Chapter 18

Ican’t deny it. Simka is everything, the culmination of my whole long life, of every hardship and struggle, and even the small victories. She’s my missing piece, my other half. I can sense her heart, fiery and free, inside mine as she sews up all my damaged edges, knitting them neatly back together. When I roll over, my cock still buried inside her, a pained mewl tumbles out of her mouth, and I kiss it away. Then, slowly, I withdraw, spilling my seed all over the furs.

As hard as I try not to think about what it might do inside her, I can’t help the pride that sweeps through me. What if I do plant a whelp in my Simka? My cock twitches at the idea of my wild, round-faced woman in her fur coat, swelled up with me, her perfect, round breasts leaking milk while I suck on them. I think of my former lieutenant, walking around the marketplace with his orc daughter on his shoulders, and I wonder if our whelp will come out looking like me or like her.

I crush her tight against me and draw the furs up over us, twining our legs together. She settles into the crook of my shoulder, still drawing heavy, gasping breaths. I imagine the rest of our lives, my cock sliding in and out of her, and already I want her again. The weeks of holding it all in have built up into a storm, but her small, soft body will need time to recover.

I want to say something, to sweep away all the resentment and fear between us, but when I look down, I find Simka is already asleep. So I lean my head against hers, angling my face so I don’t spear her with my good tusk, and let my eyes fall closed.

For the first time in my life, I feel peace.

* * *

Night has fallen by the time I wake up. Strangely, my arms are empty, and a wave of panic washes over me.

My mate. Where did she go? I sit up, panting, wondering if she’s changed her mind and left me.

Then the tent flap opens and Simka steps inside, carrying our dinner. “It’s cold,” she says, “but Vavi saved us some.” She sets it on the table and returns to the bed, peeling the furs back to climb in next to me. She winces as she adjusts her legs, and I draw a hand down her cheek. The world around us dissipates until she’s all I can see.

I want to tell her what she means to me, how I’ve spent my whole life looking for her, but I don’t want to press her. This truce between us is fragile. I’ll have to work hard to earn back her trust, but I will succeed. I’ll spend the rest of my life showing her what she means to me, how she’s the only reason I still exist. I nuzzle my face in her hair, filling up my nose with the perfect smell of her.

Once I’m certain Simka is asleep again, I bundle her up tight in the furs and climb out of bed. Some air will do me good. I snatch a few pieces of cold food off the plate before shrugging on my jacket and cloak and heading out into the night.

Torches are lit around the camp, and for the first time, I can pick out the fresh smell of the snow, the whisper of the cold, starry sky, and the tang of burning wood. Everything feels new, as if I’m a whelp again myself.

I stand there, breathing in the frigid air, my eyes closed—until a voice startles me.

“Good to see you up and about, corporal.” Gorren wears a huge smirk, and I know then that the entire camp heard us fucking earlier. Simka was not quiet, and I have my doubts she ever will be. No, not my mountain woman. She will tell the entire world when I pleasure her, and I relish the thought.

I cross my arms. “Once you’re done being smug, tell me what you want.”

He laughs heartily. “Well, in a day or two I want to see you in my tent. We have a lot to talk about. But until then…” He points off in the direction of the peak. “The hot spring. You should take her there.”

“Hot spring?” I ask.

“There’s a cave that leads into the mountain, and inside is a hot spring. It’s a good place to mend your bond.”

That means leaving the camp. I quirk an eyebrow at this bold suggestion.

“I trust you won’t leave now,” Gorren says, and I want to wipe that knowing grin right off his face. “I’ll have one of the guards show you the way.”

With that, he waves at me and departs for the leader’s tent.

I know I can’t return to my post in Morgenzan, among the city guard—not with a human mate of my own. I watched how society treated my captain and my lieutenant when they took the leap to be together, and I don’t want that for Simka. She deserves to be accepted, to be free to live her life, and this may be the only place in this whole idiotic world we can possibly do that.

If I want Simka at my side, and still keep my head, I really have no choice but to give the orcs what they want.

* * *