Chapter 28

Chapter

Twenty-Eight

GOVEK

H er acceptance was all he needed.

Govek turned and stormed through the door at the back of the platform. The wood creaked and groaned under his feet. He wished each step would rip it apart. He wanted to remove every vile trace that his father had ever been here in the Rove Woods.

The spiral stair was too narrow to carry Miranda, so he put her down and followed her up, climbing higher until they reached the viewpoint.

"Wow," Miranda breathed, going to the gorgeous view at the balcony. The sun was too bright and the colors were too vivid. Govek froze in place, afraid he would see Karthoc leading Ergoth away if he looked.

Desperate for something to vent his rage on so his magic would not spiral out of control, Govek pounded over to the mead shelves. He ripped open the doors. His hands quaked as he slashed through the bottles, ripping them from the shelf and shattering them in sickly sweet splatters all over the ground. It drenched his legs, shards of glass nipped at his flesh.

Boar blood mingled with the drink. The rotting stink concealed the saccharine luxury.

"Are you cut?" Miranda asked, as if his outburst was hardly worth considering. She started to approach, mindful of the glass.

"Stop," he demanded, flush with embarrassment over his rash actions. His hands quaked. And he looked to find tiny pricks of red in his palms where his claws dug deep. "I'm fine."

Miranda's eyes darkened and she murmured, "You're not."

He shuddered at her statement and raked a hand over his face, tore at his hair. His fingers were sticky and wet, and his nose flooded with the fermented stink, reminding him of the last time he was here with his father. Fuck, this was the last thing he wanted to be covered in. Why was he so blasted stupid ?

"Here," Miranda said, and he opened his eyes only to squeeze them shut again as cold liquid poured over his head, washing the mead away. He opened his eyes to find her holding a pitcher of water. "Do you feel better?"

"No," he grated. Fuck, he didn't even know what could douse the flames.

But there had to be something. He swung Miranda up into his arms and carried her away from the glass while searching the space. There was a door in a nook at the back of the tree. Partially hidden by a thick branch. He settled Miranda on the ground before going to it.

The door was plain but guarded by magic. He could scent Ergoth's revolting energy from it. Pungent and sweet. The same as on the boar.

If only he had recognized the scent of his fathers magic all those days ago outside the Rove Wood, before he found Miranda.

But how would things have been different? He would still have had to come back here.

There was magic around the door, but not on the frame. Govek lifted his foot, the same one he'd used to kick Ergoth off the platform, and slammed it into the wood. Splintering it with a single thrust. It took a few more hits to work the door free. He was gasping and shaking by the end.

And found the interior filled with Ergoth's stench and rolling waves of his magic. The small workspace loomed before him. There was a desk in the center, a table to the left, cushioned chairs, and a window seat.

He forced his way in and gritted his teeth against the sight. Walls of shelves littered with scrolls, all labeled—potions, conjurings, building plans...

Govek yanked down those scrolls and threw them on the desk. Nearly tearing through them in his haste.

But he found nothing. Nothing of consequence. Nothing of value.

He blindly yanked down more scrolls, making a tattered mess of them in his search for anything . Something that would explain why Ergoth did this. Why the male despised him.

It couldn't only be because his mother had left after his birth.

How did that single event shape an entire life of lies? Did Govek deserve to believe himself vile for every one of his twenty-eight years because his mother had decided not to raise him? Just like the mothers of so many other orcs?

"Govek?"

Miranda had come in, her eyes coaxing, her posture easy. He shuddered under the weight of her light.

"That's it?" he grated.

She tipped her head, waiting.

"That's fucking it ?" he asked, looking around the half-destroyed room again. What did he hope to find here? What answers did he seek? He longed for an ease to this agony looming in the back of his mind. It soaked into his gut, grinding him up inside.

"A whole fucking lifetime of feeling worthless and powerless and furious ." Govek swiped his claws against the scrolls that littered the desk. He tore into them and they fluttered to the ground. "And this is how it ends? That was his motivation for torturing me ?"

"I'm so sorry, Govek," Miranda said softly.

He shook so much he felt his limbs might vibrate off his body. "What the fuck do I do now? How can anything ever make up for this ?"

"I know," Miranda said, her eyes haunted. "I know."

His chest squeezed, tightening around his heart. She did know, didn't she? He'd watched her feel this. And fuck , he wished that made it better. That he could find a solution for both of them.

He went to her, jerked her into his arms, and curled around her.

