THE SUN IS JUST BEGINNING to set as we return to the village.
Today was a waste of time. Our scouts had been wrong or at least whatever orcs had been seen coming had hidden their tracks well enough that we couldn’t locate them. We will be on guard at all times and make sure our defenses are fortified until Vorgak’s plans have been defeated.
I have Kaethe to protect.
I urge my icewolf to move faster. I missed my mate all day and now I need to be back in her arms. To feel the warm press of her body, to lick her little wet pussy, and plant myself inside of her so our souls can join. She’s getting it rough once I’m back, I need to focus this frustration in a better way.
Making her come until she passes out seems like the best use for it.
We crest the hill until the gates come into view. My blood runs cold as I see them ajar with the watchtowers empty. I glance over at Zarod to my left, his own expression wary. Urging my beast faster, we rush through the gates, my stomach is in knots as I race towards Lady Myren’s house.
I need to find Kaethe, to assure myself that she’s okay, that there’s an explanation for—
The sight before me makes my knees buckle and I barely stop myself from collapsing on Lady Myren’s threshold. She’s bent over a bleeding and broken Targoc. His nose is shattered, one of his fledgling tusks is chipped, and there’s a cut along his cheek.
I can hear his chest rattling with every faint breath. Myren weeps over him softly. Mornga is there, rising from a chair and coming over to us. Zarod pulls her against him and I need to do the same with my mate.
“What happened?” I growl out. “Where is Kaethe?”
Mornga pales under my stare.
“We tried to send riders out to find you but no one knew where you’d gone,” she says carefully. I brace myself for the blow that’s about to happen. “We don’t know how many were here but Vorgak’s soldiers snuck in, killed the guards at the gate without us knowing. They would’ve raided the village but—” Mornga swallows audibly.
“But what?”
“Who they were looking for went outside the gate.” Lady Myren rises from Targoc’s side and comes to stand before me.
“Kaethe and Targoc went to collect winterberries. They had been gone for a while and I got suspicious. I saw the gate ajar and remembered Targoc telling me he had found more berries while he was training yesterday. I found him out there like this, barely alive—”
“Where is Kaethe?” I growl, my vision darkening and the room around me spinning.
“They took her,” Mornga whispers.
I let out a roar that shakes the floorboards of Lady Myren’s house. A red haze goes over my vision. Kaethe taken by Vorgak’s males. My mate, scared and alone and hurt. She needs me, I will find her. I will kill whoever laid their hands on her.
The door to Lady Myren’s pushes open.
“Bazur, where’s my sister? She’s not at your house—” Karth stops talking when he takes in the scene. His inhale is sharp as he registers the look on my face.
I am nothing without her, if she is killed…
I growl again. I won’t consider the possibility. Vorgak is dead. I will kill him where he stands, that’s the price for daring to hurt my mate.
“Ready the males, we set out now. Vorgak will be dead by this time tomorrow.” Both Zarod and Karth nod. Karth departs to deliver my orders.
Kaethe is alive, I can still feel our bond, it thunders in my chest like a second heartbeat. My mind whirls with images of her. From the very first time I saw her, shivering in that hunting net, to the last time I was inside her this morning, her dark eyes warm with love. I will get her back, I will save her. She’s mine to protect, mine to keep, mine to love.
Karth returns a few moments later, his face furious and severe.
“The males are ready to leave when you are.” Zarod kisses Mornga and they speak quietly before he is at my back. Stomping down Lady Myren’s front steps I see my soldiers all assembled on their icewolves.
“Vorgak, has taken my mate,” I say to them, gasps ring out. “This sunrise will be his last.” I mount my beast and nudge its sides. We shoot back into the snow and ride fast and hard. I speak into our bond and pray that she hears me and that she knows I’ll be with her soon.
Hold on for me, Kaethe, I’m coming for you.
