Page 11 of Guarded By the Orc

“I decide when we take on any risks and how,” I continued, ignoring him and looking at Pen and Becca, whose eyebrows were almost to their hairlines. “And I’ve decided that this is ano.”

I looked at Rok, Krusk, Savla, and Enka and they shrugged.

“Well I’ll have you know,” Zara said with a sniff, poking hertiny finger into my chest. “That I’mnotpart of this clan. That’smy mother’s coven, and I can do whatever the hell I want to do. You’re not the boss of me.”

I was just about to toss her over my shoulder when Pen stepped between us with an uncomfortable laugh. “While I justloveto have people argue when I invite them over, why don’t we eat first? We all think better with full stomachs.”

I was almost certain that my mate was plotting a way to leave. I could see it in the way that she was interacting on the edge of our group. She’d settled onto the sofa and observed as we all gathered around Becca and Rok’s dining table.

Pen had made enough food to feed an army—and we were slowly becoming one, if our numbers kept growing.

“Aren’t you hungry?” Pen asked Zara, and she shook her head, but the loud rumble from her stomach belied her words.

“Uhh… It does that sometimes,” she said with a vigorous nod and wave of her hand. “Because of the magick. It stays in the stomach, you know—” she started babbling, and I rolled my eyes, filling two plates with pasta and salad, adding garlic bread to the side and then walking across to her.

She looked at me with suspicion as I settled on the sofa next to her. I sank into the softness, and she squeaked, landing against my side, shoving at me with her elbow, but I didn’t feel a thing.

I beamed at where Pen was wiggling her eyes at me and watched while everyone else moved to sit on the sofas as well.

Enka settled with crossed legs on the floor, three plates laid out in front of him, glee on his face while Savla smacked Krusk’s hand from where he was trying to steal bread from his plate.

“This is nice,” Becca said with a happy sigh, feeding Rok a bite from her fork. The male nodded, stars in his eyes when he lookedat his mate.

“My mate’s the best cook,” Dristan said, pressing a kiss to Pen’s head.

She grinned at him before turning to Zara. “Tell us about yourself, Zara,” she said, and I felt my mate go still next to me, her mouth filled with pasta.

“Me?” she asked, before almost choking on her food. I ran my palm in a circle on her back, savoring the feel of her softness under my hand. She smacked at me until I stopped, but I grinned at her, unrepentant. Every excuse to touch her was one I was going to use.

“I think you know pretty much everything about me,” she said, clearing her throat and wiping her mouth with a napkin. “I grew up near here and then I was taken totheirplane, which I call Hellplane, by the way, in case anyone wants to make it popular.” She grinned, taking a sip of wine as she talked. “After that, I was rescued by my friends and Rok, and here I am.” She held her hand up next to her, palm facing the ceiling as if she was posing, and I smothered a laugh.

And there she goes, glossing over the important information.

I knew I was going to interrogate her more when we were alone. Especially about how she’d been taken. Orwhy.

“Hellplane sounds like a good name for that place,” Enka laughed, taking a huge bite of pasta from his second plate. “It was theworst.”

Krusk and Savla nodded their agreement.

“There were barely any hunting grounds and other than Rok, no one granted us permission to hunt on their lands,” Krusk said, shaking his head. “If he didn’t show us how to hunt, we’d have been dead years ago,” he added with a shrug.

My brow furrowed and I glanced at Dristan, whose eyes were troubled as he listened to the three of them speak.

“You don’t have to worry about that here,” he said in a gruffvoice, taking a bite with gusto. “You’re a part of this clan now and you never have to worry about that ever again.”

The three males widened their eyes around the table before Krusk shook his head. “We don’t want to be burdens—” he started, but I cleared my throat after Dristan quirked an eyebrow in my direction.

Ah. Assigned clan PR duties again.

“I can use three strong males like yourselves in my team. I have a security firm, so if you’re looking for work that can help the clan, you can start there,” I told them, keeping my tone casual. “Rok’s also working with me, so he can show you the ropes.”

“The evil box can’t be trusted,” Rok said without hesitation, leaning forward and shaking his head. “But the rodent hasn’t bitten me yet.”

I rolled my eyes, holding back the urge to drop my face into my hands in frustration.The evil boxwas the computer andthe rodentwas the mouse. Introducing Rok to technology was like trying to meld oil and water. So far I’d been unsuccessful. But I wasn’t giving up.

Hopefully these males were easier to teach. But when Savla perked up, leaning forward and asking, “There’s rodents?” I figured I could give up on that hope.

CHAPTER 6

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