8. Rok’nhar

EIGHT

I'm gonna fuckingkill Wolf.

Telling myself that over and over again is just about the only thing keeping me fucking sane right now—that and the way Orlagh's slim, golden fingers are digging into the meat of my forearm, as if I'm the only thing keeping her fucking standing while she takes in the destruction before us.

Wasn't much furniture to begin with thanks to her ex, but that sweet little vintage couch she was so proud of finding? Claw marks all through it, springs exposed, stuffing strewn about the room. Shelves are knocked over as well, records shattered and books all torn apart. Kitchen looks to be the victim of an unseen tornado; contents of the cupboards swept out, microwave smashed, fridge hanging open, broken bits of glass and ceramic everywhere, food splattered on every imaginable surface above and below my sightline.

Eventually her gaze travels back up to mine, looking shook to hell and several shades paler, those fingers still gripping my arm as if it were a lifeline.

"Rok, I…"

Whatever words she thought to muster die on her perfect lips, all rosy and swollen from being crushed against mine.

I'm shocked into silence for a moment as well, feeling that strange new rage make itself known as I watch her take stock of her trashed apartment, watch the five fucking stages of grief pass over her face plain as day. My heart is breaking for her, blood boiling at a dangerous level. That primal male part of me is rising up again, telling me to protect, to fix, to save.

"Stay behind me."

Her tiny hand trembles in mine and I give it a gentle squeeze, the crunch of debris under our feet hardly appreciable over the blood pounding in my ears as we do a quick sweep. Gotta make sure the fuckers who did this aren't here anymore though, and of course they fucking ain't, the cowardly fucking mutts. A borderline psychotic part of me wishes they were.

Don't take long to confirm that the whole place is fucked, bedroom worst of all. Bad enough that she starts to sob with her whole chest, burying that beautiful face into my belly, and I feel something inside me wrench open and bleed for her. Tangerine tresses tickle my nose as I hunch awkwardly to press a kiss to the top of her head and then pull her in closer, close as I can, worrying my tusks a bit as I take in the disaster before me.

Bed is torn to bits, headboard and all, and I know I smell piss. Mirror on her cute little vanity is smashed, all kinds of shit scrawled across the walls by those godsdamn animals. Toiletries and makeup and clothes thrown all over, most of it ruined, smashed, shredded. And all her equipment, all those lights, the computer? All of it destroyed, all of it. Pieces of a life she'd pieced together for herself after ditching that fleabag, broken and on display everywhere I turn.

Orlagh's arms drop to her side and hang there for a moment before she sniffles and steps away from me, taking a turn about the room to assess the damage. I watch as she stops up suddenly and squats down near her broken laptop, wrapping one arm around her knees as she pokes at it, revealing a familiar pile of scalemail beneath it.

"Shit, Orlagh. I'm so sorry, so..."

Breath's coming fast through my nose, hands clenching and unclenching as I stand in the doorway, feeling like I'm about to bust out of my skin. I should be down there comforting her, but what I want more than anything right at this moment is to track down Wolf and his whole godsdamn pack, to beat the ever-loving fuck out of each and every one of them, and then do it all fucking over again.

And again.

And again.

The pull I have towards that path? Towards seeking out the very violence I'd sought to avoid my whole life? It's... strong. That macho shit ain't ever been me, but godsdamn if it doesn't feel like that's about to change in a dangerous fucking way.

I shake my head.

What's... wrong with me?

I've got to get a grip, think, pin that fucker the proper way, the rational way. I've got to be the polar opposite of that mongrel, got to be steady and sure and strong for her now, got to stop practically shaking the fuck apart with rage, got to protect, fix, save…

I don't know what the fuck to do with my hands, so I ball them up and shove them in my pockets, knocking against my phone.

My phone…

Clearing my throat, I pull it out. "Let's get the police on the line, report this."

She snorts in response, wiping at her eyes with the backs of her hands as she stands on shaky legs.

