Page 32 of Claimed By the Wild Orc
We heardthem before we saw them: hoofbeats, the thump of boots on dirt, gruff voices.
I stepped outside the cave, shielding her with my body, arms loose at my sides.
Twelve men broke through the trees, eyes scanning the rocks and brush until they landed on me.
“Mira Ross!” one of them shouted, a younger one. “By the baron’s order, you’re to return at once.”
She stepped from behind me.
“I’m here,” she said. Her voice didn’t shake. “I’m not hiding. And I’m not going back.”
“Thank the gods,” another man muttered, having dismounted. He walked forward, seeming not to comprehendwhat my Mira was saying. He moved closer, ignoring me—at his peril. “Has he harmed you? Don’t fear. We’ll take him down. Get her.”
And then, sword drawn, he reached for her.
Almost got within arm’s length of her.
And I saw red.
No one touched what was mine.
The growl tore from my throat before I moved. But once I moved, it was over in a heartbeat.
The soldier was on the ground, choking on blood, before the others even reached for their swords.
Mira gasped behind me, but I couldn’t stop. Wouldn’t.
Because now they knew.
And so did I.
There would be no mercy.
They wanted a monster?
They wouldgetone.
MIRA
It happened so fast I could barely track the movement. One blink, and Gorran had launched forward, a snarl tearing from his throat like thunder. Steel met flesh. The soldier who touched me dropped with a gurgled cry, his arm bent at a sickening angle, blood blooming across his chestplate.
The others shouted and drew weapons: long swords, heavy axes, even a crossbow and bolts.
But they didn’t stand a chance.
Gorran was fury in motion: blades flashing, fists smashing into armor, bodies thrown against trees like dolls. The forest echoed with the clash of metal and bone, the screams of men who came to collect and found a reckoning instead.
I stood frozen at the edge of the cave, breath lodged in my throat. This was no mere brute. This was war personified.
He didn’t just fight, hedanced, his massive form weaving through the chaos with terrifying grace. One man tried to come at him from behind; Gorran turned with inhuman speed and slammed his elbow into the soldier’s jaw, sending him crumpling to the dirt, helmet cracked open.
He could’ve killed them. All of them.
But he didn’t.
Instead, he left them broken. Bloodied. Terrified. And alive.
Just barely.
