Orion's Desires

Orion's Desires
Gerry

We remained silent as we made our way to the airport to take Annie home. Thankfully, the council had its own private plane, and Osprey had convinced them to let us use it to take Annie home. I didn’t think that the council really had a choice. With the way Annie had shown out, I didn’t think anyone would be voting against her or anything she wanted. It was clear that none of them could stand on their own against her, and no one who knew her was going to tell them that she wasn’t a threat unless what they were doing was wrong. What Orion had done was extremely wrong.

I sighed as Annie immediately curled up beside Logan and lay on his lap. As the plane took off, Logan began to run his fingers over Annie’s hair, and just like always, her eyes began to drift shut. She never could resist someone playing with her hair. When she was asleep, Giselda sat up straighter next to me as she moved to the edge of the chair she was on with her eyes glued to Logan’s.

“Why didn’t you tell the council that it was Annie who killed Kirkland? There are a lot of things that he did while we were with him that would have made his death not a crime,” she told him quietly.

Logan remained quiet as he glanced at Osprey, who narrowed his eyes at Giselda. “What haven’t you told us about what happened with Kirkland?”

“Giselda, enough!” Logan ordered. “It’s not either of our places to tell anyone what happened to Annie. If she wants to tell them, then she can.”

Osprey turned to glare at Giselda. “What happened to my sister?”

“Giselda! I said no!” Logan snarled.

“He’s right, Osprey. I can’t tell you what happened to her.” She glanced at Logan before clearing her throat as she linked her fingers with mine. “When I was with him, he kept me unconscious. I was out of it, but Angel wasn’t. She knew that he tried to rape me. Multiple times, as a matter of fact, and before you ask, no, he wasn’t successful. Before he got Annie, he had to keep moving us. He also had another girl with him. After he got Annie, she was able to protect us even though she was kept under, too.” She paused to let the words linger in the air between the four of us for a moment before leaning against my side, and Geoffrey immediately started to pour our love into our link in an effort to comfort her. “Then, after she healed from her fatal injuries, she saved us both. When she was taking a very much alive Kirkland back to the sleuth house for interrogation, he woke up and attacked her.”

Osprey sank back against the cushioned seat behind him as his eyes moved to Annie, who was completely out of it, content on her mate’s lap. While Giselda had been talking, the atmosphere in the cabin had heightened between us. I had hated it when Angel started to let Giselda remember what happened while they were with Kirkland. I hated it even more knowing that asshole had even tried to touch my little sister. He shouldn’t have been touching either female, much less any female, without consent, but the thought of him trying it with Annie made my entire soul go completely dark. Annie was so young, fragile, and very, very soft. Not that she was as soft as she was, considering the power she had just wielded with little effort.

“Gerry, it’s okay. Kirkland is never going to hurt us again,” Giselda told me softly as she squeezed my hand.

“I know, but I can’t help but feel like maybe Kirkland wasn’t the biggest threat to Annie. It’s Orion. He obviously doesn’t like Annie and the power she has,” I told them.

“He wants her dead,” a soft voice whispered from the back of the cabin.

All of our attention turned to Sonia, who was sitting on the floor with her arms around her legs and her head down.

“What do you mean? It’s against the law to kill an alpha’s child without a good reason,” Osprey hissed.

“He doesn’t care about that. He doesn’t care about anything but power. He thinks that if he kills her and consumes her body, he will inherit her power,” she murmured as her head dropped even lower. “He isn’t going to stop. He’s going to keep coming for her until either she’s dead or he is.”

We all growled in sync. “He’ll be dead before he can even get close to her.”

Sonia gave a humorless bark of laughter as her hands got tighter on her arms. “You’d be surprised how clever he is.”

“Enough!” Logan spat. “He will not fucking hurt her.”
Sonia slowly raised her head to look at us sadly. “I hope not. If you think Kirkland was bad, you wouldn’t even have a word for what Orion does.”

“What does that mean?” Giselda asked.

Sonia swallowed hard as she stood up and began to strip down to her underwear, leaving us all stunned as we eyed her almost nude body that was littered with claw marks as well as bite wounds. But those injuries were nothing compared to the ones that were on her back when she turned around. Giselda gasped loudly as she got to her feet to move over to Sonia.