"What's the point, Rok? His pack will take the call, lose the paperwork. It's... it's happened before. I've called them before, I mean, not… this. He's never done something like…" She trails off, motioning around her as she turns, destruction everywhere. "I-I didn't think he would ever… that he was capable of…"

I'm nodding, because this is a savage violation, no fucking doubt about that. The kind of shit one never believes their neighbors capable of, let alone someone who'd shared their home and bed and life. But Wolf had no qualms about this invasion, about destroying everything he knew she held dear without so much as batting an eye, and neither did his lackeys. What kind of pack of fucking nuts does that asshole run? Who the fuck does something like this? A warped, territorial, motherfucking bastard is who. But this ain't his territory anymore, this is…

A growl rumbles through the bedroom, deep and low, and it takes a moment for me to realize that it's me fucking doing it, that I'm quite literally shaking from the effort of keeping a lid on this frenzied fucking ire quaking through me.

Fuck.

I gotta do something, something now, something logical, something that don't get me sent to fucking jail myself, so I set my jaw and pull out my phone.

"Alright. Then we'll report it to someone who'll listen—Ulrich. Security has to know how serious this has gotten, gotta be something management can do."

She stares up at me a long moment and then blows a breath through her lips as she nods, clearing a torn dress and splintered chunk of headboard off of an otherwise untouched orange chair in the corner before plopping down into it, tucking her legs beneath herself.

Security shows up not too long after I reach out, Ulrich and a quiet pair of goblins I wasn't familiar with but had seen patrolling the complex now and again, driving around in that teeny little golf cart with the flashing lights on top.

Ulrich takes one look at the damage—the mess in the kitchen and splintered furniture—and his mouth sets into a hard line.

"Well, the alarm I spelled to your doormat is still intact," he mutters low enough for Orlagh and I to hear once the goblins head to catalog the bathroom. "And the lock, too. So that means whoever did this wasn't Wolf, and had a key. All the claw marks, the… piss, though… appears he sent some friends to do his dirty work."

"Ain't no question about that," I grumble, arms crossing over my chest. "But you're sure he wasn't here?"

"Positive, no getting around that spell. It's… well, let's just say it's not exactly regulation." He taps his pale, pointed chin before turning his dark eyes to Orlagh. "Would he have made copies before turning his keys in? Did anyone else have a key?"

Orlagh blanches, dropping her chin and wringing her hands, cheeks wet with tears. "Y-yeah, maybe. I-I actually think Jex had a key. I just assumed Wolf turned it in when I had him taken off the lease, didn't think…"

"Well," Ulrich sighs, glancing over at his underlings as they snap pictures of the mess in the kitchen, "I'll pretend I didn't hear that, because as long as I didn't, then the good news is insurance should reimburse you for all of this. We'll catalog the complex property that's been damaged, and I'll make sure we relay that there is no question about the source of this violation being external, whatever you need to make sure you're not paying for this monetarily. It will take around a week for new appliances from the complex, though. Do you have somewhere to stay until repairs have been made?"

Orlagh's still looking down at her hands and I grab one of them without hesitation, giving her two quick squeezes of reassurance. "Of course she does."

"Good," he nods, glancing me over before turning back to her. "But you really need to change that lock, Ms. Skylark. Tonight."

My brows knit together. "Hold on now, ain't that something maintenance should take care of?"

"Well, yes. Normally I'd have Gom'khot take care of it, but we don't have any spares down in the office right now. You'll have to buy one, but save the receipt and I'll see that the complex reimburses you. Corporate won't like it, but then again, corporate doesn't like much of anything, do they?"

Orlagh looks like she's about to burst into a fresh bout of tears as the security wizard and his team finish up and roll out, and all I can hear is this mantra I've had going in my head since the moment we walked in: protect, fix, save.

"C'mere, sunshine."

Her shoulders are trembling about as bad as her lip when I put my arm around her. And when the tears start to slide down her rosy cheeks, I bring her in close, running my hand up and down her shaking back as she sobs.

"Here's what we're gonna do. First, we're gonna take our own pictures. Every upturned stone in this place, alright? It's gonna be rough, but it won't take long with the two of us. Then I'm calling us a car and we're heading out to Hardware House, gonna get new locks and everything else we'll need to clean this place up. And then, well, then we're coming back to do just that, clean this place up. Together. You and me."

