Chapter 32

PALOMA

“How long are the warriors usually gone?” I ask by the fire at the base of Mount Racha where I share a meal with Ossa and her kids.

“As long as it takes to hunt,” little Evve replies as she sinks her teeth into a piece of meat that takes me a long time to chew before swallowing. They really don’t know the concept of tenderizing their meat here, but with their sharp teeth, they don’t need to.

“It depends on what they are hunting,” Ossa adds in a darker voice, catching my attention.

“Oh.” I hadn’t thought about that. Atox left here because of intruders, but after a full week without hearing from him, my worry grows. I imagined a quick encounter, with Atox and his warriors defeating whoever trespassed into orc territory. “What if?—”

“They are fine,” Ossa cuts me off, her eyes quickly scanning her children. I’ve never asked what happened to her husband, but it’s clear this isn’t appropriate conversation in front of the children.

The dull thud of hooves striking the ground draw our attention. I jump up, eager to see Atox, only to realize it’s Sojek and a guard returning with a cartload of supplies from Pen’Kesh.

The young orc unhooks the gorja from the cart and leaves him to graze on the dried brush while he joins us at the fire.

“You do not eat until you complete your work,” Ossa says, her tone harsher than I’ve heard her take with him before.

“I’m only delivering a note to the graka.” He gestures toward me.

“Graka? Why aren’t you calling me Paloma?”

“It’s your title now that you performed the risha with Atox.”

“Did Atox not tell you?” Ossa says, then waves her hand.

“He told me. But I thought…” I shrug. “I didn’t think it really meant anything, that it was Atox’s way of telling me he considers me his partner, his equal even.”

“Ha! A grak thinking anyone equal to him is absurd!” Ossa laughs. “A strong graka will find ways to make herself equal, whether he approves or not.”

My eyes widen at her words.

“All while not letting him know it, Graka.” Ossa’s lip curls back into a grin.

I have a feeling she’s already put this theory into practice. “Perhaps you will give me some pointers?”

“You will find your way if you remember one thing.”

“What?”

“My brother remembers the most minute of details when it comes to what he considers important.”

My heart sinks a little.

“Our graka is important,” Duvik, Ossa’s sixteen-year-old son, says.

Ossa cups the back of her son’s head. “Yes, she is. And she will learn how to remove the hood from your uncle’s head.”

“Hood?” I ask.

“When a male doesn’t listen to his female, we say he’s wearing a hood… like those used to train gorjas. The hood remains on the gorja until it learns to trust that rider. A trained gorja will jump on command, even with the hood on, because it has learned to trust its rider.”

I smile. “Being mated takes getting used to. Are there any responsibilities that come with being a graka?”

“Officially, pleasing and supporting the grak,” Ossa says.

“And unofficially?”

“That is up to you. You hold more power than you realize here, Graka. You control our Grak, as much as he can be controlled that is.”

“I never sought power.”

“And yet you have it.”

There’s expectation in those few words. To make her and their… our… people proud.

No wonder Atox is so decisive, so fierce. He has the responsibility of all his people on his shoulders. How does he not collapse under the strain of leadership?

Sojek hands me a folded piece of paper, taking me out of my thoughts. The smooth surface of parchment makes me wonder who can afford such a luxury to contact me like this. I never appreciated paper back on Earth but there are no paper mills here. We own a few datapads for record keeping and teaching the kids born in New Earth, but that’s it.

“Who gave this to you?”

“A male in Pen’Kesh asked if I know where to find the human female among our people. He paid me to deliver this note to you.”

When I open the note, I recognize Camila’s handwriting immediately, including the little smiley face over the ‘i’ in her name.

Dear Pom-Pom, we all miss you, especially me! Ha! I get to say that because I’m writing the letter, so you know Marta will roll her eyes at me when she reads this over.

God, I miss them so much. Just reading Cami’s nickname for me strikes deep, a part of me that I walled off when I was sold. I thought they didn’t care but they do. They were as powerless as I was to stop my father from selling me.

“It’s from my sister Camila. She misses me.”

“My younglings have been fortunate to be together. I haven’t seen my younger brother Baxen since before we fled Orcos.”

“Atox said the cendagi programmed their ships to take everyone to Kovos. Are you saying they may have sent your brother’s ship elsewhere?”

