Boundaries

Chapter 4

That had been a long time ago. Orion had been about to turn nine years old when he first met Dylan, which would have made Dylan...seven. Orion curses under his breath, feeling old for the first time in his life.

The next eight years had seen them play together, grow together, share everything together, and those moments are the best memories of his life. Orion wonders just when he knew, when he realised that that wild boy in the river was more than just his rival and friend, but his soulmate too.

Something in him wonders whether he always knew. He had been drawn to him, couldn't ever bring himself to think ill of him, and had lived to protect him from that day on.

His stomach churns at all that he's missed.

The Alpha of Bluewood territory is not his boyhood friend and Orion wonders what has happened to him, what he's missed in the ten years that he's lived without him. There's an edge to Dylan now, an unfamiliarity that comes with time and experience. But also grief.

Orion determines that he wants to know. He has to.

Already he yearns to be close to him again, and he recognises the need, so much stronger than he had anticipated.

He stayed away for years, and in all honesty, it wasn't that hard. He missed his friend with everything in him, of course he did, but they had never made the initial connection that comes when two soulmates meet when they come of age.

There had been no impossible ache that came with distance, threatening to tear him in two. There had been no blinding insomnia to keep him up at night or trembling restlessness that drove him toward his mate. He had made sure of it. He had left before there could be.

But now there is.

The parting of soulmates isn't natural in wolves. They are bonded for life for the reason that they are meant to be together. And when they're not, their bodies and minds revolt. He feels the evidence of that fact now, his body and mind tearing apart like the red sea, his mood fluctuating wildly as every inch of him aches to close the distance that should never have been put between them.

Orion throws down his fist, slamming it against the solid wood of his desk. His dark, rich skin is pulled taught over his knuckles, his nails digging into the bed of his palms as he exhales shakily.

He can't be expected to live like this.

And how do you expect to lead like this?

He shakes his head, closing his eyes as he tries desperately to block out that voice. A voice that hasn't spoken aloud in nearly ten years, but lives on like a parasite in the darkest corners of Orion's mind.

This voice hisses, writhing like a malevolent snake as it reminds him over and over that he is doomed to fail. That he doesn't deserve to uphold the Vice family name, that he will never be half the man that came before him. But most of all it reminds him what a disappointment he is.

The boy has to learn.

Orion shudders, his hands flying up to tug at his hair, his fingers winding round the tight, dark coils, so much longer now than had ever been allowed back then.

Has he learnt everything he needs to know?

The owner of that parasitic voice inside his mind had been the villain of Orion's story, but he had also passed on some disturbing home truths. A pack was only as good as the Alpha who led them, and Orion yearns to be a deserving leader. A good leader. He needs to be one more than he needs anything else. Including Dylan.

He needs to prove himself, he needs everyone, himself most of all, to know that he's more than that vile voice in his head says that he is. Because if he doesn't?