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I'd do anything as long as Beth didn't look at me with scorn.

She finally blinked and glanced around as if considering my words. “It’s fine.” A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, something soft and almost kind. “Really, Ruugar. It’s fine.”

My pulse stuttered when she said my name. I wasn’t some stranger who had scooped her up and carried her across the plains. She knew my name, knew my face.

The heaviness I'd been carrying around in my chest loosened. I'd hefted its burden months ago when I met her, when I'd seen her with that human male and realized she'd never be mine.

She unzipped the bag in her lap. “I can change here? I really need to get out of this dress.”

Right. The dress. The one she'd been forced to wear. The one meant to bind her to a life she didn’t want.

I nodded, stepping back toward the door. Running into the door, actually. Making it bang against the wall, and I swear, the house itself shuddered.

“Are you alright?” she asked. “You hit your shoulder hard.”

“I’m fine. Thank you. Fine. And you want to change. Yes. Yes, of course. I’ll… I’ll be outside. I mean, in the living room. I won’t actually go outside the house. Call for me if you need anything.”

She gave me a nod, her throat working as she swallowed.

I forced myself to turn and leave, pulling the door shut behind me as gently as I could.

In the hall, I sagged against the wall, raking my hands down my face. That hadn’t gone too bad.

It had, but I was going to pretend that it hadn’t. Because the thought of offending Beth, of irritating her, made me want to curl up in a big orc ball and sigh.

Waiting in my small living room, I wondered what in the world I was going to do now.

Because I couldn't hide her forever.

Chapter 5

Beth

The bedroom door clicked shut, muffling the sounds of the house beyond. I could hear the dull thuds of Ruugar’s boots as he moved away.

For the first time since I ran, I took a deep breath and let it out. Another. Phew. I’d made it so far. Now to remain hidden. I knew nothing about Ruugar, and maybe I was naïve, but I was going to trust him—for now. To think the first person I run into is the orc I haven’t been able to get out of my mind. I reminded myself not to let my little crush keep me from seeing who he truly was. So far, he seemed decent. Awkward, but so was I. We’d see how he behaved over the next few hours.

Sanctuary, though, and boy, did it feel good.

I slid off the bed and walked over to stand in front of the small trash bin beside the nightstand. My fingers trembled as I reached behind me, fumbling to undo the buttons down the back of the wedding dress. Stiff andheavy, the dress was a cage built of ivory silk. It stretched tight across my ribs, my hips, only flaring out around my legs with yards and yards of tulle beneath. Bradley had picked it out, and I hated it. Was there anything more hideous than this dress?

When I couldn’t wrangle the buttons through their loops, I contemplated finding Ruugar and asking him to do it for me. But he’d seemed so sweet and insecure that I hated to bother him.

Who cared if I ripped the dress apart? I’d never wear it again. One by one, I popped the buttons, savoring how they pinged when they hit the floor. I'd clean them up, naturally, but oh, how good it felt to tear this monstrosity apart. With each release, a bit more of the tension in my shoulders gave way.

He and my father had dictated every part of this wedding. What I wore. Where it happened. The life I would walk into, trapped by vows I wouldn’t have been allowed to refuse.

Well, no more. I was done with all that. With them and their plans.

Bradley could pop out his two children by himself.

The final button came undone, and I shoved the dress down over my hips, stepping out of it like I was shedding the last piece of my old life. If only. The fabric pooled around my feet in a useless heap. I gathered it up and shoved it into the trash bucket. It didn't fit, the expensive silk and miles of tulle overflowing in a crumpled mess.

A small grin curled up my lips. It looked ridiculous.

Amazing, actually.

“What do you think of your dress now, Bradley? I ripped it off my body, not you.” A shiver rushed through me, peppering my skin. I'd dreaded tonight. Sobbed about what I'd face more times than I could count. I hadn't had sex; my father had strictly watched over me all my life. But my first time with Bradley? The thought had made me want to die inside.