“It’s a possibility. Like Atox, I don’t trust the cendagi. Baxen is resilient. If he is alive, he will come. Even if it takes him a lifetime.”

For Ossa’s and Atox’s sake, I hope he’s alive.

“Read the rest of your letter,” Ossa says.

This feels like some old-fashioned war movie where the soldiers read their letters aloud to one another in a fox hole. “It says… oh! Cami is going to be working in Pen’Kesh five days from now and hopes I can meet her there.” I press the letter to my heart. “Sojek, when are you going to Pen’Kesh again? And please tell me you’re going in five days.”

He looks to his mother.

“Do not lie to the graka,” Ossa warns.

Sojek’s eyes meet mine. “I can return anytime this week, but I do not have permission to take you.”

“Can I go on my own then? I think I remember the route.” That’s a total lie, but I can’t miss this opportunity to see Cami.

“Not without an escort,” Sojek answers.

“If Atox returns before then and says yes, will you take me?”

“I won’t refuse an order.”

“This is a request.”

“From our grak, it would be an order. And he would send one or more guards for your safety. Not mine. After what happened the first time you rode in the back of my cart, he won’t trust me with your life.”

“The guards would be for your safety, too, I’m sure,” I say, hoping to make him feel valued, because he is, even if Atox doesn’t know how to show it. “Do you fear him, Sojek?”

The young orc’s eyes move to his mother, but she remains silent. The question is for him to answer. His silence says enough.

“Then I’ll find another way.” Putting pressure on my nephew—hey, I have a nephew, two in fact, and a niece!—isn’t fair. “Don’t fear Atox. He’s trying to balance all his duties, to his people and his family. Stand up to him.”

“That will get Sojek killed,” Duvik says. The teen doesn’t talk much but when he does… wow… his words pack a punch.

“Atox wouldn’t kill a kid, or a young man like Sojek who’s working hard.”

“You don’t know our grak when he’s mad,” Duvik says.

His words stun me. Atox’s family is scared of him. Except Ossa. But she lived with a tyrant for a father and has seen true evil, enough to understand the difference.

I feel sorry for Atox in that moment and decide then and there to mend this family. But first, I need to mend my own, and that means getting to Pen’Kesh.

ATOX IM GRAK

I return to Mount Racha,with two dozen warriors riding in my wake. I’m not sure how I’ll explain to my mate what is to come. The humans backed out of the treaty, stating we deceived them. They claimed my warriors failed to protect them.

“Tell the men they have three days’ rest to spend as they like, but no one is to leave our territory.”

“Yes, Grak.” Verig steers his mount toward the warriors riding in single file behind us.

Right now, I want to see my female. My mind and body both need rest from five days of riding, the stress of restraining myself from gutting the humans and confusion as to what caused this divide.

I’d expected to return with females, not the contingent of warriors I’d left to protect the humans. With no explanation, the humans pulled out of the treaty, refusing to give us the five females agreed upon at the end of the first two months. Then they ordered me to remove my warriors from their lands, with no chance at earning the other ten females at the end of the year.

My warriors did not fail. The breach in the wall the humans showed us was contrived. I’m certain of it, but I could not prove it. I will not let this duplicity go unanswered.

We have a reputation as fierce fighters, one I must uphold. But first, I need to understand what’s happened. Something else is going on here, something I cannot see.

Before I dismount Caju, a sweet laughter travels the night air despite the late hour. My female. The scent filling my lungs confirms she’s here, at the fires, talking among my people. They’ve accepted her, and she’s accepted them. Already, my heart feels lighter.

I hand the reins of my gorja to Sojek, who left one of the fires when he heard the hooves of the gorjas. “Where is your graka?”

“With my mother and siblings.”

“What do you think of her, Sojek?”

His eyes grow wide, and he grinds his tusks against his lip, debating how to answer, much like I did standing before my grak at his age. I don’t need to hear his opinion of my female. His reaction tells me what I truly wanted to learn; how he feels about me.

“See to Caju and the other gorjas. You may have the next three days to rest, along with the other warriors.”

“But I am not a warrior, Grak.”

“You work as hard as any warrior, which makes you as worthy. You deserve similar rewards.” I squeeze his shoulder. “Go.”

