Page 65 of X'nath

The panic creeped up my spine as I paced the village. Every corner I turned, every place I looked, X’nath was nowhere to be found. My heart hammered harder with each step. Where was he? Why would he leave without saying anything?

"Yargol!" I called out, almost pleading. "Have you seen X'nath? Did he tell you where he was going?"

The oversized weasel looked up from his perch on the nearby rock, twitching his whiskers. He gave a soft, unbothered squeak, but didn't offer much in the way of help. He just batted at the dirt with a paw like I wasn’t on the verge of a semi meltdown.

I couldn’t deny it—the obsession that had grown between us was probably unhealthy. But if I was being honest, it was X’nath’s fault. He had made me crave him this way, had drawn me into this need for his presence. I longed for him, his proximity, to anchor me as I slowly came to terms with this new reality of my life—that I was a mated woman, bound to this clan.

It would be easier if my mate were actually here.

"Yargol, stop playing around," I snapped, my voice rising in frustration. "This isn’t a game, I need to find him."

Memories of the last time he disappeared for a few days resurfaced in my mind. He returned with a strange injury he still wouldn’t talk about. It was that very injury that made me set aside my pride and go to him, but I didn’t want him to come back in the same condition now. Hadn’t we moved past all that? A small voice in the back of my mind whispered that I was overreacting, that the life of a warrior sometimes meant he had to leave me when duty called.

Yargol stared at me for a long beat, his eyes blinking slowly before he yawned, showing all of his tiny, sharp teeth. I knew the little menace was in on whatever was happening. I cursed under my breath.

I continued to search, my eyes darting between the warriors who were busy preparing for the evening patrols, the traders who were wrapping up their deals, and the few women who had gathered in the common area.

My chest tightened, and I couldn't focus on anything except the growing knot of worry in my stomach. Was this really happening? The denial I’d relied on for so long was slowly slipping away, and my logical mind was starting to take over. Even when I was married, I never felt this anxious. But with X’nath, everything was different. These overwhelming emotions were new to me, and I wasn’t sure how to process them.

Finally, when I thought I couldn’t stand it anymore, I spotted him. X’nath, striding toward the camp with a determined, almost grim look on his face. And right behind him was Vakgar, looking just as serious, if not more so. Something about the two of them together, their expressions hard and unreadable, made my heart stutter in my chest.

"X’nath!" I called, rushing toward him. I needed answers.

Before I could chastise him for his disappearance, he quickly wrapped his arms around me and lifted me up into a searing kiss that left me breathless. It took me a few moments to recalibrate my thoughts and focus on why I was upset to begin with. "Where the hell have you been? I’ve been looking everywhere for you!"

X’nath’s lips quirked into a half-smile, a glint of something cocky in his eyes. "You missed me that much, huh?" he teased, clearly not as worried as I was. I was relieved to see him, but his nonchalance made my frustration flare.

"No, X’nath!" I lightly slapped him on his shoulders to put me back on me feet and he reluctantly did with his version of what I call an orcish pout. As adorable as it was, I knew he was trying to distract me. "I’ve been looking for you. I was worried, and you—where did you go?"

He shrugged, the smug look on his face not shifting in the slightest. "You know, sometimes a warrior needs to take care of things without all the questions."

What was that supposed to mean?

“Okay… and I care about you, so disappearing without telling me where you’re going is going to annoy me."

X’nath’s smirk deepened, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. "Lak’osh, are you trying to tell me you need me to quell some frustrations I have created?”

My mind blanked out, flashes of his mouth on my pussy and his hard cock buried inside of me throwing me off balance for a second. His hand brushed mine, but the gesture felt far too casual, too dismissive for the situation. I opened my mouth to say something but my words caught in my throat as he leaned into the crook of my neck and took a deep inhale.

"You smell delicious,lak’osh,” he purred.“You smell like… mine"

I tried to push down the anger bubbling up inside me, but it was hard, especially with him acting like this.

"Stop trying to change the subject," I huffed, feeling the heat of his attraction spread through me, down between my legs. I shoved him away from me a fraction, needing air, needing to get my head on straight before he attacked me right there in the middle of the village.

"I don’t like being kept in the dark, especially when something feels off. What were you doing, X’nath?"

For a brief moment, his eyes flickered—something darker flashed there, but it was gone before I could pinpoint it. Then, with a slow shake of his head, he gave me a crooked grin. "I said, it’s nothing."

I crossed my arms, my frustration reaching its peak. "It’snotnothing, X’nath. If it was nothing, you’d tell me. But you’re not. What are you hiding?"

He stepped closer, his tone dropping low in an almost teasing manner. "The only thing I’m hiding at this moment is how hard my cock is, aching to fill you."

I gasped at his crudeness while pressing my legs together, trying to keep us both on track. “X’nath. Ineedto know what’s going on."

His grin faltered for a second, but he recovered quickly. "You think I would do anything to hurt you?" He leaned in slightly, his voice lowering as he added, "I told you, Gracie. I’m fine. Everything’s fine."

I took a step back, my heart racing with a mix of anger and confusion. I couldn’t even look at him for a moment, feeling the weight of all the unsaid things between us. Something in his words triggered me. My past clawed at the fringes of my mind, flashes of my husband and his trysts with multiple whores all night long, coming home with the scent of another woman.

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