Page 18 of Claimed By the Orc Lord

After the fifth day, I had to start asking myself if this was going to be my life for the rest of… well… my life.

I had to ask myself if I was going to spend the rest of forever tied up in some orc’s tent while he called me Little Mate and fed me fruit I was pretty sure was going to make me fat if I didn’t start exercising soon.

It might have been easier to accept if it weren’t for the fact that I knew somewhere out there my best friend was here too, and I had no idea if he’d been captured by some big handsome—no, not handsome, Kai—demanding, delic…

No, Kai.Not delicious.That was just the food he brought.

Delusional. That was the word. I had no idea if he’d been kidnapped by a delusional orc who insisted he was his mate and was probably making him do weird shit.

The only real comfort I had was knowing Rainn wouldn’t think it was weird shit at all. He was probably halfway to heaven by now, barefoot and pregnant and living his best life.

Shit, I knew there was magic here—could they make Rainn get pregnant? The thought left me puzzling for a good half hour while I fiddled with the collar around my throat. Nash could say that wasn’t what it was all he wanted, but I couldn’t get it loose. Of course, I probably didn’t want to. The last thing I needed was to be stuck here and not be able to understand everyone around me.

How else was I supposed to maybe ask for help? Surely someone in this camp knew something about Rainn.

Surely someone would help me?

Or…

Maybe not. From what I heard and the little I saw, everyone seemed to love Nash. Maybe it was the warmth and strength he exuded, or maybe they were all just afraid he’d kick their ass if theydidn’tlove him. Whatever it was, I wasn’t getting the sense that anyone would want to risk their biscuits helping me escape.

Which meant I needed to help myself.

I just wasn’t sure how.

The only thing I could come up with was trying to backtrack if I could somehow run again. I figured if I could make my way to the cave I came through, the answer was obviously going in the opposite direction. Rainn hadn’t come this way, so he must have gone the other way.

I’d been camping in the woods plenty of times—I’d hiked off trail and never really gottensuperlost. Just a little lost.

I’d be fine.

It probably would have been a little easier if I was a stealthy person, if I was small and lithe and capable of sneaking out without anyone seeing me.

But I was big, and it wasn’t like my skin really blended into the foliage like the orcs did—I was all tan and blond and obvious.

I was just going to have to try my best. It was the only thing I could do.

I was quiet through our nightly ritual. I let Nash hand feed me and waited for him to come back to the tent a little later. When he curled up and fell asleep, I forced myself to listen to the sound of his breathing, to watch his broad chest rise and fall.

There was no way for me to know if he was a light sleeper.

There was no way to know if I was about to set off some kind of magical alarm—I hadn’t asked enough questions about what was going on, about what was possible in this world.

I probably should have asked more questions.

Oh well… too late now.

I stood slowly, every inch almost painful as I watched Nash for any sign of movement. He rolled over in his sleep, his fingers stretching out for me like he could tell that something was awry, but his eyes didn’t open.

He was still on the bed.

And… I just stood there.

Something in my chest felt… tight. Like I couldn’t breathe. It was like his fingers had stretched further than I thought, hooked into claws just beneath my skin—maybe therewassome kind of magical defense that I hadn’t realized, because I could feel him there. Behind my ribs.

Holding my heart.

Holding me still.

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