With a slight curl to his lip, flashing the full length of his left tusk, he runs off toward a fire in the distance, where the young males congregate out of the view of their families. A second young male races off with him to collect the gorjas from the returning warriors.

“Atox!” Paloma shouts with glee from across the camp. She runs to me and jumps into my arms. Squeezing her, pressing my flesh to hers… Vekk, nothing has ever felt so good after being away for days. This is home. Not the mountain, but my female.

“It has been a long journey.”

Her lips capture mine, reminding me of the last time I held her. The risha. My hands slide under her ass, and I carry her past the evening fires, through the tunnels, eager to sink into her and forget all my worries.

“I missed you,” she says, wrapping her legs around my back. My cock hardens immediately.

When we enter our chamber, she taps my shoulders. “Put me down. I need to get you out of these dirty clothes.”

“Very good idea, mate.”

She removes my harness and carefully sets it on the table while I watch her lovely ass. When she turns, her brows pinch. “Everything okay? You seem distracted.”

Tomorrow we’ll speak. Right now, I only wish to feel her beneath me. “Tired.”

“Well, my grak, I recommend you just stand there and relax,” she says with a smile as she unties my pants and pulls them down my legs. My cock springs forth near her face as she removes my boots and I step out of my pants. When her eyes drift up, she licks her lips and takes my cock in her hand.

I’m amazed that this is the same female who avoided my touch and feared me when I first brought her here. Her tongue swirls around my tip and I have no blood left with which to think. It’s all gone straight to my cock.

She trails her tongue down my length, teasing me before opening her mouth. Just as I’m ready to push between those plump lips, she sucks on her finger. Those expressive eyes grab me, not unlike her hand.

Vekk, this female will be the end of me.

“You would keep me waiting, female?”

Her finger pops out of her mouth. “Definitely, my grak.”

“Open,” I order.

“Of course.” She opens her mouth, and sucks on that same finger, sending blood rushing to my cock. With a laugh that lifts my spirits, she pulls her finger out and wraps her lips around the tip of my cock.

Only her fingernails digging into my ass remind me to deny my urge to thrust. I want to see what she can do. I’m starting to learn that giving her control is often a benefit to me. And my people. She is so much more than I expected from a human mate.

Paloma takes me farther into her mouth.

Vekking good. So warm and wet. A true luxury.

My hands sink into her hair and I rock into her until my cock touches the back of her throat.

Her hands suddenly brace against my thighs and she pushes off me.

“You will swallow me, female. All of me.”

Her eyes find me, and I see fear there. “If you knot me, I’ll suffocate.”

I release a breath. She doesn’t fear me, then, only knotting. It occurs to me how important she’s become to me, how I care that she doesn’t fear me. She is not the only one who has changed.

I run two fingers down the side of her face. “I could never do anything to harm you. A knot only happens inside a female’s cunt.”

“Really?”

“I would not lie to you, my mate.” Inside, my heart feels heavy. I have lied to her. About her former colony. Vekk, I’m not sure how to tell her about what is to come.

With a smile as beautiful as the rest of her, my mate places her mouth on me once again, taking me deeper than before. Her moans echo my own until I’m thrusting. With each strike at the back of her throat, images of what I must do to the human colony distract me.

When I spill my seed down her throat, she swallows it beautifully. I lift her off the floor and capture her lips with mine, tasting myself on her sweet tongue. One hand wanders down her body, eager to touch all that is mine. She’s incredibly wet. I’d love to taste her, but I do not want to move my lips from hers.

Instead, I circle, pinch, and tease that little nub at the juncture of her legs until she’s grinding against my hand. “That’s it, my graka. Seize your pleasure as you so richly deserve.”

A whimper escapes her as she reaches her peak and her head drops against my chest. I pick her up and she throws her arms around me.

“I love when you carry me.”

“I thought you hated it.”

“Only when you sling me over your shoulder like some animal you hunted and killed. But this…” Her finger follows the line of my jaw and then glides along a tusk. “This is perfect. I get to see you, talk with you.” She yawns. “Sorry. It’s been a long few days and I haven’t been sleeping well without you here.”

“Why?”

“Because you make me feel safe. It’s not that I fear your people, our people, Atox, but it’s not the same as being in your arms.”

