Page 58 of Claimed By the Orc Lord

At first, I thought I’d have to run straight to Kai and take whatever blade or bow the others had… but he let out a shout and lowered his body, slamming into Koth and landing a punch across his jaw.

“I swear if he has a scratch on him, I’m going to absolutely wreck you.” Kai’s threats were vicious, even if they were completely lost to Koth’s ears. The device around my arm let me hear the way he snapped, the way he’d so casually put himself in danger to make sure that he was a good distraction for me.

It let me hear everything, and every part of me was burning to get it back around his throat where it belonged. Seeing him without it now, seeing his mating mark on full, naked display, was almost too much.

That burning desire to protect him went in direct contradiction to the way he leaned back so he had a better angle to hit Koth again—Kai wasn’t delicate, or dainty. He wasn’t like any human I’d ever met.

He was strong, and he seemed hell bent on making the orc beneath him beg for mercy.

So as much as it pained me, and as much as it went against instinct, I turned my attention from Kai and Koth to the two others who were still standing. Iknewthem. They’d been among my people once… and as much as I would have granted them mercy if they’d gotten on their knees and begged for it, they had their attention on Kai and their would-be leader fighting on the ground, and I wasn’t going to give them a chance to betray me again.

I moved forward without hesitation, wrapping my arm around the throat of one of them so I could cut off his air supply. His body went limp almost instantly, and I used it as a shield when a dagger flew in my direction.

It was hard to concentrate, though, because Kai and Koth were standing now. When they were matched like that, my mate was smaller… and they were fighting so close to the cliff side.

The feel of something slamming into me, followed by a sharp stabbing pain, let me know I’d taken a little too long watching their fight. My eyes darted down to the second dagger now embedded in my shoulder, and with a snarl, I threw the limp body I was holding, sending him crashing into his friend.

They both tumbled to the ground, and I ripped the blade from my skin and drove it downward as I came to my knees, slamming it into the throat of my assailant. His eyes went wide, and for just a second, I saw it there.

Regret—regret that he’d ever crossed me, regret that he’d ever tried to hurt me and mine.

Regret, because if he’d stayed under my protection, I would have kept him safe with the same ferocity that I was now protecting Kai with.

I had to look away from his face as that expression faded and the light left his eyes. He’d chosen his side, and now he was suffering the consequences—guilt and remorse, my own regrets, had no place here. Not when there was still Koth to deal with.

Not when…

“Nash!” Kai’s voice was pitched up slightly, a little panicked, and as soon as I darted my gaze up, I realized why.

They were both by the cliff side, and even though Koth’s lip was split wide and there was a cut above his brow pouring blood into his stare, he still had his blade to Kai’s throat.

I froze where I stood, my eyes all for Kai’s wide, anxious expression and the anger that was still boiling just beneath the surface.

“You said you would give everything for your mate, Nash. Do you still believe that to be true?”

My eyes narrowed. “What do you want?” Because I knew the answer. I would give anything.

I would give everything.

“Would you die for him?”

“Yes.” The word came out before I thought about it, and Koth’s smile spread across his face, even though it caused the split on his lip to bleed more.

“But what fun would that be? I thought I wanted to kill you, Nash. But maybe what I really want is to know that you suffer.”

It took my brain a few seconds too long to connect what he meant, and by the time I started forward, I was too late. Whatever strength Koth had, he used it to throw Kai behind him.

Over the edge of the cliff side.

And then, like the coward I knew him to be, he ran.

Before, I would have chased him—instinct still wanted me to, because even though he’d gotten a head start, I knew I could easily outrun him.

But that was before, and now my entire focus was on Kai and the way I couldn’t see him anymore. I ran to the cliff side and felt something in my chest squeeze tight.

He was there, a few feet down, clinging to a branch with his face gone a little pale. There was every chance Koth might return and drive a blade through my back… but I didn’t care.

I couldn’t think of anything but flattening myself to my stomach in the dirt and reaching my hand out to Kai.

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