Orion

Fifty Two. Aerin.

🌙

We walked to the meeting house. Orion and I didn't say anything. He just held my hand and walked next to me, strides in sync.

I was in my head, playing out every possible scenario. Thankfully my mate let me think.

About a minute before we got to the beautiful three story luxury cabin, I decided that delusion was still my best bet. It would be until it broke. Orion pulled us to a stop, blue eyes pale but bright with his own fears, his own worry. He pulled me to turn around and face him, rested his warm hand on my hip.

"Just remember to breathe. No matter how this goes, I'm here. Do you understand me?"

"I do."  

It still felt pleasantly strange having this wolf care for me, loving me.

...Not trying to kill me. I don't think I'd ever completely get used to it, as nice as it was to know that he was smitten, in love, and totally obsessed with me to the point where he thought that I had to be a siren.

Pleased with my response, Orion let out a loud sigh and lowered his head, eyes open. He pressed his forehead into mine. The hand that was holding my hip released me only to move up and take my throat in his grip. My breath hitched and I could already feel eyes on me. We were standing in the side of the road, the cabin just ahead of us. Feeling his hand wrapped around my throat, squeezing gently grounded me. My wolf stilled. I stilled.

I blinked up at my mate, heart clenching as I took in a deep breath. He gave me a sweet kiss, gentle, almost before pulling away and taking my hand in his. It warmed me because Orion didn't always have words, but he was good at showing me that he was there for me.

We resumed walking. With each step taken, I could feel Orion's stress. I don't have to look over to know how rigid his shoulders were. That's where he held his stress. His back was straight, eyes fully focused on the cabin. He looked like he did the morning after he found me; his body a muscular vessel for the apprehension he was trying to keep at bay. That didn't help my own apprehension, seeing him just as stressed.

They were all standing in the windows and at the doors on the lower level. All ninety something of them. Watching us. Watching me.

I could see Thomas and Mariah. I could see my beta and gamma- they were the only ones standing on the front porch.

There were two more people that I recognized immediately: Lila and Celeste. Lila's dark, glossy hair was tamed in loose waves down her back, no bed head in sight unlike the way she looked in my vision not too long ago.Everyone else was watching us approach with curiosity in their eyes or neutral expressions.

Lila and Celeste looked upset. I had to stop myself from gulping.

Gianni and Adriel fell into step behind us once we were on the porch. Adriel took my right flank, Gian took Orion's left. Something about that made everything else I'd experienced in the last twenty minutes feel a little more real. I discreetly wiped my clammy palms on my jeans, then gave myself a quick once over just to make sure that I still looked presentable.

I could hear them murmuring, a low mix of voices asking questions about the new Luna. Wondering what pack she came from, how long she and the alpha had been together, noticing how strange I smelled. The last murmur I heard was someone asking someone else what type of hybrid they thought I was.

The house looked small with over 90 people in it. Crowded wasn't even the word. Scents mixed. I could smell the holdings and humans who had yet to be changed.  Voices were still talking low, and I hate to admit it, but I was scared. But, these wolves were supposed to be my people, and they were proven to be ruthless. They could smell fear. So I swallowed mine.