Chapter 562: The Things That Almost Broke

Orion did not speak immediately.

He leaned back slightly where he sat on the edge of the bed, his gaze resting on Sophia in a way that made her stomach tighten—not with fear, but with anticipation.

Sophia narrowed her eyes at him.

"Whatever it is," she said slowly, "just say it."

Orion exhaled softly, then shook his head once.

"Before I begin," he said, "you have to promise me something."

Sophia’s eyes narrowed further.

"No," she said immediately.

Orion blinked. "You don’t even know what I’m going to say."

"I don’t need to," she replied. "The fact that you’re asking for a promise first already sounds suspicious."

Orion huffed quietly.

"Shorty."

"No," she repeated, folding her arms carefully over her chest. "Say what you want to say first. Then I’ll decide if I want to promise anything."

Orion stared at her for a moment.

Then he sighed.

"You are exhausting sometimes."

"I’m not even going to deny that," she told him.

"You’re not leaving this house until I finish telling you everything," he said instead, his tone more serious now. "That’s the promise."

Sophia’s expression shifted.

Her arms loosened slightly where they were folded, but her eyes stayed sharp.

"Now I’m concerned," she said. "What is it? Why do you think I’d leave before you finish speaking?"

"You might," Orion said simply.

That did not help.

Sophia stared at him for a few seconds longer, then rolled her eyes.

"You are being unnecessarily dramatic," she muttered. "Fine. I promise. I’m not going anywhere until you’re done talking."

"Tobias is back," Orion told her.

Sophia blinked.

"Okay," she said slowly. "So the trainees don’t need to go west anymore."

"They don’t," Orion said with a nod.

"But that’s not what you wanted to tell me, at least not all of it," she noted. "What you just said does not explain why Lysander is feral or why you made me promise not to leave the house."

Orion nodded. "That’s not it, but first things first, everything is fine now."

Sophia’s expression did not soften.

"Now," she repeated. "Which means it wasn’t before. Orion, if you think this is in any way helping to make me stay in place and not leave this house, then you are mistaken. Kindly get to the point."

Orion’s gaze flicked briefly to her leg before returning to her face.

"So... Tobias came in in a very concerning condition," he told her.

Sophia stilled at the information. The room seemed to quiet around her.

"How concerning?" she asked.

Orion exhaled slowly.

"Enough that at some point we were scared of the possibility that we might lose him."

Sophia’s head snapped toward him fully now, her eyes wide with worry.

"Shorty, relax. He’s fine now."

"Why didn’t you tell me before?" she asked him. "Goddess..."

She tried to move, but Orion held her back.

"And what exactly do you think you are going to do?"

"To see him—you said he came in in a concerning condition."

"And I also said everything is okay now," Orion told her. "Lysander made sure of it, hence why he’s feral—because he hates that Tobias came in in that condition."

Sophia swallowed and then nodded. "I..." She swallowed again. "Okay. He’s okay. It’s good he’s okay."

"He is," Orion said calmly. "And honestly, I’ll advise you to at least see him tomorrow and not today, especially given the fact that you need to rest that ankle."

She nodded. "Why didn’t you tell me?"

"You were sleeping, and I didn’t want to disturb you, especially after what happened in the council hall. And Tobias’ condition would not have been that serious if not for the fact that he was poisoned. The arrow he was struck with was poisoned."

Sophia swallowed, and Orion continued.

"But like I said, he’s okay now. He’s stable," Orion continued. "The poison was stopped before it could do any irreversible damage. He’s unconscious, but he’s alive."

Sophia held his gaze. "You are not lying just to reassure me, right?"

"I like you a lot, shorty, but I’ll never lie—even if it’s to reassure you," he told her.

"Quite reassuring," she managed to say dryly.

Orion huffed a laugh. "Are you calm now?" he asked her.

"I am," she said with a nod. "I’m glad he’s okay too. I’m really glad he is."

"What about Sam?" she asked curiously. "I know she and Tobias have things to work out, but I can’t imagine what she would do if she finds out."

"Sam was the one who made us aware that Tobias was in Nirvana. She ran out of the pack, and honestly, I’m sure if it wasn’t for her connection with Tobias and noticing it immediately, he might not be here with us now," Orion said to her. "But she’s okay now. She wasn’t at first, though, but she is now."

Sophia nodded slowly.

"You know... I think you know me a bit too well," she told Orion. "You knew I was going to react badly once I heard the situation with Tobias and, yes, even think of leaving to find him immediately."

Orion nodded. "I’d say you know me too well too. But yes, I suspected you’d want to go to him immediately. Tobias is literally the second friend you made when you came to the pack. I still remember when you visited me at the medical facility and you were speaking with him."

Sophia gave a small smile. "Awwn, were you jealous?"

Orion did not answer her.

Sophia chuckled. "You know, perhaps if you were kinder to me, we could have been friends too."

Orion scoffed. "As if," he said. "We were never going to be just friends. It wouldn’t have worked. We would have either been enemies who loved to fuck behind closed doors, or enemies who pretended to really hate each other and bantered with each other but still had this attraction to each other and would then become lovers who liked to fuck."

There was silence in the room as Sophia gave Orion a look, her blue gaze searching his eyes, her lips twitching.

"The second one was rather specific, don’t you think?" she asked him after a while.

"Multiple choice has to be specific, shorty. It’s either one or the other," he told her. "And besides, I’m speaking from experience."

That did it—the laughter she was trying to hold in escaped.