Marked by the Alpha Team (Luna Merrick) novel Chapter 115

Chapter 115

Luna’s POV

Orion’s expression softened slightly before he shook his head. “Forget about me,” he said quietly, clearly uncomfortable wit the direction the conversation had taken. Whatever thoughts had briefly appeared on his face disappeared just as quickly and he leaned back against the sofa as though putting a wall back up. “You came here because something was bothering you Tell me what’s wrong.”

Before I could answer him, his eyes drifted downward toward my injured knee again. The moment he noticed the dried blood and scrape, his brows pulled together in a frown. For a few seconds he simply stared at it before letting out a small sigh. Then he pushed himself to his feet and nodded toward me. “Give me a minute,” he said before turning away.

I watched him cross the office toward the corner where he had dropped his bag earlier. At first I thought he was looking for paperwork or perhaps a bottle of water, but after kneeling beside the bag and searching through it for several moments, he eventually pulled out a small white box. My curiosity immediately grew.

He walked back toward me with the box in his hand and, to my complete surprise, lowered himself on one knee in front of me. The sight alone was enough to make me sit up straighter in confusion. Before I could even ask what he was doing, he opened the box and began pulling out a few medical supplies.

“Orion, what are you doing?” I asked quickly, already feeling awkward about the whole thing.

Orion glanced up briefly while arranging everything neatly on the coffee table beside us. “I’m cleaning your wound,” he responded matter-of-factly. His tone made it sound like the most obvious thing in the world. “You can tell me what’s bothering you while I do that.”

I immediately shook my head. “You don’t have to do that,” I protested.

The idea of Orion kneeling in front of me and taking care of a scrape on my knee felt far more embarrassing than it probably should have. “I can do it myself. Besides, this injury will probably be gone by tomorrow anyway. Lately everything heals ridiculously fast. Bruises disappear in a day, and my cuts barely last. At this point I wouldn’t be surprised if I woke up completely fine tomorrow morning.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Orion replied calmly as he unscrewed the cap on a small bottle. There was no hesitation in his voice at all ‘Fast healing doesn’t mean you should ignore injuries. There’s still a chance it could get infected. He picked up a piece of cotton before looking at me apologetically. “Just bear with me for a second.”

Before I could argue again, he poured some of the liquid onto the wound The stinging sensation hit immediag ay and i sucked in a breath and winced, instinctively trying to pull my leg away from him. Orion’s hand gently steabed ins ankle before he continued cleaning the scrape. Every movement was careful and patient, almost annoye

more focused on my knee than some doctors I had met in the past.

Then, after another second, he leaned closer and lightly blew on the area to case the sting the cool an against my ski made me feel strangely self conscious I found myself staring at the top of his dark han while trying despernely not so thună about how close he was Unfortunately, the harder I tried not to think about it the faster my heart seeined determined to

brat

I was busy trying to calm myself down when I suddenly heard a quit Laugh

“What?” I asked mymediately narrowing my eyes at hun the sound hand clearly come from hum and judging by the small simile tugging at his mouth he was annused abour sormething

Orton looked up from my kore and met my gaze directly. The soul on his Lace only widened slightly Nothing important he replied, though his expression suggested otherwise

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Chapter 114-

that winehow rpade less sense than before.

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The position was handed over to you?” I repeated slowly. “What does that even mean? Who wakes up one morning and hands something like this to student?”

Orion sighed and gestured toward the sofa again. “How about we talk about what’s bothering you first? Then afterward you can ask me whatever questions you want

I immediately shook my head. “No.”

His eyebrows rose. “No?”

‘No. Absolutely not. There is no way we’re discussing my problems until you explain this first.”

For a second he looked like he was debating whether to argue. Then he simply sighed in defeat. I could tell he had realized I wasn’t going to let this go. Honestly, at that moment I had completely forgotten why I came there in the first place. My nability to control my speed had temporarily vanished from my mind, and was far more interested in understanding why

twenty-something football player apparently had enough authority to own an office three times bigger than Coach

Ramirez’s.

nstead of sitting down immediately, another thought suddenly struck me. My eyes narrowed even further as I looked at

1. im. “How old are you?”

The question clearly caught him off guard. “What?”

How old are you?” I repeated.

Orion stared at me for a second before answering. “Twenty-one.”

