Page 4 of His Orc Warrior (Human Omegas for Monster Alphas #1)

Thrain

I flopped onto my couch, phone in hand. Earlier that morning, I’d texted Garrett and Saka to find out if any more tickets had been accounted for. Garrett had insisted I put a price on the tickets. We went back and forth on the price but decided that a minimal fee was necessary. If I didn’t see the value in creating the event, then the people buying tickets wouldn’t either.

I had reservations, of course. What if my fated mate was out there and for whatever reason couldn’t afford a ticket.

I’d hate to miss out on the chance of a lifetime because of a few dollars.

Maybe it was because I was an orc, or perhaps it was the timing, but my heart sank when they told me only one ticket had been sold.

One.

One ticket to my event where I hoped people poured in to meet me and, moreover, where I would meet my mate.

The follow-up text was from Saka alone, without Garrett. Do you still want to go through with it?

Groaning, I threw my head back. I had a decision to make. One ticket sold. One. Of course, there was the chance some people would show up on the day instead of buying a ticket in advance, but the chances were low.

What in the hell did an orc have to do to find a mate?

It seemed easy for others. Me? Not so much.

Let me think about it. I texted him back quickly, not wanting him to think I was ignoring his messages.

The moment I hit send, my phone rang. My friends would text. It had to be my parents.

Right in the middle of my crisis.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Thrain! I’m so glad you answered. I tried to message you on the app, but it said you weren’t on.”

I chuckled, shaking my head. “No, Mom. I’m not always on the app. I have to work, and I have other things to do.”

“Oh. Of course. Chasing down that mate of yours. I wanted to ask you if you thought of Berek.” The orc she was speaking of was my childhood bully so, yeah, I thought of him now and again, but I was a strong, capable orc now. Ol’ Berek wouldn’t stand a chance against me now.

Still, I had an inkling she wasn’t talking about me thinking about him as a child. “Not really, Mom. Why?”

“Well, his mother and father are coming over for dinner. And I know you’re working hard on finding your mate, but if you’re willing to keep your options open…”

I took a long, deep breath. The last thing I wanted to do was have an outburst with my mom, but she continually danced all over my boundaries. “Mom. I really appreciate your enthusiasm. I do. But I’d rather mate a vampire than to have anything to do with Berek.”

“What?” She gasped like she didn’t know what I was talking about. She did. She’d wiped my tears when I was little. He was the reason I’d begun working out and eventually trained to be an orc warrior. “People change, Thrain.”

“Mom. I love you but this is the last time I’m going to say it. I will not mate an orc. Especially not a stinky, rotten tusk, lice breeding, ass-smelling…”

“Thrain!” she exclaimed. “Okay, okay. I understand. No smelly orcs.”

We shared a laugh over it. “Mom. Let me do this, okay? I will find a mate on my terms in my own way. No more trying to set me up.”

“Thrain, I… Okay. I promise.”

I got off the phone after hearing more about her day and how she baked some strawberry cheesecake bread.

When I said goodbye to her, my decision was made.

Let’s do it.

As soon as I sent the text to Saka, my jaw relaxed and my shoulders released their tension. There was only one human willing to come and meet an orc, so I would be there. Everything started with a baby step, right?

Now to start prepping. Saka said we would need some snacks set up.

Humans liked sweets, so I got online and ordered orc-shaped cookies from a baker who would ship them quickly. The human was coming to meet an orc. I wasn’t going to have wine and cheese, pretending that I was some kind of suave gentleman. Sure, I had manners. and orcs had a gentle way of treating their mates, but at the root of me, I was a monster.

Humans and monsters agreed on cookies.

Right?

I sighed and scrubbed my hands over my face. I would wear my warrior outfit, of course. My loin covering and tooth of a dragon as a shield on my biceps. My leather bracelets engraved with the markings of my family name and heritage.

Getting up, I checked myself in the mirror. Omegas on TV, especially human ones, liked longer hair on a mate—even those man buns seemed to make them go wild. I had none of that. I kept my hair shaved close to my skull.

My tusks needed sharpening and cleaning. Of course, I cleaned them every night, as every decent orc should, but I would give them a good deep clean before leaving.

Nerves fluttered in my belly, even though there was only one person confirmed to come.

Maybe this one person could be my mate.

Fate had ways.

I prayed this was one of her plans coming to fruition.