Eclipse Child

Repeat after me:

Somewhere the moon rises out of the rain. Somewhere Icarus crawls out of the sea, unburned and alive. Somewhere we are polishing the word absence with our tounges and learning not to be terrified of all we lack.

- Wisdom teeth by Keaton St. James

It’s nearing the last few weeks. Orion is closing in on himself more and more, becoming more anxious as the time approaches.

Grandma laughs at his behavior.

“I don’t have anything to compare it to, but I wonder if this is how Jay would have acted.”

I find out the answer soon.

Unexpectedly one day, Grandjay arrives. With him is Leo.

It takes me a few seconds to register that they are even there before I rush towards Leo. I can hear Orion’s protest in the background, but ignore it.

“Uh, It’s hard to hug you Soraya,” Leo laughs as he tries to gently wrap his arms around me.

I laugh with him.

He pulls back, looking at my face. He nods at what he sees.

“Yes. You look happy.”

I wish I could say the same for Leo. But I can’t.

There is a shadow in his eyes. A darkness hanging under them. And the smell. That same smell that always clung to Leo now seemed to suffocate and drown me.

Rex leaves the room politely, but looking at Leo’s face, he can already tell why.

“You’re not the Alpha?”

Leo shakes his head, “I already told you it was temporary.”

“Then whose Alpha now?”

“Rhett.”

I pause, thinking it over. I always knew Rhett had some Alpha blood within him. I just never guessed it would be enough to get the actual position.

“I chose him myself. I think he’ll be a good fit for the pack.”

I look at Grandjay. He smiles and nods, leaning forward to pat Leo on the shoulder proudly.

“You made a wonderful Alpha, Leonardo.”

Leo smiles fondly at Grandjay, “thank you. But it was tiring.”

Grandjay gives him a knowing look, “part of the job.”

Both males turn to me then, “have you been taking care of yourself Soraya?”

Grandma pushes into the conversation then, “I’ve been taking excellent care of her, thank you very much- she is doing well, thanks to me.”

“Yes thank you, Grandma,” I said, looking at Orion to roll my eyes to him.

“And I’m glad you’re here Leo,” grandma takes his arm dragging him along with her, “I hope Jay hasn’t filled your head with useless stuff to make you forget what I taught you? Mmhh? Now I have some patients I want you to meet and look at- tell me what you think and maybe-,”

Grandma’s voice drifts away down the hall. Grandjay looks after her sadly.

“I’ve only been here for ten minutes and she’s already leaving me.”

I pat his shoulder, trying to sooth the pained look in his eye.

“Come on Grandjay. I wanted to show you the training grounds I had constructed for the pack and get your feedback.”

His face immediately lights up and turns back to me as I lead the way outside.

Once we reach the training fields, Grandjay stops to stare at something ahead of us.

“Is that…I think I know who that is….”

He points in the distance to Everett.

“He’s the brother of…um…” I don’t want to say the name out loud, but Everett’s shout interrupts me.

“Soraya! I’m already training to take your place!” A male next to him hits his head.“That’s Alpha Soraya,” he growls.

Everett glares at me, “that balloon doesn’t look like an Alpha.”

I hold out my arm, stopping Orion from rushing forward.

“Now Orion,” Jay’s grave voice makes him pause to look up as Grandjay shakes his head, “will you indulge in the teasing of a child? As Luna, the mature thing would be to-,”

“And you brought some crippled old male with you? Whose the shriveled prune, Soraya?”

“That’s it,” Grandjay turns to face Everett. “Come Orion.”

Everett immediately turns the other way and runs.

“Running? Coward! In my days we fought out our battles until the first sight of blood was drawn! Come back here. I’ll teach you to respect your elders, pup.”

And Grandjay was gone.

Orion comes back to stand beside me, his glare still in Everett’s direction.

“Our child will never be that disrespectful.”

I sigh, wanting to point out all the times Orion had insulted someone, but hold back my thoughts.

“No…hopefully not…”

Orion continues to glare after Everett. The months he had been here had only caused Orion to come back home in a rage I’ve never seen before. I never thought I would see Orion angry, but Everett seemed to have that effect on him.

Those who had been training approach Orion, chatting quietly to him and laughing about the progress they had seen in Everett.

“He has Alpha blood.”

“No doubt- has a temper like one too.”

I smile at their teasing. Suddenly though, something inside me feels wrong.

Instinct takes over as I reach for Orion and tug on his shirt.

“Orion.”

I look down and sigh.

Grandma had warned me about this.

“Orion.”

“Yes?”

His response is a distracted one as he still has his head halfway facing the other males.

“Orion!”

They all freeze at my tone, their eyes resting on me as I sway dangerously in place. Orion’s panicked hands come forward, his face showing his terror as I grip his arm tightly.

“Ya. I think my water just broke.”