In the arena, ten females must outrun or outlast their male counterparts to keep from being forcibly bred. At least that's how Lorena saw it.
She was taken from her home in front of her entire family to be a runner for ten males that were around her...
Lorena woke up that morning and after a moment, last night's events started rushing back to her. She had so many questions on her mind.
How did Orion get those marks on his back? What happened to him in those three years they were apart? And...
Where was Orion?
She sat up quickly, looking around the room for her mate and then listening carefully for his footsteps in the bathroom. When she heard nothing, she slipped out of bed and padded into the bathroom to get ready for the morning. She grabbed her phone and speaker off of the night stand and started her shower playlist.
As she showered, her mind continued to play over the events of last night. On one hand, she was super concerned about Orion and had so many questions as to what he had gone through that changed him so much. She wasn't sure if the nightmares were a new thing, because she hadn't really slept in the same room as Orion until last night, but she assumed that it was.
On the other hand, she was super happy about the fact that she was able to comfort him and he allowed himself to trust her. She hadn't seen him this vulnerable ever, not even when his dad was dying.
She didn't think that he had a complete wall up, but she knew he kept certain parts of himself guarded until he simply couldn't anymore, and to be honest, she didn't think that was a bad thing. Being too open about everything could get you hurt.
She finally finished her shower and stepped out, shutting the music off. She listened hard to see if Orion was anywhere in the house, but she didn't hear anything. Then she remembered he had wanted to meet the alpha this morning. She checked the time on her phone and realized that he had most likely gone and done that since it would be the best time to do so.
She piled her wet hair into a bun on top of her head and made her way downstairs to grab a glass of water.
Her parents were sitting at the dining table in the kitchen, eating bowls of fruit for breakfast.
"Morning, guys."
Her parents smiled at her as she entered the kitchen and grabbed a glass.
"Morning, honey. Did you and Orion sleep well last night?"
"Yes, actually. It was our first time sleeping in the same bed. We had some issues at first, but I was able to get a decent amount of rest."
"That's good." Her mother went back to eating and her father chimed in.
"So, what do you two plan to do next?"
Lorena went into the cabinet, looking for her bottle of pills. When she couldn't find it, she frowned and started opening drawers and other cabinets around her, coming up with nothing.
She rolled her eyes. Orion had to have taken them.
Now old Lorena would have stormed after him in a bout of rage, interrupting his meeting with the alpha and demanding that he return them to her.
But she wasn't the same hot-headed girl from three years ago. She was grown now, and could see how causing a scene would do nothing. She would just wait until he got home and confront him privately.
"Um, Lorena are you looking for something?"
"Uhh...no. I just realized that I left it upstairs." She sat down at the table and took a sip of her water. "And as for me and Orion, I have no idea. I don't know if he's going to take me home with him very soon or if he's staying a while."
"Do you want to go back with him?"
Lorena nodded. "Of course I do. It's just a matter of when he's ready to bring me back. It's just going to be really weird since he's the king now so it looks like I'm the queen." She shrugged.
Her father gave her a mocking bow. "Oh, excuse me, Your Highness!"
The family laughed and Lorena finished her water before grabbing a refill.
Her father spoke again. "I'm happy for you, Lorena. We're happy that you've found someone that makes you happy. I wasn't ready to let you go all of this time, but now I feel like I don't have to hold on. After what happened...after you were taken from us and all we were allowed to do was watch and have hope we would see you again, I didn't think I'd be able to let go ever again. But now I know Orion is going to take good care of you. I can be at peace."
Lorena beamed, a slight blush crossing her face. "Thank you, papa. I'm happy and secure with him, too."
For the first time, she actually said it, and for the first time she truly believed it.
To those of you who wanted the Vera/Sean spinoff:
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
