“Thanks,” I say, tipping my bottle to Shalia and ignoring her giggles at Hisa’s statement.
But Hisa’s not done with me. “So, the orc’s hot, right?” she asks.
“Well, yes, but he’s a little broken right now.”
“Only one part you have to be concerned with being broken.” Shally waggles her eyebrows. Both of my childhood friends know of my plight to lose my virginity.
I sigh. “I’m sure your mates will cockblock me. Probably drugged him with one of Aunt Abigail’s concoctions.”
Shalia leans forward, an earnest look knitting her brows. “Bakog doesn’t think he’s too bad of a guy. He doesn’t trust him yet, of course, but he thinks his core is good.”
“What do we really know about him?” Hisa asks.
“His father is King Vronas. He has two sons from his wife, but the one who was in line for the throne, Leviton, is now dead. He was always in competition with Varguk because Varguk was firstborn, even though he wasn’t from Queen Nisha,” Shalia says.
“So he was taunted for being a firstborn bastard?” I ask.
Shalia nods.
“Isn’t it funny how no one taunts the king for straying?” I ask.
All three of us look over at Grumpy, who scowls at us from where he sits with his own mate, Aga, and my father.
Hisa giggles. “Still has great hearing.”
“Sharp as a tack,” I say.
“One of the most handsome males of all time,” Shalia says.
I swear the orc king preens. My father bops him on the side of the head, and Aga chuckles as she coos at her mate to soothe his ruffled feathers.
“Also odd about the Southpeaks?” Shalia says. “They’re so stretched out, because they have a lot of inner fighting. Lines of rule between clans. Villages. So, a king is in charge of a certain area, and they have numerous kings for these lineages. Varguk’s father is one of many, but there’s one main king overall. I think he’s called the Clan King. Everyone concedes to his supreme rule.”
And then I’m distracted by the three males who enter. Tok andBakog head straight for their mates, squeezing their large bodies into our table, leaving a broody orc to watch me from where he stands at the edge of the bar. My belly dips when our eyes meet. He looks freshly washed and so handsome my heart aches.
Neither of us looks away from each other. There’s no pretending with him and me.
But Bakog scoots his chair closer to whisper in my ear.
“You know I would never have promised you to a stranger, right?” Bakog asks, his brows knitted as if this might have been a possibility I was pondering.
“I know,” I say softly, cutting my attention to him. He’s like the brother I never had. A male who had countless sisters and just grouped me along with the rest. “But I don’t think he’s all that bad.”
Bakog winces. “I don’t either. It’ll be a battle within him, for sure. And we’ll have to watch him carefully to see how much of his clan is instilled in him.”
“How did you meet him?” I ask.
“When Shalia went missing, we heard there was a rogue clan made up of a few Southpeaks and some Blackhearts. I rode to the southern territory to speak to one of the king’s scouts. Varguk was the one who showed up and never presented himself as a king’s son, bastard or no. When I found out who he was later, that impressed me. He has more clout than he claims… his brother’s jealousy proved that. The second time we met, he had the orcs we wanted to take prisoner. He outright asked me for the boon… for the bridge between the Blackhearts and West Mountain orcs. I knew he had the upper hand in bargaining, so I agreed to allow his clan to attend the mating party and introduce him.”
“And did you think they’d have a connection?” Hisa asks outright. We’re all thinking it because it’s well known that Bakog has the sight.
“Nay,” he denies, though his words ring false. Huh. So he thinks maybe there could be something between me and Varguk, though he won’t admit it. My eyes flick back to the sexy male.
“You’ve been watching him a while,” Hisa says, studying me carefully.
My eyes fly to hers. “Is it obvious?”
“Not as obvious as it was when Hisa used to stare at Tok,” Shalia says easily.
