Page 52 of Claimed By the Orc Lord

The thud of something hitting the ground and the sudden garbled, snarling sound that came from Koth’s throat made me look down.

The collar I wore—the one Nash had slapped on me when we first met, the one that let me understand what he was saying—was on the ground. And it was spattered with blood.

Koth’s eyes dropped to my neck, to the hot liquid I could feel sluicing down along my skin, and he smiled.

Shit.I was probably in trouble.

Chapter twenty

Nash

IsomehowknewbeforeIgot back to the tent that Kai wasn’t going to be there. I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t thought of it—he’d finally gotten word of where his friend might be. It took me longer than it should have to connect the pieces together, though. The human my brother was talking about was the same human that Kai had come into this world to look for.

The timeline made sense—the arrival, the sudden change in my brother’s tone.

If I weren’t so worried about Kai, I might have found the entire situation to be just as strange as fated mates itself… because, of course, someone who was like a brother to Kai was meant for my brother.

But… those weren’t my concerns at the moment. Axum had been attacked, and I knew Koth hadn’t done it in some bid to steal the entire land from him. He’d done it in an attempt to taunt me, to hurt me.

He’d done it because he was so wrapped up in his anger and jealousy of me, he would do whatever he had to in the name of revenge.

And I’d always spoken freely about my belief in fated mates, in my desire to have my own.

If Koth had even a single ear in the camp, one person who’d traveled from my group and spoken of how their leader Nash was tethered to a human with hair like the sun…

Kai wasn’t an easy person to confuse for any other once you’d heard of him.

The thundering beat of my heart only grew harder, jumped into my throat, and nearly choked me when I asked the patrol if they’d seen him leave. While they hadn’t, one of the children interrupted, mentioning that they’d seen him jogging down the main roadway toward the city.

Running from me again.

But no… I couldn’t be angry with him for it.

Not now.

Not when I had no idea if he was safe.

And like a demon manifest, the fear that I’d felt came full circle when I found Mol sprawled in the middle of the road, his eyes half closed and his breathing labored. It took me a few seconds to rouse him, and I silently cursed myself for not asking Vex to come with me, for not bringing ahealerwith me. I’d run without thinking, without preparing.

“Nash, your human… he…” Mol grunted as I helped him sit, but I couldn’t pause to take stock of his wounds.

“Kai was here?”

“He saved me.” Mol’s eyes were wide, just a little fearful. I understood—Kai had saved him, but that meant he’d put himself in harm’s way in the process. Inadvertently, Mol had put him in danger.

But… there wasn’t time for anger or blame. There was only time to find Kai.

“Where?”

He didn’t say anything, just raised a shaking hand and pointed toward the edge of the road. My eyes flicked to his injury, to the area surrounding us. I needed to get him back to camp, but…

“I will be fine, Nash,” he said, using my shoulder to pull himself to his feet. He stumbled, but his eyes looked determined. “I only wish I could help you hunt down Koth.” He looked like he might still try it, so I waved him back to camp.

“Go. Tell Vex to gather a group so we can hunt them down.” The fury burning through my chest felt dangerous, a liquid inferno. “This ends today.”

Mol nodded, the determination in his gaze outweighing the pain still streaking through his expression. My entire camp was fierce and loyal—Koth’s betrayal to me had been a betrayal to all of us.

And now this.

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