Her violet eyes look up into mine, slowly filling back up with that goddamn sexy confidence and fire I'd seen in them before, the presence of a plan steadying her. "Yeah. Yeah, okay. But this… this is a lot for just us. I mean, just look at everything…"

Her eyes linger on the glittering bits of glass all across the kitchen floor, the overturned bookshelves, and then trail towards the hall, gazing into the doorway of her bedroom, before she takes a slow, steadying breath and steels her gaze.

"I'm gonna call Brix, I'm sure she'll come after she closes. And my old roommate, Lhysa. Her girlfriend Penny might be able to tag along, too. They'll help, it'll go faster."

"I can call a buddy too, if you'd like. Dumbass with muscle, but a good heart deep down. Though I don't know if bringing an orc like Haf into the mix is gonna be a help or a hindrance if Brix is gonna join the clean-up crew…"

Orlagh sniffles as she laughs. "It'll be entertaining while the rest of us work, at least. Sweeten the deal for her. And your friend, maybe?"

"Mm," I nod, eyebrows raised. "Something tells me those two'll get on like a house on fire. Maybe there's a double date in our future."

She looks up at me through her lashes, eyebrow arched, and that smile curling up in the corner of her sweet lips makes me weak in the damn knees. Gods, but she's perfect. Ain't nothing warmer than the sunbeams in her smile, nothing that warms me more, and I can't imagine ever feeling this way about anyone else, crazy as that fucking sounds.

"Rok," she breathes, bracing a hand on my belly and looking back down. I suck in my gut on instinct, but then she makes a petulant little tsk and wraps her arms around me, squeezing into my bulk, and I… relax. "Listen, I'm sorry you've gotten dragged into all this, this is just… insane. And after we just officially met and just went on a date and…"

"You don't have a damn thing to be sorry about, sunshine." Cradling her face in my hands, I brush my thumbs along her cheeks to dash away those tears. "And we've got two under our belt, remember? Still on our third."

"Good goddess, we are, aren't we?" she groans, bringing a hand to her temple and rubbing teeny little circles along her hairline.

"Sure are. And once we're done getting shit sorted here, I'm gonna make sure that this bullshit you're having to suffer through is the least memorable part about today, okay?"

The smile she graces me with is tremulous and bright, sunbeams shining through the storm.

Turnsout both her friends and mine are clutch in a crisis.

Haf shows up with our pal Pete, a real workhorse who acts with the human troupe at Dinners Dragons and plays on our bloodball team. He's big and blonde and bossy, but he's good people. They both are, insisting they'd make the trek to Hardware House for us. When they do arrive it looks like they brought half the damn store with them, barging through the door and scaring the fuck out of me.

"Can't you assholes knock?" I grumble, rubbing a hand over my face.

Haf grins as he swaggers past me, dropping a giant container full of trash bags and tools at my feet. "Why, thought the apartment was broken into already?"

I snort before sighing deeply. Such a fucking blockhead.

"Holy hells, Haf, move it." Pete muscles in behind him, arms full of brooms and mops and lined with plastic bags, full of… food. I raise an eyebrow in question at them both and they shrug me off.

"It's nothing," Pete says. "Figured we could all use some fuel to get us through this mess, cause holy hells it's even worse than you said it was."

My throat feels thick, a rush of the warm and fuzzy's running through me. Cause blockheads they may be, but if there's one thing I've learned since making my own way in the world, it's that the friends who show up decked out in hip waders when you're knee deep in shit are the best fucking kind.

I swallow, clearing my throat as I shove my hands in my pockets. "I know, but guys, this… well, you didn't have to…"

Haf gets me in a headlock, tussling me around until Orlagh walks out of her room, wearing a pair of skin-tight leggings and a too-tight t-shirt that her nipples are practically busting holes through. She catches me staring as Haf lets me loose, and gives me a wink, then turns that sunny smile that makes me weak in the knees to him and Pete.

"You guys brought me food? Oh, goddess yes, food is my love language. Hand it over!"

I introduce her to Haf and Pete while we brutalize some hummus and pretzels, and Haf sniffs me as Pete and Orlagh bond over their mutual hatred of pita chips. Haf thinks he's being sly, but he ain't, and those black eyes of his get wider and wider as they dart from her to me and me to her, genuine shock clear on his face.

Fucking asshole.

Once we've demolished the pretzels Pete takes stock of the place, dropping big black trash bags and buckets and brooms and all sorts of cleaners and shit in strategic places, doing what Pete does best: putting his nose to the grind as he tackles the mess.

