WILD

seven

"Wake up, little one."

Orion slowly coaxed the stubborn girl out of her sleep. As she woke, he noticed the salty trails of tears on her pink cheeks. His heart almost swelled at the sight of her and her innocence. As she stirred and stretched out, he noticed that his mark was taking its place right behind her ear, a beautiful flow of swirling lines and curves unique to him and her only.

She finally woke up and winced, but didn't say anything, clearly saddened and angered by how he had violated her only a few hours before. She glared at him as he gently grabbed her leg, examining it and it's healing progress. "How's your leg feeling?"

He knew he wasn't going to get an answer from her, knowing the exact game she was starting to play. She only looked at him and he swore her lip trembled before she looked away and crossed her arms over her chest.

He only sighed and walked into the little kitchen to heat up some water. "I hope you understand why I had to do what I did, my dove."

Lorena tried to hold herself together, not wanting to cry in front of him again, as she'd done enough of that already. She neglected to answer him at all. He deserved to talk to himself and go unanswered. If he wasn't going to listen to her, then why should she listen to him?

He shook his head at her drawn out silence, continuing to prepare a cup of tea for the both of them. Every time he glanced back at her, she was glaring at his back. He wasn't nervous about her behavior, but he knew he would have to watch his back around her. She hadn't bothered to follow the rules of the game so far, so he knew she wouldn't have any problem with murdering him.

He walked back into the living room with two hot mugs of tea, handing one to her, which she reluctantly accepted. She took a small sip, not realizing how thirsty she was. It reminded her so much of home, though, since her father used to prepare the same chamomile tea for her when she fell ill.

She missed him so much. And her mother too, as strange as that was. She wanted nothing more than to be home, cuddled up on the couch as her father told her stories, even those that she had heard before, while drinking hot chocolate, her favorite. If anyone asked outright she would deny it, but she was a daddy's girl, through and through.

She hadn't realized she had been crying until a tear fell onto her hand, and she quickly wiped her tears away, both shed and unshed, not wanting to have a discussion with the man she loathed most at that point about what she was thinking about.

Orion saw her crying, but decided not to say anything. Whatever emotions she was dealing with at the moment weren't his business and she wouldn't talk to him anyways. He felt a little for her though. She had been taken away from everything she had known and thrown into the forest to be chased by some animalistic men who couldn't wait to claim her. Although he couldn't blame her for all of her actions so far, he wasn't going to tolerate any more of it. He wasn't doing this because he was some kind of monster. He was doing it for a cause: to ensure the survival of his pack and have the crown, which was his birthright.

"Do you want to get some fresh air?"

Lorena looked at him, bewildered. She didn't know when he would take the hint. She wasn't in a conversing mood, and she thought that she had made that clear. She looked down into her half empty cup of tea and sighed.

"Please, leave me alone," she whispered.

Orion saw that she wasn't trying to be disrespectful and that she really needed her space, so he decided to leave her alone. He nodded. "I won't go far, little one. Stay here and rest up for our hunt later today, yeah?" He stripped out of his clothes and shifted before bolting out of the front door.

Lorena watched him go, knowing that she could take that opportunity to run away, but she didn't bother. What was the point? She had hurt her leg and couldn't get far anyways. He would just catch her again, and then who knows what he would do to her then.

She just resorted to lying there and feeling sorry for herself, eventually falling asleep again.

When she woke up, it was dark outside and Alpha Orion still wasn't back. She panicked a little bit, remembering that he said he would be back soon hours ago and he still wasn't there. She sat up and looked around, and the next thing she noticed was that the pain in her neck and leg were completely gone, and she also noticed that there were raised lines behind her ear, like she had just gotten a tattoo. She whimpered a little when she realized that she was no doubt his property now, and the evidence was there for all to see.

She stood and tested the pressure on her leg, ecstatic when she felt normal. She took the wrap off and looked for some pants to wear in the closet. She slipped on a pair of shorts and went outside.

It was eerily quiet outside of the cabin, and there was no light at all, so it was a little bit of a challenge to see. There was a slight breeze to help her along, though, and from what she could smell, it was only her and Orion out there, and his scent was fading.

She stopped. Had he left her? She had no idea how to find her way around the woods! There was hardly any scent to follow, and it just made her feel even more alone. But then again, she wasn't in danger. She couldn't smell anything else but herself and Orion's fading scent. It was still. It was quiet.

Maybe he died, she thought.

Good.