Chapter 348: Promises Made in Quiet Spaces

Chapter 347: Promises Made in Quiet Spaces

Sophia frowned. "What if it’s something I can handle?"

Orion sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "I knew you were going to say that."

Sophia wasn’t one to give up without trying, and that was another thing that both irked him and made him smitten with her. Now that he was even thinking about it, everything about Sophia made him smitten. Yes, Orion thought to himself, he was a goner.

She gave him a look. "If you knew, then why did you bring it up?" she asked him.

He met her eyes again, his expression serious. "Because I’m a bit unsettled. I don’t know why. I don’t know if it has anything to do with you or perhaps Ronan, whom we still haven’t heard anything from, but I’m unsettled," he told her, then sighed.

"I know I can’t stop you. And I won’t try..."

"Again," Sophia added with a small smile tugging at her lips.

Orion’s lips twitched despite himself, and he nodded.

"Yes, ma. I’m not going to try to stop you again, even if I really didn’t."

"Your words did."

He gave her a look. "Are you going to let me finish?" he asked her.

Sophia gave him a look, then nodded.

Orion sighed. "You are insufferable."

"You like me like that," she told him with a shrug of her shoulders.

Orion rolled his eyes at that. "I do. But promise me this, shorty—if the test becomes too much, if it turns out to be something you can’t handle, or perhaps a situation occurs and you can’t handle it... seek help. Give up and save yourself first. Do not do something that will just drain you without any results."

She studied him, the serious look on his face as he stared directly into her eyes. He was worried for her, and she’d be damned if she made him even more worried.

She nodded. "If it’s something that surpasses my power, then I’ll seek help. I promise."

"Don’t hurt yourself, shorty. You just recovered. There’s only so much your body can take, okay?" Orion asked her.

"I promise not to hurt myself," she told him.

Orion stared at her for a while, then nodded, seemingly satisfied with her answer.

Only then did he seem to relax.

Orion pushed back from the table and began moving around the room. Sophia watched him as he lifted books from shelves, flipped through stacks of parchment, and even checked beneath a small side table. Most of the books he touched were hers—ones she had gradually brought over and never bothered to take back due to how much time she spent in his home.

Perhaps there was no reason for her to even have a house for herself, given how much time she spent with Orion in his own home.

Orion moved around the room while Sophia just stared at him, wondering what was going on all of a sudden.

Her brows furrowed. "What are you doing?"

He didn’t look at her. "Looking."

"For?"

"The book," he said dryly. "The blue one. You know—the one you turned your home upside down searching for?"

Sophia had forgotten about the book for a bit. She also noticed her hands didn’t even shake like they did when she had first come from the shrine. She wasn’t anxious, and she wasn’t shaking or filled with as much dread as she had been earlier. She was calmer now. She knew the reason why, and he was staring at her like he could not believe she had forgotten about something so important.

She blinked. "What?" 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"How did you forget about the book?" he asked her.

"Perhaps because you helped me? You made me direct and arrange my thoughts that were swirling around, making me focus on something else and not on the book itself," she told him.

Orion smirked. "Never thought I was good like that."

She chuckled. "But anyway, you are searching for the book now?"

"You wanted it found," he replied, lifting another book. "And I said I’d check my house. I don’t lie, shorty, so I’m checking my house like I promised. And also, I thought the faster we found it, the better. That it’d help you calm down a bit or something."

Sophia studied him. "I’m already calm," she told him.

"Still doesn’t matter. At least I can search for it in case of next time," he told her.

She nodded, then stood up. "I’ll help you."

Orion tried to argue, to tell her no, but she wouldn’t hear any of that, so he gave up on trying to convince her stubborn self not to help.

Together, they searched—drawers, shelves—but no matter how thoroughly they looked, the book was nowhere to be found.

Sophia exhaled slowly. "I swear I left it at home."

Orion straightened, watching her carefully. "You’re sure?"

She nodded. "I remember it clearly."

He hummed thoughtfully. "Then maybe we missed something. Or maybe we’re too tense to see what’s right in front of us."

"I’m calm, Orion," she told him.

"I am too, but maybe there’s something we missed. Maybe when we’re less tired, or perhaps when we’re no longer recovering from a long day with strange happenings?" he asked her.

Sophia nodded. "Maybe that’s it," she told him.

Orion reached for his cloak then, draping it over his shoulders. Sophia turned to him. "Where are you going?"

"Back to the office."

Her lips pulled into a pout before she could stop it. "Already?"

He smirked. "As painful as it is for you to see me go—"

She cut him off. "You’re the one who is in pain from leaving me, you oaf."

Orion smiled wider at the familiar words. "True. Completely true."

He moved closer, tying his cloak. "Garron and the others are putting things in place for the test. I need to be there. Get some rest."

She nodded. "Okay."

He turned to leave but paused at the door. Then he crossed the room again, closing the distance between them. He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.

"We’ll figure this out," he murmured. "All of it. And you’ll get your wolf back one day."

Her chest tightened, but she smiled. "I know."

He straightened, eyes glinting with mischief. "Try not to miss me too much."

She scoffed. "Right back at ya."

His laughter followed him as he stepped outside, the door closing softly behind him.