Haf rips off his sweatshirt and starts hefting the ruined mattress up on his shoulders, dragging it towards the door bare-chested with a stick of boar jerky in his mouth because, well, that's fucking Haf. I can't let him forget who's got the real brawn between us though, so I strip off my own sweater—leaving my shirt on like a fucking civilized creature—and join him in the heavy lifting.

Orlagh turns appreciative eyes to me as we haul her mattress out the door, getting up onto her tippy toes and pressing those luscious lips to my cheek as I pass.

Damn, but my cheeks are burning. I give her a wink as Haf backs out the door and I follow.

About halfway to the stairwell I see the elevator doors open, revealing a tall, lanky moon elf with a bald head in a spandex jumpsuit and a freckled little goblin in a flowy, flowery frock struggling under the weight of a delicious smelling tower of at least eight boxes of pizza, all swaying and teetering comically in her hands.

"Sweet sunbeams, Penny!" Orlagh screeches from down the hall, laughing. "Are you sure you brought enough pizza?"

"You said there were orcs, and every orc I've ever known has eaten at least an entire pizza to themself," the elf, presumably Lhysa, says as she saunters past, thumbing in our direction. "I mean, look at those two—we might not have enough."

Haf won't shutthe fuck up once we're down the stairs and out of earshot of the others.

"Makes sense now, makes perfect sense. No wonder you can't pull any tail when we go out. You've been stuck on this one for a while now, haven't you?"

I sigh, hurling the mattress into the gigantic bulk trash bin. "I'm gonna ignore all the asshole shit you just said and just say yeah. Yeah, I've been stuck on her for a damn while."

"Well, I'm guessing you were stuck on her pretty recently too because godsdamn you two reek of each other. C'mon, tell me?—"

"Fuck off, Haf, you ain't getting any details from me."

"Oh yeah? Well I don't need them any anyhow because I can smell them, brother."

We punch and rib each other all the way back to the apartment, making a few more trips back and forth with the bulky stuff.

Every time we pop back upstairs to load up, we catch a glimpse of the rest of our little crew moving around each other like a dance troupe in a well-rehearsed routine: Pete bellowing show tunes from the open kitchen as he sweeps up debris. Orlagh soaping down the walls in the main room, mopping the floor, wiping down all the windows with glass cleaner. Penny and Lhysa making quick work of filling up trash bags and sorting the rare intact items into boxes while they flirt and laugh between themselves.

When Haf and I are finally done hauling shit downstairs and make our final trek back, everyone is taking a load off in the living room. The four of them did a damn fine job of clearing up the bulk of the mess in there, even a bit of the hall and the bedroom. They've made a makeshift little buffet circle for the snacks and pizza where Lhysa and Penny sit and eat, Orlagh with them. Me and the boys join in, plopping down on the floor after grabbing a box each. Pete may be a human, but the man eats like a fucking orc.

"Why now, though?" Penny asks, folding a slice of pizza and tearing it apart with a tiny mouth full of a surprising amount of sharp little teeth, even for a goblin. "What does he care about your cam work, like... didn't you kick him out? A month ago?"

"Chrm whrk?" Pete asks, mouth full of sausage and cheese.

"OnlyFannies," Lhysa says, raising her eyebrows in challenge before turning to Orlagh. "And you know, once you… expand your content, you'll be able to afford a place with proper security like mine at the Viridian. You're too recognizable anyhow, being the only sun elf on the site."

"Well, well, looks like we're neighbors," Haf says. "I'm halfway down the block from you, at Griffin Flats."

"Mmm!" Pete nods as he gulps down his mouthful, raising his slice in salute to the moon elf and Orlagh once he puts two and two together. "My sister has one of those, too. She sits on cakes or some shit. Anyhow, good for y'all."

"Hang on," Haf laughs, cheese hanging off one of his tusks like the fucking animal he is. "Can't be Mila—Bella? Are you sure you mean cakes and not co?—"

Orlagh and Penny shriek in laughter, snatching up their plates as Pete lunges at Haf and they wrestle, laughing and jibbing all the while before settling back down with their grub.

"I mean it though," says Penny. "Why now?"

