WILD

ten

Lorena wished that Orion would have told her how...invasive that checkup was going to be. They had her strip naked and they checked every inch of her. She nearly cried from the shock of it all, but as soon as the exam had started, it was over. They let her pick out whatever clothes she wished to wear and sent her through the other side of the checkpoint.

She stood with the other omega females who were waiting on their mates to come and get them. She looked for Vera, but once again, couldn't find her anywhere. She decided not to worry about it. Orion had promised to help her see Vera again, and she had a feeling he was going to keep that promise if he knew what was good for him.

Soon enough, a black luxury car pulled up and Orion stepped out. He had gone from being shirtless to wearing a nice, fitted shirt and some jeans and Converse. He smiled and held his hand out to her, helping her into the car.

Once seated, she looked around the enormous cream interior. "Fancy," she stated.

He came around to the other side and got into the car, telling the driver to take off. He turned to her and studied her for a bit, trying to see what she was thinking. "So...how was your exam?"

She shuddered and shook her head. "I would rather not talk about it."

He chuckled. "Alright."

"So...what's your place like?"

Orion shrugged. "It depends. Some people love the place, some people hate it. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, you know? But I have a feeling that you'll enjoy living there. I live in a territory in Colorado, so it's cold. Consider this like a kind of road trip."

She nodded. "Its only a few hours away, right? I'll probably take a nap or something." She knew that it was kind of rude to sleep the whole way there, but she had no idea what to talk about or say or do. She just met the man and was still kind of mad at him for essentially kidnapping her. She had nothing to say to him, really.

○○○

Orion waited for his mate to fall asleep and then he watched her carefully. Obviously they both had some warming up to do, and he knew it would be challenging for both of them.

After hours of driving and making sure his mate was comfortable, he decided that it was time to stop and get them something to eat before the long stretch home.

"Let's stop at the next gas station you find, Peter."

The driver looked at his boss through the rear view mirror and nodded in understanding, pulling into the next station as ordered.

Orion assessed the place from the outside and decided that as run down as it was, it would have to do for now. He didn't know when next he would see another place to stop.

He turned to Lorena and placed a hand on her thigh, shaking her slightly. "Wake up, Lorena."

She stirred a bit, annoyed, but then realized what was happening. "Where are we?"

Orion smiled and brushed her hair back and out of her face. "Some dusty old truck stop. I figured you can get something to eat here and use the restroom real quick. It doesn't look the best, but I don't know how many miles ahead the next stop is."

Lorena looked out of the window and sighed. "Okay." She opened the door and made her way into the station with Orion right behind her.

Lorena walked in and cringed. She'd never really been to a truck stop before, but she never imagined they would look like this. This one was shabby and worn down and a little bit disgusting.

She looked toward the counter where there was an older man smoking a cigarette behind a wall of glass. She stared until she was startled by a hand wrapping around her waist.

She jumped and turned to see Orion, who studied her. "Are you alright?"

She nodded and gently peeled his arm off of her, heading to the bathroom and shutting the door. She immediately wished she hadn't. The stench was horrible. The used-to-be-white floors were now black and slippery, the toilet was turning a mysterious green, and the mirror looked as if someone had poured acid all over it, and it was no longer usable. The stood there in complete shock, but the last straw was the giant roach scurrying across the floor to safety in a hole near the toilet.

She let out a short squeal of surprise and she left the room almost as quickly as she had entered it. Orion, bag of chips in hand, noticed her alarm and was immediately alert. "What happened?"

His mate shuddered and just pointed towards the bathroom door. Curious as to what she was going on about, he opened the door to have a look for himself. His eyes widened at the catastrophe inside, and when he closed the door, Lorena raised an eyebrow at his reaction.

He growled a bit. "I hate road trips. Just find something to eat and head to the car, okay?" He turned to go to the counter but she stopped him.

Lorena looked around and rolled her eyes. "Like what, genius?"

He rolled his eyes right back, mimicking the attitude he was given. "I dunno. Candy? Coffee? Soda? Chips?" He held up the bag in his hand and shrugged. "Figure it out, sweetheart." He turned to leave again and he regretted stooping down to her level. He was a prince. There was no need for him to act childishly the way she was, but for some reason she was able to get deep under his skin with her attitude and he couldn't help but give her a taste of her own medicine.

Before he could reach the counter and pay for his chips and whatever Lorena was going to buy, a slightly smaller, softer hand grabbed his. He looked down at her and cocked an eyebrow inquisitively.

Lorena looked down at her green sneakers, embarrassed to have to explain herself. "Please don't leave me in here by myself. I didn't mean to catch an attitude with you."

He sighed. He knew that she didn't particularly like him at all, but despite that, he didn't have it in him to remain angry at her. He didn't know if that would end up being a good or bad thing. He nodded and she smiled and went to look around, him trailing behind her. He had to watch her carefully. He couldn't afford to let this she-wolf manipulate him. He would be taking the throne soon, and the last thing he needed was to be played by his rebellious wife over and over again.

When they got back to the car, she silently stared out of the window, biting into a strawberry poptart. Orion just stared at her and slowly ate his chips.

Lorena felt his eyes burning a hole in her shoulder and she rolled her eyes, turning her head to him. "Didn't your mother ever teach you that its rude to stare?"

Orion smirked and turned forward, placing another potato chip on his tongue. "I'm not staring. I'm studying."

Her eyes narrowed in annoyance. "I'm not a textbook. Mind your business, because I'm not it," she snapped.

"On the contrary, sweetheart. All of this," he twirled his finger in the air in her general direction, "is my business."

Lorena was so far from appreciating his sass, but to be fair, she did start sassing him first. "Whatever. Men are so infuriating."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "And women aren't? I was just looking at you and you blew up in my face for no reason."

"I'm uncomfortable, okay?!" She had been holding in whatever she could for such a long time, and she couldn't anymore. "You're a stranger! I don't fucking know you, and you're taking me to a foreign place far away from everything I've ever known. I'll probably never get to see my parents again. Or my friends!"

"I'm not ripping you away from your home because I enjoy seeing you suffer, Lorena! What kind of a monster do you think I am? You don't even know me!"

"Exactly! Why couldn't you just choose another girl? Why me, Orion?" Her mate realized that her tone was considerably softer. She was tired after her little tirade and her wolf was urging her to let it go before it got ugly.

Orion stared into her eyes and sighed. "There was something about you I was drawn to."

He turned back to look out of his window and crunch on his chips again and Lorena stared him down until she accepted that she wasn't going to get any elaboration.

She looked out of her window again and groaned.

"I hate men."