Page 4 of His Orc Warrior

Once the ticket was paid for, I sent it to my phone and finished my weather search.

“Bolg, sorry, my dude. Tomorrow, it’s going to rain.” As well as the two days that followed. Lucky us.

I clicked on the rest of today’s forecast. It wasn’t looking great, but with a 5 percent chance of rain, it was our best bet for a while.

“How about we go get ice cream?”

His tail was wagging so fast, I was surprised he didn’t hover in the air.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

There was a little place in town that made pup cups filled with dog-friendly ice cream. And Bolg liked nothing better than to go and visit. There were usually other dog friends there, a sweet treat, and a ride in the car—it was the trifecta of perfect doggie outings in his mind.

After a quick walk to make sure that all his needs were met, we settled in the car and drove the short distance.

I loved seeing him so excited and, as soon as I opened the car door, he jumped out and bolted for the store. He knew exactly where we were and, had I not been fast, he’d have made it there before I could snag his leash.

“I see your little one knows what they want.” An alpha with a much larger dog held the door open for me. The dog was cute enough. The alpha? He was conventionally hot but not my type.

“Yeah, he loves it here. How about your fur baby?”

“It’s his first time. I guess we’ll see how he feels when he gets his ice cream.” And that should’ve been the end of that. Of course it wasn’t. “But I know right now that I’m glad I came.”

And just like that, a friendly discussion turned creepy.

It wasn’t even anything he said. When I left, our time there was going to end with the inevitable question of whether he could have my number or we could go on a date. And that just wasn’t me.

At least, not with him or anyone else I’d met so far.

My parents asked me what I was waiting for, and I couldn’t put it into words. But it wasn’t this man. Or any of the others I turned down.

Someone would come along, and I’d immediately sense that they were the one. I only hoped that one day was soon because as much as I loved my life with Bolg, it was getting lonely. It would be nice to have someone to share it with.

The vision of that orc on the invitation filled my head, and I pushed it down.

Maybe I should start saying yes to human invitations. It wasn’t like there was an orc in my future. They were only make believe.

I just wished they were real.

Chapter Four

Thrain

I flopped onto my couch, phone in hand. Earlier that morning, I’d texted Garrett and Saka to find out if any more tickets had been accounted for. Garrett had insisted I put a price on the tickets. We went back and forth on the price but decided that a minimal fee was necessary. If I didn’t see the value in creating the event, then the people buying tickets wouldn’t either.

I had reservations, of course. What if my fated mate was out there and for whatever reason couldn’t afford a ticket.

I’d hate to miss out on the chance of a lifetime because of a few dollars.

Maybe it was because I was an orc, or perhaps it was the timing, but my heart sank when they told me only one ticket had been sold.

One.

One ticket to my event where I hoped people poured in to meet me and, moreover, where I would meet my mate.

The follow-up text was from Saka alone, without Garrett.Do you still want to go through with it?

Groaning, I threw my head back. I had a decision to make. One ticket sold. One. Of course, there was the chance some people would show up on the day instead of buying a ticket in advance, but the chances were low.

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