"Well," Orlagh laughs, "well, I… I guess Wolf waited until now because he's still feeling territorial, and because I… I wasn't alone this last time."

That strawberry flush rolls over her as those violet eyes find mine, and I swear it's contagious cause my ears are burning right along with hers.

Haf chokes on a slice of pizza beside me, and I can feel the weight of every set of eyes in the room on me. I try to take a composed bite of my food, but it's hard to look dignified with half of a pepperoni pizza folded up in your hands.

I busy myself chewing, looking every which way but at someone, face on fire.

"Anyway…" Orlagh says, that elfin smile on her sweet lips when our eyes meet again. "This wasn't public stuff, and judging from what was screamed drunkenly at my door last night, I'm guessing Jex is a subscriber on my private tier, though I can't figure out which account is his."

"Jex?" Brix sways through the open front door, a box full of booze on one hip and one of those big cardboard coffee containers like the ones they get for work meetings on the other. "Smallest knot I've ever fuckin' had, if it makes you feel any better."

Her tusks flash at Orlagh as she puts down her boxes and embraces her, cradling her face in her hands and wiping away some of her smeared makeup before turning her flirtatious gaze to me. Maybe Orlagh's onto something with that half succubus idea.

"And hello again, handsome. Now are you gonna introduce me to those big, strapping friends Orlagh promised you'd be providing me?"

"Oh yeah, uh, well, this is Pete, and next to him is?—"

"Muscles?" Brix clears her throat, a pinkish tint to her cheeks. Flustered sure looks foreign on her. "Or, I mean, Haf. Hey."

Haf is all frozen up mid-chew, looking like someone hit pause on him right where he's sitting. His eyes are wide, mouth hanging open, and I swear I see his tusks quiver. Shit, I'm in shock just seeing Haf—cocky, dick-swinging, feelings-are-for-females Haf—sitting stock still, staring at Brix like he's looking at a ghost.

"Oh. Hey, Tiny," he swallows, setting his plate down—with shaking hands, I might add. "Er, I mean Br…Bri…Bri…ana? Right?"

The silence that follows is damn near deafening.

Brix looks like she's about to commit straight murder with the intensity of her glare, and Haf ain't shrinking from it—though he does look mighty chagrined. There's a collective breath of relief once she turns heel and heads out the door, muttering something about needing a cigarette.

Orlagh looks between us all, confusion pinching her features as she follows her friend, sticking her head out the door and hollering down the hall at her. "Brix, wait… when did you start smoking?"

"NOW!"

Orlagh just stands there for a moment, back to us all, then turns around with a little shrug and a questioning look towards Haf, who's speechless for maybe the first time in his damn life. He eventually mumbles something about needing a cigarette too and stumbles out the door after Brix, though I know for a fact he don't smoke either.

The rest of us just take a moment, pizza forgotten as we sit in a shared, stunned silence, wondering what the fuck just happened and why the tension between Brix and Haf was so thick it could be cut with a damn knife. That tension is still palpable when they come back a few minutes later and throw themselves into the cleanup, avoiding eye contact and conversation like they ain't even in the same room—and definitely not smelling like cigarettes, though they do smell a bit like each other.

I ask Orlagh about it the first chance I get, but she's just as dumbfounded as I am.

"I mean… Muscles? Tiny? What the hells do you think happened between those two?"

"Honestly? I have no idea. She's never mentioned an orc like Haf before, which is crazy weird because she typically goes into great detail about her conquests. Like… excruciating levels of detail."

I half-laugh, half-grunt at that. "Oh, believe me, I can commiserate on that front. And Haf never mentioned her neither…"

We peer down the hall to see Brix seems to have annexed the kitchen with Penny and the bulk of the alcohol, everyone else in the living room after hauling the trash bags out the door, getting back to washing the walls.

We turn back to each other, and Orlagh shrugs her shoulders. "I guess it's complicated, or serious, or both. Probably shouldn't hold our breaths for that double date."

"Guess not. Everyone else gets along fine, though. You've got some good friends, sunshine."

"You do too. You know," she twines her fingers in mine, pulling me toward her for a kiss. "I'm really glad you're here."

I smile against her lips. "No place I'd rather be."

