WILD

twenty

Lorena looked around Orion's room in awe, only because it didn't look as fancy and modern as she expected it to. It had a unique style to it, and if she didn't know Orion at all, she never would've guessed that this was what he liked. The whole room was almost rustic and tastefully retro but minimal.

Orion sat down on his bed and took his shoes off, watching his mate wander around his room. "Did you need to talk, Lorena?"

Lorena snapped out of what she was doing and nodded, sitting down next to him. "Yes. It's about Max."

Orion sighed deeply, he had a feeling he knew where this was going. "Okay, spill it. What's wrong?"

Lorena fiddled with her fingers. She didn't want to bring this up again, because it was redundant, but she was going to try and get what she wanted. "Well, I like her and I have no problem with her, but don't you think there should be at least some boundaries? Do you have someone who bathes you every morning?"

"No," he admitted.

"So I can bathe myself as well. It makes me uncomfortable to have someone else do it for me. I'm asking for you to let Max know I won't be needing her to do that for me anymore. She can help me out for the rest of the day, but any time I start the day, I would like to start it off by myself."

Orion stared at her. She looked as if she felt bad for bringing it up again. If it made her that uncomfortable, then he should've stopped it when she asked the first time.

"Okay. I should've listened to you the first time you said it. I'm sorry."

She looked up at him, surprised. All of her guilt was gone, and that made him happy. He wanted her to be happy. She deserved at least that much.

"Now," he stood up and grabbed the hem of his shirt, pulling it over his head. Lorena's eyes widened and she bit her lip hard, ashamed of all of the thoughts that ran through her mind at the sight of her mate. He was so beautiful, she almost pounced on him right there. "How did you get those bruises?"

Lorena rolled her eyes. "Funny you ask. It was just from training this morning. They don't hurt and they're healing so its fine."

"Well, did you at least win?"

Lorena shrugged and tilted her head to the side, swiping away a strand of dark hair that had come loose from her ponytail. "Yes. Yes, I did."

Orion smiled. "Good. I'm proud of you. You handled today very well."

Lorena blushed and her heart beat rapidly. Before, she would have hated to make him proud, but lately, that's all she's ever wanted. "Thank you. I'm proud of you too."

Orion gave her an incredulous look. "Why?"

She shrugged. "I dunno. You're doing your alpha thing and all...takes guts. A for effort!" She gave him a thumbs up. "Uh...good job!"

Orion held back a laugh, facepalming himself. "Oh my god..."

Lorena frowned, assuming something was wrong. "W-what?"

"Out of all the wolves from that arena, I chose the dorkiest one." He chuckled as Lorena grabbed a pillow from the bed and chucked it at his face.

"Don't be mean!" When he continued to laugh, Lorena picked up another pillow, and this time he caught it.

When she picked up another one, he stopped laughing. "Don't you dare..."

She drew her arm back to let it fly, but before she let go, Orion tackled her onto the large king sized bed, tickling her. She gasped and let out a few silent giggles at first, but then it became too much to handle. "O-Orion! Stop!"

She laughed so hard that tears came to her eyes. Orion continued to tickle her, finding joy in her funny but beautiful laughs. "You didn't stop when I told you not to throw that pillow. So here we are."

Lorena made an attempt to kick him off of her, but she was too tired to do so. "Oh my gosh, stop! I'm gonna pass out!"

Orion let it continue for a few more seconds before he stopped. They both continued laughing, and Lorena rolled over to face him. She gasped when her nose touched his, and they both froze, their laughing stopped.

Lorena felt something strange. She knew that she and Orion hadn't been mates for more than two weeks, but she also knew that this feeling couldn't be ignored. There was a warm, fuzzy, familiar feeling in her heart. Her wolf felt it. She felt it. She could only hope he felt it too.

She blushed and almost pulled away, but apparently Orion wasn't done with her yet. He quickly grabbed her waist, pulling her back towards him. Looking into her brown eyes he smiled softly, rubbing his thumb over her lower lip. He slowly pulled her towards him and her lips parted in surprise, giving him the perfect opportunity to lock his lips onto hers.

Her eyes widened at the initial contact, but then she shut her eyes and placed a hand on his chest, kissing him back. He was so good at it and it felt like a cliché "sparks fly" moment. She never would've moved this fast with anyone else, but this was different. He had marked her. It was a science. They belonged to each other now, completely and undeniably.

The door opened out of nowhere and the two of them panicked, Orion rolling off of the bed and onto the floor and Lorena, squeaking and rolling to the opposite side of the bed, wishing she could disappear into the wall.

Orion growled, slightly annoyed, but then he saw who it was. "Kenneth." He stood up quickly, his eyebrows furrowed in concern. If he was here, maybe something happened to his father. "Everything alright?"

Kenneth gave Lorena a quick glance and then turned back to the boy he basically helped raise. "He's fine. He was wondering when you were coming by. I was just...checking up on you." He lowered his eyes to the floor and rubbed the back of his neck.

Orion nodded. "I'm coming, okay? Just...knock next time. You almost gave us a heart attack."

Kenneth quickly shut the door and Orion looked over to Lorena and jerked his head towards the door. "I want you to come with me."