WILD

forty six

After Orion got out of the shower, he joined Lorena in the bed. She was already falling asleep. He turned off the light and kissed her on the forehead. She smiled at him and kissed him on the cheek before turning over.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Lo."

She slept peacefully for a while until Orion started tossing and turning. After he stopped, she tried to go back to sleep but he started up again, this time mumbling in his sleep.

Lorena turned over groggily and placed a hand on his shoulder, shaking him slightly. "Orion..."

He didn't wake, but he stilled and stopped talking.

Lorena hoped that he was okay. She didn't want him to be in distress, and she really needed to sleep herself. She frowned as his breathing went back to normal and she turned back over, shutting her eyes.

It wasn't long before Orion started groaning in his sleep again, tossing and turning.

Lorena, startled, fell out of the bed and stood up, sighing. She was just going to have to sleep elsewhere. She started to grab her things and that's when she saw it.

She crawled back onto the bed and placed her hand under the hem of Orion's shirt, sliding her hand up and uncovering his back. She gasped and recoiled at what she saw.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she saw the scars running in multiple directions across his entire back. She squealed in surprise when Orion jerked away from her light touch, mumbling even louder and sweating like he was in a sauna.

Lorena's eyes darted around the room for some kind of answer or to see if there was any way she could stop it. It was clear that he was having some sort of nightmare.

She pulled his hand away from his face where he was clawing, but he involuntarily jerked away. He started to thrash around and in a panic, Lorena crawled on top of him, straddling his waist.

"Orion!" He squeezed his eyes shut tightly and tried to roll to the side, his arms starting to flail.

Lorena started to cry. "Orion, please! Wake up!" She tried to grab his face, but he jolted awake and grabbed her arms, looking around in confusion.

"Lo?" He sat up and let go of her wrists.

Lorena started sobbing and she crawled off of him, sitting up on the side of the bed.

"You wouldn't wake up! You were talking and fighting in your sleep and I was terrified something was wrong with you."

Orion sighed and nodded. "It happens sometimes. I'm sorry."

Lorena looked at him like he was crazy. "Why are you sorry? You can't help it, but you need to get help. That was really intense."

Orion nodded. "Yeah, I know. I just don't have time to get help. People depend on me, Lorena."

He shut his eyes and tears rolled down his cheeks as he recalled his nightmares.

Lorena shook her head. "There's no way you can lead a pack if you aren't taken care of, Orion. You can't kill yourself doing everything on your own. Then your pack won't have an alpha."

Orion nodded slowly, hearing what she was saying. He felt a hard pang in his chest as he remembered his own father telling him that before.

Lorena was surprised that he started sobbing hard, covering his face with his arms as he cried.

"I'm- Fuck!"

Lorena gently removed his arms from his face and pulled him towards her, urging him to rest his head on her stomach. He did, and she began to stroke his long hair, rhythmically rubbing his shoulder lightly to lull him to sleep.

"You're okay, Orion. You're gonna be okay."

He sobbed even harder before settling down again. Lorena sighed but kept trying to comfort him.

She felt so bad for him. She wanted to ask what he had gone through, but she knew that conversation wouldn't end with him telling her, so she left it alone for now.

Her eyes started to shut, but so did his. His frantic gasping for air was reduced to long, even breaths. He had stopped crying, but would occasionally hiccup quietly.

Lorena kissed him on his forehead and settled back down so they could sleep.

"I'm s-sorry, Lo..."

"Shh. No need to apologize. Go to sleep."

Orion slightly nodded and wrapped his arm around her waist, finally dozing off.

Once Orion started snoring softly, Lorena was able to fully relax and she shut her eyes, finally falling asleep.