9. Jarrus

I'd scented the woman's sweet mating scent long before I saw Kharag and his foul smelling hound. Her scent was easily tracked, getting stronger as I got closer. Or maybe she was nearing a fertile time or her mating time. Either way, the scent was going to be a problem for me. Minotaurs were susceptible to scent, and hers was particularly appealing to me, indicating that she probably was a mating match. Unfortunately, Kharag found her first, and she'd chosen him. If he'd been another minotaur, or anyone else really, I would have challenged him for her. But I'd known Kharag for many spans, fought with him through many battles, and had built a friendship with him that I would not betray, not even for a mate.

So I had decided not to attend the auction, knowing none of the other girls would select me except possibly this one and she was more interested in Kharag, seeing as he was more like her own kind. I had quietly celebrated while sitting in the tavern when I heard he had won her. That joy had turned to despair when I heard the goblin king was furious and vowed to steal her away. I couldn't let that lie, so I snuck out the back and ambushed his patrol. Goblins were easily defeated in small numbers, which was why they usually attacked in larger swarms. But he'd seeded nests of goblins around the town. I'd taken out a few in the more likely spots where I thought Kharag would depart from, hopefully giving him time to escape. The ploy had worked, giving them time and space. But only for a time.

I knew Kharag, knew his routes, so I was able to predict his path and come after him along a different path, so I would not lead goblins to his doorstep. I couldn't leave my friend to face them alone. Only I hadn't anticipated the impact his mate's scent would have on me.

Fighting goblins with an iron-hard cock was not high on my list of things to do. Usually I got battle lust after the fight, when I went looking for a willing female to slake my urges with, or my hand got the workout since females willing to lie with a minotaur were difficult to come by. But as I stood in the shadows along the path, with the hound, Nuar, across from me, I hoped my painfully erect cock wouldn't get in the way of slaying the goblins I could hear creeping along the path.

Noisy little fuckers. And smelly. I hated goblins. To be fair, most species did. They were nasty, dirty, deceptive little bastards, who would double-cross you in a minute, stabbing you in the back and stealing from you without a moment's remorse. Their self-appointed king, Azad, was no more than a crime boss, a thug, and was the worst of the lot.

Different species hired him and his clan to do their dirty work. Lately, the orc king had been hiring Azad to harass some of his orc lords, steal females, and create chaos across the realm. While the goblins lived outside the orc realm, as did the minotaurs and other species, and were outside the reach of the orc king, he wanted to extend his borders and used the goblins to harass everyone. Sadly, the other species hadn't banded together to fight the much more numerous goblin forces, so they had been operating without boundaries.

Kharag and I would have our hands full trying to protect the female—and our own lives—from Azad. I wasn't sure we would succeed. Goblin blades were filthy and often laced with poison. One slice and we would die a horrible death, leaving our female unprotected. The female, not our female. She belonged to Kharag, not me. She had selected him. I hadn't even gone to the auction. Though I wonder what would have happened if I had gone. Would she have chosen me over the orc?

Probably not. Human females rarely chose minotaurs. Our size alone intimidated them, though she hadn't seemed scared during our brief conversation in the salon.

A rustling in the brush and a skittering noise alerted me that the goblins were close, not to mention the smell. Nuar was hidden in the brush across the trail, his eyes gleaming in the dark, fixed on the path. He was stiff, ready to attack, but he'd wait for my signal.

I hefted my axe and waited until they were even with us. Four goblins. Easy. Nuar crouched, his body quivering in the shadows. I nodded, and he sprang, ripping into the first one, then the second without pause.

I swung my axe, cleaving the first one's head clear off. The second, the lead scout, squealed and bolted, but only got a few feet before I took him down. It was barely a fight. It rarely was with goblins, if you surprised them and they had a smaller force. But the main group would be larger and would swarm us.

I gestured to Nuar who loped behind to see if there were any stragglers. When he came back, muzzle bloody, I knew he'd gotten them all. I dragged the corpses to the ditch on the side of the road and covered them with brush. Goblin senses weren't strong enough to scent the bodies, and scavengers would clean them quickly, anyway. We had to move.

I headed through the forest for Kharag and his camp, hoping he and the female had finished their business. I didn't need to see or smell sex. It had been too long and my cock stirred after the brief battle and the scent of the female. Smelling them would stir it to an uncomfortable state, and we didn't have time for me to take myself in hand.