Page 7 of Halfling
The thought knifed through him with a cold burn, making him shiver with panic and rage.
He took the two last hurried steps to the woman and thudded onto his knees before her. She scrabbled backwards into the tent wall until she had nowhere to go, eyes wide with terror as if he was all her nightmares come to life, but he didn’t have time to feel guilty for scaring her. Neither did she.
“They bought you?” he asked in his mother’s tongue.
She gasped around the gag, gawking at his mouth.
He cleared his throat and tried again; it had been so many years since he’d used the human words.
“The orcs, they bought you?”
Shakily, she nodded once.
“Do you know why?”
A sharp breath before another slow nod. True terror colored her eyes, but Orek admired that she didn’t crumble under it. She met his gaze squarely, waiting to see what he’d say.
“You were brought here against your will?”
At this she shook her head wildly, a frown darkening her face. If she could, he thought she’d snarl at him.
That was enough for him. This human was captured, bought, and sold. She’d asked for none of it but would pay for all of it. Nobody deserved what Talon planned for her. Orcs liked to pretend that anything smaller than themselves was weaker and therefore worth less than them.
Orek knew better. A gnat bite could kill the strongest hunter.
He gazed down at her, balancing on the precipice. Did he dare?
His whole life had been the clan, even when his mother was here. He’d tried so desperately to be orc-kin, to be someone to them. He’d given them his blood, his strength, his loyalty, everything in him he had to give.
His guts twisted painfully to think of all he’d worked for in this clan. He didn’t have much, just a modest tent, but it was his and he’d earned it. The clan was all he’d ever known, and he had no illusions about the human realms. His mother hadn’t taken him for a reason. No human clan would accept him.
Could he risk his life, miserable as it was, for hers?
Yes,howled the beast inside him, its fangs gnashing. It couldn’t abide anything happening to this woman, growling so fiercely in Orek’s chest, he felt it vibrating in his throat. The response unnerved him, as did the flash of possessiveness over the woman.
Krul won’t have her.
The light shifted as someone walked by the tent, stirring the flaps. It was just enough to see the green of her eyes, like moss along the riverbank. She wasn’t as fearful now, instead watching him with a wary curiosity, and he met her gaze, hoping it told her what his tongue-tied mouth couldn’t.
He couldn’t let what happened to his mother happen again.
Perhaps he could help this human and not lose his clan entirely—just take her to the nearest humans and convince Krul he’d gone out hunting. It was optimistic, a dangerous thing for him to be, but he had to help this woman.
Silently, he undid the knot around her ankles and cast away the binds.
She watched him, staring at her freed legs, before shoving her hands at him.
He didn’t untie her, not yet. He took her hands between his and had to hide the shiver of pleasure at the feel of her soft, warm skin against his. It’d been a long time since he’d felt another’s touch in anything other than a slap or kick.
“Wait here,” he whispered, even as she frowned at him. “Stay silent.”
She grumbled behind the gag and glared.
Good. I’ll take her feisty over afraid.
He hurried out of the tent, hoping whoever had walked by didn’t know he should have been there.
Though night had fallen, the camp was bright and vivid compared to the dark of the tent. He could see the peak of the crackling bonfire at the center of camp, the sound and smell of sizzling boar making his stomach groan.
