Sold To The Billionaire Alpha
Chapter 24

Orion’s POV

“What brings you to my side of the castle?!” Cooed my mother. “You so rarely come to see your dear mother, anymore,” exclaimed my mother.

“For that I am sorry,” I admitted. “I have been a bit consumed with trying to help my human mate adjust to werewolf life,” I told her.

“Oh,” said mother, feigning surprise. “She’s been having a difficult time?” Asked my mother.

She knew very well that Orchid was having trouble adjusting. Perseus told me he had told mother of Orchid’s first days here including the near-drowning incident and the time spent in the dungeon before that.

“Perseus didn’t tell you?” I asked, being transparent with her.

“He might’ve mentioned something,” she said, sounding unsure.

“Well, she has no-one to teach her how to be a proper Luna,” I began.

“Let me guess,” interrupted Mother. “You want me to teach her.”

“Well, you will be handing over your post as Luna to her soon so yes, that would be ideal for you to share your knowledge with your successor and future daughter-in-law,” I said.

“You intend to marry her?” Said Mother incredulously.

I stiffened.

“Of course,” I said defensively. “She is my mate!”

Mother was silent.

“Why would you doubt that I would marry her?” I demanded.

“She is human,” said Mother simply.

“She is mine,” I said more fiercely than I had intended it. “I…I want to be with my mate. I am fated to her for some reason. She is not what I expected. I never thought my Luna would be human but she is wonderful and she is who I want…forever,” I said, making my commitment to Orchid very clear.

“She tried to escape,” pointed out my mother.

“She was in a desperate situation and mental state at that exact time which has since passed,” I said, feeling very protective of Orchid. “She will be immortal soon when I mark her and gift her immortality.”

“How soon?” Asked Mother in what she meant as a nonchalant tone but I knew she was worried about how much time she had left as the reigning Luna.

“I can’t say,” I said vaguely, not wanting her aware of Orchid’s coronation day.

“You must have a timeline in mind,” insisted Mother, pressing me for information.

“I don’t,” I lied.

Mother shrugged her shoulders. She was quiet. She returned to brushing her long blonde hair. She refused to respond directly to my request.

“So are you willing to teach her?” I asked more directly.

There was a long moment of tense silence.

“Sure,” said Mother slowly.

“Thank you, Mother!” I said sincerely. “This means a lot to me!”

She nodded mutely.

“It really does! Thank you! Thank you!” I exclaimed, giving her a swift gentle hug.

She patted me on the back.

“You’re welcome, Son,” said Mother.

I hurried back to my bedroom and I was shocked to replace it empty. Orchid was gone. The two guards I had put in charge of watching her were nowhere in sight. Bisa was also not there though she had taken off running towards this room. I was immediately filled with dread. I should not have let Orchid out of my sight even for a moment. I had thought Magnus would mind-link me if anything was amiss. I ran to the balcony. My heart almost stopped when I caught sight of her curls in the water below. Had she jumped again? I heard splashing and laughter. Orchid’s laughter. She was in the shallow end of the pool, attempting to paddle. Magnus and Bisa seemed to be trying to teach her how to swim in the olympic sized pool on the shallow end while Cerberus looked on from the poolside. I was so relieved. Instead of walking down there, I took off my shirt and donned my swim trunks. I jumped from the balcony, making a huge splash in the deep end of the pool below.

Orchid squealed as I emerged from the water, splashing her. She giggled and splashed me back. I dove under the water and swam, keeping my head below the surface. I went over to her side and grasped her waist, sneaking up on her. She shrieked in surprise, swatting me playfully.

“No one told me you were going in the pool,” I said, feeling annoyed.

“Sorry Alpha,” said Cerberus quickly. “I was not aware that the Luna spending time in the pool was out of the ordinary.”

“Sorry Alpha!” Exclaimed Magnus.

“It’s my fault,” confessed Orchid. “I wanted to surprise you by learning to doggy-paddle at least. I was going to show you my paddling.”

“And have you learnt?” I asked.

“I can float,” she said. I took that as a no. I chuckled.

“Let’s work on your doggy paddle then,” I suggested.

“In future, no surprises when it comes to the Luna’s whereabouts,” I told Magnus and Cerberus, making it an Alpha order without raising my voice to show I wasn’t that angry.

“Do you agree, Luna Orchid?” I asked her.

“Yes, Alpha!” She said brightly, kissing the tip of my nose.

I was instantly filled with warmth. My little human was warming up to me and managing to enjoy her time in her new home. I tried to show her how to keep afloat properly. I held her by her elbows from behind and I supported her lower back, bringing her body to the water’s surface.

“Just lie back,” I said soothingly.

She hesitantly lay back, I kept my hands under her as she floated for a while. I very slowly removed them remaining close in case she panicked and I needed to grab her.