I set her down on the bed and she sits up on her knees and wraps her arms around me. “I guess you’ll have to do all the work tonight, my grak.”

I run my nose along her neck up to her ear, breathing in her glorious scent. My cock is already hard again, but she stifles another yawn.

“Sleep, female. I want you rested when you take my cock. Tomorrow, we will spend the morning savoring one another.”

“I have a favor to ask,” she says.

I tumble her into my lap so I may see her face. “Is that why you sucked my cock? To curry favors from me?”

“Do you really think I’d do that?” Her eyes shine with playfulness.

“Yes. I do.”

She slaps my biceps, the strike light compared to how a female orc would hit a male, but she isn’t orc, not fully. I accept these differences now, even enjoy many of them, as she amuses and challenges me in her own way.

“You’re right. I’m not above using sex to get what I want.”

I growl.

She rolls her eyes, a cute sign of annoyance she sometimes makes when she’s in a good mood, such as now. “But only from you, my grak.”

“Good.” I squeeze her bottom. “What is this favor you want?”

“Sojek brought a note back from Pen’Kesh a few days ago. It’s from my sister Camilla. She’s working at the produce stands in two days. Sojek says he’ll take me, but only if you give me permission.”

“You have never mentioned any desire to see your sisters.”

Her smile falters. She doesn’t think I understand. Or care.

“Camila is my family, Atox. Like you and Ossa. And Ossa’s kids. When my people sold me to you, I thought…”

Her voice trails off until I stroke her cheek. “Do not be afraid to speak to me.”

“I thought I’d never be allowed to see them again. Now I can if you approve. Please, Atox, let me see my sister.”

The way she asks, with hope in her voice, makes it impossible to say no. As does thinking about my family. The loss of my brother Baxen left a hole in me long ago. That wound may never heal. If I knew where he was, I’d let nothing stand in my way of reaching him.

“I will take you to Pen’Kesh,” I say without delay.

“Really?” Her face lights.

My cock stirs with her excitement. No doubt remains. This female will indeed be the death of me with how easily she controls me. I can envision no better way to die than with her legs wrapped around me and my cock buried deep inside her. Dying a warrior’s death, in battle, would be a close second.

“I won’t keep you from those you care about.”

She throws her arms around me and presses her mouth to my ear. “I love you, Atox.”

Love. I don’t know how to respond to that.

I blow out air, as if her statement means nothing to me, though it does. I haven’t had much love in my life, except from my mother. Loving me resulted in her death. And Ossa has always stood by me.

“Is this sister old enough to mate? I have many unmated warriors.” It would be good for my female to have some of her kin here.

Paloma blinks twice, then her smile grows wider than I’ve ever seen. “All my sisters are old enough. And Cami, I mean Camila, she’s strong, resilient.”

“Like you?”

“Better than me.”

I cannot imagine that. “Then you will speak to her. If she wishes to come with us, she can choose any warrior. I will not force one on her.”

“That, my Atox, is why you are an excellent grak.”

“The human council broke the treaty. If they won’t give the remaining four females to us, then I will gladly entice them away any way I can.”

Her smile falls as she takes in what I’ve told her. “I’m sorry your plans are ruined, Atox, but I’m not sorry this treaty has fallen through. It was a bad idea form the start, and perhaps things will work out better for our people this way. Women who come willingly will adapt better, faster. They won’t feel betrayed by their own people.”

Like my female.

“There’s a shortage of males in New Earth. Maybe I can convince other women to come here voluntarily.”

“You would do this for me? For my people?”

“You mean our people, don’t you? And, yes. I will do anything for you.”

“I chose well in you, Graka. You are in charge of any females who come. Teaching them how to adapt to our ways and how to please my warriors.”

“And I’ll teach your warriors how to please the women.”

I grunt. I don’t know how she plans to do that, but I trust her to get it done. And it’s a good idea to teach my warriors about human females and their ways.

“You’ve changed, Atox,” she says, leaning her head against me.

I have not changed. She still doesn’t know what I plan, and I cannot tell her. She would object to my attacking the colony that was her home. Her sister might come with us willingly, and I will give my mate a chance to convince others, too, but if we end up with even one less female than we’d been promised, I will take what is owed to us by force.

And show the humans and the rest of Kovos that orcs are not to be crossed.