Eclipse Child |✔|

|46|

it's a curse that we always feel broken

by the people that make us

feel whole.

a.j. lawless

***

The days don't pass in a blur for me.

It's clear. I see everything around me as if a certain fog has been lifted from my vision. Things that I once ignored could no longer be blocked from my mind.

The voices of the pack, those who doubted and whispered their mistrust, climbed into my hearing.

Everything was clear. Maybe for the first time.

For the first time, I stopped putting the visors upon my eyes- the objects that I thought would bring me down. Everything was clear.

"When will my mate be back from his assignment?"

The room was filled, various pack members cramming inside. Each week a report of the pack was given. Last week's meeting was canceled due to my confinement to the clinic.

Despite Henry's urges, I did not cancel the meeting for this week.

Looking at the anxious, angry and fearful faces- I wish I had.

The she-wolf who had spoken up gazes at me in worry, her question still lingering in the air.

"The duration is still yet undetermined."

Angry growls can be heard around the room.

Henry shuffles nervously beside me, the only indicator of his unease.

Orion stands on my other side, completely still.

Throughout the whole meeting, he has not moved.

This was normal though. The pack was not used to hearing anything from him. I could not recall, in the few meetings Orion had attended, any time he had actually spoken.

"Are there any more concerns that need to be raised?"

I just want this to be over. I want this meeting to be over.

Another she-wolf stands.

I recognize who she is.

It's Valery.

Shit.

"I have a concern."

I feel Henry's shoulders tense in response to mine. For the first time since the meeting started, Orion moves. His shoulders shift to position towards Valery. I fight the urge to look at him but give in. His grey eyes show a spark of something. Something I missed. That childish smile that had been hiding behind layers of sorrow was starting to surface.

"Why is our Alpha stopping our Luna from seeing the children at the nursery?"

The surface of the smile vanishes.

Orion's gaze turns to me, and in it I see understanding.

Such heartbreaking understanding.

Henry turns to me. He doesn't know what she is talking about, but her question raises another round of angry growls within the meeting. Wolfs who want the same answers.

I feel my mouth go dry.

All the eyes are staring at me.

My gaze falls to the front row.