With Hell we Raise | ✔

|11|

The girls walked around, stopping in the nearest boutique they found. Marianne chattered animatedly, and seemed genuinely excited to be out and about in the pack. From Orion's brief observation of the woman, she seemed to be extremely carefree, and incredibly extroverted. There was just something about the way she smiled and talked that was almost contagious, especially for Spiraea. 

The Luna, was far more reserved, and whilst she seemed to enjoy the company and conversation, Orion found that there was a noticeable difference to her now than when she had first saw her with Vincent and her infant. There was something about her disposition that just seemed to change whenever she was around her mate; Orion wondered if she was the same with Seth. 

The girls carted her around, showing Orion different outfits, picking things on and encouraging her to try them on. They showed her all kinds of different things- jeans, shorts, hoodies, t-shirts- so many! They also took her to a special shop for something they called lingerie; all the things in that store were either see through or barely covered any skin... Orion didn't really see much point of the things in there, nonetheless they managed to persuade her to choose a few things that she liked. 

 Orion found that she quite liked the warm comforting things like  jogging bottoms, hoodies and yoga pants- they were the most comfortable, she could see herself wearing them all the time. However there was such a wide array of types, styles and colours of clothing that Orion couldn't but feel as if she wanted to collect them all.

They discovered her favourite colour was anything bright and pastel- the colours reminded her of the flowers that would grow around their cottage. She was so excited to wear some of her new clothes that after she had bought some she went straight away and changed into a pair of blue mom jeans and a pastel purple sweater. 

When they all began to grow hungry, the three women agreed to pause to get something to eat. There was a lovely diner that they all went to, Spiraea explained it was one of hers and Vincents favourite places to eat if they were eating out. 

The sat around a small table next to a window, it was well lit just like the rest of the diner. There was a relaxed bustle around the restaurant that fascinated Orion. All the waiters running back and forth, the cooks whom over the barstool counter was entirely visible, slinging away at the grills. The whole place just seemed alive in a way that the woman had never experienced before, it was lovely, if not slightly overwhelming; in the back of her mind she wished Seth was with her to experience it but she was also somewhat glad to be away from him. 

With the way that their relationship had started to progress, she was beginning to feel conflicted. She had always wanted him to love her, and now that he had, she was beginning to realise that a lot more came with his love. She worried about him, the burden he carried as an Alpha, and though she knew it was selfish she wondered what that meant for her as his mate. 

A waiter stopped by their table, forcing Orion away from her thoughts. She listened, and wasn't afraid to ask the man to explain what some of the dishes were. In the end she decided to go with a ham and cheese toastie and a mug of hot chocolate. Spiraea ordered herself a chicken Caesar salad and Marianne a mushroom and halloumi toastie, they also ordered tea and hot chocolate respectively. 

There was something about them that Orion couldn't help but feel was similar to herself, she didn't know what it was, and though she was curious it didn't really matter to her. All that mattered was that she felt right with them, in a similar way that she felt when she was around Seth. 

"So Orion, how are you liking the pack?" Spiraea smiled warmly, as the waiter left from having brought over their food. 

"It's nice. I often wonder if Seth's pack will be the same." She admitted quietly. There was a part of her that was growing attached to this pack, this land and it's kindness. She knew such kindness wasn't a guarantee anywhere else; perhaps she knew how dangerous and unkind the world might be when it was time for them to leave. For now, this was sanctuary.