The Little Rose

A Terrible Way To Meet The Family

As if the drive down hadn’t been pure hell enough for one day, I had to meet Orion’s family feeling like death warmed over.  I couldn’t bring myself to focus on anyone in particular seeing as how the world around me was spinning much too fast to bring anything into focus for long, let alone properly introduce myself.

By the time Orion set me gently in the bed I began to feel a little more like myself, all I needed was for everyone to leave the room and let me rest in peace.  A few hours in a soft bed, that wasn’t moving, would do me a world of good; but then Orion’s sister decided to drop a bomb so big I was still rattled by the revelation.

Pregnant?  How could I be pregnant?

“Impossible…”  Nullar whispered, taking a step back from the bed as everyone’s eyes turned to him.

“You and Roisin never had s*x?”  Leo asked directly, causing color to creep up my neck and face with embarrassment. The Beta stepped closer to the bed as he watched Nullar closely. “Anyone with eyes can see the way you stay near her, the way you watch her.  There either is or was something going on between the two of you.”

“Damn, when did you become a psychic, Leo?”  Vespian chuckled, doing what I could only assume was his attempt at lightening the mood in the room.  Orion was still glaring at Nullar, I didn’t have a line of sight of his face but the way his sister was glancing at him nervously told me his eyes were flickering between his self-control and Odin’s trying to break through.

“Did you know?”  Orion’s voice came out in a whisper, but it was laced heavily with venom, sending a shiver down my spine despite it not being directed at me.

“No!”  Nullar denied, shaking his head vehemently before turning to glare at Luna who was currently using a towel Vespian had grabbed for her to clean up the mess I’d made on the floor when I had become sick again moments ago.  “You must be mistaken, we were careful to prevent conception, never being intimate when she was in her fertile window.”

“I am never wrong.”  Luna stated, flashing Nullar a look that would have cut a lesser man to his core. “I have been honing my gift since I was eighteen, I know what I am doing. Roisin is definitely expecting.  I have already reached out to the pack doctor via min-link, he will be here soon and settle this for you.” 

“Luna Luna, Alpha Vespian.”  A small voice from the door drew everyone’s attention, a petite girl of no more than eighteen stood at the entrance to the room with a mop and bucket in hand, a flush coloring her cheeks when she realized she’d drawn the attention of everyone present. “I was told there was a mess?”

“Yes, thank you, Arabella.” Luna told the girl waving her hand towards the area she’d been standing when I’d been sick again. “Right here Bell’s, thank you so much for rushing up.”

Arabella walked into the room with her head down and a bright red flush covering her pretty cheeks.  With curly black hair and bright blue eyes she was a beautiful girl, though she seemed uncomfortable surrounded by so many people.  Glancing at Orion I noticed the glare he’d been staring at Nullar with was gone, he was now staring at Arabella with a soft smile on his lips as she worked quickly to mop the floor and scurry from the room as fast as possible.  I felt a pang of jealousy witnessing Orion watch the young woman with such a sweet smile.  Who was she for him to react to her so?

I didn’t have to wait long for the answer, as soon as Arabella had left the room and softly closed the door behind her Orion smiled broadly at Luna and Vespian. “Arabella?  Arabella Trejo?  Tony’s little sister?”

“Yep, all grown up as you can see.”  Luna answered with a bright smile.

“And how is Tony now?  I take it no issue with him since we saved his and his sisters lives?”  Orion asked.  Who was Tony?

“No problems at all.”  Vespian answered, wrapping his arm around his Luna’s shoulders and pulling her flush against his side, his pride in his mate shown in every touch and look they shared. I envied them for this, they knew exactly who they were to each other, what they meant to one another. “He swore his allegiance to my father as soon as he arrived and again to me when I officially made him and his sister part of the pack.  Tony actually found his mate a few days after his initial arrival.  Arabella comes of age in a few months, but my youngest brother, Richie, has felt the mate pull since his eighteenth birthday last year.”

“Yeah, and the boy is very overprotective.”  Leo added, chuckling when Luna and Vespian nodded their heads enthusiastically, agreeing with him. “As you can tell, she isn’t quite over the trauma her father instilled in her, she may never be, and being around men makes her nervous, especially men she doesn’t know.  Not sure why she was sent up, I’ll have Arrow ask the housekeeper and remind her that Arabella is only hired to clean so she doesn’t have to interact with guests.”  Luna nodded her head again in agreement.

