Robin was feeling quite full to the stomach after their quite…. Extravagant lunch. Since the Alpha had time to eat with her, they ate again in that large dining area with much more food than there was last time. There were fruits and what the Alpha called “pasta” that she very much liked. Even better was that he had given her some more chocolate cake which she ate quite happily, though without the previous incident that happened the last time she did.

Though they were both silent, it was a more comfortable meal and she was able to stomach much more food, which was why she had started to feel a stomach ache. She had never been given that much food before, but she was starting to realize that maybe eating too much all at once was also bad for her. Even so, she did not say this aloud in case it would insult the Alpha’s efforts.

It was a blessing to be able to ache from too much food.

“Ready?” the Alpha called from over his shoulder as opened what seemed to be the front door of the pack house. Robin lifted her gaze from the tangled shoelaces of the sneakers up at his figure clashing against the brightness of the outside, a shy blush on her face. “I-I’m not quite sure how to work this.” She gestured towards the shoes that he had leaned to her, saying that it belonged to a pack member who had allowed her to use it. She had refused at first, not wanting to be a hindrance. She did not mind walking barefoot in the forest anyway, but the Alpha had insisted, so she finally accepted.

Without even another second, he had kneeled down in front of her, for what seemed to be the millionth time today, to get a hold of the tangled mess on her feet. She couldn’t help but admire how the sunlight streaming from the door made his hair look unbelievably shiny and smooth, falling about his head haphazardly, though it only made him look more beautiful… to her anyway. Without thinking, she ran a gentle hand through his hair, wanting to feel if it was as soft as she imagined. She was not disappointed.

At her touch, he had stilled but did not move away. Instead, she saw another one of his small smiles come over his face before he resumed tying the shoelaces with ease. She continued petting at his hair, marveling at how soft it was. She wondered if her hair could come to be as soft as that someday and thought to ask him later on his tricks for beautiful hair.

With her laces neatly tied, they were finally able to venture out of the house into the open air. She was having a hard time with the shoes since she could not remember the last time she wore a pair, but they were soft and it felt nice not having to feel rocks slice into the soles of her feet.

The Alpha had given her space to test out the shoes as she covered her eyes with her hands, looking up at the sky. It was a mild day, not too hot and not too cold, though the sun was shining extremely bright down at her. It was weird, really, being able to walk around so freely (well, freer than she used to be) and she couldn’t help but breathe in the air. It felt nice to be outside without having to be scared.

She reached up slightly to the sky, wondering how far it really was from where she stood.

“You want to stay here for a while?” the Alpha, noticing her taking in the view, had asked her quietly from behind. She whirled around, shaking her head at him, feeling embarrassed for being caught. “N-no, the sun just felt nice.”

He stepped closer, casually reaching out to brush a stray hair behind her ear. Where his fingers lingered on her face left a path of fire, and she unconsciously leaned into his touch. “Why don’t we take the long way? The fresh air might be good for you.”

She brightened up at that and eagerly nodded, following after him as he led them down a small dirt path that cut through the thinner area of the forest. Now that she was outside of the cages and that there were no dark wolves spying on her from the shadows, she could admit that the woods were actually quite beautiful. They were not bright and angelic looking, but they had a somewhat mysterious feel to it that brought a more silent and simple beauty to the scenery around her.

To her… it smelt like what she thought what home would smell like. If that made any sense.

Both of them had kept a casual pace, strolling easily down the tiny little path. Robin made a point to try and avoid the growing flowers that lined the sides of the path, not wanting to crush them or disturb them. It always bothered her seeing the wheels of their cages crush the beauties of nature. The flowers here were quite different as well from what she was used to seeing. Most of them were quite sharp-looking things, as if they were blades instead of petals.

There was something with the Infierno land and its unique little flowers. They were undeniably beautiful.

The Alpha had placed himself behind her, hands tucked firmly into his short pockets as he diligently stopped whenever Robin found something else to observe. She found him to be very patient with her, never saying anything and only looking at her with soft eyes. When she looked up at him, he was almost as tall as the trees that grew high above them. But… there was a tense atmosphere about him. His back had been ram-rod straight and his eyes constantly wandered around their surroundings when she wasn’t looking. It looked as if he was being extra careful in case something bad were to happen.

After a few minutes of walking in silence, Robin had the urge to distract the man from his intense glares into the forest, and she settled neatly beside him, their arms just barely touching. “Alpha, may I ask a question?” He had looked down at her then when she spoke, his bunched up shoulders instantly relaxing.

“Of course. You do not need to ask.”

“Why is your pack house always empty? I-I mean it’s alright if you don’t answer, but I was curious,” she added at the end just in case she had pressed too far, but the Alpha showed no signs of disapproval and only looked thoughtful as he tried to formulate a response for her.

What she did not realize was that he was finding a way not to make himself sound too much of an over-possessive freak and scare her away.

“Well, the pack house had been made a long time ago to house a lot of members, but most of our pack members have their own housing nowadays. Only those with higher positions stay in the pack house anymore, but I sent them away just for a few days.”

“Why?”

He stopped in his tracks, and Robin quickly followed after him, tilting her head up to meet his intense gaze back down at her. “I wanted you to have time to adjust to being here.” He leaned in, raising a finger to linger on the bottom of her lip. “And I wanted to keep you all to myself while I could.”

With that, he had continued on ahead without another care in the world, leaving her standing there, her face an unnatural shade of red.

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