Chapter 619: The Weight They Carried

After the short meeting, Orion left along with Ronan. Tobias was the last to leave and did not want to leave Raina, but alas, he had to leave, and he had to meet Sam after all.

Raina was asleep in her cot, and Lysander settled his gaze on Brynhild. She was quiet.

"Love," he called softly as he approached her.

He had only just crossed the distance between them when the tears spilled out, and he quickly took her into his arms as she cried softly against his chest.

"Why?" she asked with tears in her eyes. "Why couldn’t it be anyone else?"

Lysander didn’t say anything. He just held her close as she cried.

"It could have been anyone in the world but her," she cried. "And I know it’s not her fault, I know that, but I..."

"It’s okay, love," he said softly.

"Is it really?" she asked him. "I’m not going to hold it against Sophia, but honestly, I wouldn’t be able to get it out of my head that her mother is Victoria. I’m scared I’ll let that cloud my judgment... I..."

Lysander ran a hand through her hair as he spoke softly.

"I doubt you’d let this cloud your judgment, though," he said to her. "You are forgetting you are one of the people in this pack who took to Sophia from the moment she came here. You accepted her as she was—curious. And it was like Sophia was seeing the world for the first time. You remember telling me that?"

Brynhild nodded.

"And you also remember how livid you were when you found out what Holly did to Sophia, how anxious you were when you found out she was in the medical facility after you gave birth. You may not have taken an oath like you did with me and the others, but you treat Sophia as a sister. You love her as much as you’d love a sister because just like Orion, Ronan, and Tobias are your brothers—your siblings—she is too. And don’t forget, love, Sophia is the reason we are healthy. It’s because of her visions you are alive. She ran under the storm, not even minding the cold, and did everything she could to make sure you survived."

Lysander was quiet for a while as Brynhild absorbed his words.

"I think I understand your pain, though," he said softly. "How is it that someone as sweet as Sophia had to be Victoria’s daughter?" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Brynhild nodded against his chest. "I can’t hate her," she said, sniffling. "I don’t have it in me to do so. I just can’t. Why couldn’t her mother be someone else?"

"We can’t control fate, can we?" Lysander asked her.

Brynhild shook her head.

"I’m sorry that this is happening. I will support Sophia, I vow that, but it’ll be hard for everyone to do so. And love, if by chance you find your judgment getting clouded, remember that Sophia is not her mother, and Sophia is also a victim of her mother’s cruelty."

Lysander still remembered the way Sophia had hurt herself when she had first started recovering her memories and the things her mother had done to her.

---

Brynhild was not the only one feeling emotional after the news.

Ronan walked through the pack and sneaked into his father’s home, taking some grape wine with him. He needed something strong, and why not some of the strongest alcohol they had in the pack?

He chose a secluded spot to sort out his thoughts, a place beneath a huge tree. There was an old rope tied to it, and it brought a smile to his face because this was the same spot he, Orion, Lysander, Brynhild, and little Tobias had sworn to be siblings for life.

Snow fell softly, and he noticed there were footsteps in the snow. Someone had been... no, someone was here.

He turned and locked eyes with Annabeth. She held a book in her hand.

"And what do we have here?" Ronan said with a smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. "Did you follow me?"

Annabeth made a face at that. "I’m pretty sure I was here before you."

Ronan chuckled as he unlocked the wineskin and took a long drink from it.

Annabeth watched him with a frown. "Are you that thirsty?" she asked him.

"Thirsty for you?" Ronan asked. "Yes, I am."

"That’s not what I asked, though," she told him.

Ronan chuckled. "I know that."

He sighed and then settled onto the snow-filled ground, his back to the trunk of the tree.

Annabeth was certain there was something troubling him. She turned, glancing back at where she had come from. She could leave him here, alone, but there was just something that drew her to him, and so she closed the distance between them and sat next to him, making sure there was enough space between them.

"I’m not going to bite, you know," he said.

"I know that."

"Then why are you putting this much distance between us?" he asked again.

Annabeth didn’t reply, and he just laughed, taking another long drink from the wineskin.

They sat in quiet... at least that’s what Annabeth would have said, but after watching Ronan finish two wineskins in under five minutes, she could not keep quiet any longer.

He had just opened a third when she reached out and took it from him.

"Are you trying to kill yourself?" she asked him.

"No," he said. "I’m trying to get drunk, but it’s not working."

Annabeth stared at him, her gaze searching his.

"What’s wrong?" she said softly.

"Can I kiss you?" Ronan asked her instead of replying.

Annabeth blushed at that, her eyes wide because she had not been expecting him to ask her that.

"W-what... what are you saying?" she asked, mortified.

Ronan smiled. "You are cute," he said simply.

She just stared at him again. "You know what? Since you don’t want to tell me what’s wrong, you are free to get drunk," she said with a huff.

And then she stood up, attempting to walk away when he spoke up.

"Don’t go."