Page 35 of Bound to the Orc Warrior

“None of this is unwarranted,” he says. “Why should orcs get all the sky gifts while the Moon Goddess gives us nothing?”

“How do you even know about—”

A raucous caw from overhead answers my question. Soul stealers. Just as orcs have banded together with like-minded allies, the sluagh, ogres, and kelpies have also formed some kind of pact.

I slice at the kelpie to keep it distracted so I can look up. Fuck. The sky overhead is full of the black birds. It’s at least two flocks.

And the soul stealers want my bride, who burns brightly with energy and joy and life.

“Watch out for deathsleep!” I yell. The vile herb is a coward’s attack, since it knocks out a fae or a human for a hundred-years.

“I don’t know what that is!” Naomi yells back from just within the trees.

“Avoid any gourds falling from the sky.” I grind my teeth and counter another attack, unable to take more time to explain.

“Stupid orc,” the kelpie fighting Zephyr says. “They won’t use deathsleep on us. We’re allies.”

I hope it’s true, but I’ve also heard the sluagh have dosed their “allies” before. There’s little honor among villains. I might carry a precious vial of the antidote on me, but it’s only enough for one person, and it’s not the kind that works on humans.

Goddess, if the soul stealers knock my moon bound unconscious, they can attack her at will. I cannot allow it!

A roar tears from me as I leap forward, sword swinging upward in a ferocious two-handed blow. The impact jars myarms as the blade slices into the hell horse’s neck. Blood flows, but not enough. My shoulders burn with strain, yet I refuse to let up and continue to apply pressure, throwing my entire body behind the effort.

The kelpie jerks backward, and I dance forward, keeping up my assault. Another hoof strikes my thigh in a sharp burst of pain. I pant through it, straining forward. I must finish him so I can get to my bride.

Green blood pours freely now, and I yank my sword free to make it flow even faster.

The kelpie staggers to the side, then his front legs give out, dropping him to his knees.

Zephyr gives a whinny of victory as well.

Triumph fills me as I spin.

Only to find several sluagh swarming Naomi!

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Naomi

My heart skitters in my chest as I run. I’m supposed to hide, but I can’t go far from Wranth without the tether snapping me right to him in the middle of the fight. Even if I don’t get attacked by the kelpie when I appear directly in front of it, me popping up would distract Wranth. So I stop right inside the trees and turn.

Zephyr’s holding her own against the puke-green horse thing she fights, so my gaze flicks past her to…

Oh, god. My hand covers my mouth.

The kelpie lunges toward Wranth, huge and unstoppable.

Wranth stops it.

It’s several times Wranth’s size and weight. He’d be totally outmatched if he were human.

But he’s not human. He’s an orc.

And he’s fuckingmagnificent.

God, the way he moves! The power in his shoulders and back. He fights like a man possessed, striking the larger fae again and again.

A loud call from overhead, one that fills me with instinctive dread. The evil birds are back, and there are more of them than ever!

---