Chapter 628: The Pain That Refuses to Fade

Chapter 627: The Pain That Refuses to Fade

Orion exhaled slowly as he placed her back on the bed, carefully.

Like even the smallest mistake might break her all over again.

His hands lingered for a second longer than necessary before he finally pulled away, his chest still rising unevenly as he tried to steady himself.

"I’m sorry I was late."

Lysander’s voice cut through the quiet.

Orion shook his head immediately.

"You don’t need to be," he said, his voice low. "There was nothing you could have done anyway."

That was true but still, Lysander thought he should have been here with Orion. Sophia was his patient after all.

Silence settled over the room again. It was heavy and uncomfortable too.

And just then, two people rushed in.

Ronan stepped in first, Tobias right behind him, Annabeth close behind, all three of them pushing past the nurses that still lingered by the door.

"What happened?" Ronan asked immediately, his voice sharp as his gaze swept the room.

Lysander didn’t answer with words.

He just gestured toward the bed.

Toward Sophia.

Tobias followed the motion, his brows furrowing as he stepped closer.

"I thought she was just recovering her memories," he said quickly, the words tumbling out one after the other. "Then why did she scream like that? Was she hurt? Is she awake? Did something happen?"

The questions came fast.

Lysander turned his head slightly, his gaze shifting to Orion for permission to tell Tobias what he needed to know.

Orion gave a small nod.

Lysander exhaled quietly before looking back at Tobias.

"She is recovering her memories," he said calmly.

"I know that," Tobias said.

"Let me finish, brother," Lysander said to him.

"Like I told you, she is recovering her memories, but her mind..." he continued, his tone tightening slightly, "has been protecting her from the worst of them."

Lysander glanced at Sophia briefly before speaking again.

"What she’s going through right now..." he said slowly, choosing his words carefully, "is not just her remembering. She’s reliving everything."

"Her condition wasn’t just memory loss," Lysander continued. "It was psychological suppression. Her mind buried what it couldn’t handle."

Tobias swallowed nervously, even Ronan listening closely. Brynhild had told him of the first time Sophia recovered her memories and how it was because of Sophia she was even alive at this point.

"And now," Lysander continued, "those memories are coming back without that barrier, and that makes the pain pure."

The words settled heavily in the air.

Ronan looked away, his jaw tightening.

Lysander continued.

"She’s not recalling them from a distance," he said. "She’s inside them. Every moment. Every feeling. Every—"

He stopped briefly.

"Every hurt," he finished quietly.

"The way she screamed," Lysander added quietly, "the way she reacted... that wasn’t just fear."

His gaze flickered to Sophia again.

"That was something in the past that broke her."

Tobias inhaled slowly, then released a disbelieving sound.

"So what you’re saying..." he started, his voice quieter now, uncertain. "Is that the scream we all heard..."

He hesitated.

"The one that reached even Sam’s place at the outskirts..."

No one interrupted him.

"...the one that woke almost the entire pack..."

His throat tightened slightly.

"That was because she’s reliving something that happened to her when she was younger?"

Lysander didn’t hesitate this time.

He nodded.

"Yes."

Tobias just stared at him.

Like he was trying to process something too large to fit into words.

Ronan ran a hand through his hair quietly, his gaze dropping to the floor for a moment before lifting again.

And then it shifted.

To Orion. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

His eyes narrowed slightly when he noticed the marks on Orion’s neck. But he didn’t say anything and instead just looked away.

Lysander spoke again after a moment.

"I hate to say this," he said, his voice lower now, directed at Orion, "but like the first time..."

Orion didn’t look at him.

"You shouldn’t leave her side. I’m certain she wouldn’t have calmed down if not for you."

No one argued that.

No one could.

The room went quiet again until a voice broke the quiet.

"I’m going to kill her."

Brynhild’s voice was soft, perhaps even too soft for what she just said.

Orion and his friends didn’t even need to be told who Brynhild was talking about. It was obvious to them but not to Marta and the nurses or the other healers around.

"Love," Lysander said, firm but calm, "we focus on Sophia first, every other thing comes after."

Before Brynhild could say anything more, a broken sound tore through the room and everyone stilled.

It was a pained groan followed by a sob.

Orion moved instantly. Just as he reached the bed, her eyes opened but they were the same as before, unfocused.

Her body shifted on the bed, her brows pulling together as another groan slipped past her lips, quieter than before but just as painful.

She wasn’t screaming.

Not this time.

But she was still fighting something.

Her body twisted slightly, her hands lifting weakly, trying to reach her head, her hair, like she needed to pull something out again.

Orion caught her wrists gently.

"Hey," he said quickly, leaning closer. "Hey, shorty, don’t—"

She sobbed.

The sound broke something in the room.

"Make it stop..." she whispered, her voice hoarse. "Make it stop... please."

Ronan and Tobias stayed rooted because this was the first time they were witnessing this.

Orion held Sophia, making sure that she didn’t make way to her head or perhaps her hair, and she sobbed loudly, every sound filled with pain that tore at his chest.

"Stop... I’m sorry, I’m sorry... it hurts, please. I’m sorry."

Orion didn’t stop holding her, instead he kept her closer to him as he spoke softly.

"I’m here, shorty. It’s not real," he whispered.

Brynhild didn’t know when the tears started pouring, so she excused herself. Lysander knew his wife would likely make a bad decision clouded with emotion, so he turned to Marta.

"Go, I’ll stay with him," she told him.

He bowed. "I’ll be back as quickly as I can."

And then he ran out after Brynhild.