Page 9 of Orc’s Promise (Knotty Monsters #3)

CHAPTER SEVEN

VERIG

“ S houldn’t you be with your female?” I ask as I scent Atox approaching.

I have not told him of this place by the river, where I climb atop the flat boulder that sits in the middle of raging rapids like an island.

High rushing waters, branches, and other debris float by after a heavy storm.

Nothing keeps me from this spot when I need to think of Haaka…

or more recently, another female, one I cannot take as a mate.

“She needs sleep. The youngling she carries tires her easily. Even after I give her pleasure, she has trouble sleeping. But I am not here to speak of my female. You, Verig, concern me as much as Paloma. More. You have not been at peak form since the raid on the human settlement.”

He’s right, and yet I do not care to discuss this with anyone, even my closest friend and grak. “How did you find me?”

“Daelix told me which direction you took.” Atox wades through the thigh-high water and joins me on the boulder.

I should have avoided walking past the warriors sitting by the fires, talking late into the night.

But I did not care if they saw me. They had no reason to follow.

But Atox has a way of knowing when something is off with his warriors.

Nothing else explains why he would leave the warmth of a female in his bed in the middle of the night.

“Is it Baloq’s female that troubles you?”

“She is not—” I cut myself off. Baloq took her. Declared her his. He has to be given the time to prove himself to her before any other male may approach her with an offer to mate.

“I was right.” Atox draws a deep breath. “Three cycles of the moon. That is his right. If the female does not accept him by then, you may lay a claim.”

“Paloma has changed you.”

“Do not try to distract me with talk of how I have changed. I am still grak here and see what is happening. You want the female, and Baloq is in the way. If I change the law for you, then the other warriors will not respect or follow me when I need them most.”

“You took Paloma against her will.”

“To be clear, Verig, I did not mate Paloma, not until she wished it.”

“You kept her in your chambers.”

“A mistake. One which Baloq repeated because he followed my lead. I share the blame of him locking her in his room.”

That is what I need. Time with Tansey alone. But Atox is right. I cannot do what he and Baloq did. I will not make her a prisoner.

“We need these females, Verig. How we treat them once we have them must change, or they will never accept our warriors. And our ranks are too few to combat the other species on Kovos. We can take on the humans or even the vints alone. Certainly, the bantarans and moxxels, but not if any of the groups combine forces. We’ve already seen signs of an alliance between the humans and the vints.

The blasters the humans used against us when we raided their settlement came from either the bantarans or the vints.

“The vints have allied with the humans. Future raids will be difficult, but not impossible. We will find a way.”

The ridges of Atox’s forehead scrunch together. “You had the opportunity to take a female from the humans but didn’t. Why?”

I don’t answer. Instead, I look out on the rising waters.

“Haaka is gone,” Atox continues. “You did not die with her. That means the gods have plans for you.”

“They intend for me to live a long life without my family. To pay for my crimes.”

“What crimes?”

Not saving them.

When I fail to answer, Atox adds, “Haaka would approve.”

“Of Tansey?”

“Of you living your life. I do not advise you to forget your mate and youngling, but you need to live, my friend.”

Letting go of those who counted on me to protect them is not easy. Neither is knowing I may fail again. But I do not say these words to my grak, even when he speaks to me as a friend. To show weakness before him would mean losing his respect.

Respect is all I have left.

“Get away from me!” a female screams in the distance, slicing right through me.

Tansey.

I dive into the water and emerge onto the shore, screams ringing in my ears.

I race through the brush, branches slicing across my face, chest, and arms. I’m so focused on reaching Tansey that I’ve lost all sense of where I am or where my grak is in relation to me.

Neither is good, but I don’t care as the drive to reach her becomes all-consuming.

Her scent, laced with fear, reaches me before I spot her. I push past a narrow pass of trees to find Baloq pinning Tansey down, his loincloth on the ground feet away. She brings up her foot, catching him in the stomach, but he merely pushes her leg back.

With all my energy, I throw myself against the sartog, knocking him away from her. My fists fly, pounding into his face over and over. Blood pours from his nose and mouth as one of his tusks slices my palm, but I don’t stop. I can’t . Too much rage pours out of me. For Haaka, Veeya, and now Tansey.

“Verig, stop!” Tansey shouts.

I hear her pleas, but I cannot comply. The male tried to take what is mine. Even if she never lets me mate her, she’s not his to touch. I will protect this female with my life, as I should have done with Haaka and our youngling.

Metal glints in my periphery as Baloq draws a knife.

I’m yanked off him from behind as his knife slices through the air, narrowly missing me.

“Enough!” Atox roars and slams me against a tree trunk.

My rage turns red hot as a branch bites my shoulder from the force. I shove Atox back, and my hand grips a knife.

