Chapter 15

ATOX IM GRAK

My fingers absentmindedly twirl a knife as I make my way through the tunnels of Mount Racha.

“Grak,” one of the younger warriors greets as he flattens himself against the rock in a tight corridor so I may pass.

I stop and run my eyes over him. He’s not wearing his weapons harness as he should at all times, even in the tunnels. A warrior must always be prepared. I merely grunt and continue down the passage.

My behavior of late makes me question if I’ve lost who I am, if I’ve become weak as a grak. I remained hard all day and night after pleasuring her by the river yesterday and had to find relief with my own hand while she slept.

Instead of taking what is mine, or demanding it, I lay next to a female, one with a sweet wet cunt and an even sweeter mouth that would look glorious wrapped around my cock. Vekk, I used my own hand.

Weak.

My father would thrash me.

I’ve been too lenient with her.

But I refuse to be like Narzik The Cruel.

My people watch how I handle her. I do not wish to break her spirit, but I will not wait much longer for her to accept me.

Riding a gorja, sparring with my warriors… everything I do on a daily basis cannot be done with a hard cock. She will learn to take it soon, and often, so I may focus on my duties as grak.

As I exit the mountain, I wonder why I set the light disks to a dim setting for when she wakes. Another orc would leave them off, to ensure his female overcame her fear of the dark.

Weak, Atox. You’re as weak as your mother.

My father’s words plague me as I spot my sister working alongside a dozen females cooking the morning meal. After my warriors eat and leave for their duties, the rest of my people will eat. Ossa is a natural leader, more so than me, and manages many of the females and males who aren’t warriors.

“Ossa,” I call her over to me.

Perhaps my mate will take over for Ossa one day so my sister can find another mate. Despite the six seasons between us, she is still a beautiful female, and we have several older males in our numbers who could handle her.

I quickly dismiss this idea because I cannot picture Paloma giving orders like Ossa, especially to orcs twice her size. Ossa knows how to stand up to the largest and meanest of warriors. She trained for it, by surviving our father.

While Paloma has spirit, she cares not for me or my people. She cannot speak our language. If she had a language chip… No, even then, I cannot see her managing any orcs here, male or female.

Vekk, I’m trying to make my female fit in by considering what job would suit her, when the only job I need her to perform is bearing my younglings. I don’t care whether she does chores or not, but as the mate of a grak, my people will expect her to work as hard as they do.

“You don’t look pleased, Atox,” Ossa says as she approaches. “Did the female not satisfy you in bed?”

“That is none of your concern.”

“You brought a human to our settlement and plan to bring more. They are fragile, pathetic beings who will weaken us. That makes it my concern.”

“Enough, Ossa. We’ve had this discussion before. The female is here and here she will remain. She is mine, and you will treat her as you would any other orc.” I eye Ossa and rethink my words. “You will treat her better than you treat other orcs.”

My sister doesn’t muffle the beginning of a growl forming in her throat. She’s never been one to hide her feelings, around me or any other. Except our father. Ossa is brash, pushy, stubborn, but she is not stupid.

“I will be gone most of the day. When I am not here, you will watch over my female and help her acclimate.”

“I already have enough duties. I do not have time to chase one foolish human around to keep her from hurting herself.”

“She is but one small female, Ossa.”

“You want her, you help her.”

Only Ossa would dare talk to me like this, but as grak I don’t have to listen to her. The reverse is not the same. “You will do as ordered.”

No growl this time as movement by our mountain’s southern entrance catches her attention. “Your female has eyes for another, brother.”

My female follows Zendar out from the mountain. My warrior walks a few steps ahead of her, glancing over his shoulder more than once. He’s shortened his stride. I’ve caught Zendar watching the human females in Pen’Kesh more than once.

A growl leaves my throat before I realize I’m heading straight for him. “Zendar, you are late for your duties.”

His eyes rake over my female and in seconds I have him flat on his back with my knife at his throat. “She is my mate, Zendar. This is the only warning I’ll give you to keep your distance from her.”

Zendar is one of my best fighters, and the one with the least discipline. That’s what makes him such a good fighter. But he knows better than to challenge me, especially when it is over a female I’ve declared mine.

“I will not touch her, Grak. She looked familiar.”

Like the female he’d seen in Pen’Kesh, no doubt. No, that one had golden hair and a tiny form, no bigger than a youngling. She’d break beneath him. Vekk, I’m still not convinced my female won’t break beneath me.

A hand lightly touches my back. Paloma.

“Atox… I mean Grak, is everything okay?”

She heard everything, as I’d spoken in her tongue. I want her as well as Zendar to know she is mine and I won’t tolerate any other male touching her. After sheathing my knife, I extend a hand to help Zendar up and show him the matter is done. He’s given me his word as a warrior.

“You see, Atox, already she causes trouble,” Ossa says in Orcan.

Paloma’s body stiffens. She can’t understand Ossa’s words, but she heard the disgust in my sister’s voice.

“Do not get on my bad side, Ossa.”

Ossa huffs as she crosses her arms over her chest. “You think I’m afraid of your bad side, brother? You forget we have the same father.”

I let her walk away without another word. I swear she throws our father’s name in my face to put me in my place, but she suffered almost as much as me so I say nothing to her.

“Is she one of your past lovers?” Paloma asks beside me.

I turn swiftly to her, still raw from how Zendar’s eyes roamed her delectable body. A mate has the right to ask anything of her male, but despite my declaration to Zendar, she is not my mate yet. Not until the risha. She will bear my younglings, there is no doubt in my mind, but be my graka, the female who will rule beside me? I cannot envision this.