“Arrow is still around huh?  How are her and her mate?  Can’t believe I can’t remember his name.”  Orion muttered, rubbing his jaw with his hand absently.

“Alex, and they are doing good.  Arrow is now Gamma of Golden Crescent and leads the hunt on the Night Walkers.  Her and Alex are expecting their second child any day now.” Luna replied proudly.

“Y’all are hunting the Night Walkers?”  Orion demanded, looking between the three pack leaders in question.

“Yes, Vespian made it his mission to bring down the organization.” Luna glanced nervously towards me before looking back at her brother and continuing.  “After what happened seven years ago, we knew we needed to end their reign.”

“It’s fine Luna, Roisin isn’t all that she seems.”  Orion reached over and patted my hand, a reassuring smile on his lips, before turning back to his family.  “Man, do I have a story to tell y’all.” 

“Please do, Luna here has been on pins and needles since last night when you said ‘we’ during your phone call.”  Vespian chuckled, laughing harder when his little mate smacked him on the chest playfully.

“Well, I’m honestly not sure where to start…” Orion trailed off, glancing at me with a mixture of anxiety and fear flashing there for the briefest moment. Moving my hand out from under his, I wrapped my fingers around Orion’s and squeezed them gently.  ‘I’m here for you.’ I thought, wishing I could mind-link him, but the way he nodded told me he understood my message.

“I’d suggest at the beginning.”  Leo drawled, pulling a laugh from everyone else in the room except myself.

“Yes, please tell us what happened from the moment you left.”  Luna murmured, leaning forward to place a comforting hand on her brother’s arm, her honey-colored eyes were shinning with love and understanding, and I felt out of place here in this moment, surrounded by all the love and history they all shared.  I sought out Nullar, my gaze locking with his, but only for a second, we broke contact when we both turned to listen to Orion’s explanation of the events that lead us to this point.

“After I loss Gracie I hid away.”  Orion’s words were barely above a whisper, guilt lacing his tone.  I squeezed his hand a little tighter and after clearing his throat he continued his story with a bit more confidence. “I was a coward; I hid behind Odin.”

“Oh Orion, you were not a coward, you went through something that would have broken anyone in the same situation.” Luna whispered, tears misting her eyes.

“Thank you, Luna, but I was more than broken.  I gave up, hiding in the recesses of our shared mind, living in my memories where I could be with her again.  I stayed like that for months, refusing to come out.  Odin lived in wolf form, traveling wherever his nose and his paws led us.  I have no memories during that time, I couldn’t tell you where we travelled or what he did, I didn’t care.  Then, one night, I woke up, pulled out of my self-imposed isolation, to the smell of blood, and a lot of it.”

“Odin killed someone?”  Leo asked, exchanging a concerned look with Vespian.

“Yes, but it’s not what you think. All of that traveling he had been doing, he’d been tracking down Night Walkers, hunting them down. The first kill was in a hotel, there had been blood everywhere; the floors, walls, ceiling. Us. He left no one alive.”

“The Redmond Hotel m******e, that had been Odin?” Gasped Luna, one hand flying up to cover her mouth in shock.

“I’m not sure what the name of the place had been, all I remember is the blood, the black cloaks and hoods, and Odin feeling no remorse for his actions.  I tried for the next year to take back control, but I was weakened from my time hidden away.  He killed any Night Walker he could hunt down.”

“We followed that trail; we’d been hunting Night Walkers and some that we’d been tracking were found dead.  I didn’t even think to suspect Odin or you… we concluded that others were as tired of their tyranny as we were.” Vespian commented, sharing another look with Leo, every time they did that I got the sense they were communicating with each other.

“They are mind linking.” Gracie’s voice drifted through my mind, catching me off guard, in my fear of what she would say or do I shoved her back, blocking out her voice. I still hadn’t told Orion what she’d shared with me; that I was her wolf. I was afraid that he would demand I give her control, that together they would keep me imprisoned as he did to Odin, never letting him out.  I wasn’t ready for that.

