Page 26 of His Orc Warrior

I pulled out his chair and urged him to sit down. He opted for the water over ale. That was strange. Lucas loved orc ale. “Tell me about this stomach trouble. Perhaps my father has a remedy.”

My omega blushed harder than when I first kissed him, which was saying something. “I don’t think your father has a remedy for this. Oh, Thrain, this soup is delicious. Earthy and savory and so creamy. Did you make this from scratch?”

“I did. My mother’s recipe. Please tell me what’s going on, mate. I can’t even eat with all these thoughts running around in my head. Is something wrong? We have an orc healer and a human healer as well, right here on the lands. I can bring you to him tonight.”

Lucas sighed and put down his spoon. “I went to a healer today, alpha. He told me what was going on.”

“Why didn’t you call me? I would’ve gone with you.” My chest ached. Honestly, I was a little hurt. We were mates. If something was wrong with him, then something was wrong with me as well. Didn’t he trust me to take care of him?

“I didn’t call because I knew I was coming here tonight. I wanted to tell you in person. Do you remember the other day when you said I was smelling sweeter lately?”

I nodded. “Of course. You smelled like the sweetest dessert. You still do. I thought it was a side effect of the mating.”

He smiled and reached for my hand. “The healer told me…gosh, I’m so nervous about what you’ll say.”

Getting up to move closer to him, I grabbed him up, sat him in my lap, and took his seat. “Tell me, mate. Tell me. We’ll get through it together.”

Lucas chuckled and craned his neck to kiss my chin. “I hope so because I’m carrying your baby, alpha.”

“You are carrying my orkling?” I asked, my breaths shallow.

“I am. The healer said orcs can sense their babes. Can you?” My omega took my hand and placed it over his belly after pulling up his shirt. “Can you feel him, mate?”

“I can’t physically feel him but I sense another bond being formed, even as we speak. But you aren’t sick anymore? Anything else?”

He shook his head and then leaned on me. “No. The healer said something about orc babies emitting a hormone to help the human omega through the carrying and birth? He said I would eat like you do but that our babe would strengthen me from within. And then after the birth, the hormones would stay inside me, healing me faster than a human birth.”

“He’s right. And your milk will be green.”

“What?” He popped up, eyes wide, mouth in an O.

“I’m just kidding. Orklings drink regular milk.” I laughed. “I can’t wait to see your chest swollen and feeding our young.”

“Oh, that wasn’t nice. You’re being mean to the papa of your baby, Thrain.”

I gathered him up until he faced me, straddling my hips. “I’m sorry, Lucas. That was a bit mean. I hope you know I’m going to take care of you. Not just through this pregnancy but for the rest of your life. You’ve made me happier than I knew possible, and that was before you told me about the orkling. Were you worried I wouldn’t be happy?”

He nodded. “I was. It’s so soon.”

“Doesn’t matter. When it’s right, it’s right. Now, would you let me feed you, sweet mate, father of my young? Let me feed you and then I’ll fill you up in other ways.”

“Sounds like the best plan ever.”

Chapter Nineteen

Lucas

Now that I was pregnant, there were decisions to be made—ones that could no longer be put on the back burner. I was going to be having a child, and that meant we needed a nursery and a home that was ours.

But making that decision also meant we needed to decide how we were going to raise our orkling. Were we going to raise them in the orc village? As an orc in the city? As a human? Some combination of the two?

There were so many different options. So many different things to consider, with no “right” answer jumping out at me.

And so, I did what I always did. I took out a notebook and started writing down pros and cons, no matter how big or small. Every time one list got ahead, the other would catch up. It was a head-to-head race pretty much the entire time.

By the time Thrain came over, I was four pages, both sides, deep into my list.

“Do I even want to know?” he asked, glancing at the notebook.

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