Page 79 of The Orc Outcast's Mate

“What the fuck are you talking about? Govek, what is he saying?”

Govek said nothing, but a muscle in his jaw ticked.

“He plans to take his woman and go. Into the woods somewhere. You will not be able to find him. His skills as a hunter are fueled by his magic and are far superior to anything you or your warriors could track.”

“Is this true, Govek? You plan to abandon your clan and kin?”

The seer snorted. “Can’t abandon wretches who gave you up first.”

There was an unsettling silence that followed as Govek curled in on himself and Karthoc registered the information.

The tension was so thick that Miranda turned her eyes away. She wanted to look at the seer, but his intensity was too much. He was like the blinding rays of the sun, warm and inviting from a distance but too hot to look at directly.

Instead, she turned toward a large building on her left. Half of it was carved into the tree and the other half was a log cabin structure built along the outside. Windows lined the edges, and the door was only twenty feet away.

It opened and Viravia stepped out.

Miranda only had enough time to see the pregnant woman’s eyes go huge as she took in the sight of the three orcs conversing before fleeing back into the room. She shut the door silently behind her.

Miranda quirked an amused smile.

“Fine,” Karthoc said slowly. “I will let this be for now. But don’t go doing anything stupid, Govek. If you leave, if you refuse the position you were born to take, you will regret it.”

“Is that a challenge, Karthoc?” Govek snarled, his voice so deep Miranda felt it rumbling in her soul.

“No,” Karthoc said. “Not a challenge, simply fair warning. If you leave before we speak again, I will tell every orc clan this side of the mountains not to harbor you. You will find no friends, no aid, not even a fucking scrap of food will be thrown your way. I will see to it that if you abandon this clan, the rest of your kind will abandon you too.”

Miranda’s stomach twisted and Govek went so tense next to her his body was quaking.

“You have a quarter moon to decide. That is as long as I can stomach these miserable woods,” Karthoc snarled. “I suggest you make the right choice.”

Then Karthoc pushed past them, storming off loudly toward the hall.

“Who are you?”

All the hair on Miranda’s body stood up and her eyes ripped to the seer. He regarded her with his milky, unseeing eyes and she couldn’t find her breath let alone her voice. Finaly he said, “You seem… out of place.”

“Yeah, I’m...” Her throat closed. “I need your help.”

“My help?” The seer tipped his head, his white eyes striking and swirling up her thoughts. “Yes. I suppose you do.”

“Miranda,” Govek said warningly, squeezing her upper arm.

But the seer had outstretched his hand and the burning, overwhelming urge to take it slammed into her.

“Miranda, wait.”

She didn’t. She took the seers hand.

Her sight exploded with light.

And her consciousness winked out.

Chapter

Fourteen

GOVEK

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