Page 86 of The Orc Outcast's Mate

His fists balled. “Live here?”

“Yeah. I mean, if you don’t become the chief, the rest of the clan will have to leave the Rove Woods, right? That means the whole place will be abandoned.” She chuckled. “We could start our own little commune with my babies. We’d turn Rove Wood Clan into a membership of twenty, instead of two hundred. I mean, technically, you wouldn’t have ruined your clan, just reduced it.”

His mind reeled.

“We just have to find my babies first. Once the seer tells us where they are, it shouldn’t take too long, right? I mean, I landed right near the Rove Woods. Maybe they did too?”

His stomach started twisting to the point he was no longer excited about her food.

She still wanted to go searching for them. She would insist on this.

Karthoc’s threat spiraled through his mind. “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.”

The world outside of the Rove Woods was already dangerous. Between blight and war, there were few safe places to go. And those safe places were all orc clans and settlements.

Clans and settlements that would no longer harbor them after they got Karthoc’s orders.

Fear laced his every limb and quaked in his mind.

It was too fucking dangerous.

What were they going to do?

“And we could be friends with Oakwall Village too, right? Trade with them and winter over with them, if need be. They’ll have doctors and schools and all that...”

Fuck. Yet another snag. Though, arguably, this one was not nearly as dire. “I... am not sure.” Miranda rose a brow, and he forced himself to say, “I may not be welcome at Oakwall.”

“Because of what happened with your ex? I thought you said you didn’t hurt her.”

“I did not.” Of that, at least, he was certain. “But many from Oakwall believe that I did and will not welcome my presence.”

“Then why not just set them straight?” Miranda insisted, as if doing so was that easy. She must have read his expression because her own fell. “Govek, for a tough guy, you sure don’t know how to defend yourself.”

“The reason I cannot is because I am tough, Miranda. I am too aggressive. Too uncontrolled. Speaking my truths only ends in violence.”

“You mean like today in the hall when Rogeth tried to snatch me?”

Govek’s brow screwed up. “He was trying to save you.”

“The difference between being saved and snatched is perspective. From my view, as someone who did not want to leave you and doesn’t feel unsafe with you, it was snatched.” Miranda reached up and pulled down a shriveled haga root.

“Don’t use that.”

“Why? Is it poisonous?”

“The taste is abhorrent. Like half rotten tomato with the texture of charcoal.”

“If it tastes so bad, then why keep it?”

“It is very good for health and keeps for a long time.” He was certain the ones in that basket were at least two summers old.

“It can’t be that bad,” Miranda scoffed and took a bite before he could warn her further.

Her face instantly paled and Govek had to use every ounce of his will not to burst with laughter. “Oh my god. That’s horrible.”

Her voice was so shrill Govek was unable to hold back his mirth and nearly doubled over with it.

“You’re so mean!” Miranda snapped making his laughter seize in his throat. Her words split him until she grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him down. “I’ll have to punish you.”

---