The answer only made me more suspicious. “You’re lying.”

Now he looked genuinely confused. “I’m not.”

Yes, you are.”

Why would I lie about my age?” He asked.

pointed at the office again. “This.”

Orion looked around. “The office?”

Yes, the office. You’re telling me you’re twenty-one years old, and somehow you’re also the deputy juestioned

hletic director!

For the first time since meeting him and his friends, I found myself wondering if maybe I had been making assumptioLIN his entire time. The boys were werewolves, so who was to say they aged normally? Maybe Orion way secretly eighty years old Maybe he was older than my grandparents, whom I never even met Maybe all of them were

The thought sounded ridiculeus, but then again, a month ago I would have said werewolves sounded ridiculous to Aus point, nothing felt impossible anymore

“Did you think I was older? Onion asked with amusement

“I don’t know what I thought I admitted But I definitely didn’t drink you were twenty-one and somehow cumming part of the university

He laughed softly before shaking his head Luna. I’m twenty one

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afy out’s long night. If you’re really twenty-one, then how does somebody your age end up with a position like this?”

That seemed to be the question he had been waiting for. He gestured toward the sofa one last time. “Sit down and I’ll explain

This time I obeyed immediately. My curiosity had officially won.

The moment I sat down. I pointed at him. “Startalking.”

Orion leaned back against the sofa and looked thoughth for a moment before beginning. “First, you need to understand something about Blackridge.”

For a second I thought I had misheard him. “What?”

The university was originally established for our kind. Werewolves. Humans didn’t attend here back then. Over time more jumans started applying, and eventually the school expanded enough that it had to accommodate them. New departments vere added, new programs were introduced, and the university gradually became what it is today.”

sat there silently for several seconds. The information was so unexpected that my brain needed a moment to process it. “So you’re telling me this entire university started out as a werewolf school?”

Orion shrugged. “I suppose it is.”

rubbed my forehead. Suddenly, a lot of things about this place felt slightly different. “Fine,” I said. “Interesting history esson, but what does that have to do with you being deputy athletic director?”

Orion let out another sigh. “Among the five founders of Blackridge, my grandfather was one of them

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Then he explained that because his family had always overseen that part of the university, he had essentially inherited the responsibility when he enrolled. Officially, he was an assistant director. Unofficially, many people referred to him as Deputy Director because it was simpler. He would manage the role until graduation, after which another qualified member of his back would take over.

The more he explained, the more stunned I became. It wasn’t even jealousy I felt anymore, it was disbelief.

Meanwhile, Orion acted like this was perfectly normal.

couldn’t imagine being handed responsibility over an entire department at twenty-one years old. Most people my age truggled to remember assignment deadlines. Meanwhile, this man was apparently helping run the athletic sector of an ntire university while also balancing everything else in his life.

looked around the office one more time before turning back toward him. “You know what’s crazy?”

What?” Orion asked.

None of this is actually the part that surprises me the most anymore.”

fow he looked curious. “Then what does?”

leaned forward slightly. “How are you doing all of this?”

Onion blinked. “What?”

How do you manage? You’re an Alpha as far as I was told, which means you run a pack of people you’re also a football Hayer, as well a student. To top it off, you’re helping run the athletes department. Most people can barely handle one major esponsibility without losing their minds, so how are you managing four?”

The moment the question leh my mouth, something changed in his expression: The amusement disappeatest, the Confidence disappeared, and even the small smule hed been wearing vanished

For a few seconds he simply stared at me and I suddenly wondered if I had sand something wrong. Then Orion looked

sway

When he finally spoke again, his voice sounded quieter than before You’re the host person who’s ever asked me that

The answer caught me completely off guard “What do you incan

A small smile appeared on his face, but it wasn’t a happy smile it looked sad somehow, which was the last expression I expected to see from him right now

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Chapter 114

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Most people don’t ask how I manage it,” he admitted quietly. “They just assume I will. They only ever ask if I’ve finished something, ask if I’ve handled a problem, or ask me to take care of whatever responsibility needs taking care of. Nobody really asks how I’m doing it because no one really cares as long as I do what is expected of me.”

His words surprised me more than everything else he had said, and in that moment, I stopped seeing the Alpha, the football player, the Deputy Director, and the grandson of one of the university founders.

I just saw Orion, and sadly, he looked tired.

AD

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