Page 10 of Claimed By The Orc

CHAPTER 6

MAHK

Sweat dripped down my temple, and not only from the excursion. My pulse beat rapidly, heart racing in my chest so fast it hurt. My hands shook and it was hard to breathe. Panic. This was what panic felt like.

It wasn’t an emotion I was used to. Why would it be? I was comfortable with who I was. I didn’t hide normally. My brothers were the only people left alive whom I cared about what they thought of me, and they knew exactly who and what I was. I never feared losing them.

Now, as Tanner sat down on the muddy ground, watching me with apprehension, I understood why some people experienced panic attacks and anxiety. I could lose everything before I ever truly had it, and I wasn’t sure I’d survive that.

I stared hopelessly at Tanner, hoping he’d give me a hint on where to start. He seemed surprisingly calm, and despite looking a little wary, I didn’t think he was scared of me necessarily. But would that change once he understood everything?

I fell to my knees in front of him, ignoring the rock that was jabbing into me.

Tanner raised an eyebrow, waiting. “I don’t know where to begin,” I told him helplessly.

My mate sighed and ran his fingers through his hair in a nervous gesture I knew well. I hated that I was adding to his stress. It had already been a rough day for him. All I’d wanted to do was get rid of Koth so I could watch Tanner and make sure he was okay. Not this. Never this.

“I guess start with whatever that is.” He gestured toward the tarp.

“It’s a body,” I responded helpfully.

Tanner snorted. “Yeah, I got that. Why is he green?”

Oh, right. Um . . . how should I approach this? Did I lie? I had done some research on the humans’ knowledge of orcs since I’d been here. The Google held a world of information. They thought we were mythical creatures, but there was plenty of lore there. Most recently, orcs had seemed to gain popularity fromLord of the Rings, which was a book but more popularly several movies. I watched them at the Cunningham’s house. They were very engrossing even if the portrayal of orcs was inaccurate.

There was also a thing called cosplay. That looked so interesting! Some of the costumes I’d seen on the Google were so good. Could I pretend that Koth was in costume?

I immediately dismissed the thought. Tanner was my mate. He deserved the truth. Not only because I hated lying to him, but also because there was no chance of me going home until he accepted me. That would not happen if I lied.

“He’s an orc.”

Tanner blinked. I blinked back. It seemed like he was trying to process, so I stayed quiet and waited for questions.

“An orc?” he finally asked, disbelief in his voice.

“Yes. He was using a spelled ring to appear as a human, but I removed it before killing him so he could die in this true form.” Not that the knave deserved the honor.

“Okay . . . sure. This all makes sense.” Something about his tone made me think he meant the exact opposite.

“I could show you?” I tried to keep my tone hopeful.Please don’t hate me.

“The dead body? Hard pass. I—fuck. I can’t believe any of this is happening. How about you start from the beginning instead?”

That was fine. He wasn’t running. So I had to take that as a good sign. He was my mate. He’d understand, right?

I shifted so I was sitting on my bottom and told my Tanner everything. I explained about my home world, about the barrier between the realms deep in Sumner Cave. I told him about Koth, how he’d tried to kill my brother’s mate and then escaped to this world. I told him how I’d been sent here to find him. The only thing I left out was how I was stuck here and why. I didn’t want to overwhelm Tanner, and this had to be a shock to him. It had to be hard believing this was all a fantasy and learning it was true.

When I was done, I felt exhausted and exposed, but Tanner was still here.

He was quiet for a long time, his eyes focused over my shoulder on Koth’s body. I squirmed. I really wanted to get rid of it already, but I wasn’t sure if it would be the best move when Tanner was still adjusting.

After a while, I couldn’t take it any longer. He was so quiet, and I didn’t know what to do to make it better. “Are you mad at me?” I blurted, hating the thought.

Tanner’s eyes widened like he was surprised by the question, but then his lips tilted up just a little, and I had to return the look because maybe things would be okay.

“I don’t think mad is the right word, Mark. Surprised, overwhelmed, maybe.”

“Mahk.”

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