“Do humans not like swimming?” I asked.

“Oh, many of them do,” she assured me. “I went to learn how late. Most people on the island grow up swimming even as children. I didn’t start learning until I was twelve. I was a chubby kid and I would hide at the beach in a huge tee shirt and refuse to go in the water because I didn’t wanna take my tee shirt off. Girls used to tease me,” she explained.

“Children are the worst, honestly,” I joked.

She chuckled.

“They’re blunt,” she said.

“I am fond of them in small doses,” I said.

“Don’t you want a kid though? Isn’t that the whole point?” She asked.

I wanted an heir but not until I was certain of her willingness to remain here as Luna not under duress but out of desire.

“Yes, eventually, we have time,” I said. “So you were twelve…” I prompted.

“I was twelve and I went to my first swimming lesson and the swim instructor was this young guy maybe nineteen. He was hitting on the high school girls who were also there to swim but their class had just ended and it was our turn. My class. A small group…maybe like ten twelve-year olds. He barely watched us. We weren’t as interesting as the high school girls he was trying to get numbers from but we were there for our lesson too so I was upset. The other nine of us could swim. I couldn’t yet so I was the only one that upset while everyone splashed and played even in the deep end,” she narrated.

I pictured a small Orchid in ribbons and curls with floats on her arms.

“I had one of those doughnut shaped floats so my waist was in the middle of that and I held onto it. I walked towards my only friend in the group. KathyAnn. I didn’t realise there was a big steep drop with the pool floor. It didn’t gradually get deeper. It was like stepping off a platform into the deep. A girl snatched my doughnut suddenly, slipping it over and off of me. Her name was Farmie,” she recalled.

“What?” I said. “What a stupid name,” I commented. “Farm as in ducks and chickens and cows.”

“Yeah with an I and an E on the end,” she chuckled. “Her parents were hippies. And by hippies I mean stoners but with boho clothes.”

“Farmie,” I repeated, not over that name. “Well you can’t expect her to be anything but an a*****e.”

Orchid laughed.

“I plunged into the water without my doughnut. I was terrified. I thrashed about, struggling as I just sank. I was sure I would drown,” she said.

“Oh, Orchid,” I said softly.

KathyAnn thankfully pulled me up and gave me another floatation device to hold onto. One of those surf board looking ones. I don’t know what they’re called,” she explained.

“Did Cowie feel bad?” I asked.

She laughed. “No, Farmie was angry because apparently I scratched her arm while I was thrashing when she snatched the doughnut,” she revealed.

“What a little psycho,” I growled.

“She grew up to be a b***h,” said Orchid.

I burst into laughter. “You still know her?” I asked incredulously.

“She’s a pharmacist at the hospital I was working at…just before I came here. So people started thinking Farmie was spelled with a P and an H instead of an F,” said Orchid.

“Good grief,” I said.

She giggled.

“She literally leaves my patients prescriptions for last on purpose,” said Orchid. “So I had to tell her off. I’m protective of my patients!”

“That’s disgusting!” I snarled.

I would get rid of a warrior who let a personal feud affect how he operated. That was so dangerous and unprofessional.

“Um, so they told me there are pack doctors,” said Orchid, kicking her legs and propelling herself towards me.

She wrapped her arms and legs around me. My member was immediately at attention because our mate was close.

“Yeah,” I said slowly. “Who’s they?”

“Bisa and Magnus,” she said.

Bisa and Magnus were being awfully quiet. At being mentioned they began swimming away. I knew I had a reputation temper-wise so I didn’t blame them.

“And?” I asked.

“Hire me,” she said brightly.

“Excuse me,” I said.

“I don’t want to work as hard or as long hours as I once did. I know I have Luna stuff to do but sometimes I’m just sitting around. Let me help out when the warriors have injuries. I love to stitch cuts!” She said.

“Warriors don’t need stitches. Werewolves heal too fast for them,” I said quickly.

“I got stitches once Alpha, remember? If it’s a huge cut made by silver, the healing is delayed and we need a few,” said Magnus.

“Luna Orchid will be such a great Luna. A healer too!” Exclaimed Bisa.

“A healer as a Luna is a blessing indeed,” said Cerberus.

Even him.

I glared daggers at the three of them.

“Please,” begged Orchid.

She kissed my neck. She moved lower, kissing my shoulder. I g*****d. She nibbled my shoulder.

“One day a week,” she pleaded.

I sighed.

I was silent for a while. She looked at me with her huge brown eyes.

“Which day of the week?” I asked dryly.

She squealed. She kissed my cheeks over and over. I chuckled.

“On a trial basis!” I specified.

“I will be so useful! You’ll see!” She said.

That was what I was afraid of. Her thinking she could come near a battlefield to help in the healing tents.

“We’ll see,” I said softly, wishing I had said no already.