The demand was intense, and a fizzle of fear gnawed inside of me, like an aching, empty hole. “We’re friends.” I told her, gripping the steering wheel with more strength than I should before releasing it when it creaked.
“Krusk,” she said, and my name on her lips was everything I’d ever wanted. “Come on.”
“What do you want me to say?” I asked her, weariness filling my soul.
I couldn’t lose her. Not right after I’d found her. If I admitted everything to her now, she was going to pull away from me. I could see it in her defensive stance. I could feel it in the tone of her voice.
I’d give her the truth slowly. When she saw more of what I had to offer to her. What I could be for her and provide for her.
With an irritated sigh, she turned back to face forward as I drove, silence filling the cabin, stifling me with her anger. I couldn’t stand it. Not from her.
I reached out my hand, palm up, and she stared at it for a long moment before heaving another sigh and placing her hand in mine. Relief replaced the fear that had been eating away at me, and I settled our hands on my thigh, not willing to let her go.
“You’re going to have to tell me sooner or later,” she huffed, and I gave her a nod, because that was the truth.
“I will,” I admitted, lifting her hand for another kiss, inhaling deeply so I could take her scent into my lungs, filling myself with her in case she decided to pull away. I was going to exist on this for a while.
Until she understood what she was to me—what I would do for her and give to be with her, I didn’t want her to think I wasn’t happy with just beingwith her. From the first moment I’d seen her, the loneliness in her eyes had called to me.
Even surrounded by my brothers and our new clan, I couldn’t help the emptiness that spread inside. I’d been told since I was young that there was only one thing—onebeing—that could fill it.
My mate.
Now that I’d found her, I was never going to let her go. But she wasn’t one of my kind. She was a human. They didn’thavefated mates. I’d done enough research on them, after discovering who she was to me, that I could understand that.
Humans could feel the pull and the chemistry, but they didn’t have the instinct that rang inside of us, recognizing them as our biological and emotional match. Humans believed in love, but matings went even further than that. It was deeper.
Somehow, in some way, I was going to prove that to her. And when I did, she’d begladthat I was her mate. She’d see that I was more than just a pair of tusks, fangs and claws. I was going to become a male of worth for her.
CHAPTER 21
Emma
Krusk was quiet as we drove to my grandma’s nursing home and I held my silence as well. I wasn’t sure what to say to him.
I’d heard about orcs and a theory had bubbled around in the back of my mind for a while, before I finally decided that I wouldn’t overthink anything. If there was anything he wasn’t telling me, it would come to light eventually, and I would deal with it at that point. There was no use in losing my mind about something that I didn’t know was real. Yet, anyway.
I glanced over at him, trying to gauge what he was thinking just as he cleared his throat and pointed ahead of us. “Almost there.”
Focusing on where he was pointing, my eyes widened. I’d been so distracted, I hadn’t even realized how far we’d travelled.
“Right,” I said with a nod. “Thanks so much for the ride.”
He hesitated, his eyes flitting to me and then back to focus on where the car was going. “I… I’ll wait for you,” he said, his voiceuncertain even as I frowned.
“That’s okay,” I told him, shrugging. “I’ll be fine. I’ll take the bus back home.”
“I’m not leaving without you,” he said with a shrug. When I glared at him, he gave me a rueful smile. “I want to make sure you’re safe.”
Damn it. Why did he have to say that?
Heat rushed up my face and I looked away, toward the entrance gates. Nibbling on my lower lip, considering, I released a long sigh.
“Okay,” I said in a low voice.
“Thank you,” he murmured, as if I was the one who’d done a huge favor forhim.
He pulled down the drive to my grandma’s nursing home and as usual, it felt like I was stepping into a different part of the city. It was surrounded by sprawling, manicured lawns like a stately manor—its cream-colored stone façade gleaming in the sunlight.
