Chapter 276: A Word

"But I’m only going to be there for a short while. Don’t expect me to spend a lot of time with them," Orion told Garron.

Garron nodded. "I’m not asking you to. I’m only suggesting that you go there so they know you haven’t forgotten about them after all."

Orion rolled his eyes — but the motion was small, the kind that only flickered across his features for a second. "They know I haven’t forgotten them," he said.

Garron chuckled, low and dry. "Maybe they do. But they need to hear it."

Orion nodded, then turned to Lysander, but before he could even say anything, Lysander, knowing what Orion was going to say, spoke up instead.

"We’ll take care of her," he said, "and if anything happens, we’ll be sure to inform you... if it’s out of our league or if we need your help at all."

Orion wanted to tell his friend that if anything happened at all, then he should be made aware, but he stopped himself. Lysander and Marta combined were the best healers he could ever ask for. Just leaving them with Sophia for a few minutes wouldn’t hurt anyone.

Orion gave Lysander a nod.

Garron already stood by the doorway, his cloak pulled tight around him.

Orion picked up his own cloak. The medical facility was warm, but he knew that wouldn’t be the same case when he stepped outside.

Immediately, when they walked out of the facility, the snow hit them. It fell softly and continuously. Orion had been holed up in the medical facility for a week now, and the snow almost looked a bit strange, but it didn’t take time for him to adjust.

They walked quietly without saying a word to each other. Orion observed as pack members moved about. Children played and laughed. People went about their businesses, vendors calling people to buy their goods. It was a perfectly normal day in the pack.

Once they neared the training grounds, the sounds of people training filled the air — the shuffle of feet, the sound of metal on metal, people breathing heavily, some making sounds as they sparred, some rejoicing when they got something right. People trained together in pairs, helping each other out.

As Orion and Garron entered the training grounds, the murmurs started. One person missed his step because he was staring at Orion — he couldn’t believe Orion was at the training grounds.

Slowly, movements stopped as people stopped training, watching as Orion made his way to the middle, Garron following him.

And as he stood there, the murmurs began.

"It’s Alpha Orion."

"He’s back?"

"Does that mean Sophia is awake?"

"Is he back to train us?"

"Orion, maybe he’s here for the test, it’s been two weeks now and we’ve not done it." "I heard he’s delaying it because of Sophia." "But if he’s here now..."

Garron clapped his hands, stopping their gossipy selves. If he let them continue, then there would be no training at all.

"All right, you lot! Assemble! Orion has something to tell you guys," Garron announced.

The sound cut through the low chatter like a blade. It had the immediate effect of making the trainees scramble into lines, boots stamping into the packed earth. They fell into formation with the hesitance of soldiers who had been trained to obey — shoulders squared, heads level, breath clouding in front of them.

Orion was quiet as he watched them assemble. They stared at him eagerly, but he wasn’t here to give them the news they wanted.

"Um... not that I hate you staring, but it’s creeping me out," someone spoke up.

Orion smiled, chuckling at the words. "You guys still have smart mouths, I see."

"You are speaking like it’s been years since you’ve been here," another spoke up.

"It literally feels like it," another added. "I’d have loved to know if my anchor steps are better or not."

"I told you they were better," Garron muttered at the trainee.

"Well... you did, but it’d have felt better if Alpha Orion was the one who told me they were better," the trainee replied.

"If you’re here, does that mean that Sophia is awake?" Dren asked Orion.

"Yes, is she awake?" Joren asked, and soon every trainee was asking him if Sophia was awake and how she was now.

"Alright, let’s all calm down a little," Orion told them.

They went quiet immediately.

"To answer your question about Sophia — no, she is not awake yet. But I’m here because I heard from someone that you guys missed me," Orion told them.

Dren rolled his eyes. "I miss Sophia more," he muttered.

Orion understood the feeling. Dren was friends with Sophia first, before she met Joren and the others, after all.

"To be honest, I’m not here to train you guys. I’m here to ask you guys to forgive me for neglecting you all, and also that you bear with me. The test was supposed to have taken place, and I know that many of you are anxious about it. Many of you want to take the test, especially the older trainees, and see if you can move from being just a trainee. I’m sorry that it’s wasting time. There are things to put in place, and everything is being delayed because of... certain situations. Anyway, I’m asking you guys to forgive me, because the test will be postponed until further notice," Orion told them.

There was a beat of silence after he spoke the words. No one spoke for a while. It was like they were digesting what he had just said.

But then Laia spoke up.

"We don’t care how long it gets postponed for. The test wouldn’t be complete either way if Sophia wasn’t with us. She’s the one who even gave us this opportunity, so if we are going to wait..." She shrugged, dragging out her words.

"I hate to admit it," another trainee spoke up. "But Laia is right. The test is something we earned with Sophia’s help, so we don’t even want to take it if she isn’t here with us."

"I just hope she’ll get better soon," another added.

"She has Alpha Orion with her. I’m sure she’ll get better," another added.

But even while some were understanding from the get-go, some took time to come to terms with the decision.

"So we are going to have to wait again?" someone asked.

Orion nodded. "Yes, I’m sorry about that."