Chapter 43

Embers crackle in the fireplace as night draws on. I stare into the dancing flames as Zog paces back and forth, crossing the council room over and over.

All I want is to go to bed with my woman and feel her climax around my cock. All I want is some peace.

Why does it keep slipping through my fingers?

"We must strike at the Wolfbone Clan." Zog's voice cuts through the quiet in the room, bolder than usual.

I don't meet his eyes. We've been through this before. We've discussed this several nights this past moon, in this very place, after everyone had already left.

"Defense is our strength," I counter like every other time, my voice steady. "Our walls will hold as they held before. We mustn't seek war. If we do, we'll be fully inviting Shagrat for battle." And if we do that, he'll have reason to make allies so they can come at us. Orc should not fight Orc, and the only reason no other clan has gotten involved is because this is not an open war yet.

Zog doesn't agree, of course. He's always been collected and attentive, but now his eyes widen at me.

"Shagrat and his curs will keep gnawing at us!" His hands close into fists, a warrior's stance brimming with contained fury. Zog clenches his jaw as he stares at me. "If they have a way in, then the walls are no use."

"We find the mole and our walls become impenetrable. Just as it used to be." My gaze remains locked on the flickering shadows, but my heart pounds with a new fear.

My head is filled with images of Violet and Eirik—vulnerable and fragile amidst the clash of steel. Orcs can fight. Every orc can fight once we're big enough to hold swords. We can defend ourselves.

Violet can't. Eirik can't. And I have come to love the two too much to put them at risk. If we go after the Wolfbone Clan and start a war, I'm not sure we can hold against an alliance of clans.

"Your hesitance risks lives. The clan bleeds!" Zog spits, his teeth bared, his eyes full of anguish. I don't think I've ever seen Zog this out of sorts.

I lean forward. "We will not risk war."

Zog's shoulders drop. We stare at one another in a silent stand-off. I know he would never openly defy me, but I had never seen him this angry, either.

"Violet softens you, Thorn." Zog's eyes narrow, a glint of challenge in them. His words are a knife to my chest. "We pay in blood for the affection of outsiders once more. I thought we had learned with Thistle."

Roaring to my feet, I let the chair clatter behind me. "Enough!"

The silence that grows between my right-hand man and me is charged. I never thought Zog would go against me like this. The orc I trust the most.

"Perhaps that's what you need," Zog says, his voice flat once more, "a dose of enough."

"Get. Out." My command reverberates off the tall ceilings. Anger curls inside me and I do not need more infighting.

Zog bows, his movements measured. He strides toward the door and swings it open.

Violet stands in the doorway, her amber eyes wide with concern. Eirik coos at Zog, but my right-hand man does nothing in response.

"Sorry, I…" Violet clears her throat. "Thorn didn't show up for dinner, so I came after him... I didn't mean..."

Zog breezes past her without a sound, entirely ignoring her presence.

Violet gazes up at me. Words fail me, my tongue tied by the dread knotting my stomach. What did she hear? How much?

Her expression shifts, hurt blooming, her eyes watering. And I know it. I know she heard it all.

Without a word, Violet turns, fleeing down the corridor, Eirik bouncing in her arms. I don't have the heart to ask her to wait.

Because Zog is right, and maybe my love for an outsider might be the end of us.