Sold To The Billionaire Alpha
Chapter 38

Orchid

Talus was my father. It was hardly a paternity test but the confirmation from my wolf felt indisputable.

“What is your family like?” I asked him, interrupting an animated story he had been in the middle of.

Talus paused thoughtfully.

“I have an elder brother, Timbre. I have a younger brother too, Titan. I think there’s just three of us,” he said, seeming truly unsure.

“Middle child,” said Rose, nodding.

“What are middle children like?” Asked Talus.

“Loud, attention-seeking, wisecracks,” said Perseus.

“Oh, I guess it’s not true then,” said Talus.

“And your nephews?” I asked eagerly.

“There’s Thaddeus, a much better Alpha than his father, my brother, Timbre. Ugh,” said Talus, making a face like a child being force-fed vegetables.

“He’s the seven foot alpha. Might be bigger than your boyfriend here!” Laughed Talus, slapping Orion’s hand.

Orion jumped a little. He had seemingly dozed off for a moment. He returned his attention to Talus.

“Thaddeus is a wonderful Alpha,” said Orion.

“He and his Luna Friday and their boyfriend Maze all live together. Scandalous, mind you,” said Talus in hushed tones.

“They share a Luna. Maze isn’t their boyfriend,” chuckled Perseus. “You know, kinda like twins.”

“TWINS!” Roared Talus so loudly Rose almost fell off her chair.

“Yes, I knew I had other nephews. The twins. Triton and Thalamus,” said Talus.

“I don’t think those are their names,” said Orion gently.

“Of course those are their names! Think I don’t know my own nephews’ names!” Exclaimed Talus.

He doesn’t know his own nephews’ names, my wolf informed me.

She was being helpful now. I was willing to forgive her for leaving me alone in dark times. I could have used an inner strength earlier but maybe she just couldn’t reach me. I wracked my brain, trying to think of any memory of hearing a voice in my head or having an intense instinct. I was a doctor, in a human setting. Maybe I shoved her deep in the recesses of my mind. Hearing voices was not exactly celebrated in medicine that was for sure. Maybe I got frightened and blocked her out. Every time I tried hard to remember certain things my head began to throb. My whole relationship before Orion was a stressful blur. If he had been a half decent guy, I could simply call him and ask him about the things I could not recall on my own but he was a far cry from decent.

“Maze is someone I’ve always wanted to have a proper conversation with,” said Perseus excitedly. “He’s an amazing strategist!”

“Yeah, he’s a big nerd,” said Talus. “You wouldn’t think so, looking at his family. They’re snobs. You’d think he’d be more of a hotshot with the ladies but he made a mess of things with their Luna. The twins gave me the inside info,” whispered Talus, suddenly a gossip columnist.

I smiled.

“I think he’s cool,” said Perseus defiantly.

“He already has a boyfriend, Perseus,” said Talus pointedly, rolling his eyes.

Perseus scowled.

“They’re not boyfriends,” said Perseus, agitated.

“Don’t be a bigot,” said Talus.

“I’m not. For goodness sakes…” began Perseus, getting angry.

Orion shook his head as if to say it was not worth arguing about. Perseus sighed deeply.

“Oh well, I guessed I missed my chance with Maze then,” said Perseus dryly, clearly throwing that for Talus but Talus was onto a different topic already.

“The twins are getting antsy. They want to meet their mate. They have to share also like Maze and Thaddeus,” explained Talus.

“I thought Maze and Thaddeus were boyfriends?” Asked Perseus.

“Don’t you have humour in the north? Jeez. It’s too damn cold outside. That’s why everyone is grumpy! Ugh, you know who I hate. He’s really grumpy. Um, Friday’s brother. Not the twins. The other one. Sabre-tooth or something. Stupid name,” said Talus.

“Why do you and Timbre seem to be…not close?” I asked hesitantly.

Talus stared at me. He looked a bit deranged for a second.

“Your uncle does not care about me,” said Talus, looking me dead in the eye. “Or you for that matter,” he added pointedly.

“He doesn’t know about me,” I said, wanting to give all my new relatives a chance.

“That’s not the point, Orchid!” Shouted Talus.

I was taken aback. Orion’s eyes darkened.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” hissed Orion, clearly angry at Talus for yelling at me.

“Timbre might not be your uncle at all,” said Orion to me. “Let’s expedite that paternity test!”

“Let’s do it,” said Talus. “I’m game.”

I smiled.

“What do you want? Hair? Skin? Teeth?” He asked.

Assuming it was not vastly different with wolves, I was comfortable answering this.

“A cheek swab. You just take a q-tip basically and rub it against the inside of your cheek. We could also use a couple millilitres of b***d instead. Or we could do both if we want to be extra,” I suggested.

“Let’s be extra,” said Orion sternly.

I felt like Orion hoped Talus was not my Dad now that he had met him. Now that I had met him, I hoped he was.

You know that he is, corrected my wolf.

Why can’t I shift? I asked her directly.

Silence. I sighed deeply.

“This kid is not here for my jokes,” commented Talus, thinking my sigh was directed at him again.

“I love your jokes…Dad,” I said awkwardly.

Talus paused and stared at me. He slowly smiled.

“Thank you…daughter,” he said.

He held my hand briefly.