“Well, mystery solved, it was Odin.” Orion answered with a humorless laugh. “It took me a year to get control back. After that night I swore I’d keep the world safe from him, so I found an island off the coast of Florida, in the gulf, found me a little rowboat and headed out.  I’ve been there for the past six years, alone.”

“Why didn’t you call us, Orion?”  Luna asked, wiping tears from her eyes with the back of her hand until Vespian handed her a handkerchief.  “We would have helped you.”

“I couldn’t risk it; Odin was feral and out for blood.  If he broke out on the island than he’d have had to made it back to shore to hurt anyone, it would have given me time to regain control. But here?  Surrounded by the people I cared about?  There was no telling what he would have done if you tried to stop him.”  Orion shook his head, rolling from the bed and standing, moving towards the windows that lined the wall across from the door, his hands clutched at his sides.  “I couldn’t do that; I couldn’t risk anyone else.”

The room was quiet for a moment, Luna, Vespian, and Leo seemed to understand that nothing they could have said would have changed Orion’s decision.  He’d lived in isolation for so long to protect the people he loved, and to argue with his reasoning would be to take away what his actions had meant.  Nullar was still standing at the end of the bed in silence, I wasn’t sure if he was listening to the story like the rest of us, or if he was still dumb founded by the news Luna had dropped on us such a short time ago.

A knock at the door broke the tension in the air, with Luna rushing over to open it to a short, middle aged man with silver-streaked mahogany hair who smiled politely before stepping into the room, a brown leather bag in his weathered hands.

“Alpha Vespian, Beta Leo.”  The Doctor bowed his head in respect to his Alpha and Beta before walking closer to the bed, his gaze passing over Nullar curiously, but keeping his questions to himself.  When his eyes landed on me they widened momentarily before he cleared his throat and turned to set his bag on the table by the bed.  “Hello, my name is Dr. Waldron, the Luna asked me to come and take a look at you.”

“Nice to meet you Dr. Waldron, my name is Roisin.”  I glanced at Orion and Nullar before adding with a nervous laugh,  “Well, Roisin is one of my names.”

“Her name is Roisin.” Orion interjected as he moved back to my side from the window.  “No matter who is in you, or whose body you are in, you are my Little Rose, got it?”

He didn’t know it, but those were the exact words I needed to hear.  I needed to know that he cared about me as Roisin, and not just because of the me that was Gracie.

“They have always cared for both of us, they just didn’t know you as well because with how quick I became pregnant.  I wasn’t able to transform once I hit my second trimester, and so your time to spend with them was short.” Gracie’s soft voice flowed through my mind again.  I wanted to hate her, I wanted to want her gone.  She was a threat to me living a life as I was now, she wanted this body, she wanted to be with Orion, she wanted the things I wanted, and we could not both get what we wanted… could we?  But I could not bring myself to hate her, not with how sweet and understanding she always seemed to be.

“What was my name?”  I asked her as Dr. Waldron pulled the blanket back and began lifting my shirt over my stomach, glancing nervously at Orion when Odin managed to break out long enough to issue a soft warning growl.  Dr. Waldron pulled a tablet from his bag, setting it up on the table before pulling an odd probe with a crescent shaped bottom and a bottle of what looked like clear gel from the bag as well.

“I’m going to put this on your stomach and this to see inside, it won’t hurt you or the baby at all, okay?”  Dr. Waldron explained to me, smiling when I nodded in understanding, and he began squirting the cold gel on my abdomen.

“I think that your name in our past life isn’t important, you are Roisin now, and I think the name suits you perfectly, as do Orion and Odin.” Gracie answered me apprehensively. I wasn’t sure if her answer should upset me or flatter me, and I wasn’t entirely sure which emotion I was feeling more of, though both were there.

“The pregnancy… yours or Odette’s?” I wasn’t sure which I hoped for, on one hand Orion would get his entire family back in one swoop, on the other the baby would belong to a soul that had died and the man who still loved her.  Not that either situation did anything for me.

Dr. Waldron clicked a few buttons on his tablet until the screen was black and gray.  “Alright, lets begin.”  As the probe slide across my skin, the screen on the tablet flickered between grays, whites and black.