“Verig!” Tansey shouts. The fear in her voice pulls me from the haze. She’s safe, no longer in danger. What, then, frightens her?

I survey my surroundings. Woods, Baloq—bloody and on the ground—and my hand gripping a sheathed knife as I stand with legs braced, facing my grak.

Vekk me. I was about to draw a blade against my grak.

Tansey stopped me.

I lift both hands, hold my palms up, open and empty, showing my surrender. There is no excuse for attacking my grak. Or thinking of it. Except I wasn’t thinking, only reacting to my female’s screams. I will not humiliate myself by trying to excuse my actions.

“Killing him only weakens us,” my grak growls, choosing to ignore my near-fatal error of drawing a knife against him and instead focusing on the larger issue. I tried to kill Baloq.

Vekk the male. I still want to kill him .

“I will take care of Baloq,” Atox’s voice booms. “You will return the female to the tunnels. Is that clear, Neld?”

Twice, he’s reminded me that I serve him, that his word is law, and he is to be obeyed, no matter what. Despite every bone in my body telling me to remove Baloq’s head with my sword, I say, “Yes, Grak.”

Atox stares into my eyes, assessing if he can trust me to leave Baloq to him. For over ten years, I’ve held his trust.

No longer.

My eyes wander to my female, who’s shaking, and then to Baloq. The need to kill him returns full force.

Atox must be reading my thoughts, for he shoves me so hard I’m thrown into Tansey.

The moment my hands grab hold of her to steady her, her scent wraps around me. Her soft flesh beneath my fingers calms me. A mere touch from this female drives the bloodlust from me. She’s the priority and she always will be.

This is why Atox is our Grak. He knows his warriors and how to motivate them, including me.

Slowly, I remove my hands from Tansey. Her eyes are wide. Fear, though not of me. I offer her my hand, giving her the choice. “I will lead you back to the tunnels, if you wish.”

Blue eyes don’t even blink as they study me with suspicion.

“Or you may stay here. I do not know how our Grak plans to punish Baloq, but you may not wish to witness.”

“Will he kill him?”

“I cannot say for sure. Twice now, Baloq has defied orders. That cannot be tolerated. The defense of our people, our very lives, depends on warriors following orders.”

When she doesn’t take my hand, I step closer to her. “I am not Baloq, Tansey. I will not harm you.”

Her face hardens. “You already have, Verig. You refuse to let me return to my son. That’s worse than anything Baloq could have done to me. ”

And with that, she marches off toward the tunnels without me.

TANSEY

Rage. Fear. Shock.

Relief.

So many emotions all at once.

And I just lashed out at the male who stopped Baloq from hurting me. Why?

“Tansey, wait,” Verig calls from behind.

I stop, mostly because he’s given me an excuse to stop and thank him.

I shouldn’t need an excuse. He saved me, and I’m letting…what, pride?... get in the way. Or is this still about Ethan?

When I spin around, ready to lash out at him again and ask him why he’s keeping me from going home to my son, I notice the blood on his face and hands.

I suppress the urge to ask him if he’s okay. I can’t soften to him, not if I want to see Ethan again. “I don’t belong to Baloq. Or you. I belong with Ethan.”

“Your mate?”

“My child. The one I told you about. The one you don’t believe I have.”

Green eyes widen for a brief moment. “I erred, female. I presumed your claim of a youngling was nothing more than a tactic to convince me to let you leave.”

“I’m telling the truth. My son’s just a little boy, without his mother. He’s staying with a neighbor. I didn’t even get to say goodbye.” Despite all my efforts to remain strong, tears stream down my face. It’s the first time I’ve cried since the orcs kidnapped me .

Verig wipes one of the tears from my cheek and examines it on his thumb. “I’ve seen the other females leak like this. I thought it a sign of weakness.”

“Sadness. Deep sadness. But I guess you can’t relate. You’ve never lost anyone you cared about, or you wouldn’t keep me from my son.”

His back straightens, and the softness in his expression fades, replaced by a coldness in his eyes and the tightening of his jaw.

“You have a choice. Return to the female quarters you’ve occupied this past week, where Baloq may yet again come for you. And next time, he will do so when I am not nearby to stop him. I assure you, he is a male who learns from his mistakes.”

“Can’t your grak stop him?”

“I’m unsure what our grak plans, only that he is not likely to execute Baloq for disregarding his orders. He could banish him, as he’s done with another warrior who disobeyed him, but even banishment may not keep Baloq from taking you.”

I can’t stop shaking. Verig’s arms find their place behind him again as if he’s in a military stance. I don’t understand this male. He flip-flops from raking his eyes over me to avoiding touching me.

“What will stop Baloq?” I ask.

“Letting another male mate you. Me.”