thirty seven

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Orion tried his hardest to keep the stupid grin off of his face as he was driving back home.

But how could he?

Lorena had actually kissed him.

He didn't ask her to, he didn't even prompt her to, and he had been waiting for that a long time.

"Lorena, I need to tell you something."

Lorena gazed up at him waiting for him to speak, but at the same time trying to figure out if it was something good or something bad. "Hm?"

"Well, I..." They were making progress in the trust department. They were finally moving forward and naturally, he was hesitant to ruin it. Who knows how she would react?

He glanced over at her beautiful face and sighed heavily, wanting to kiss her just one more time before he fucked it up again.

"I have your parents."

After breaking that news, he looked away and said nothing. Neither did she.

As he stared at the road, he heard her sigh heavily and shift around uncomfortably in her seat.

"Lo, please don't be angry-"

"Stop talking to me."

Orion couldn't do anything but respect her wish. He knew he messed up and now he had to pay for it. He shouldn't have been so selfish and kept her parents away for so long just so he could spend time with her.

They arrived back home and Orion turned the car off.

"Are you angry with me?"

Lorena shook her head. "No."

That uplifted him a little bit, but he could still tell she was upset.

"I'm just tired, Orion. Every time I start to forget what I went through and how I was forced to be your mate, something like this happens. I want to move on, I do. But it's like you won't stop fucking everything up."

Lorena sighed heavily as she unbuckled herself from the car and slid out. Orion did the same and shut the door, staring at her.

Lorena rolled her eyes and started walking towards the building she lived in. "Just take me to them."

Orion did take her to them, wordlessly. There was nothing left to say between the two of them. He knocked on the door that her parents were staying in and heard her father mumble a "coming" from the other side of the door.

Lorena felt her heart skip a beat and then stop at the sound of her father's voice. After all of this time, she finally gets to see her parents again. She never got to properly say goodbye when she was dragged from her home.

The door opened and her father peeked his head out, seeing Orion first. "Your highness?"

Lorena gasped and she stepped in front of Orion, staring up at her father.

"Papa..."

The older man smiled so widely Lorena could see the smile lines that she loved to see so much.

"Lorena..." Lorena jumped onto him, wrapping her arms around his torso and squeezing as if her life depended on it. The man chuckled and grabbed onto her, spinning her around. "I've missed you so much, my dove."

Lorena squeezed her eyes shut as tears streamed down her face. "I missed you too, Papa!"

Orion took a step back and held his hands behind his back. He felt out of place. Lorena wasn't exactly speaking to him anymore and he felt as if he was witnessing something intimate and private and didn't want to make things awkward.

"I'll leave you to it-"

"Nonsense! Come in! We would all enjoy your company, right Lorena?"

Lorena didn't think she would enjoy his company at the moment, but it was clear that her parents wanted to spend time with and interrogate the man she was now cursed to be with the rest of her life.

She glared at Orion before turning back to her father. "Sure."

Orion hesitantly followed Lorena inside and watched as Lorena took in the sight of her mother. He noted that she looked better than when he had last seen her. He was just glad she wasn't dying. He would feel like a total dick about everything.

Orion jumped a little as the door shut behind him. He didn't feel comfortable around Lorena's family if Lorena was so mad at him she could kill him. She said she wasn't angry, but of course that's a lie.

"Mama." Lorena approached her mother's side and grabbed her hand, bringing it up to her cheek. Her mother smiled back.

"Lorena. I'm so sorry with the way I left things."

Lorena shook her head. "It's okay now. I'm fine. We're fine."

"No. It's no excuse. You're my child. I should always be the first to jump and protect you no matter what, and I didn't. I'm sorry."

"Mama, please. There's nothing you could've done. But I accept your apology."

Her mother smiled softly and Lorena smiled back, kissing her on her cheek. Lorena's father smiled at the sight and lightly clapped his hands together to get everyone's attention.

Orion had found a spot in the furthest corner of the room to stand and avoid Lorena's glare.

Lorena glared anyways.

"So, Lorena!" Lorena's gaze snapped to her father and he lowered his voice just slightly. "How was the arena? I understand the situation wasn't ideal, but what did they do?"

Lorena sighed, not really wanting to talk about it, but she indulged her parents. It was only fair that she dispel their worries.

"I was fine. They treated us like we were cattle, brought us to the arena and made us sit for a few hours before starting the timer and making us run out of fear of being chased by hormonal alphas. But it was fine. I'm still alive."

Orion looked at her, a bit upset that he had played any part in that, but also feeling slightly different about her. He was irritated with her behavior for a long time, but now he could understand where she was coming from and her actions so far made sense.

Yes, she acknowledged that it wasn't exclusively Orion's fault that she ended up where she is, but just because he was being decent towards her, doesn't mean she owes him that back. She had been dragged from her home and made to run like it was some sort of sick game.

Lorena didn't want to be marked, and he went through with it anyways. She had just been violated so many times, and he hadn't even taken the time to truly check in on her.

Orion felt tears come to his eyes. "I'm sorry," he somewhat mumbled.

Lorena frowned and looked at him in annoyance on instinct before even registering what he said. As realization hit and she saw the look in his eyes, her features softened.

Her parents were just as confused at seeing the young alpha cry.

Orion stood up from the wall he was leaning against and made his way towards the door. "Lorena, when you're ready, can you please meet me in my office? I need to talk to you."

Lorena had never seen Orion like this. His usually tall and confident figure was folding into itself slightly, his eyes were threatening to spill tears, and his usually authoritative tone of voice was nowhere to be found.


IM BACK! I MISSED WRITING LOL

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