Chapter 482: The Price of Belonging

Sophia lifted her hand before either of them could reach the door.

"Both of you... calm down."

Orion had already taken one step forward. He stopped, shoulders stiff, his back still turned to her.

"The way you’re behaving," Sophia went on quietly, her voice steady despite the tightness in her chest, "it sounds like you’re already planning to kill Holly."

Orion glanced back at her over his shoulder.

He shrugged.

"You wouldn’t be very far from the truth, shorty."

The words were said lightly.

They were anything but.

Sophia closed her eyes for a brief second and let out a slow breath.

"Orion..."

She shifted on the bed, then patted the space beside her.

"Come and sit here."

Orion shook his head.

"I don’t want to."

Sophia just gave him a look and then patted the space beside her again.

"Come and sit next to me, Orion," she repeated. "And stop behaving like an ogre."

Brynhild’s mouth twitched.

Orion rolled his eyes toward the ceiling.

"Goddess help me."

"I doubt she’ll help. You don’t believe in her after all," Sophia told him.

Orion sighed and shook his head. He crossed the small distance between them and sat at the exact spot Sophia had patted. He was careful, ensuring that he didn’t make her uncomfortable.

Sophia reached for his hand, then turned to Brynhild.

"And you," she said quietly. "Don’t leave this room."

Brynhild paused mid-step. She really thought that Sophia would make the mistake of holding only Orion back... she should have known better.

She looked at Sophia.

For a moment, it seemed as though she might protest.

Instead, the faint twitch returned to her lips, and she remained where she was.

Sophia turned back to Orion.

"I know you’re angry," she said softly. "I really do. And... I’m angry too."

"Just remembering that day alone..." She shook her head. "It still feels unreal."

The silence stretched.

Then, almost reluctantly, Sophia spoke again.

"But even with that... I think I understand Holly a little. It’s very little—extremely so—but I think I understand her."

Orion’s jaw tightened.

Sophia rushed on before he could interrupt.

"I don’t belong here the way you all do. I didn’t grow up in the pack. You were the one who found me, Orion. I didn’t share the same training with the rest of you, the same rules, the same—"

"Sophia."

Brynhild cut in gently, but firmly.

Sophia looked up. "Yes?"

"Don’t say that," Brynhild told her. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Brynhild stepped forward just enough to be clearly part of the conversation. Hearing Sophia talk like she didn’t belong to the pack—like Holly had a reason for being that wicked to her—made her annoyed.

"One thing you should know," she said quietly, "is that most of the people in this pack right now... the ones you know right now, did not grow up in it."

Sophia blinked.

Brynhild’s gaze was steady.

"Take Sam, for example. It was Tobias’ father who brought her back from the black market. She was, by every definition, a rogue."

Sophia nodded. Sam had told her that story, but she seemed to have forgotten it.

"And there are many others," Brynhild continued. "People who came from our allied pack that was destroyed... though a part still exists... when the Nightshade pack was branded as traitors by the Enclave. When the Enclave went after every pack that would take our members in."

Her voice did not change.

But something darker passed briefly through her eyes.

"There are names I could keep listing," she said. "Rita, for instance. Her family was never originally part of this pack either. Jeffery also wasn’t originally from the Nightshade pack. Neither was Helios, and even Micah. All the names I’ve called—you know them. And like I said before, there are more."

She paused.

"That has never made them less," Brynhild said quietly. "Just because we all didn’t start from the same place doesn’t make them any less members of the pack than you, me, or Orion. And they also don’t treat you like you don’t belong."

Her gaze held Sophia’s.

"It does not matter where someone came from. It does not matter the past. Who you are now speaks for your character—and you are one of us," Brynhild told her.

Orion nodded slowly. "Brynhild is right. And the elders had a meeting about this recently. But it’s basic decency and instinct to protect one of our own. What Holly did shows what she would do on a battlefield. You were lucky to survive, Sophia—but what if... and I hate to say it, but what if you didn’t?"

"What if she fucking succeeded, then would you still—" Orion paused, then shook his head. "If she succeeded, the both of us wouldn’t even be here right now."

"What I’m trying to say is, Holly’s act was not justified, and I don’t care what you say, shorty, but I don’t understand what she did. I dated her, and that was a mistake on my part—but the relationship didn’t even last. And before you came, I was a whore of a man. Why wasn’t she annoyed that I was sleeping around? Why didn’t she try to kill the others then?" Orion asked.

"Because they are not Sophia. Sophia is different. She’s your mate, and Holly hates it. She feels you would have returned to her even after whoring around," Brynhild spoke up.

Orion sighed deeply, then turned to Sophia.

"I’m sorry I put you through this," he told her softly.

Sophia shook her head at that. "It’s not fully your fault," she told him, making him smile.

"I’m going to go now, shorty. You need to rest, because we have things to do tomorrow," he told her.

"We may likely sleep in the council hall tomorrow," Brynhild joked.

Orion stood up, but then Sophia called him back.

Her voice wavered, only slightly.

"What is the punishment... for trying to kill a... a member of the pack?"

"I really don’t want to tell you, shorty," he told her.

"Please, just tell me. I know it’s something... harsh, but each pack has its rules and... I just want to know," she told him.

Orion sighed and then spoke softly.

"Death. But more cruel than what they intended for the person they tried to kill."