Page 61 of Secret Twins for the Orc

“Shh,” he murmurs soothingly, and it seems the sounds around him are changing. “It’s alright, they can’t have moved far. We’ll find them, I promise.”

“What if we don’t?” I whisper.

But his response is clear and confident. “We will.”

After a few moments I hear footsteps, and when I whirl around to see him striding towards me, his dark brows pulled low and his movements assured, I practically throw myself into his arms.

“I’m sorry,” I gasp, for some reason feeling my tears break through my frail resolve now that he’s here. “I’m so sorry, I lost our babies. I’m a terrible mother, I’m so sorry.”

His arms wrap around me without hesitation, one big palm resting against the back of my head. “Shh, Ella, it’s going to be alright. I’m here. We’ll find them.”

I squeeze my arms tightly around him, feeling my heart rate settle and the buzzing in my head clear. He holds me for a few more seconds, allowing me to calm down, before leaning back and forcing me to look up at him with his fingers under my chin.

“You’re not a bad mother,” he says firmly, and I feel fresh tears stream down my cheeks at the words. “Don’t ever say that again. You’re doing your best and that’s all anyone ask for, alright?”

I bite my lip as I gain my footing and lean back. “What now? Which way should we go?” I already feel more sure of myself with Rhokar beside me, the blind panic of earlier receding into something more manageable. “We have to find them before the sun goes down.”

He nods and pulls away from me, taking my hand in his. “I can smell them,” he says quietly, and with one last look at me, he tugs me forward, his expression intense and focused. “I caught their scent as I followed yours, they came this way.”

I wonder vaguely if it was some instinct of mine that brought me this way as I clutch Rylah’s shoe tightly in my free hand, or if it was just sheer, dumb luck.

Together, we plunge further into the forest, following a trail only he can sense. His steps are sure, and I marvel at his ability to navigate through the dense woods. My fear is settling as we move forward, not exactly disappearing, but it no longer controls me. Rhokar’s silent strength is a shield against the terror that nips at my heels.

He can smell them. He can find them. It’s going to be okay.

“I called the sheriff’s office,” I say quietly as we crunch through the undergrowth in our jeans. “They said they would organize a search party with the forest patrol.”

He nods and squeezes my hand in his. “I called too, they’re sending people out as we speak.”

We continue to walk for what feels like an eternity rolled into mere seconds, and my gaze finds its way up to Rhokar’s determined green profile.

I can’t sense a thing out here, but he doesn’t look worried. He looks in control. He looks confident and capable. Fierce and protective and handsome, his nostrils flaring intermittently and his fingers shifting against mine as he adjusts our course. I’d be lost without him. Utterly lost.

“I love you,” I find myself saying quietly. I’m barely aware of my own words, my eyes now glued to him, my guiding light in this dim forest.

His steps falter, his fingers squeezing mine, and his huge chest expands on an inhale as he turns his dark eyes towards me. He’s suddenly, momentarily frozen before me, and I wonder why. Then my own words finally register, and I blink up at him, just as shocked as he is.

But then he looks abruptly to the left, and his nose flares once more. “They’re here.”

My heart doubles it’s thumping against my ribs, and I shoot my gaze towards where he’s looking, although all I see and hear are the trees. He tugs me just a little behind him and takes half a step forward, and there’s something protective about that move that has me worrying. What is he protecting me from?

“They’re not alone.”

Chapter 23

Rhokar

The scent with my children is almost familiar, but it’s hidden behind…ginger and…sugar and…peppermint? Something is messing with my senses, I can’t untangle it. But underneath all the other layers, I smell the twins—not the remnants of their scents passed by, but here, mixed in with the strange, confusing muddle of manufactured sweetness.

“Stay behind me,” I tell Ella quietly, holding her hand behind my back as I move through the underbrush slowly. I have no idea what to expect going forward, and I don’t want to take any risks with her safety. She doesn’t respond, but her fingers tighten around mine, and we come out through the trees into a clearing in the middle of the forest.

Where a life-sized gingerbread house sits prettily in the last rays of the sun, fully decorated with large pieces of what smells very much like real candy and frosting.

I stop short, and stare at it.

“Uh, Rhokar?” Ella’s voice comes out uncertainly. “Are you seeing this too, or am I going crazy?”

“It’s a gingerbread house,” I say without inflection.

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