Chapter 654: The Burden Beneath Memory

Time passed, but neither of them measured it properly.

Maybe seconds, maybe longer. It didn’t matter because Orion didn’t let her go.

Sophia stayed pressed against him, her face buried in his chest as the last of her sobs slowly drained out of her. Her body still trembled now and then, like the grief hadn’t fully left her, like it had only retreated far enough to breathe.

He didn’t loosen his hold.

Not at first.

Even when her breathing began to even out, even when the sharp edges of her crying softened into broken sniffles, he stayed right there with her, steady and unmoving, as if letting go would undo something fragile inside her.

Only when her body finally stopped shaking did he ease back slightly.

Just enough to look at her.

His hand lifted carefully, brushing the damp strands of hair from her face, wiping the traces of tears away with a gentleness that didn’t match how rough the world had been with them both.

Sophia blinked slowly.

Then, almost immediately, her lips parted.

"I’m sorry," she said again, voice weak, instinctive.

Orion exhaled through his nose like he had been holding that exact sentence hostage for too long.

"No," he said quietly. "Stop apologising."

She opened her mouth again, but he cut in before she could speak.

"You’ve apologised enough for one night," he added, looking at her properly now. "Honestly, I think I prefer it when you hit me instead. It’s less worrying."

That made something small flicker in her expression.

A faint, hesitant smile.

It didn’t erase the pain, but it softened it around the edges.

"...I came to visit Alaric," she said after a moment, her voice quieter now, more grounded.

Orion’s gaze shifted slightly at the name, but he didn’t interrupt.

Sophia continued slowly, as if each word had to be pulled carefully from somewhere deep.

"He was kind to me," she said.

That made Orion’s expression soften immediately.

"I don’t doubt that for a second," he replied quietly. "My father was a kind man."

Sophia nodded faintly.

"He didn’t die in the pack," she continued. "Victoria... she captured him. She wanted to use him to get to you."

Orion’s jaw tightened slightly, but he stayed silent, letting her continue. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"She got angry when she saw me trying to free him," Sophia added, her hands curling slightly in her lap. "I wasn’t supposed to be there that night. She was the one who showed him to me."

A pause settled between them.

Then her voice dropped a little more.

"Besides Neoma... my wolf... I’ll introduce her to you later..." she said, almost absently, like she was trying to ground herself in something familiar. "Alaric was the first person who told me I was loved."

Orion’s eyes softened at that.

Sophia’s fingers trembled slightly as she continued.

"It wasn’t in a strange way," she said. "It felt like... a father speaking to his child. Like I wasn’t something he had to protect out of duty... but because he wanted to."

Her breath caught slightly.

"And I think that’s why his death hurt so much," she admitted.

Orion didn’t speak.

He just listened.

Sophia hesitated, then looked at him properly.

"He told me to pass a message to you," she said.

Orion’s expression shifted slightly.

Sophia swallowed.

"I’m sorry it’s late," she added quietly, "but he said to tell you... that you were loved too."

For a moment, the world went very still.

Even the snow seemed quieter, falling softer, as if it was giving them space to breathe.

Sophia’s eyes filled again, but this time the tears didn’t fall violently. They slipped down slowly, like they had nowhere else to go.

"That they both loved you," she said gently. "And it wasn’t your fault what happened to your pack."

Orion let out a breath that sounded almost like a laugh, but it was broken at the edges.

"...he knew me too well," he said softly.

Sophia nodded.

"He did," she replied.

A faint silence settled again, but it wasn’t empty anymore.

Just heavy and shared.

Then Sophia spoke again, quieter this time.

"Maybe if I had met you earlier," she said, almost to herself, "I would have told you sooner... maybe you wouldn’t have carried it alone for so long."

Orion shook his head slightly.

"You came at the right time," he said.

Sophia blinked at him.

"You did," he continued. "You might not have remembered his words, but you’re the reason I even came here that night. The reason I stopped running from all of this."

That made something shift in her expression.

A small, fragile smile formed again.

"...I saw your mother too," she said after a moment.

Orion’s gaze sharpened slightly.

"And Mary," she added quickly. "But I didn’t get the chance to speak with them. Victoria... she made me watch from a cliff while everything happened."

Her fingers curled tighter.

"She wanted me to see what she thought I caused."

Orion exhaled slowly, shaking his head.

"You didn’t cause anything," he said firmly. "That was all Victoria."

Sophia didn’t respond immediately.

Her gaze dropped slightly.

"I know that," she said quietly. "But knowing it and feeling it are two different things."

Orion studied her for a moment, then spoke more gently.

"...will you tell me what happened to you?" he asked.

Sophia let out a small, almost breathless chuckle.

"It’s a lot," she admitted. "More than I can even put into words properly."

Then she looked at him.

"But I’ll tell you," she said softly. "Just not all at once."

Orion nodded immediately.

"I’m here," he said. "Take as much time as you need."

That was enough.

Sophia exhaled slowly, her shoulders lowering just slightly as something inside her steadied again.

"I never knew my father," she said quietly. "Victoria never spoke about him. From the beginning, it was always just me and her."

She paused.

"At first, she was... what a mother is supposed to be," she continued. "Caring. Loving. Present."

Her voice softened further, almost distant now.

"But things started changing when I turned two."

She looked down at her hands.

"And that was when I saw my first vision."