WILD

twenty five

Lorena was reluctant, of course, but the longer she drew out the story, the angrier Orion got, and his anger was directed at her.

"And then, what?" Orion was growing impatient, but tried to stay calm for Lorena's sake. He didn't want to upset her anymore than he had already since he didn't know what was wrong with her yet. Once he was sure that she didn't have a heart condition or something like that, then he would lay into her.

"She...she said that I was a hot-headed breeder bitch," she whispered, and if Orion wasn't a werewolf he wouldn't have been able to hear it.

Lorena looked down at her hands, her face red and hot. It was embarrassing to have to repeat that to him and the fact that he was angry made it worse.

"Oh, she's gonna get it." He stood abruptly and Lorena grabbed his hand tightly.

"No! Don't say anything to her. She'll think I'm weak...I-I can't be weak! I'm supposed to be the Luna!"

Orion stopped and stared at her and she slapped a hand over her mouth. She rolled her eyes at herself. Why did she have to let everything just slip out all of the time? It did nothing for her.

Orion sat down and sighed. "So that's what this is really about."

She fell back against the pillows, defeated. She felt sick, hot and lightheaded and now she was dealing with trying to explain her feelings to Orion.

"How could it not be? I'm trying to do my job, Orion. I'm trying to grow into the Luna you want, but I'm an outsider. I don't get a shred of respect from anyone aside from you and Max. I want to be a good Luna, but it's hard..." She felt tears prick at her eyes again.

"Everything is different here. I don't have my old pack for support, and I don't know anyone here. How am I supposed to be a leader if I can't get to know the people I'm supposed to lead?"

Orion looked at her sympathetically and shook his head. "Lorena, baby, no..." He grabbed her hand and rubbed over her smooth skin with his thumb. "You don't have anything to prove to anyone here, okay? Not even me. You're already the pack Luna. You will know how to lead when the time comes. That's not even something you should be stressing about now. As for respect, the others will give it to you, but you have to earn it. Demand it in everything that you do. You won't have to work too hard for it. A lot of the pack already likes the fire in you. So don't cry, okay?" He pressed his lips to her hand as she nodded.

"Okay."

He sat back in the chair. "Now, there's something I need to tell you-"

Benny stuck his head back into the room and cleared his throat. "You guys done killing each other yet?"

Orion chuckled and shook his head in amusement. "Come in, Benny. Got any idea what's going on with her?"

The nurse entered and set his clipboard down onto the counter behind him. He crossed his arms and sat down in his chair, shrugging. "Usually I would call in the doctor after me, but he said it's quite simple, really." Benny turned his kind and curious eyes to the Luna. "Lorena, do you feel nauseous?" She nodded. "Dizzy or lightheaded?" She nodded.

He nodded along with her before his final question. "Okay. Lorena, what do you think the temperature is in the room?"

Lorena looked at Orion who nodded towards Benny. "Answer his question."

Lorena shrugged. "Well, I don't know...maybe like 95 degrees? Isn't this like a hospital? It's supposed to be cold."

Benny nodded. "Correct. It is cold. You just don't feel it because you're in heat."

Lorena's eyes widened and her cheeks turned red. Even Orion gasped and stared at Benny in bewilderment. "Now? What do we do?"

"Whoa, whoa, relax, you two! It's a long cycle, but it's relatively simple. Just let nature run it's course. Make sure you choose a room for both of y'all to stay in and have someone come to check in every few hours to bring you water and food, because neither of you are going to want to leave the bed."

Lorena groaned. She knew this was coming, but actually having a conversation about it was downright humiliating. "H-how long does it take for it to end?"

Benny shrugged. "About two weeks for an alpha couple, and one for everyone else."

Two weeks. She would just be nonstop horny and hot for two weeks straight? It sounded horrible. "I'm scared...I've never done this before."

Orion stood up and started pacing. "Okay, so we need, like...towels and stuff...and a case of water... Like how wild does this get, Benny?"

Lorena slapped Orion on the arm. "Dude!"

He shrugged. "You can't be too prepared! I haven't done this before either."

"You both need to chill out. It isn't something to panic over. You'll know what to do by instinct, trust me."

Lorena glanced at Orion, who was looking at her. She blushed and quickly looked away. She hadn't realized when they had technically become a 'thing', and they still haven't had a real conversation about what was between them. Now they had to jump right into the sex and knots and all that, and she hardly had any idea what any of those were.

"Look you two will be fine. Its normal."

Lorena swallowed the lump in her throat. Hopefully Benny was right.