Page 69 of The Orc's Rage

“He’ll know it when he returns,” Cedar said firmly. “I want to visit the baths now, and not speak of it more.”

Rathka did not argue.

As they settled into the hot water, though, Cedar hoped the old woman was wrong. This child would be strong, she knew. If just to spite the hag, Cedar would raise it to be so, with or without Lord Kargorr as heragsan.

She didn’t need him in order to be a good mother.

Kargorr

After securing Lord Gannag’s agreement to bind their forces together into one singular army, with a singular purpose, Lord Kargorr could at last return home.

It had been more than a month now, as Gannag’sparogbegan packing up and Kargorr’s own band of warriors loaded their sledges. It would be two more weeks before they reached their ownparogdown in the lowlands, and for a moment, Kargorr’s head swam with the possibilities of what might have transpired while he was gone. If the humans had learned of theparog’s location...

He imagined his Cedar, at the center of a pile of bodies, and his stomach churned.

And so he pushed his warriors hard, probably harder than he should, asking much of their cats and their mammoths both. After many days of this, when the band was worn ragged, Samrak took the risk of advising him to let them rest or the animals would make their objections known.

Reluctantly, Kargorr allowed them to stop early for the night. But he was still full of his blood’s need to behome, to see his hard woman and bury himself in her soft cunt, and to ensure his orcling was growing well. To fend it off and divert his mind, he snatched up a bow and left for a hunt with Liga, though she could have likely used the rest, too.

As they prowled through the woods, Kargorr tried to lose himself in the art of tracking, following footprints through the snow silently, while Liga sniffed the air to catch the scent of their prey. Spring was around the corner, and the animals would be careless as they began to mate and rut. Kargorr could use this to his advantage.

They moved silently through the snow toward the sound of males calling out to females. Then Liga leapt, and she was upon the stag before Lord Kargorr had even caught sight of him. Kargorr watched as his cat tore out the creature’s throat, spewing blood across the white snow, wondering how far his mind had wandered that he hadn’t seen it first.

Cedar. Thoughts of her were making him careless. Hissargahad taken her, so why were they not now quiet?

Perhaps they would never be silent while she remained unclaimed.

But he had to wait. He would wait, until Orgha returned from his mission, hopefully bringing news that the eastern lord was open to Kargorr’s plan. And then they would leave once more, to recruit another lord, and another lord still, until he had the force underneath him that he needed.

Only then, once he had secured the loyalty of all thegrrosek, would he allow himself the weakness of fully taking hisyapirain front of the entireparog.

He would learn to control himself until then. He would learn to keep his thoughts on the task at hand and break off the part of himself that craved her, all of her.

When Liga was finished feasting, Lord Kargorr tied the carcass to his saddle, and they dragged it back to camp.

Cedar

More than six weeks had passed when the call rang out across the camp: Lord Kargorr had returned.

For long moments, Cedar thought she was imagining it. How many times had she hoped to hear that call? The drums beginning to beat, the cheers and whoops as other orcs left their tents and ran out to greet their returned friends and family?

Rathka surged to her feet and sprinted from the tent quicker than Cedar could track. But instead of running to Kargorr, Cedar felt frozen, remembering the last time he had returned.

How she had run. How he had chased her. How...

She took many deep breaths before steeling herself. She would not run this time. She had no reason to run, did she? He wouldn’t replace her. He hadn’t brought home the next iteration of her, a warm body to take her spot in their bed. He promised he wouldn’t.

And though he was many other things, she did not know him to be an orc who lied.

Cedar squared her shoulders, intent on meeting Lord Kargorr at the gates. But before she could leave, the tent flap flew open—and in the entryway stood the biggest orc that had ever lived.

He had a great scar traveling from his temple, across his eyebrow, over his nose to his opposite tusk and then down, vanishing into his traveling clothes. His dark eyes were red around the edges, his lips peeled back in a vicious-looking snarl.

Lord Kargorr saw her, and that red in his black irises spread, nearly consuming them. He advanced toward her, and Kiya hissed from his place in the corner of the tent.

“Send him away,” Kargorr commanded, his eyes never leaving hers.

“Kiya,” Cedar said in a whisper, and gestured outside. “Go find your friends.”

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