Page 83 of The Savage Vow
“I thought I had lost you.” Her voice grew raw, her hand coming up to cup Orlena’s jaw.
“I survived.” Orlena murmured, repeating what Nargol had just said. It was the truth. She wasn’t sure how, but it could only be because of Nogora.
Nargol gently caressed Orlena’s face for a brief second. She released her and turned away. She moved to her pack that she had settled on the ground and began unpacking it.
Dried meat. Hard fruit. A small skin of water. A thin but sturdy blanket. Orlena sank down against the curved inner wall of the tree. Exhaustion crashed into her like a wave while Nargol prepared their shelter.
“Where will we go?” Orlena asked quietly. If they couldn’t go back to the village, would they just leave?
“To Cardu,” Nargol said without hesitation.
Orlena’s eyes widened. She sat forward, confused. “The clan leader?”
“Yes. Everything started with him. It will end with him,” Nargol said.
“He won’t listen. They said that he was involved?—”
“He will and he has no choice,” Nargol growled. “Once all is done, we will leave this place.”
“And go where?” Orlena asked. She settled back against the wall, unsure of anything at the moment.
“We will go to Udenia.”
The words should have relieved her. Instead, they made her chest ache. Nargol handed her a strip of dried meat. She took it and barely tasted any of it. She ate it because she was sure she would need the energy from it. She didn’t need to be told that they would not be able to light a fire. There was no telling who may be hunting them.
Once upon a time, she would have been excited to go to the capital of Aghon. Now she wasn’t sure.
Yambul was dead.
She was free.
But would the orcs in Udenia treat her the same way the ones here did? Soza only tolerated her because she provided a service for them. Humans had always been treated like second-class citizens. She and the other humans were never equal to the orcs.
Nargol settled next to her and stretched out her long legs across the hollowed floor. She draped the blanket over them both. Orlena hesitated only for a brief moment, curling into her side. Nargol’s arms came around instinctively. She felt protected. Warm. Cherished. All in that moment.
Outside, the forest whispered and creaked.
Orlena paid close attention to the steady rhythm of Nargol’s breathing and heartbeat. Her head still spun. When she closed her eyes, she could still see the blood and hear the screams from the orc camp.
But then she remembered what Nargol had done to save her.
Not because she was ordered to.
Not because she was spying on them.
But because she’d chosen to.
And that made Orlena realize that it was Nargol who she was in love with. Bula—Nargol—was one and the same.
This orc holding her, who had saved her, who had killed to get to her, was who she was in love with.
She snuggled into her arms and released a sigh. Exhaustion was finally taking its toll on her. She closed her eyes and felt herself relax.
“I love you,” she murmured just as the darkness claimed her.
Dawn camebefore Nargol was ready for it. It appeared too soft for a world that had shifted so violently the previous night. She welcomed it. Seeing a new day brought her closer to the moment she’d be able to leave this place and take her mate home.
Light filtered through slits of the hollowed tree in pale strands of gold. Dust motes drifted lazily in the beams. Theforest beyond grew alive with the waking life—birds calling, leaves stirring in the wind, the distant rush of water over stone while nature began its day.