“Aren’t you people gonna stick a needle in me? Or a q-tip?” He said, sitting back and opening his arms wide.

I wanted to explore the parts of the mansion I was unfamiliar with so I walked with Talus and Orion to the infirmary. The pack doctors were friendly and I had been introduced to a few of them before. I listened intently to everything they said though it was the same as humans. Their medicine only differed when the wolves were in that form.

“Technically, you’re all vets and regular doctors,” I said.

The pack doctors burst into laughter.

“Well, we only know the wolf. No need to know let’s say turtles or birds or even cats,” said the consultant of the unit, a man with silver hair but a seemingly young and handsome chiselled face.

The registrar teased him, “Marvin also knows foxes because he’s a silver one.”

I giggled. The consultant winked at me playfully.

Orion cut that visit to the infirmary extremely short. Luckily, I had already gotten to swab Talus’ cheek and they had even let me draw the b***d. I had not done any phlebotomy in such a long time. It was a small and very basic task but Talus was extremely impressed.

“She got the vein immediately,” he said to Orion for the third time.

I grinned. Talus was muscular and his veins were extremely visible, large and healthy. I could get those veins in my sleep.

“She didn’t spill any. She was very neat,” Talus said proudly, showing Orion the piece of cotton I had taped to his arm.

The doctors had wondered what I was doing with the cotton when I was applying pressure. I remembered werewolves healed instantly, especially a minor wound like one from drawing b***d. I had taped on the cotton automatically, out of habit. Talus refused to allow anyone to remove it.

“It should be done this way,” he had insisted.

The other difference was the needles. The gauges were about the same but the needles were much sharper in order to penetrate tough werewolf skin. Also, you had to hurry if you wanted to give intravenous medications. If you put a IV cannula in for instance and took too long to flush it and establish it properly, the area just healed and forced the IV cannula back out. I found this so amazing. Their healing was just marvellous! They had special ways of anchoring an IV cannula so it could actually stay inside long enough to administer drips and medications.

“You ok?” Asked Orion after we had shown Talus to his room.

I had been lost in my thoughts.

“I’m more than ok,” I said honestly as we headed to our room.

“You are?” Said Orion, looking pleasantly surprised.

I nodded, leaning against the door to our room. I fiddled with the cotton Talus had insisted they tape to my arm after they took my b***d sample.

You are better at it, he had told me over mind-link. You should have probably just drawn your own b***d.

“Yes, thanks to you,” I said softly.

Orion raised his eyebrows.

“I didn’t think it was possible,” I said.

“What was? Finding your Dad?” Asked Orion.

“Seeing this place as home,” I said, looking around. “Not running for the hills if you leave the door unlatched,” I joked.

“You are free to go and come as you please!” Said Orion. “I hope you know that.”

I entered our room and plopped down on the bed. Mighty came rushing onto the bed and flopped down next to me. I giggled and patted her fluffy head.

“So, should your birthday party be after the paternity test results? You can cut the cake with your Dad,” offered Orion.

I had almost forgotten about that.

“Let’s not wait,” I said.

Orion’s face lit up.

“I want to have my birthday party, replace out if Talus is my Dad and if he is, I want to show him the Human Realm. Where I grew up, where I went to school,” I said. “I want to show you too!” I added.

Getting Orion to allow me to visit the Human Realm was the ultimate test of faith. Orion took a deep breath. I knew he was terrified of losing me but he didn’t want to imprison me. He wanted our relationship to be real so he had to give me this freedom. He nodded.

“So be it,” he said, smiling somewhat sadly.

I cupped his face. He turned away, hiding from me a little. He was crying.

“Orion,” I said softly.

“You’ll come back, right?” he said, his voice cracking.

I felt my heart literally ache at how broken he sounded all of a sudden. I pressed my forehead to his. He brushed his nose against mine.

“Of course, I’ll come back to you, always. I belong with you. I know that now. I know I must have a wolf,” I said.

Orion laughed, sniffling. “I love you, Orchid. I don’t care what you are. You could be a potted plant and I’d still be crazy about you,” he said, laughing through tears.

I wiped his cheeks and kissed them.

“Kinky,” I joked.

He laughed. He looked a little happier.

“I want my birthday party now,” I said, taking on a spoilt brat tone to distract him.

I hated seeing him sad. He nodded.

“Very well, Luna,” he said, his forehead still pressed to mine.

I caressed his face gently.

“I want to cut the cake with my other half,” I said.

“I take up more than half of this relationship. Maybe two-thirds or so,” he said, patting my head.

“Are you calling me short?” I asked.

“No, I’m calling you small in general. Short is just one parameter involved,” he said, showing me a teensy space between his thumb and his index finger.

I swatted him playfully.

“How dare you? I have Alpha b***d in me,” I said regally.

Orion laughed, raising his eyebrows.

“You’re probably right. You act like you’re from Berryndale, troublemaker,” teased Orion.

“You act like you’re from the north,” I taunted, straddling him. “Icy,” I said, tweaking his nose.

He wrapped his arms around me.

“Allow me to provide you with some much needed warmth and hospitality then,” murmured Orion, nuzzling me and then pulling me under the covers.

I was glad Talus and my other guests had been given rooms far away from ours because I could not hold back my m***s that afternoon under the covers with Orion.