Page 175 of The Orc's Captive Bride
Progress. I’m inside the circle. Closer.
But the mist remained impenetrable.
Come on. Where are you? Give me a sign. Anything.
The bond pulsed urgently, almost frantic. Something was happening. Something was wrong. He roared her name again, fury and desperation combined.
“Enough.”
The voice came from everywhere and nowhere. Male. Ancient. Harsh as grinding stone. Not Freya. Someone else. Something else.
He spun, searching for the source.
“Where is she? What have you done with her?”
“She made her choice. Accepted her fate. You have no place here, orc.”
“The hell I don’t. She’s my mate.”
“A bond forged in mortal flesh. Meaningless against divine purpose.”
“Meaningless?” His Beast surged, close to taking over. “She’s everything. You can’t have her.”
“Cannot? You dare dictate terms to gods?”
“I dare whatever it takes to protect what’s mine.”
A long silence.
“Interesting. Most would flee. But you charge forward. Fool or hero? Perhaps both.”
“I don’t care what you think of me. I want Thea.”
“Want is irrelevant. She volunteered, offered herself willingly. Her sacrifice restores the balance.”
“Then take me instead,” he said immediately.
“You?”
“Yes. Whatever she offered, I’ll give it. Whatever price needs paying, I’ll pay it. Just let her go.”
Laughter rolled through the mist, not cruel, but not kind either.
“You don’t even know what you’re offering. What the cost entails.”
“I don’t care.”
“She becomes a vessel, a conduit for divine power. Lost to herself and her world until the restoration is complete. That could be years. Decades. Centuries.”
The words hit like blows, each one worse than the last.
But his answer didn’t change.
“Then make me the vessel. I’ll do it. Willingly. Just spare her.”
“Why? You barely know her. Met her less than a moon ago. Why sacrifice everything for someone so newly entered into your life?”
“Because she’s mine.” The words came from somewhere deep inside him. “Because she saw me—the monster Lasseran created—and chose me anyway. Because she gave me hope when I had none. Purpose when I felt lost. Because she deserves a future and I’ll be damned if I let you steal it from her.”
