Page 42 of Orc's Claim
“Please tell me this is his way of punishing you and it’s nothing more than a scare tactic.”
He holds my face in his hands. “My grak is quite direct. If he wanted to punish me, it would be through other means. If he says he wants you, it means you appeal to him and he doesn’t give a vekk about anyone else. He intends to have you.”
My eyes flare. “I don’t care what he wants. He can’t have me. And there’s no way my people would let him touch me.”
Ryko punches the tree behind me as he swears in Orcan. Slowly, I ease his bloody hand away from the tree and the sizeable indent. Fortunately, nothing appears broken, merely scraped from the rough bark. “I’m causing so much trouble for you, aren’t I?” I whisper as I rip a strip of fabric from my skirt’s hem.
“You talk as if you are a burden.”
“I guess that’s more my uncle talking than me. I can getinsecure at times. Mostly when I feel… trapped.” I brush the shards of bark off his knuckles and wipe away the blood. “Look what you’ve done to your poor hand. Because of me.” I shake my head.
Ryko grips my hand, stopping me from tending to his wound. “Do not blame yourself for this situation.”
“I’m not, but…” I exhale, desperately wracking my brain for a solution. “Maybe I should approach my people. Tell them I want to be with you. Ask if we could live in New Earth.”
“No,” he says, the word so clipped the hairs on the back of my neck rise.
“Why not? It’s possible they’ll help. I mean, you said they’re working on a treaty between our peoples. Maybe our being together can be added to the talks.”
“You will speak of us to no one.”
“This isn’t for you to solve alone. Let me help.”
“Treaty or no treaty, my grak will take you if he wants you. I saw his expression, Lily. He wants you.”
My body starts to shake.
“I won’t let him touch you, my Lily. Even if I must challenge him.”
Relieved, my shoulders sag, but Ryko’s posture remains stiff. “What aren’t you telling me?” I ask.
“To challenge a grak is to invite death.”
My stomach turns. I won’t risk him. “There has to be another way.”
“There is,” he says, but doesn’t elaborate.
“Tell me. I’ll do whatever it is.”
“If I formally mate you, then, by our laws, he cannot touch you.”
I release a breath slowly, overwhelmed by what he’s proposing. Every part of me yearns to be with Ryko. From the moment I wake each day until I fall asleep, he’s all I think about. Even when I thought he had used me.
When I don’t say anything, disappointment shadows his features.
This isRyko. My sweet orc who always thinks of me first. I cannot envision a future without him. I’m just scared of the unknowns like how we will resolve the discourse between our peoples.
A surge of hope and excitement fills me as I make my decision.
I take a deep breath, watching him scrutinize me as I slowly release it and announce, “I’ll mate you.”
“No, you will not,” he says quite succinctly. When his hand curves around the back of my neck, his voice softens, the anger of moments ago replaced by promise. “You are mine to protect. From outside threats and—” He taps my chest. “—inside ones. When you are ready, you will know. We both will. Then we mate.”
“Ryko—”
“Say it. You are mine to protect.”
“I’m yours to protect,” I say with fervor. “But we’re stuck between two colonies that can’t get along and now your grak says he wants me.” I hold up my hand, silencing him when he opens his mouth to object to what I’m about to say. “I adore you for wanting to protect me, but we’re in this together. Mating is the answer, my sweet orc. Ready or not, I will be fine, because we will be together.”
