mark. And it pulsed faintly. Huge, unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I’m not even sure anyone has ever had a mating mark like that."

Orion inhaled quietly. He knew exactly what she meant — the mating mark on Sophia’s back.

"Okay..." he said.

"Okay?!" Marta repeated, horrified.

"What do you want me to say?" he asked.

"What do I want you to say?" She laughed mockingly. "I want you to say something. Everyone knows you have a crush on her. I saw you two during the festival. I even thought she had feelings for you too. You looked perfect together but all you have to say is ’okay’?! If you want to pretend you have no feelings for her, pretend with someone else — not me."

Orion almost burst into laughter. If only Marta knew. If only she knew the truth she was dancing around without ever touching it.

"At first I thought her mate could be you," Marta continued. "But then I realized — there’s no way the Alpha of our pack would be mated and the entire pack wouldn’t know."

Orion shook his head. If only Marta knew.

"So..." Marta leaned in. "Do you know who her mate is?"