Page 103 of The Orc Outcast's Mate

“No. I would have screamed if he’d tried.”

Govek took a few deep breaths.

“Govek, I didn’t call the seer here. He showed up on his own.”

Govek raked a hand through his hair and squeezed his eyes shut.

“He somehow found me out here, even though he was headed for the hall. That says something, doesn’t it?” She cupped Govek’s face. “It’s what I’m supposed to do, but you still have doubts somehow, don’t you?”

“It’s dangerous, Miranda,” Govek rumbled, leaning in, caging her.

“You think everything is dangerous where I’m concerned.” She scratched gently at his scalp, relishing the warm, pine scent of him. “Even you.”

“I am dangerous, Miranda.”

“But dangerous things can also be necessary,” Miranda pointed out, willingly barreling right into the topic that had been a constant form of strife for days. “Like finding my babies and bringing them back here to Rove Wood Clan.”

Govek growled low in his throat. “Miranda.”

“I’m not going to stop arguing about this, Govek,” she said firmly, “I understand you think it’s not safe to leave the Rove Woods?—”

“It isn’t.”

Miranda took a deep breath. “I only want to leave long enough to find my babies.”

“Leaving for any amount of time is too risky, Miranda.”

She huffed out a breath of irritation. “Look, I know I sound crazy. I really do. I know I have no proof that they’re even out there. But my gut is telling me that the seer knows something about them. Something that will... help.”

Something that would take away the agony of wondering if they were screaming for her. Something that would stop her mind from getting stuck on the image of them suffering, crushed and burned. Something that would ease the horrific, bone-gnawing, gut-heaving guilt that she had been the one to live.

And they had?—

No. They hadn’t.

They were here. On Faeda. She just had to find them.

“What if we got someone else to go?” Govek asked softly, breaking her out of her thoughts.

Her brow furrowed. “Someone else? What do you mean? I thought you said none of the orcs or humans here ever leave. And I highly doubt Karthoc or his warriors are going to help unless you become the chief.”

Govek sighed heavily, looking off into the woods so he wouldn’t have to meet her eyes, and then said. “Viravia used to be a traveling trader.”

“Oh yeah. I think I remember that being mentioned when I was at her house.” Miranda tapped her chin. “So, you think she might know someone willing to help find my babies?”

“Not help.” He breathed deep, and she felt the exhale rustling her hair, tickling. “With enough boons, I believe we could convince someone to fetch them for us while we stayed here.”

“Govek,” Miranda said warningly. “That’s not going to work. What if he gets the wrong ones? I’m the only one who would recognize any of them. And I’m the only one they would know to trust.”

“You could give the tracker information that only you would know. And describe the children to them so he knows he has the right ones.”

“But that’s?—”

“Miranda, I do not believe you are comprehending just how insurmountable it will be to find them with both the humans and orcs working against us. And although I have the maps, I have never been further out than Clairton. I have no allies, no knowledge of the terrain, no idea where there is even solid hunting or foraging ground.”

Miranda shifted uncomfortably, mind quailing against his logic. “But... they are my responsibility. I’m supposed to find them.”

“Miranda, you said before that you feel you are supposed to save them. Part of saving them is also preparing Rove Wood Clan for their arrival, yes? How can you do that when you are searching all of Faeda for them? You’ll bring them back here to an abandoned clan that has not been maintained over the harsh winter.”

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