Page 2 of Rough Riding Orc Cowboy

Everything inside me stopped. The town. The voices. The tumbleweed clusters. Even the sunlight. All of it faded to nothing. Only her touch remained, searing into my flesh, into my mind. She pulled away without noticing, and murmured a hurried, “Sorry,” before she stepped inside to join the male and my aunt.

I should walk away. Forget I ever saw her. Let her continue into the life where she would be comfortable and safe, a life withhim. But my body betrayed me, myfeet refusing to move, my chest tightening at the sight of her hand sliding so easily into his.

My mate.

She would never know what she was to me. Never know the way the earth completely rearranged itself when she touched my skin. Never know that, in another life, I would’ve given her everything I was and all I could ever be to her alone.

She didn’t see the mark. Didn’t feel the way the air had shattered between us.

I stood frozen, staring at her, barely breathing.

My mate. Here. Now.

Sunlight caught the ring on her left finger, reminding me that she was with him. She hadchosenhim. Not me.

My stomach twisted with an ache so deep I thought it might split me in half. The fates were wrong. Unfair. Cruel.

The mark on my wrist burned, reminding me of what I could never have. She’d been carved into my skin, but I was left with no way to claim her. I clenched a hand over the mark, as if that could change anything, as if I could shut out the longing tearing through me, leaving an open, bleeding wound.

If only I’d never seen her. Never touched her. Then I wouldn’t know that something so perfect could be dangled in front of me, only to be snatched away.

I swallowed the clammer inside me threatening to break free. Pain clawed at my spine. Fate had bound me to her, but she'd already chosen someone else.

Releasing the door, I staggered back. I clenched my teeth and told my stupid heart to stop pounding.

I had to leave. Now. Before I made the same mistake I'd made with a best friend who'd rightly scorned me after.

Before the yearning in my chest made me do something unforgivable.

Present Day

The scentof fresh hay and roses clashed in the air. It should smell wonderful, exciting, relaxing even. Instead, that tight feeling in my chest I'd lived with for two months coiled into a knot that would never come free.

Sparkling lights strung around the two-story room twinkled, hitting the polished wooden beams and barn floor, creating a magical glow where rows of human guests sat on either side of the aisle. Their excited chatter and laughter echoed in the big open room while I stood in the shadows, near the cracked-open side door. Unseen. Unwanted.

I shouldn't have come here, not tonight.

Every instinct inside me screamed for me to leave. Walk out the door before the ceremony began. But my boots remained stuck to the plank floor.

One last look. That was all.

I told myself I was doing it out of curiosity. A finalglimpse of Beth before she became someone else’s forever.

Ahead, human men stood near the flower-decked altar. The one standing proudly in the center washim. Beth’s male. Broad shoulders, fur on his face, something unheard of in orcs. Confidence shone in his eyes and his posture as he adjusted his jacket and exchanged words with the person who'd perform the ceremony. His fitted black suit gave him the illusion of strength, but human males possessed none of the muscle or size of an orc.

Not that it mattered. He'd earned her love while I had not.

I turned my gaze to the closed door in the entryway beyond this big room that led to the bridal waiting area. My throat tightened. Beth was behind that door. Just on the other side. So close, but she might as well be one of the sparkling stars overhead. I couldn't touch her any easier than one of them.

The dull ache that had settled in my chest two months and three days ago refused to go away. The first time I’d seen her, I hadn't known what she would become to me. That single touch, that moment of fate, had shattered my world.

And she'd barely noticed me.

The fates were cruel. They gave me a mate, but at the same time, they stole her away.

I tightened my fingers around my wrist where the mark still warmed my skin. Gold. Eternal. Only for her.

But she would never be mine.

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