Page 152 of Valpar

My female squealed and clapped her hands. “Really? So, if this plant works on orcs it will work on me too!” She clapped her hands and her family smiled at her. “I want my hair pink again. What do you think, Valpar?” Her long lashes batted against her face, and I huffed in agreement.

What my mate wants is what my mate gets.

We all stayed, gathered around the fire until the light sources fell behind the trees. My miresa had already fallen asleep in my arms, her head tucked under my chin, where she was always meant to be.

Her parents had already said their good-byes many times, but had yet to leave. I believed it was an Earth realm tradition because Birch continued to try pulling Theresa away, but she would shake her head, smile at my miresa and just stare at her, and continue to talk with us.

They had their own sleeping quarters just beyond the trees of my territory, along with the king and queen. The king and queen weren’t there the entire time with them. They were spending time with Thorn and his female, Ellie.

They had their own celebration, their bonding ceremony. It included a tent just like my little fairy and mine at the Golden Light Palace. My seeded orgamo attended, and he said he could only stand for one party and not seeing mine was fine with him.

He knew in his beating drums that I had found my mate many moons ago. My ogamie came to him in a dream, told him all about it and said that soon he would be reunited with her, when the time was right.

I kept my worries away. We were spending time with my miresa’s family, and I would not bring sadness to my miresa, but I would wait until she was asleep and her family was gone.

“Are you ready, my queen?” King Osirus stood and put out his hand for his mate. She stood, nodded, and grabbed his hand. “Good luck. I’m sure we will visit soon, Valpar.” Osirus nodded to Birch who was pulling Theresa to stand.

“Just a few more minutes?” Theresa begs of Birch, but he shook his head and chuckled.

“She’s fine now. She has a mate who loves her. She’s going to be just fine, love.” He tipped her chin with his finger and placed a kiss to her lips. “We will visit more after the baby is born, and I’m sure Valpar will bring her to visit once their bond settles.”

I grunted, not bothering to get up and jostle my female. They all took one more look back before they disappeared into the dense forest, and my rigid shoulders finally relaxed.

I thought I was possessive of my female before the bond, but now that it was completed, I felt I may let no one touch her again.

My orgamo chuckled, the sound echoing through the air, as he deftly placed a jagged piece of wood between his teeth. With a determined twist, he extracted bits of food from the crevices in his mouth. “Difficult, wasn’t it?”

I grunted, listening to the crackling in the fire.

“You are a good male. You were blessed. Even if you let your female get into situations you could have easily prevented.”

I growled.

He was speaking of all the mishaps along the way. He heard most of the stories. My miresa talked about them animatedly.How she fell from the balcony when we first met, how she could evade me and sneak off into the night, and about my poor knot-tying. Yes, she put fuel to the fire on those. My orgamo laughed with her, but when she wasn’t looking, I got a look of contempt.

Failure.

Yes, I knew I was.

“You are lucky to have her. She is a wild one.” He stoked the fire. “Now that you are in the Wood, you will need help to watch her as you finish your cabin.”

I perked my head up at that. Didn’t he say he was ready to meet Ogamie?

“Wha—”

“Hush, orcling. Yes, you are an orcling.” He waved a stick in front of my face. “You possess a precious gift. I will help you, for a time,” he sighed heavily, “to get your cabin ready, learn how to tie a proper knot to keep your mate in place, and orcling-proof your home.” He put both his hands on his thighs and sat up straight. “Then I will go meet my Lash.”

I shook my head. “What do you mean, go meet Ogamie? I don’t understand, fully?”

Orgamo rubbed his hand up and down his face. “You understand, but you want me to say it don’t you?” he huffed. “While you have been away, Zarfu, Eman and I have had dreams of Lash. She is our miresa in every way. We will have no other. She is ours and we will share her even in the stars, no matter how hard it is with our animalistic desires to not share her. It has been hard being apart from her, you know this.”

I nodded and held my miresa tighter. My seeded orgamo and two other orgamos shared her. She chose them, but it was not chosen by the Moon Fairy. When the Moon Fairy came to the orcs so many years ago, she gave the orcs a choice, even the elders. They could remain with the females that chose them or have a new female all to themselves and to be bonded. My clanchose to stay with their ogamie and bond with her once they passed.

The orgamos would stay until they were no longer needed by their seeded, but I—I never thought it would be so soon.

“I’m not leaving yet, Valpar.” My orgamo said. “You need me and your miresa needs me.” He smiled down at my female. “I wish to know her before I depart this Wood. Zarfu did that before he left.”

During our earlier conversation, my orgamo mentioned that Zarfu, Thorn’s seeded, had passed to the stars. It wasn’t peaceful. He helped fight an ogre, but his memory would live on, especially since he died a warrior’s death. He was now with our ogamie.

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