Page 3 of Enchanted with the Orc (The Kingverse Orcs #4)

Enka

I strummed my fingers against the table I was sitting in front of, my eyes glued to the screens in front of me.

“You know this is creepy, right?” Rudgar asked, earning himself two hums of agreement from my brothers who were standing on either side of him behind me, and annoyed grunts from myself and Rok who was sitting next to me.

“It’s my mate,” I explained, my eyes never leaving the female form I was watching as she covered a table with a large, plastic tablecloth covered with butterflies. “There’s no such thing as creepy.”

Rok grunted his agreement next to me, his finger reaching out to gently stroke down the screen over his own mate—Becca—who was helping mine with the decorations. Ever since I’d returned from yesterday’s fateful meeting with my female, I’d been watching her.

Keeping an eye on her and trying to learn more about her. I’d asked Rudgar to perform a background search on her, but he’d already had a file made. The problem was, it was tragically bare. He was almost certain she was using an alias for her last name, and I couldn’t understand why.

“I disagree,” Rudgar said in what I’m sure he meant to be a reasonable voice, but only ended up sounding exasperated.

“I think there’s boundaries when it comes to mates.

Lines that shouldn’t be crossed. And staring at them through a camera that shouldn’t be there in the first place—” he started complaining, but I waved him off.

“It’s for their own security,” I told him and I could hear Rudgar and my brothers rolling their eyes behind me.

“So you’ve said,” Krusk sighed. “And yet I’m not seeing what any of this has to do with security.”

“The little one runs off,” Rok said pointing out Gabbi who was flittering between the females, her face spread with a wide smile. “We’re protecting her.”

I was so familiar with my brother running his palm across his face that I knew he was doing it without looking at him—just the sound of his muffled groan.

“Just don’t get caught, okay?” Rudgar asked, slapping my shoulder before walking away.

I wasn’t able to move my gaze away from where Tasia was laughing with Becca.

I had headphones in that were allowing me to hear everything that was being said in the room, but so far it was all light chatter about the party—birthday party—for the little princess.

Listening to that yesterday, I had started planning what I was getting for her—I had a list of at least twelve presents—when I’d realized that I hadn’t exactly been invited.

That was when I’d asked Rudgar to run interference.

Through a few clever tactics of manipulation—also known as groveling—aimed his mate’s way, I was now the proud holder of a bright purple invitation soaked in glitter that had fallen all over my apartment floor.

I was almost certain that some of it was permanently lodged in the back of my eyeball, but it was a sacrifice I was willing to make to ensure that I had a proper reason to attend the party.

“I still think this doesn’t make sense,” Krusk told me, leaning in to narrow his gaze on where my mate was staring out of a window, a haunted expression on her face. “Why would she suddenly change the date of Gabbi’s party? Becca said her birthday isn’t for another two weeks.”

“Something happened to her,” Savla said in a low, serious tone, and my gaze sharpened as I took in my female’s profile—hunched and defensive.

“But what?” I asked, wishing I’d been following her for longer, so I could have been there to see whatever had spooked her.

“I don’t know, but it was enough that she decided to change the date of the party. There’s something going on. If there was a regular issue she would have pushed the party back, not brought it forward,” I murmured, frowning. “It seems more serious than that.”

My brothers hummed their agreement, and Krusk slapped Rok across the shoulder. “Do you think your mate’s willing to do some digging?”

“She can try,” Rok said with a shrug, “but that coven is tight-lipped when they want to hide something and you know it.”

“True,” I sighed, leaning back and keeping my eyes locked on my mate and youngling, where the little one had run up to her mother and was demanding to have cake for dinner.

With the party happening, it was a distinct possibility, but I applauded my mate’s efforts to stave her off, redirecting her attention to the slices of fruit instead.

“But do you think the rest of the coven knows what’s going on? ”

“Zara might know,” Savla murmured, referring to his best friend, who was mated to Rudgar. “I can ask.”

“I’d appreciate that,” I told him, hoping for every crumb of information I could get. There was some beeping in the background and soon a ring cut through the silence that had surrounded us.

“Sav?” Zara’s voice came from the other end of the phone. “What’s up?”

“Hey Zara,” I called, “we’re all on the call.”

“To what do I owe the honor?” she huffed out a laugh.

“How well do you know Tasia?” Savla asked, getting straight to business.

“Very well. She’s my sister. We grew up together,” she said, confusion filling her voice. “Why? Is something going on?”

“Enka recognized her as his mate,” Krusk put in, grinning my way while I glared at him.

“No shit?” she gasped, before squealing into the phone. We all slapped our hands across our sensitive ears at the sound, scowling down at the screen.

“No shit,” I agreed, and she squealed again, earning me a glare from the other males, our ears still covered.

“Tell me everything,” she demanded, and Savla rolled his eyes.

“He saw her, he recognized her. What more do you need?” he groused, and it was my turn to glare at him, more than willing to wax poetic on my mate’s beauty and the first time I’d seen her.

“You’re just the most romantic male ever,” Zara complained, sarcasm heavy in her voice. “You’re going to sweep your female off her feet. Really. ”

Savla scowled, and I quirked an eyebrow his way, wondering if there was something he wasn’t telling me. I was about to ask him when Zara spoke, interrupting me.

“Did you want to know about David?” she asked in a hushed voice and we could hear multiple emotions roiling in her voice—none of them good.

“Who’s David?” I demanded, and I couldn’t stop the possessive growl from my voice.

“That’s her… well, I guess he’s her estranged husband,” she said with a deep sigh.

“He’s not really an ex because she hasn’t dissolved the marriage yet.

He’s a fuckhead. You would not like him.

We didn’t know what happened when she left.

We tried to reach out but she never responded, so we left her alone, thinking we were helping. ”

She pressed her fingers to her eyes. “Turns out he stopped her from talking to us, and then by the time she came back… It was bad, guys. Bad enough that when she came back, she just… wasn’t the same.

She doesn’t have the same light in her eyes that she had before.

Thank the Goddess Mother we had a protection spell around the coven grounds, because by the time she came back…

if he’d found her again…” she trailed off, pursing her lips.

Fury like I’d never known swept through me.

A male hurt my mate. Her… husband.

“How do I get rid of him?” I asked her, and she sighed again.

“If I knew, I’d have done it already, to be honest with you. But on this plane, you can’t go around killing people. You have to go through the proper channels. The law .” She said the last word like it pained her, and I had to admit that it pained me too.

“But I’d be helping the plane by getting rid of the trash,” I explained in my most convincing voice.

“I agree with you,” she told me, “but the police won’t. And I know you guys are rich and everything, but you’re still not above it all. You can bend the law with money, but I wouldn’t go around outright breaking it.”

I tsked, slumping in my seat. “What the hell’s the point of all this coin, then?” I demanded, and she chuckled.

“No dead bodies, Enka, that’s all I’m asking,” she said, interrupted by a deep male voice joining in.

“ No dead bodies. Who’s this?” Rudgar demanded. “Savla?”

No one else in the room said a peep, pointing fingers toward where Savla stood closest to the phone, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. “Yeah, Rud. It’s me.”

“Whatever the mess is, we can fix it up until a point. But no bodies .” With that, he hung up the phone while Zara complained in the background.

“Maybe a body,” Rok said with a shrug. “What Rud doesn’t know isn’t going to hurt him.”

Murmured agreements were heard from all around the table, but Krusk shushed them. “No, he’s our clan leader while Dristan’s busy. What he says goes.”

Annoyed by the new rules that were restricting me, I turned back to face the screen, my gaze going to my female without hesitation. “I just hope she isn’t in any trouble,” I whispered.