Page 7 of Claimed By the Orc Lord

Monster-dick magic.

“Not happening,” I muttered to myself, pausing for a second to see if my voice was going to bring the aforementioned monster out of the wings to do exactly what I’d imagined.

When nothing came charging at me, I sighed, leaning my shoulders back against the invisible barrier and shivering at the hum of power that tickled along my spine.

I glanced down at my phone one more time. Still no signal. No signal, no Rainn… and no idea what I was supposed to do.

All of this was lame.

So fucking lame.

Stuffing my phone back into my pocket, I pushed off the wall that wasn’t there and started forward. I didn’t actually have any direction in mind, but I figured if I were Rainn and I got lost in a place like this, forward was probably the way to go. It was the only way that had any kind of path, after all.

“Okay, think like Rainn.” The words came out soft beneath my breath, and I glanced around one more time. Third time was not the charm to make anything come charging out after me—not that I wanted it to.

Because I didn’t.

I enjoyed reading monster books. That didn’t mean I wanted to live one out.

“Think like Rainn.”I said it aloud again, but it wasn’t doing me a damn bit of good. Rainn would be looking for the monsters, for the adventure and inspiration.

If this was where he’d ended up, at least I wouldn’t have to be worried about him being lost and terrified. He’d be having the time of his life.

And I was…

My eyes flicked back behind me—the mouth of the cave had already been swallowed up by the trees, but that was fine. I’d be able to find my way back.

Probably.

Maybe.

Especially if I just walked in a straight line.

I had faith in myself.

That faith lasted for a good ten minutes before I heard a growl coming from my right and paused in my tracks—it wasn’t that I was afraid of animals in nature. It was just that the growl was unlike anything I’d ever heard before.

Deep, rumbling, lower than any big cat I knew of. Reverberating, like it was palpable in the air.

“Shit,fuckwhat Rainn would do.” Because Rainn would probably runtowardwhatever it was to see if it was a monster, and I wasn’t about to do that. I took a step back and darted through the trees, completely ignoring the mantra I’d been slowly muttering under my breath about staying in a straight line, because a straight line would not get me away from the heavy footfalls I could hear crashing behind me.

The string of curses that ripped from my lips as I ran probably weren’t helping me get away from whatever was chasing me, but I couldn’t seem to stop them. I ran, tripped over branches, picked myself up, and ran some more…

I finally got to the point where I wasn’t sure if I was still being chased, or if the thundering I heard was just the pounding of my own heartbeat.

It didn’t help that the trees I was running through were so thick there were spots where the entire ground was shadowed because the sun couldn’t reach through the foliage. The ground was slick and damp and dangerous.I slipped and slid my way forward as best I could, letting out another low string of profanities as my gaze landed on a spot of sunlight ahead of me.

A clearing?

Shit, was it better or worse to be in a clearing when there was something chasing you?

I didn’t know, but the thought of getting out of the thick trees was enough to send me scrambling forward.

This time, it wasn’t a curse that tore from my chest. I screamed as I was suddenly jerked upward, and it took me a good fifteen seconds to realize that I couldn’t move my arms because they were pinned to my chest with a net that had molded itself to my body. I dangled nearly eight feet off the ground, which… wasn’t ideal, but maybe it would keep me safe from the thing that was after me?

It was a thought, until another low sound of panic tore from my chest when the thing that had been chasing me came out of the trees.

It washuge.

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