Page 157 of Ironling
The ranks of the attackers broke.
Shouts rang out, a voice he recognized. It made the mercenaries hesitate, turn back, retreat.
Hakon roared at their fleeing forms, daring them to try.
Fight me! Fear me!
He would kill all of them, every single one for threatening his mate and their home. The offense could not stand; they had to pay for their insolence with their blood.
Hakon felt his mate moving beneath him, and he flexed his feet, tightening his hold on her.
He wouldn’t let her go. She was his, his to protect and feed and fuck. He’d defeat every male here if he must, for she was his mate.His.
Bodies gathered round them again, though they kept further back this time. He might have recognized the voices now, but nothing penetrated the red haze that encrusted his mind.
Hakon bared his tusks and raised his hammer.
Aislinn.
They said his mate’s name.
Aislinn.
Her hands moved over his calves, and he felt her wriggling out from under him. Despite trying to keep her low to the ground, she gained her feet, forcing him to watch both her and their enemies.
Growling in frustration, he crushed her to his chest with the arm of his knife-wielding hand. She groaned under the pressure, but for a moment he didn’t care. She wasn’t allowed to leave him. He’d hold onto her unto death.
Her hands searched his chest, and a noise of despair left her throat.
She spoke to him, her face turned up to his. He recognized the pleading in her voice, that she said his name.
The rage shuddered but did not give.
There were still enemies about. He could smell other male orcs and the blood. He needed their blood to make his mate safe.
He shook, and for the first time, he was aware of the agony in his body. His arms trembled with the effort of holding his weapons aloft. His wounds stung as blood seeped from the sliced skin.
“Hakon, please.”
Her voice called to him, and with a quaking breath, his gaze finally fell to hers.
She reached up to take his face in her hands. Although she wore gloves, he could feel her softness. She exuded it, her eyes wide and luminous and desperate.
“It’s all right,” she crooned. “We’re safe. We’ve done it.”
Hakon shook his head.
The males—the blood—
“I’m safe,” she whispered to him. She rose to her toes to kisshis chin. “You kept me safe.”
Of course he did. She was his mate, hisvinya.He would give his life to her, in battle, in service, in all ways.
He’d promised her as much.
Tears slid down her face, something he couldn’t abide. Never.
“Come back to me. Please don’t leave me alone.”
