WILD

forty two

The blond and brunette hugged each other for what felt like an eternity, and when they finally let go, Vera squealed.

"You look so good!"

Lorena beamed widely. "You as well! You have this glow about you." As she stepped back to look Vera over, she saw a small hand gripping onto the hem of her friend's shirt.

In the midst of all her excitement, Vera remembered her son was tugging on her shirt. She turned and picked him up, kissing him on the cheek. "This is my son, Maximus. I call him Max, though."

Lorena looked on in awe. It reminded her that people her age were already having their pups and starting families. It felt weird to have been without her mate for three years, but it was also refreshing. She had time to spend with her family, and do what she needed to do to grow as a person. She was very much a child when she was marked at 18, and she was glad she had gotten the chance to grow normally.

She smiled and waved at the small child who was clinging to his mother and the little blond-haired boy gave her a small wave back.

"He's so cute!" Lorena snapped back to the issue at hand. "Wait, where did you come from? How did you escape Sean's pack?"

Vera smiled and before she could answer, Lorena saw a black car pull up and the door open. She cocked her head to the side, wondering what was going on, but when the person stepped out of the car, she realized what was going on. That she had been waiting for this moment for such a long time.

As gently as she could, she moved Vera to the side and started running. Her legs felt as if they were going so fast that she could float. It was as if her entire body was on auto-pilot and she felt this strange warmth course through her veins.

It seemed as if it took her forever to reach her destination, but when she did, she latched on and refused to let go.

She started sobbing like a baby when he wrapped his arms around her and chuckled, kissing her on the forehead. "Lorena!"

The Luna was speechless. All of the pain and other repressed emotions she felt since the day she had been sent home and away from him bubbled to the surface and she couldn't restrain them anymore. He was finally here. After three entire years.

Orion squeezed his mate just as tightly, if not tighter, trying his best not to injure her. He felt his eyes well up with tears and said tears rolled down his cheeks as soon as Lorena started crying.

"Shh, it's okay. I'm here now. I'm here." He rubbed her back, feeling her sobs rake through her entire body.

Lorena could hardly form a coherent thought, so she didn't bother speaking, not for a while. They stood like that for a time, maybe five minutes, her arms and legs wrapped around his torso while he rubbed her back and gently ran his fingers over his mark on her neck, which calmed her a little.

She finally let go of him and took a step back, actually taking the time to look at him. He was still beautiful. He just had way more facial hair now, and his hair was long enough to rival her own. His face had gained more structure now, even though Lorena swore his face couldn't ever be more structured than it was when they first met.

Orion grabbed Lorena's face and kissed it all over, before landing a quick on on her lips. It made her laugh and his heart swelled with happiness. It was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard.

She looked similar to the way he had expected, the same, but a slight bit older. She looked smaller than when she had met him, but he assumed it was because she wasn't eating much. But she was beautiful, and he was glad she was okay.

"God, you look so beautiful." He planted one last kiss on her forehead before stepping back.

Lorena wiped her tears and sighed. "You too."

They both laughed.

Then Lorena started to spiral. Again.

She immediately got nervous, and felt like she had to do something, like clean. She started to wring her hands and bit her lip, and although subtle, Orion picked up on it and quickly noticed the change.

His brows furrowed. "Lorena, what's going on?" He grabbed her hands and she felt tears sting her eyes. She groaned. She hated this. This was the first time in three years she was seeing her mate, and now she was embarrassing herself in front of him.

"It's nothing. It's just that ever since you sent that letter saying you were coming, I haven't been able to sit still. I've been cleaning the house and shopping non-stop."

Orion had heard of it before, the obsessive cleaning, and it was different for every omega female, but the way Lorena was...Well let's just say, she was the last person he thought would suffer from it.

He rubbed her hands, much like her mother did earlier, and fixed his eyes directly on hers. "I'm sure you've done everything you can." He pulled her close and whispered in her ear. "Relax."

To Lorena's surprise, she did relax. Her body relieved itself of the tension she had been feeling for almost a week or so.

She looked up at him in bewilderment. "It worked. How did you do that?"

He gave her a toothy grin. "Must be an alpha thing."

"Are you two going to stand on the lawn all day?" Lorena looked towards the house and grinned as she saw her parents and Vera still standing there.

Lorena rolled her eyes playfully and grabbed Orion's hand in hers, pulling him towards the house.

Orion held his hand out to shake her father's hand. The older man chuckled and pulled the young alpha in for a tight hug. Lorena's father whispered in his ear.

"Thank you, son. I know how hard it was to give her up."

Orion just gave him a curt nod and backed away to give Lorena's mother a hug. "How have you been, ma'am?"

"I haven't gotten sick again, that's for sure. Lorena and her father have been taking real good care of me. Now come inside, your highness. You must be exhausted from your trip."

Orion nodded. "I'll just go get the bags and-"

"Nonsense!" Lorena's father chimed in. "We'll make sure the bags get inside. We have a spare room for your driver, and we assumed that you and Lorena could share a room?"

Lorena blushed and Orion laughed. "That sounds perfect." He did not want to be separated from her any longer, not even while sleeping he wanted her right by his side, to make up for all of the time lost between them.

Lorena, smiling, gripped his hand once again and Orion couldn't get enough of her touch. "C'mon, I'll show you around the territory."