Despite the unfortunatecircumstances and the initial standoff between Haf and Brix, it was a fun evening. We all had some drinks, ate some grub, and cleaned the fuck out of that apartment. Haf and Pete took off a little earlier than her friends did, both of them needing to get to work. And Orlagh was surprisingly cheerful through it all, brighter than sunshine.

When everyone had finally gone and it was just the two of us again, she threw herself against me and sighed.

"Rok, you really are my hero."

My fingers tangle in her tangerine locks as I pull her closer, enjoying the feel of her warm, slender arms wrapped around my middle, no hesitation about touching my softer parts. It feels so good, and so… strange, to just be taken as I am.

Isn't this what Mama always said it was like with my daddy before she lost him, what it's like with a mate? That little-bitty-big-fucking thing that was missing with everyone else I'd been with, along with that… comfort. Silent kind of comfort, where we don't have to fill up the air between us with words. If that ain't what it's like to have a mate, well… what more could there be?

And does any of that even matter to me anymore? Because I know how I feel about the elf in 16C; and honestly, I've known for a while.

"Orlagh, listen. I gotta tell you something."

She looks up at me, resting her chin on my belly as her hands drag back and forth across my back, nails grazing my skin and sending shivers up my spine. "So tell me."

I swallow thickly, throat tight and shoulders corded with tension as I gaze down into her violet eyes, the perfume of her intoxicating.

"I… I've been crazy about you since the moment I first saw you, the day you moved in. Remember?"

She smiles and my heart swells, full of warm apple pie and sunshine, and I know she does, know she's thinking of those elevator doors opening and us locking eyes, that moment where I almost said something before Wolf yelled from down the hall and she ducked her perfect little chin, sidling on by me. She'd turned back after he went into the apartment, right as the doors were closing on me, and from that night forward she'd been the sole star of my dreams. The filthy ones and the sweet ones, too.

I breathe deep through my nose, breathe her in, and let it all go.

"I'm trying to go slow, to hold back, and I just… I fucking can't anymore. The more time I spend with you, the more certain I am that it's not your big violet eyes or that luscious fat ass that's got me crazy for you, it's something inside you that's shining straight into something inside me, something that's had me blinded to anyone else since you moved in next door and I saw that sunny smile of yours. And, well… fuck, if I ain't already, I'm gonna fall in love with you, Orlagh. It might be tonight, might be tomorrow, or maybe a week from now, but it's gonna be soon. I'm gonna fall hard and fast, too fast, and I'm worried that?—"

"Rok," she murmurs, her hands slipping beneath the back of my shirt and yanking it up. I pull it up over my head without a second thought, throwing it to the side as her fingers roam around to the front where my buckle is.

"Y-yeah?"

She walks us backwards, unbuckling my belt all the while, until she's resting on the edge of the kitchen counter. I lean forward, bracing an arm on either side of her as she shoves my pants down, stepping out of them and dipping down to kiss her upturned lips. Slow, soft kisses that make me feel like I'm lying in a field of heather back home, lazy bees buzzing all around me as the sun sets on the horizon. Slender fingers slide gently along my jaw, thumbs stroking up my tusks. I'm lost in the tenderness, heart swelling up like a balloon, and then she goes and bites down on my lower lip and I'm moaning into her pretty little mouth, prick springing to attention. When my eyes open, I'm lost; drifting away in her lilac gaze, all liquid and lusty.

"Fall in love with me tomorrow? Fuck me tonight."

And just like that, the lazy bees take their buzzing elsewhere, heather fading away as my desire sharpens, narrows. All I can see is her, all I can smell is her. That delicious fucking cunt, the sinfully soft sweetness of her slender neck, the faint, lingering tang of my seed on her skin. I'm growling again, the rumble rattling through me parsing that mantra down to one single, simple word: claim.

"You remember our word, sunshine?"

"Rubies," she breathes, hooking her thumbs into the waistband of her leggings and starting to shimmy out of them, an eager little smile curling across her face.

Before she gets too far, I grab both of her wrists and spin her around, bending her over the counter as I press my already hard prick against the cleft of her ass, wringing a sweet little squeal from her pretty lips. Don't know exactly what's come over me but I do know that all I wanna do is to make her come all over me, come all over her, come.

"Good girl."