Zendar and Ossa don’t see Paloma as my mate because I myself don’t see this in my future.

Paloma lays her hand on my arm. “Atox?”

“Grak, female. Do not call me Atox again without my permission. As for Ossa, she manages the inner workings of our camp. She organizes and assigns the women, children, and non-warriors for everything from hunting to cooking. My warriors are in charge of weapons, security, and training the gorjas. You will defer to what Ossa says at all times and follow her orders as you would mine.”

“Is that why she gets to call you Atox instead of Grak?” Paloma folds her arms over her chest. “Because she manages the settlement in your absence?”

“Only those who have earned it may use my personal name. Ossa and Verig are among them.”

“But not me.”

“No.”

“And yet you expect me to sleep with you and give you children.”

“Yes.”

“You don’t want a mate. You want a broodmare. I’m no animal, existing for the purpose of having babies. If that’s how you plan to treat me, I’ll never respect you. You’ll be nothing more than my captor, my abuser, and I’ll do everything to fight you. I’ll never stop fighting you, Orc.” She walks away without being dismissed. The anger rises in me too quickly this time.

This constant disrespect will end. Now.

In two strides, I catch up to her and grab her by her arm. “You continue to challenge me. This is unacceptable.”

“You’re exactly like the vints. Taking women who don’t belong to you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The vints kidnapped Lily. Probably because your warrior seduced her and made her look like an easy target.”

I remember that day vividly. Four months ago, my warrior Ryko claimed a human female against my orders. It was the same day I’d seen Paloma for the first time. She worked at the humans’ produce stall in Pen’Kesh. I’d spent hours with the insufferable males from New Earth, negotiating the treaty wherein my warriors would protect the humans along the border they share with the vints and in exchange we would receive females. We were close to reaching an agreement, which is why I had given Ryko strict orders to stay away from their females.

Before we finalized the agreement, Ryko led one of their females away from the market, to mate. And then the vints attacked him and the female. I wonder how much my female knows about that day and what lies her people told her.

What lies I must tell her, to protect the treaty.

“You cannot blame us for what the vints did. They attacked. My warrior protected the female.”

“That female had a name. Lily. And your warrior made her look weak.”

“Females are weak by their very nature. Especially human females.”

“If it wasn’t for your tusks and lack of a tail, you could be a vint!”

“We are nothing like the vints!” I shout back at her, losing my temper because my female should be obeying me, not arguing with me. “We don’t kill females who don’t cooperate, or you’d be dead by now.”

“Lily’s… dead? They killed her?” Her face pales. “We thought she’d been captured, as part of the feud. Forced to be with them, like you’re forcing me.”

Vekk, I hadn’t meant to say that. I can’t backtrack, not without risking so much of what I’ve done.

The more I watch my female, the more her body shakes. I’ve vekked up this entire situation. I run my hand over the knives on my chest harness, considering how best to convince her that I am no threat to her. Even if I must punish her, I would never let true harm come to her. I need her.

“I won’t force you. Or kill you,” I say in the calmest, most controlled voice I can.

Despite my frustration, I don’t like seeing this female fear anything, not when I know she has great strength in her. It is that strength I seek to foster but I do not know what motivates humans.

My female slumps to the ground. “Lily’s dead… I should have done something different.”

“You were not in charge of her that day. The human male?—”

“Owen,” she says with a sneer that I believe is directed at the human male, not me.

“Yes, that one, the male who smells like dung and has the brains to match. He took the female from the market and left without the guards that always accompany your people to and from Pen’Kesh.”

“Owen had to leave the other guards in Pen’Kesh to watch over me and the other women. He thought he’d be fine protecting Lily on his own.”

“Even though he was not trained as a guard?”

“We’ve never had an issue traveling between our colony and Pen’Kesh before. The guards only accompany us to keep us safe in Pen’Kesh.”

“Your people erred twice, both in underestimating when and where the dangers are on Kovos and in allowing an untrained male to guard a female. Either way, it was his decision to leave alone and his responsibility to protect her.”

“I should have talked to Owen. Reasoned with him to wait until we were ready to leave as a group.”

“What happened was none of your doing.”

“Then whose was it?” my female asks as she rises, her body shaking with anger. “And don’t you dare blame this on Lily. She was young and easily swayed. I understand why she went off with your warrior. He was probably the only one who ever gave her any attention at all. My people ignored her. If I had spent more time with her and gained her trust enough to open up to me, I could have prevented her from going with him.”

I too could have done more to prevent the situation. I witnessed my warrior watching the female with the curly hair. She avoided direct eye contact with him, but when he turned away, she watched him with longing… the way I wish my female would look at me.

I now understand the appeal she held for Ryko. But Ryko is no longer here for me to seek his advice on human females. Not that I would retract his punishment. He disobeyed my orders and will remain an outcast until he proves himself worthy of returning.

“Your human friends are no longer your concern,” I say, to give her direction and alleviate any sense of regret she has for what cannot be changed.

“You can force me to do practically anything, but you can’t control my heart or my thoughts.”

“I will not waste my time with a difficult female.”

“Then let me leave.”

“Perhaps you deserve another punishment.”

“Does your word mean nothing, Grak? You promised never to hurt me again.”

Vekk, I did promise that, though I still don’t see how my punishment hurt her. I left no marks on her ass like the cuts I left on Sojek’s cheek. I’d cut him twice in anger, to teach him a lesson the way my father had taught me.

That thought unsettles me.

I am not my father.

And yet I use his tactics.

I toss her over my shoulder and march back to my chamber, the anger of those memories building even as she slams her fists against my back.

“I will not hurt you, but you will cede to my will, female.”