Marked by the Alpha Team (Luna Merrick) novel Chapter 34

in a slow. heavy way that made it feel like my brain was trying to undo a thousand different knots at once.

Everything Orion had said to me kept repeating in my mind, and no matter how many times I tried to make sense of it nothing seemed to fit together. The words just floated around in my head like pieces of a puzzle that didn’t belong to the same picture.

Tomorrow is a full moon… your body is going to react, blah blah blah.

I rubbed my temples with my fingers and stared at the ground in front of my shoes. For a moment I wondered if this was the part where I was supposed to laugh and realize this was all some elaborate prank. Maybe someone was filming this top, and later I would see a video online with the caption: Track girl finally loses her mind after football drama!

Except Orion didn’t look like someone who was joking. He was standing a few steps away from me with that same calm, unreadable expression he always had. His posture was relaxed, but I could tell he was watching me carefully, probably trying to see if I was about to panic again.

I let out a slow breath and leaned back against the bench behind me. “This is insane,” I muttered under my breath. “I swear I’m going to lose my mind here.”

For the first time since I arrived at Blackridge, I started wondering if coming here had been a mistake. I had spent so much time dreaming about this place, imagining how my life would finally change for the better once I got my scholarship. I thought I would focus on running, get good grades, and build a future that was bigger than the cramped apartment my mom and I used to share, but now I was sitting here talking about voices in my head and the moon affecting my body like I had stepped into some kind of fantasy movie.

Was this really worth it? Was chasing a better life worth risking my sanity?

I looked up at Orion again, frustration building inside my chest. “You just told me that tomorrow is going to be worse than today.” I said slowly. “And the reason for that is… a full moon.”

I shook my head in disbelief. “What does my supposed insanity have to do with the freaking moon?”

Orion didn’t answer right away. He stayed quiet for a few seconds, like he was giving me time to process what he had already said. His eyes watched me with a strange mixture of concern and patience, which somehow made everything feel even more

real.

After a moment, he spoke again. “If you want my advice,” he said calmly, “you should allow yourself to discover who you really are. I know it’s scary, and I know it’s probably the last thing you want right now, but until you know the truth and accept it, you won’t be able to adapt to the changes your body is going through.”

I let out a short laugh, though there was nothing funny about this situation. “Discover who I really am?” I repeated. “You say that like I’m supposed to wake up tomorrow and find out I’m secretly a superhero or something.”

Orion didn’t smile. I looked at him for a few seconds before asking the question that had been sitting on the tip of my tongue since this conversation started.

So are you going to tell me now?”

His eyebrows lifted slightly. “Tell you what?”

“The truth,” I said, spreading my hands in frustration. “The thing you and your friends keep dancing around. The thing that apparently explains why I’m hearing voices and why I can’t stop being affected by your ‘scent.”

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Chapter 33

Orion hesitated, and that alone annoyed me.

“You said I need to know the truth to adapt to whatever is happening to me,” I continued. “Well, we’re here right now. Your can tell me

He shook his head slowly. “I can’t do it alone.”

I frowned immediately. “What do you mean you can’t do it alone?”

Orion crossed his arms loosely as he spoke. “If I’m going to explain everything properly, the others need to be there too. and trust me. Jace is the best person to explain it, not me.”

The moment he said Jace’s name, my expression tightened, and I hated that it always had to come back to that group of overgrown football players.

“Why?” I asked sharply. “Why can’t you just explain it yourself? We’re already talking about it. You’re literally standing right here.”

He didn’t seem offended by my tone. “In all honesty,” he said, “I just don’t want to be the one responsible for turning your life completely upside down.”

That answer caught me off guard. He rubbed the back of his neck before continuing. “And even if I did try to explain it alone. I’d probably do a terrible job. I tend to be… very direct with my words.”

I stared at him. “You mean tactless.”

He gave a small shrug. “That too.”

For a moment neither of us spoke, and then I rolled my eyes. “So basically you’re being a coward.”

Orion didn’t react the way I expected. He didn’t argue or defend himself. Instead, he stayed quiet for a few seconds, like he was thinking carefully about what to say next.

When he finally spoke, his voice was calmer than before. “Do you really want to know the truth?”

I blinked. The question felt heavier than it should have been.

Orion continued watching me while he spoke again. “Because if you say yes, I’ll take you to my place. The others will be there, and we’ll explain everything to you properly.”

He paused briefly. “It’s the best solution I can think of,” he added. “Without Jace, Knox, Theo, and Ryder there, I can’t explain things in a way that wouldn’t step on something they would rather say themselves.”

I stared at him for a long moment, then another, and the more I thought about what he was suggesting, the more ridiculous it sounded.

He wanted me to go somewhere private with five guys who had been acting like complete lunatics since the day I met them. Guys who had sniffed me in a parking lot like animals and kept talking about me like I was some kind of mystery object, and now I was supposed to trust them enough to follow them to their house all by myself so they could explain why the moon was apparently ruining my life.

Yeah, not happening.

I stood up from the bench slowly, grabbing the strap of my bag from the ground, and Orion watched me quietly.

“Thanks,” I said after a moment.

“For what?”

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