“Mine.” Gracie answered with so much love and joy in her voice that I felt tears prick at my eyes, clouding my vision.  Orion was going to get his entire family back, a gift to a man who was willing to live in his pain for an eternity, willing to sacrifice the rest of his life to keep the world at peace.  Where did that leave me?  “It leaves you as big a part of our family as Odin is.  You are my wolf, you are a part of me, a part of our children which we carry now.  You are as important to Orion and Odin as I am.  They won’t push you away, Roisin, they never have.”

“Then why do they never speak of me?!”  I didn’t realize I’d yelled the words until every head in the room turned to me, every eye staring at me in wide eyed surprised at my outburst.

“Roisin?  Are you okay?  Is Gracie speaking to you?”  Orion asked softly, leaning closer to me, his fingers trailing down my cheek softly.

“Gracie?”  Luna gasped.

“Dude, what?” Leo gaped.

“Well, you are definitely expecting Roisin, but triple congratulations are in order, you’re having triplets!  Funny that you and our Luna here will be welcoming triplets in the next four months.  Your parents will be thrilled, your highness, six grand-babies in such a short time.”  Dr. Waldron kept rambling, completely ignorant of the fact that the energy in the room had completely changed.

“Orion, I think you need to do a little more explaining.”  Luna whispered, staring at the screen in shock.

“How is this even possible?”  Leo whispered, blinking at the tablet over Vespian’s shoulder, who looked just as lost for words as his Beta. 

Dr. Waldron packed up his items and after wishing me another congratulations and good wishes, he excused himself and left the room.  Luna handed me a wash cloth to clean the gel from my skin, which I accepted thankfully, cleaning my self quickly so I could snuggle back under the blanket and maybe not feel so exposed and vulnerable.

“Roisin?”  Orion cupped my face in the palms of his hands, the electricity that licked at my skin from his touch had everyone else in the room melting away, till all I saw was him.  “Are you talking with Gracie?”

“Yes.”  I answered honestly, there was no reason to attempt to hide it, he knew.  Everyone knew.  Gracie, her unborn children, and my own spirit had all been put in this singular body.  Orion’s face lit up at the news though, witch sent a pain stabbing through my heart.  He was so happy to have a chance to speak to his true mate. Before he could ask me anything else, I closed my eyes and sighed heavily. “I’m exhausted from today, would it be possible for everyone to just give me a few hours to rest please?”

“Of course, I can’t believe we all bombarded you like this, everything could have waited till you were feeling more yourself.”  Luna spoke first.  “Vespian, Leo, and I will leave you to rest.  It was so nice to meet you Roisin, I can’t wait to get to know you better.”

“Thank you, I’m excited to get to know Orion’s family as well.” When I cracked my eyes open the three of them were gone, leaving Nullar, Orion and my self in the room alone.  I thought over where Isabella was for a moment, then pushed the thought out of mind, I was sure she’d been shown to her own room.

Glancing between Nullar and Orion I offered them a soft smile before an involuntary yawn broke from my lips. “As you can see, I’m very tired, everything that has happened today has worn me out and I’m sure growing three little people isn’t helping.  You two go ahead and fill them in on what we are here for, I’ll join you for dinner later.”

The two men shared a similar look of unease that had me rolling my eyes in exasperation.  “Orion, you said this place was safe, correct?”

“Yes.  I trust them completely.” He answered with no hesitation.

“Than I am safe.  Your family needs answers, we need a witch, and I need sleep.”  I could tell Orion was softening to the idea and moved my gaze to Nullar. “And you, I don’t know what is going on between you and Isabella but I think you need to go find her and make sure she’s okay here.  I’m safe you two, please let me rest?”

“I’ll be in to check on you in an hour.” Nullar stated, his white eyes boring into mine, daring me to argue, but I nodded my head in agreement and waved as he turned and left the room, a man of few words was that siren.

“I’ll be back to check on you as soon as I am done filling them in on what is going on.”  Leaning over me Orion’s lips brushed my forehead in a chaste kiss before he sent me one more lingering look and walked from the room, shutting the door with a soft click behind him.

I really did need to rest, but I knew with the thoughts racing through my mind it would be a tough battle to win to obtain the sweet oblivion that was sleep.