Page 40 of The Orc Outcast's Mate

“Govek.”

“Stay back,” he snapped. He needed to leave, to escape, to run into the dark woods and vent his fury on logs and dirt until he was settled again. Until he could gain back control. Until he was certain his magic was soothed. He could already feel it burning hot in his chest, gripping around his thundering heart. The light of the Fades was growing at the back of his mind, threatening to blind him.

Tight warmth pressed into his torso.

Govek jerked backward, but Miranda’s grip on him tightened. Her face was buried in his chest, her arms firm around his middle.

The fuck?

“Miranda, I’m not?—”

“Sit down, please.”

Her voice was thick and his ears rang from the sound. Her body was trembling.

“You’re afraid,” he said, wanting to pull her off him but unable to touch her with his clawed hands. At least the vile heat in his chest was soothing.

Soothed by Miranda’s gentle warmth. He took a deep breath.

She looked up at him and his breath hitched at the sorrow he saw in her face. Her eyes were flooding with tears, her red lips quivering.

Fuck.

“Sit,” she said, as the word broke.

And he did.

She clung to him the whole way, and the moment he was seated, she crawled into his lap, straddled his thighs, pressed her chest into his, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “That must have been... I’m so so sorry.”

His eyes burned and he blinked rapidly, attempting to hide the unusual emotion.

The Fade light at the back of his mind dwindled away.

She ran her hands through his hair, stroking it. The soft touch was in such contrast to his usual ruthless pulling, it skittered goosebumps along his scalp.

“I think you did the right thing.”

He lost his breath but managed a rough croak. “What?”

“Killing those men who tortured your brother to death.” His mind stilled as he attempted to process her words. “I think that was the right thing to do. People who can torture others without remorse are too dangerous. By killing them, you saved every other person who would have been subjected to that fate.”

No. That wasn’t right. All lives were precious. Sacred. He was born under the Great Rove Tree. He could conjure the Fades magic. It should not be possible for him to kill anyone.

“Govek,” she said softly, cupping his face in her warm hands. Her soft fingers grazed the side of his temples. “I am so so sorry that your brother died.”

His throat constricted and her face grew blurry.

She pressed her forehead to his. “I’m sorry you had to see something so horrible. I’m sorry that you didn’t make it to him in time. I’m sorry that those people stole him from you.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and put her hands in his hair again. “But I’m not sorry you killed them. And you shouldn’t be either.” Her fingertips slid toward the back of his head. She pressed her fingers in slow circles at the base of his skull, just the way she had in the outer woods when she’d examined his countenance for the first time. When she’d looked deep into his face and accepted his appearance despite how loathsome most found it. Especially humans.

She was accepting him now in the same way. Accepting a wholly different part of him.

A part he never thought anyone would welcome.

Govek shuddered, closed his burning eyes. Let her gentle nature soak into him. He didn’t deserve this kindness. He knew that. Not after all that he had done.

But... he couldn’t bring himself to refuse it.

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