Page 3 of Claimed By the Orc Lord

“Rainn?” I called out his name, but the only sound that came back was an echo and the squawk of some pissed off birds in the distance.

He’d stayed out longer than he said he would before, but something about this felt different. It felt…

I drew up short as I approached the mouth of a cave.

Sumner Cave.

Which Rainn said he was going to explore.

And people went missing when they visited.

“You didn’t actually find a monster to kidnap you, did you?” I muttered the question aloud as I stepped forward, peeking my head inside cautiously—if something came running at me with its dick out, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.

The only sound was thedrip drip dripof water somewhere in the distance and my voice echoing as I called out Rainn’s name again.

Nothing else.

“Come on. Don’t tell me you got lost in there.” The worry in my chest was starting to spread, making my fingers twitch. This was the last pinged location on his phone—he’d been here.

What if he was stuck somewhere and hurt? What if something really had kidnapped him? I didn’t know about monsters, but he could have gotten grabbed by a person.

Or a bear.

Or…

“Rainn?” I shouted his name again as I stepped into the cave. As soon as the cool air hit my skin, I felt goosebumps rise on my bare arms—if I’d known I was going to go spelunking, I would have definitely gone back to grab my jacket. I couldn’t change it now, though, and I wasn’t about to turn around and alert the authorities that Rainn was missing.Again.

They wouldn’t take it seriously, or they’d take too long.

I was here now, and I wasn’t going to go anywhere until I found him.

My head swiveled to look at the light pouring out of the mouth of the cave—I wouldn’t go in too far. I’d be able to find my way out.

I didn’t get lostthatoften.

I trailed down the path, keeping an eye out for anything that would let me know Rainn had been here… but it wasn’t like we were in a fairy tale. He wasn’t leaving me breadcrumbs. The only thing leading me forward was the smell of dirt and water, and the echo of my feet on the ground.

When I came to a fork in the pathway, I frowned.

“Rainn?” I called out for him again, and when there still wasn’t an answer, I bit my lip and looked back and forth at the options in front of me.

How would he have picked?

What if he wasn’t even in here?

“He’s not gonna forgive me when I’m the one who gets lost,” I muttered beneath my breath and arbitrarily went to the right.

I took a second to scratch a mark on the wall with a rock—I didn’t want to forget which way I turned. I noticed Rainn didn’t do the same for me.

If he’d been here.

I was beginning to wonder if he hadbeen here.

When I came to another split in the path, I paused.

I needed to turn back.

It would be smart for me to turn back and ask for help.

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