Page 67 of Simon

“He is no pet,” I said and put my hand on Simon’s shoulder. “He was her companion; now he is a faun. I’m going to have to ask you to not call him a pet again.”

Thorn narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. “You’re female is foolish.”

I scoffed and matched his stance. Simon reached behind and grabbed my arm, squeezing it gently.

“I wouldn’t have brought my female here unless I needed to,” Simon said and blocked me from Thorn’s gaze. “But I need help from a witch. Your female might know where she is.”

Thorn rolled his eyes. “And why would we give you that—”

“Honeybuns!” Ellie called out. Thorn rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. “Would you move and let them come in? My gods! Don’t act like there is a stick up your butt.”

Simon relaxed his stance and snorted. “Honeybuns?”

I giggled along with him, and we both got a glare that could curdle milk. Thorn grunted and jerked his head toward the fire for us to follow.

He kept his eyes on us with his club at his side. It was the size of a whole tree limb, but it looked sturdy, considering he’d probably used it to bash so many things with it. There was no sign of rot, just tiny gashes of scars where brute force had been applied.

Thorn lifted the club, and my eyes followed. He took it in with both hands, bouncing it like a baseball player would do before he came to bat. “This is from the dragon scale tree.”

My eyes widened when he spoke. It was no longer accusing and harsh. “They are nearly impossible to destroy. I was lucky this branch had fallen at its own will. The gods gave it to me.”

The woman by the fire leaned her head back and sighed dramatically. “Are you talking about your big stick again?”

Thorn growled playfully—if that were a thing for an orc. His lip tilted up, and he gazed at her as if she was the one who brought up the light sources each day.

“Female, I’ll talk about my weapon for anyone willing to listen. This female seemed interested.”

I perked my head up and chirped, “Yes, I am interested in the stick. I’m interested in learning all about Monktona Wood. It’s my job. I’m Lucy, by the way.”

Ellie snorted a laugh. “I’m sure Thorn will love to tell you all about his stick. His is a little lumpy, though. I’m Ellie.”

I stuck out my hand and went running toward her. “It’s so great to meet you. I’m the new research scientist that—”

Thorn snarled and stomped in front of me. I heard Simon grunt, his hooves making a pounding noise on the soil. Before I knew what was happening, Simon had lowered his head and charged into Thorn with his horns.

Thorn grunted and stumbled backward. His eyes lit up, and he rubbed his stomach, staring down at Simon.

“Get away!” Simon bleated and ground his hooves into the dirt. He was ready to try and fight an orc who was at least a foot taller than him. Simon was also a slimmer build, but that didn’t take away from the fact that he was strong, too.

“Thorn!” Ellie yelled. “Get your cakey butt over here. Lucy isn’t going to hurt me or our child!”

“I will protect my miresa and my orcling, do not deny me that honor.” He balled his hands up into fists, but he turned and stomped over to the fire. He stood beside Ellie, still cuddling the mini version of Thorn.

I saw Simon, still filled with anger. He stomped his hoof and appeared that he was ready to charge again. I grabbed his hand to pull him back.

Seriously, males of this realm were something else. It was hot, don’t get me wrong, but it was kind of ridiculous.

“Simon,” I hissed. “Calm down, you are making Thorn grumpy.”

“Thorn is always grumpy,” Ellie smiled. “Comes with the whole ‘mated to an orc’ thing. Besides Sugha though, I think he is the only happy orc I’ve ever met.”

Simon’s face softened, and he squeezed my hand. “That is why we are here. He said you know of a witch that helped get you two together. I’m hoping to speak with her.”

“We both have questions,” I sighed. “And I want to know everything between you two and this cute little mister you have right here.” I bent over and smiled wildly at the little green orc baby.

“This is Kiah. He’s our son.” Thorn stood up, thrusting his chest out with pride. “Our firstborn, and there will be many more to come.”

Ellie shuddered. “Let me get over this one first. I still feel like my hips are just getting back to normal.”

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