"They want to punish him, but what's the point ?" He drank in the freshness of her scent and let it drown out the stench of his father's odor. "What will killing him or banishing him or forcing empty apologies from him even do ?"

Miranda brought her hands up around his waist, buried her face in his chest.

He squeezed his eyes shut as brutal, violent images assaulted him. "Should I fight him, Miranda? What would that cause but more pain? Would crushing his face to a pulp or ripping apart his limbs make this endless burning agony diminish? Or would it just increase it ?"

Miranda tightened her hold, soothing him with her touch.

"And what's left after that ?" His voice broke and his eyes burned. "Fucking talking ? Fucking going to ask for an explanation? Just so he can twist up my words and justify his actions and push me back into the role of monster all over again?"

Govek saw it so clearly now, how Ergoth effortlessly contorted him into a vile wretch from a few simple statements.

And now it was a part of him and Govek wasn't sure how he would ever let it go.

"I know." Her voice was hot against his chest. "It's not fair. I'm so so sorry."

She did know. She knew because this is exactly what Earth was for her. No chance of justice. No way to turn back time. Endless questions and a lifetime of trying to work past the anguish, knowing answers would probably never come.

He clasped his hands under her ass and dragged her up to him, pressing his forehead to hers. So, they could be equal in this. Face to face. Side by side. Walking this path together.

"What do we do now?" She'd asked the same question just one day before. Of course, she wouldn't have an answer to it.

But she pulled back from him, pressed her warm, soft hands to his face, and met his eyes with determination. Her gaze burrowed deep into his soul. "We live , Govek."

He exhaled and the tension in his chest eased.

"We live the best life we possibly can. We do exactly what we want, on our own terms, and build up our own fortunes. We relish in bliss despite everything we had to go through, and the horrors others forced on us. We prevail through it. We thrive ."

His eyes were burning and blurry, but he couldn't blink to clear them. He was too fixated on this woman. This little human who had so much strength and love and built so much joy inside him.

"We'll thrive together , Govek. Just like you promised to be by my side, I vow the same to you." Her hands stroked his cheeks. "We'll laugh in the faces of those who thought they'd broken us. We'll build our joy so high they can't even dream of cutting us down. So far above that their evil words and deeds won't reach."

His gut twisted, bile rose in his throat and his mind flooded with the gruesome images of Clairton. "What if Karthoc was wrong?" Miranda's brow furrowed. "He said I wouldn't have killed children, but I don't know , Miranda. My mind was gone. I do not even remember killing the men. I just slashed and fought until I eventually came out of my magic-laced rage to discover that I was surrounded by carnage. What if... what if I had?—"

"Stop. You can't blame yourself for things you never did. That's exactly what your father wants . And it isn't thriving. "

He shivered and closed his eyes.

"I'll help you. I'll be right beside you every step of the way. And you'll be beside me. Helping me. We'll do it together. Build ourselves back up together. Just like we both promised."

"Together." The word soared out of him.

"Every time you think you're unworthy, I'll remind you of what I see when I look at you," Miranda said, and he opened his eyes. Her expression was so soft, her eyes sparkling, her warmth soaking into him. She stroked her fingertips along his temples, down over his chin. Her touch grounded him.

"And what I see is someone strong, supportive, and loving. I see the male who carried me through my worst panic, held me when I had nightmares, saved me from a boar and a wildcat and so many other horrors. You have laughed with me, eaten with me, and built your life around mine so effortlessly I wonder if it's real."

"It was effortless," Govek agreed, his throat choked and his voice ragged. He could hardly think past the bloom of warmth in his chest. "You slid into my life and routines so easily I cannot fathom how you were not there already. I cannot live without... Miranda, I..."

"I love you too, Govek." Her eyes flooded and so did his. He couldn't breathe, he was so full. "I love you, and I'm here with you. And we will walk this path together. Because it's the same path, Govek. Our lives are entwined, forever."

"Be my mate." He choked on the words. He wished he could be more eloquent, more clear. He wished he could speak words that would make her feel the way hers made him feel. But he couldn't .

And he didn't need to. Because her face lit with joy and tears. Her arms tightened around him and all the breath left him with her exuberant response. " Yes . Yes, I'll be your mate. I always was."

He crushed his lips to hers and drank her up. She brought her hands up around his head, into his hair, holding him tight. His joy was finally something tangible. It built in his chest and rolled through his muscles.

She was his. His mate. His love.

Now and forever.