Chapter 665: When the Moon Walked In

Orion didn’t remember when sleep finally claimed him.

It hadn’t felt intentional, not the way he usually let himself drift into rest when the world outside the pack was quiet enough to trust. This had been different, heavier in a way he hadn’t registered until consciousness slipped away entirely, as if the exhaustion had been waiting patiently for him to stop resisting it.

When he finally stirred again, the room was still dark.

A soft candle burned nearby, steady, its light warm enough to fill the space without disturbing it. The shadows it cast didn’t shift the way they normally would with a flickering flame. They just existed, settled in place as though even they had agreed not to draw attention.

Sophia was still beside him, curled slightly into the bed. Her breathing was even. Orion looked at her for a moment longer than he meant to, a smile on his face.

She had argued earlier that she had rested while she was unconscious, but now she was asleep like a baby.

He chuckled lightly at that, but then there was a sudden shift.

Noctis growled, but the sound wasn’t aggressive or a hint of danger.

Orion wasn’t sure why yet, but the sound was more close to recognition.

Orion’s body reacted before his thoughts fully aligned with it.

He sat up.

Slowly at first, then fully, his gaze sweeping across the room as the last remnants of sleep disappeared. That was when he noticed the candle.

The flame didn’t flicker, not even slightly.

And the moon was extremely bright, its light pouring into the room like it had weight of its own.

Orion turned to the window, and that was when he saw her.

Standing as if she had always been there and would always remain there, regardless of whether he acknowledged her or not.

White hair, pale as untouched snow, fell over her shoulders in a way that seemed almost too perfect to be natural. Her eyes were the first thing that truly anchored him. They were blue... an exact replica of the bright moon.

For a brief moment, his gaze flicked toward Sophia without meaning to.

And then back to the woman.

The resemblance was there, faint enough that it would have been meaningless to anyone else, but enough that it caught something in him regardless.

Still, it wasn’t the same.

The woman’s eyes bore a resemblance to Sophia’s, but Sophia’s were more beautiful to him.

Orion stared at the woman, and she stared back. They simply watched each other, as though she had all the time in existence and no need to prove it.

Orion said nothing, neither did she.

The silence stretched between them for a while, and then she spoke.

"Son of Alaric."

Her voice carried without effort, soft but absolute, like it didn’t need volume to be heard.

Orion let out a short breath that carried no humor.

"So you finally decided to show up," he said.

There was no surprise in his tone.

Only something closer to expectation finally being met.

The woman didn’t react to his words the way most people would have. There was no offense, no shift in expression that suggested she had been provoked. She simply remained where she was, as if everything he said had already been accounted for long before he spoke.

"I could only come when you were ready," she said calmly. "When you were willing to have a conversation."

Orion tilted his head slightly at that, studying her properly now.

"Is that so?" he asked.

But she didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, her gaze remained steady on him, as if she had already decided what part of the conversation mattered and what didn’t.

"You’re annoyed with me," she said instead.

Orion exhaled slowly.

"When am I not?" he replied.

That earned the faintest pause from her, filled with acknowledgment rather than shock.

Then Orion stood up from the bed.

The movement wasn’t rushed, but it carried intent. The kind that signaled he was done sitting still for whatever this was meant to be.

"I know who you are," he said.

The woman inclined her head slightly.

"Selene, right?" he asked her.

"That’s what your kind calls me," she said.

Orion stepped forward slightly.

Not close enough to be reckless.

But close enough that the distance no longer felt like safety.

"And what do you think you’re doing?" he asked in a low, threatening growl.

Selene blinked once.

"I am trying to correct what was not aligned properly," she said. "That is the reason I sent Sophia. I..."

Orion let out a snort.

"That’s not what I’m talking about," he said.

His gaze didn’t leave hers.

"I’m talking about the fact that you couldn’t wait."

The air in the room felt different at his words.

"You couldn’t wait until she was better," he continued. "Until she had even the chance to recover properly from everything she had been through as a child."

His voice stayed controlled, but the restraint in it was deliberate.

"You know what she went through," he added. "You know what she was trying to hold together. You know how much she had to look for a safe space by forgetting everything, and instead of giving her the space she needed to breathe, you just appeared and dropped everything on her at once?"

A pause followed at his words.

"Did you even pause to think about the mental strain that would have on her? I’m no healer, but I’ve read a bit about her condition, and exhausting her mentally, putting a strain like that on her isn’t good for her health at all."

Selene’s gaze didn’t waver.

"I only did what was necessary," she said. "That was the point I judged was more effective to show myself to her and explain everything."

Orion’s jaw tightened slightly.

"So you chose a time that was convenient for you without a thought as to whether that time you chose was convenient for her, is that it?" he asked her.