Page 64 of Bound to the Orc Warrior

They both agree, and Selena steps forward, arms outstretched, letting any injured pixie rest on her hands for long enough to be healed.

Olivia grips her crystal necklace, and several large pizzas pop into existence on our table. She points, and the larger flock takes off with three of them carried by coordinated teams of six, equally distributed around the edges of the crust.

That leaves one pizza for my group. The leader looks at me with a question in her eyes, and I gesture her toward it. Instead of trying to pick it up, they fall on it like a ravenous horde, teeth flashing as little hands rip up mouthfuls and shove them in almost faster than the eye can follow. In less than a minute, not a single crumb remains.

“Ohhh.” The leader pats her stomach, which is so swollen she looks pregnant. “Pizza is so good. I see why they sing songs of it.”

Songs? I bite my lip to keep from laughing and gesture in the opposite direction from where the other pixies went. No point taking any chances. “Why don’t you go sleep it off in the forest?”

Wobbling in the air, almost as if they’re drunk, the little fae flutter out of the village green.

“Our turn,” Olivia says. “Got a favorite pizza?”

“Sausage, red bell pepper, and extra cheese.”

It pops into existence right as pizzas cover every table in the green. The orcs fall to, handing slices with different toppings between the tables.

That first bite is heaven in my mouth, the spicy sausage perfectly offset by the extra cheese.

Wranth grunts happily as he tastes it, and before I can ask if he likes it, he chomps through half a slice.

Yep. He likes it.

I grin and continue eating as the village green fills with the sound of laughter and multiple conversations.

Even the unicorns show up, Zephyr among them, to ask Olivia for oats, while the fae panthers and wolves have meat.

It’s one big happy family, and it already feels like home.

Which is a lovely but confusing feeling, because I already have a home.

CHAPTER THIRTY

Wranth

We eat and drink late into the evening, the ale and cider running freely and adding a boisterousness that fills the entire village green.

Before they get sent off to bed, the younglings demand a ride on Grace’s contraption. Their excitement makes it nearly impossible to remember this ride is here not for fun but to protect the open village green from the sluagh. As they fill most of the swings, I catch Naomi looking on wistfully.

“Would you like to ride it?” I gesture. “Go ahead.”

“Are you going to?”

I shake my head. “Adult orcs weigh too much. But you should go.”

“I’ll ride it with you!” Taylor calls out, pulling my bride along.

The pixies return, and members of the original village flock spread out among the younglings, clinging to their hair and clothes. As soon as Naomi’s settled in a swing, the pixies adorned with tiny bits of pink swarm over her until she looks as if she wears a shirt of glowing light. “If the other pixies are doing this, we want to do it, too!”

Grace starts the ride, and the swings fly up into the air, trailing shrieks of laughter. My moon bound’s smile as she whirls past is so beautiful it makes an answering happiness fill me, a contentment such as I’ve never known.

It feels so right to be here, with her, in this village.

I can’t be certain, because it’s a new sensation, but it feels like home.

As parents usher younglings away for bed, Naomi returns to my side, full of laughter and joy.

Selena asks Sturrm to play a few songs on his guitar, and they finish with a duet of them singingUnder the Apple Tree. The sound is so sweet the pixies come back and dance in the air over their heads, like stars pulled down from the sky by the beauty of their harmonizing voices.

---