Page 32 of Summoning the Orc

“But… The thing is—” she cut herself off, pausing for a long moment before she continued. “He looked like he recognizedyou as his mate when he came out of the book, Becca.” She chewed on her lower lip with one fang and my palm became sweaty under hers. She glanced at it, before looking up at me. “And that’s what makes me think that he’ll be back for you. Don’t worry. We can protect you.”

She thinks I’m scared for myself, not him.

“Thank you,” I told her, pretending to be relieved, but I was almost certain my face looked constipated instead.

“Of course,” she assured me, patting my shoulder. “Did you want us to send any guards to your home? The library has insurance coverage for this kind of thing, and we have the extra funds if—”

“Oh no,” I told her, trying for a casual tone, but my voice was so high-pitched it was a wonder she could even understand me. “I’m totally fine. Perfect. You don’t have to worry about me. Just focus on the important stuff.”

She nodded, sending a sympathetic look my way and I realized she assumed I was scared. I preferred she think that than I was hiding a giant orc in my apartment, though.

“We have the coven from down the street coming in later today to start the mystical tracking,” she said, giving me a reassuring smile, her fangs glinting in the light. “And once we get him back to where he came from, you don’t have to worry anymore. Hopefully we can find him today.”

“Mystical… Tracking,” I sounded out, horror filling me.

Oh no.

Chapter Twenty

Rok

My lip curled at Rudgar as he stopped me from following my Becca out the door. I turned to glare at him, but he was grinning back at me.

“Don’t worry about her. She’s just going to work,” he assured me, as if that was supposed to make me feel better.

Work.

My female shouldn’t have to work. I had enough gold to take care of us. If the amount that I’d brought with me wasn’t enough, I just needed to find a way to go back to my cave. I had troves more where that came from.

I’d present more to her. The coins I’d given to her hadn’t been enough. Even within a clan, each family was allowed to keep a part of their earnings and those earnings were presented to the female since she was the one who cared for the home.

“How many coins would be enough for Becca to stop working?” I asked Rudgar, not familiar with the expenses of this world.

I peered around at the opulence of our surroundings. It wasn’t the most secure home, but it was luxurious. I wasn’t going to expect my female to take care of me. My pride as a male wouldn’tallow it.

“She likes what she does,” Rudgar said with a shrug. “I doubt any amount of coin would stop her.”

I frowned, crossing my arms over my chest as I eyed him.

“Are you joking? My femaleenjoysworking? What work does she do?”

“She’s a librarian,” he said, gesturing toward me. “She summoned you from one of the books there.”

My eyes went wide. My mate was a caretaker of knowledge. A smile spread across my face, as I realized that if she hadn’t been caring for those books, I would have never met her.

“She can keep working, then,” I purred with a grin.

Rudgar rolled his eyes, turning to move into the kitchen area, opening the cold box. “Yeah, I don’t think that you have any say in that, Rok, but we’ll let you keep thinking that.”

I frowned as he surveyed what was inside before tapping on one of those tiny boxes that I saw everyone walking around with. Although this one was much larger. Sturdier than the one Becca carried.

“What’s that?” I asked, moving closer to poke the box in his hand.

“It’s a phone,” he said, clutching it closer to his chest as if protecting it. “A means of communication and entertainment.”

“Entertainment?” I asked, peering down at it. The language he was using on the box was unfamiliar, but I was intrigued. “Can it sing? Dance?”

Rudgar gave me a wide grin. “It can sing. It even uses different voices.”

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