WILD

thirty five

Lorena sat in the passenger's seat of Orion's car, watching in the mirror as their little town got smaller and smaller as they drove further away.

"Why does your pack live in the middle of nowhere, again?"

Orion shrugged. "The place used to be a vacation spot only, but since it's only a seasonal one, we decided that it would be good for us. Obviously when human travelers come around, we don't shift or anything, but when they leave, we get left alone most of the time."

She nodded and rested her head against the window, staring at him as he drove. It was silent for a while, and Lorena didn't even know how long they had been on the road.

He glanced over at her and chuckled a little when he caught her eyes glued to him. "What's up?"

She shrugged. "I thought that I would hate you forever."

"And you don't?"

"No. Not really. I just don't know what we are yet."

He bit his lip, not taking his eyes off of the road. "We're mates. That's sort of a start, right?"

She nodded, but didn't say anything. She glanced over at him just as he looked back at her. "I feel something, but I don't know what."

He nodded. "I feel indebted to you."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I guess you've changed me for the better. When I marked you, it's like I felt as if I had to change my old ways for you. I was a complete mess before I met you. I was such an asshole its appalling."

She shrugged. "I mean, you still sort of are one, actually."

He glared playfully at her and she giggled.

"So, since you're from one of those hippie packs, I'm assuming you've never been to an actual mall before?"

Lorena rolled her eyes. "We aren't hippies. We just don't use too much technology and we lived in a small civilization in the middle of nowhere. But no, I've never been to the mall. Our alpha convinced everyone that ordering clothes online and picking them up at the nearest post office was more efficient."

Orion scoffed. "Your alpha is a dick. He did that to maintain ultimate control over you guys. There's nothing wrong with going out of your way to experience things that normal humans do. I'm sure he thought that if anyone traveled outside pack territory, they would realize there is more than one way to live."

Lorena nodded. "I can see that. But I can also see how so much freedom can be flawed. Your pack and other modern packs lost a lot of their wolves to the human world. They decided to mate with humans and live amongst them. We were taught to have a healthy fear of human civilization because it is safer to stay with your own."

Orion nodded. "That's fair and true. But it's also so much more fun to pretend that you're just human sometimes." He parked the car and gestured out of the window.

Lorena looked out and gasped. She hadn't even noticed that they had arrived at their destination. She looked at him, longing to open the door and step outside. He chuckled and gave her a quick nod, opening his own door. He went around to her side to open the door, but by then she had already gotten out and slammed the door shut.

"Where are we?"

"The city."

Lorena took note that if she ever wanted to run away, she should come here. There was no way she couldn't get lost here. Nobody would find her.

"How long have we been driving?"

"About an hour and a half."

Also noted.

"I've never seen anything like it. It's beautiful, Orion."

Orion held back the strong urge to throw an extremely cheesy pick up line her way, but he figured that it would be better for the both of them if he didn't. "I know. I love it here. Believe it or not, coming here helps me to think."

Lorena smiled softly. She appreciated the fact that Orion wasn't scared of who he was and what made him tick. He had no problem with sharing things about himself with her. She one day hoped to be like that, too. Back in her old pack, she could hardly talk to people she considered her friends without thinking about choosing what she should and shouldn't disclose.

Orion smiled back and took her hand in his. "So, my Luna," Lorena naturally perked up as he addressed her, "what shall we do first?"