Page 10 of The Orc Outcast's Mate

Laughter swept in on the wind, and warmth bloomed in his gut, even as irritation burst behind his eyes.

Miranda was laughing at him.

He gained a stroke of luck as the elk lifted her neck. He took a risk and released his hold, hands shooting toward her head.

His seat slipped. He tightened his legs around her middle but still plummeted.

The elk fell with him.

He grappled but caught her neck in his massive hands and snapped it clean on the way down.

She perished in an instant. Falling with a hard thud to the leaf covered ground. Her light brown coat was stark against the red foliage. His green flesh was just as stark as he pushed her body off his legs.

Govek placed a hand to her hide as she worked through her final spasms, hoping Miranda would not arrive to see them. It was a clean death but for the few punctures to her shoulders. He wondered if he could cover them up somehow even as he wiped his claws clean.

Too late. Miranda hurried in, brown wavy hair bouncing around her head. His gut twisted, and he turned in a last effort to block her view.

But his woman’s eyes were already on the animal, wide and stunning. Red lips, pink cheeks.

“Wow, he’s beautiful.” Miranda said, hazelnut eyes still on the elk.

“She.” Govek corrected quietly, attempting to memorize her reverent expression and tone. He’d witnessed her delight often these last two days and would never grow tired of it.

“She.” Miranda shot him a wry smile. “Can I touch her?”

Govek blinked, “Yes.”

His woman kneeled down next to the elk’s head. The cloak he’d made for her pooling in the damp leaves. Her slender fingers stroked the animal’s neck and stopped short of touching the blood covered punctures at the shoulder.

“She’s amazing. Not as soft as I expected. Almost wiry. It’s really thick and long too. Is it always this thick or is it only because winter is coming on?”

“Because of winter.” Govek said, working to finish cleaning his claws with some of the damp leaves.

“It’s too bad she had to die, though.” Her tone was soft as she stroked the animal again. “Even if it is for us to eat.”

Govek’s gut twisted as he dropped the blood-soaked leaves and kicked foliage over the top to hide them. Most in Rove Wood Clan shared her sentiment. They viewed his hunting as an awful sin, especially since there were so few large game left in the Rove Woods. He heard their whispers, knew they thought he hunted to quell his violent urges. They thought him an abomination who enjoyed the act of killing. An ill-Faded mistake whose magic was tainted by vicious anger.

And in many ways, they were right. No matter how hard he tried, he could never fully control his temper. Eventually, his patience always broke, and he lashed out against them.

He would not let Miranda see that side of him. He could not let her witness him losing control. He would keep her away from the members of the clan. Keep her safe. She needed a break, and so did he.

He was exhausted from the last three nights. He’d only allowed himself to fall into a shallow sleep so he could stay vigilant, so he could protect her from harm. His woman. Miranda.

Fades, it had only been three nights since they had met, but it felt like a lifetime had passed.

He would have a lifetime with her still—away from these woods and his brethren who despised him.

In a day or two, they would go. They would leave these blessed woods and make a new life outside them.

His gut screamed a warning, pulsing dread into the back of his mind. His heels dug into the damp ground as if trying to root him to the spot.

Root him to the Great Rove Tree.

He kicked his feet and pushed the sensation away. Ignoring it.

Miranda cast him a warm smile that was in such contrast to the darkness of his thoughts that he could only blink. “Sorry I laughed when she was bucking you around. It just looked so funny. It didn’t hurt you, did it?”

“I’m fine,” he said, tension softening.

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