Page 34 of Summoning the Orc

The doors opened to the floor—because there were almost fiftyfloorsin thisbuilding, which was why I was being assigned a team of four orcs for now. I was nowhere near an expert on this plane, so he agreed that starting training with a smaller team, where they already knew the layout and could show me the ropes, before I started as their leader, would be best.

After that, we’d grow the team one at a time until we could sufficiently provide protection to the clan. That was Dristan’s dream. He wanted to make this building the homebase for orcs in the city that were clan-less.

That thought had hit me in the chest. I’d love to be a part of that. Of gathering all the rudderless orcs who felt just as lonely as I had only a day ago. Now, I had a small clan and a mate.

I was beaming with joy as I made my way to the door of the apartment I shared with my mate. Fiddling with the key for a few minutes, I opened the door and watched as she hurried toward me.

“Rok,” she gasped, her arms coming around me.

I can get used to this.

I wrapped her in a hug, tucking her tiny form against me and letting her softness and warmth spread through me.

She’s happy to see me.

It had been years since I’d had anyone to greet me when I returned home. Contentment filled me as I tipped her chin up to press my lips to hers. She started saying something, but I sealed my lips against hers, savoring the feel of her in my arms.

This is what I was missing. She’s filled every part of me that was empty.

I spun her in my arms and my female gave a little giggle before she relaxed, twining her fingers into my hair.

Chapter Twenty-One

Becca

It was hard to stay upset when someone was so happy to see you. It was as if he’d been waiting for me to return all day.

A girl can get used to this.

When I’d returned home and he hadn’t been here, I’d been filled with utter panic, thinking that the worst had happened and they’d found him. A coven was a powerful thing and if they had their eyes set on my male, I wasn’t sure how long I could keep him.

With that thought, I tightened my fingers in his hair, letting him make me dizzy with kisses. I didn’t think I could ever remember anyone ever being happy when I came home.

The group homes that I’d lived in and the foster families werenice, but they weren’tmine. When I’d found Pen, it was the closest to a home I’d ever had, but even then, it wasn’t. I had to leave it every night and make my way to my own place.

The way Rok’s eyes had lit up when he spotted me made myheart melt in my chest. Years of empty, noiseless rooms were filled in one moment with the grin on his gorgeous face. I blinked away the tears that filled my eyes, drowning myself in his taste instead.

“Rok,” I murmured against his lips, “I can’t lose you,” I told him, knowing he couldn’t understand me.

He whispered something in Orcish, moving me backward, and I had to force us to stop moving, prying myself away from him by sheer force of will.

“Wait,” I gasped, my breathing erratic.

Noticing that he waswearing somethingover his brawny chest, I pulled away to survey him. My eyebrows swung up as I took him in.

A suit?

He glanced down at himself before meeting my gaze, his cocky grin telling me that heknewhe looked good.

Hell yeah, you do.

The tailored masterpiece fit him perfectly, and I bit my lower lip as I surveyed him from head to toe. If Rudgar thought he was softening the rough edges of Rok, he was wrong. This suit made my tough orc look even more dangerous.

“Ready to run your own gang, big guy?” I asked him, smoothing my hands up his lapels.

He beamed at me, preening in his new suit. While it made him look delicious, I was also grateful that Rudgar had had the forethought to get him into something that would help him blend in. Nothing saidI’m not from herelike two leather straps for a shirt.

“I’m shocked you gave up your axe,” I told him, and he tucked a lock of hair behind my ears before wrapping his arms around me and holding me close. I pressed my face to the center of his chest and something that had always beenjustoutside of my reach filled me.

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