“He skinned you alive?” she asked the shaking woman.

Sonia nodded. “He found the taste of my flesh to be delicious.”

Giselda started to reach out to her before pausing. “May I touch you?”

Sonia nodded as her chin hit her chest. “Yes.”
Energy pulsed in the air around Giselda as her hands moved slowly over Sonia’s back, and I was stunned to see that wherever Giselda touched, fresh skin immediately began to grow back. When she was done healing Sonia’s back, she turned the woman around so she could work on her front. When she was done, she came back over to me while Sonia got dressed.

“Thank you for telling us, Sonia,” Giselda told her softly. “I promise that we will make sure you and Annie are both safe for the rest of your lives.”

Sonia said as she sat back on the floor. “I wish that were true.”
“It is. Milton isn’t going to let anyone hurt you. Not again.”

Sonia looked like she wanted to say something, but then she clamped her lips together. “Thank you.”

Giselda eyed her for a moment. “What were you going to say?”

“Nothing. I promise.”
“If you need to talk, you can come to me, Sonia. We’re family now. You’re not all alone anymore,” Giselda told her.
“Thank you, but I promise you that I’m okay.”

Giselda sighed deeply. “Alright.”

“Logan, you still didn’t answer Giselda fully,” Osprey snapped. “Why didn’t you tell the council what happened while Kirkland had Giselda and Annie? We would have taken that into account, and the laws that protect Alpha’s children would have outweighed his death, and the most you would have had to do was possibly pay a small fine to Crosstimbers.”

Logan looked down at Annie’s face, emotions quickly crossing his own. “Because if I had, it would have made her a target. We all know that once a woman, sow, wolf, or human, is attacked in that way, males sense it and see her as weak. I don’t want that for Annie. Besides, there’s also the looks and the way people start to treat survivors differently. Annie doesn’t deserve that. I don’t want how other people treat her to keep her brain focused on what almost happened instead of letting it go.”

“But it could have meant your death if Orion had gotten his way. You know that he only went after you because it would have weakened her,” Osprey said.

Logan’s fingers moved gently over Annie’s face. “I know, but if my death meant I could have protected her one more time, I would have done it without any regrets. I love Annie. Protecting her isn’t just my job. I want to protect her. I need to protect her. I’d die doing it if I have to.”

Osprey and I both sighed. “Yeah, we get it. We’d do the same for our mates,” I told Logan.

“I know.”

Giselda curled into my side as everyone fell silent again, lost in their own thoughts. I tugged Giselda onto my lap, wrapping my arms around her waist. I knew how close I had come to almost losing Giselda. Annie, too, but as much as I loved my little sister, how I felt about Giselda would always win. She was my mate after all. It was only natural for me to feel this way about her. When we landed hours later, Logan gently shook Annie awake.

“Sweetheart, we’re here.”

She shook her head, grumbling irritably. “I don’t wanna wake up.”
“Well, Mom and Dads are waiting just off the plane,” Osprey told her, making her sit up in panic as she shook her head again.

“No! I want Logan to take me home.”

“He can still come, but Mom and Dads have been so worried about you.”

“Annie, listen to me, it’s okay. I know that you want me to come with you, but if I do, I’m going to want to stay, and you’re too young for that.” He cupped her face, his thumb moving over her cheek. “I promise you that I will be back for you as soon as I can be, and when I do, I’ll never let you go again.”

Annie wrapped her arms around his waist as she leaned against his chest. “Do you promise?”

“I do,” he confirmed as he hugged her back. “Now, it’s time for you to go home. I’ll text you.” He let out a heavy breath. “A lot.”

She held onto him for a moment longer before stepping away from him to walk away from him. She walked to the door, where she stopped to look over her shoulder at Logan.

“Midnight on my 18th birthday, Logan,” she said.

Logan nodded as he put his hands in his pockets. “I’ll be here with bells on, Annie. I promise.”

Annie held his gaze for a moment before nodding. “And then I’ll go hunting…”