Page 75 of Bound to the Orc Warrior

I’m not sure whose stomach growls, his or mine, but it’s loud enough to wake me up.

Wranth chuckles and presses a kiss to the top of my head. “We should go back to the village. I need to feed you.”

“Food appear now.” I wave a hand in front of me.

He laughs again. “What was that?”

“Just checking if I can teleport things to me. Sadly, it didn’t work. Some of Tumbletoad’s bread would be perfect right now.” Not that I thought I could punch all the way through to Avalon again without major effort, but it had been really,reallygood bread.

He rolls away from me and returns in seconds, his hands gentle yet strong as he puts my bra and shirt to rights and dresses me in my panties, pants, and boots. It’s the same special care he showed me in the bath, and it makes my heart ache in the sweetest of ways.

Then he stands, holding me in a bridal carry, and says, “Take us home, my bride.”

It feels like the most natural thing in the world to teleport us straight to our cottage in Moon Blade Village.

The next morning, I drain the last of my caramel latte and wish I had Olivia’s powers, so I could make another. I have a feeling this is going to be a two-latte kind of day, because,caffeinated enough or not, I walk with Wranth, Zephyr, and Shadow toward the most important meeting of my life.

Ashley and Dravarr walk ahead of us, the redhead chatting easily with a black unicorn. It’s no big deal for her to meet dragons—one of her friends is one!

For me, on the other hand, this isn’t just a big deal. It’s freaking huge! I’m going to meet dragons, real fire-breathing, book-learning,talkingdragons. I’ll find out how to use my powers to open the doors of Faerie. And they might know how to break the tether, so Wranth and I can live a normal life.

A pang goes through me. I don’t like us beingforcedinto such close proximity as we have been, and I certainly want to be able to get up in the middle of the night and go to the bathroom without making him follow me into the cottage’s main room.

Last night, I forgot about the tether in a half-awake daze and made it halfway across the cottage to the bathroom before being yanked right back into bed, landing on top of Wranth in a surprise drop that almost made me pee all over him.

But there are downsides to losing the tether.

If I open the doors of Faerie, I can go home, and with no tether, Wranth doesn’t have to come with me. I thought this was what I wanted, but… now. God, now I want to be with him, only it’s more impossible than ever!

I have a life and a family back on Earth—I can’t turn my back on them. And Wranth? Even if we could hide his orcness and make him look human, that’s no longer an option now that we know who he really is. He’s a freaking king! He’s going to have new responsibilities—his people need him.

He walks quietly beside me. For all the confusing things I’m feeling, it’s nothing compared to what he must be going through. He’s still got to be reeling from everything we learned yesterday, and he’ll see King Aldronn for the first time since finding out the truth of who he really is. Aldronn, who might be his family.

Wranth hasn’t told anyone yet, but to be fair, he also hasn’t had much opportunity. We got back last night in time to eat a quick dinner before going to bed. Then this morning, Dravarr woke us early to say everyone arrived for the meeting.

I glance back along the forest trail. Sturrm and Selena walk behind us with another black unicorn. She spots me looking and gives me a little wave, which I return. I really hope nothing that happens today requires a healer, but I’m glad Sturrm will be there for Wranth.

“This has got to be the mostboringwalk I’ve ever taken,” Shadow says. “Why are you all so quiet?”

“Speak for yourself, cat,” Zephyr tosses her head.

“I believe I was.” He grins his Cheshire cat grin. “I distinctly remember using the word ‘I’ve’ in that sentence, because I’m certain you’re usually so boring you find all of this normal.”

She plants her back feet and pivots toward him, brandishing her horn. “Why you—”

“Hey now!” I step in between them. “Let’s not do this today.”

“Can we do it tomorrow?” Shadow asks, his tone sardonic.

“Anytime, cat.” Zephyr strikes the ground with a hoof, throwing up a cloud of dried pine needles. “Anytime.”

“We’re comrades in arms.” Wranth scowls at both of them. “Act like it!”

They listen, facing forward as we start to walk. He’s got a natural ability to lead—he simply hasn’t used it much. And I think that ability is also what has the others so riled. They can sense something’s bothering him, but instead of asking, they’re poking at each other.

If it were just the four of us alone, I’d tell him to talk to them—or at least to Zephyr—but the timing of this meeting means everyone’s going to find out all at once.

The trees open up in front of us, and we walk out into a large clearing. A standing stone dominates the area to one side, buteven its height is nothing compared to the dragons waiting for us!

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