My Orc (Secret) Boss (Eastshore Isle #7)

BONUS EPILOGUE

(Takes place immediately after the last chapter of the book, before the couple epilogue.)

Maya

We didn’t bother to find a car, and by the fifth block of jogging to keep up with Memnon’s long strides, I was breathing heavily. I didn’t want to say anything, because I knew he was focused on his brother’s message, but if we didn’t slow down soon…

Luckily, he knew.

He always knew.

“Fuck, Blossom,” he muttered when he glanced over his shoulder at me and immediately slowed. “You should have said something.”

“That’s okay,” I panted, trying to smile as I pushed a piece of hair off my sweaty forehead. “I know…you’re ex…cited to see…your brothers.” Maybe I ought to focus on breathing for a hot second, huh?

Memnon scowled. “Excited? More like confused.”

“Are they your…real brothers? Or…ceremonial?” I knew sometimes the orc males on the island who had come through the veil together—been through literal hell together—considered one another brothers.

“Both.” Memnon suddenly stopped and blew out a breath, the tension tight across his shoulders as he pulled me into his arms. “ Fuuuuck .”

I didn’t know why he was so uptight about this, but I did my best to take the stress from him. I rubbed my hands up and down his back, and sure enough, felt him begin to relax. “So…I’m going to get to meet more of your family?”

His voice was muffled against my hair when he spoke. “My two older brothers. Also twins, also nothing alike. They came through the veil when we did, but…”

He took a deep, shuddering breath, and my heart clenched in concern. “It’s okay, love, we don’t have to talk about it.”

“It’s not that big of a deal.” He straightened and rolled his shoulders, his gaze locked over my head. “I don’t know why this is bothering me so much.”

“Because you’re finally settled.” I grabbed his face in my hands, tipping it down so he could meet my eyes. “You’ve been hiding from yourself for months, and now you’re finally allowing yourself to heal. You found your Mate, you found your purpose …and they show up where they’re not supposed to be, muddying the waters.”

We stood like that on the corner of two residential streets for a long moment, his dark gaze holding mine. Then his lips slowly curled into one of his rare, rueful smiles. “You’re pretty bright, you know that, Blossom?”

“Does this mean you know I’m right?”

“I suspect I’m going to spend the rest of my life discovering you’re right.”

I pulled him down into a kiss and felt more of the tension melt away.

Then I pressed my forehead to his, holding him there. “We don’t have to go. We just found each other, Memnon. We could let Simbel handle them, if you don’t want to deal with them.”

“No, I can—I mean…” He pulled away just long enough to eye me with concern. “If you don’t want to deal with them? If you’d rather the two of us just be alone for a little while?”

After all, we had only just declared our love for one another, hadn’t we?

But I smiled. “Truthfully, I’d like to meet them, if you’re willing to share.”

“Yeah,” he grumbled, but he turned back toward Sakkara’s neighborhood and tucked me up against his side. As we walked—much slower this time, he spoke.

“The year we spent in the government facility sucked. I guess for some of us there were benefits. Tanis met Olivia, Sakkara and Giza were busy learning. But we’d gone from wood fires, towering trees, and loincloths to…” He gestured around the cozy homes. “We were surrounded by white walls, bright lights, and too many stimulants. Simbel and I…” He shrugged, which only drew me closer. “We were young enough to be fascinated by humanity, and when we were released, New York seemed like the best way to see more of it.”

“Not a lot of nature in the city,” I said mildly.

He grunted in agreement. “I used to go sit in Central Park once a week just to remember what grass was. Our brothers…There were a few of us who were just disgusted by humans after that year in the laboratories. They wanted nothing to do with you—them. So they went to the mountains.”

My brows rose, remembering what he’d told me about the Rockies. “The mountains that reminded them of home?”

He nodded. “They eventually found a town—a nice little town kinda like this one—that accepted them, and they were able to just… be . Away from what they hated. When I visit the mountains each year, I try to stop by and see them, but…they made it clear they didn’t want anything to do with humans.”

A pit began to form in my stomach, and I wondered if maybe I wasn’t looking forward to meeting his brothers very much after all…

“All of them?” I swallowed down my worry, knowing Memnon would protect me, and wondered exactly who lived in this little town they’d found. “How many orcs are we talking about, besides your bothers?”

Memnon glanced down at me, worry drawing in his brows instead of his usual scowl. I should have known he’d be able to feel my concern through the Mate bond. But he kept walking, and explained.

“Four. Akmim is the youngest, and he surprised us when he decided to go with my brothers, because he seemed to grasp the humans’ technology the fastest. He does something fancy with computers these days. Tarkhan…” Now I felt Memnon squeeze me, and when I glanced up, his habitual scowl was back. “Well, you’ll see. He’s an ass, but a handsome one I guess.”

I hid my smile, wondering how much of this was jealousy. “And your brothers?”

“Aswan takes after our mother; he fusses over all of us. In the facility, he was the one who kept our spirits up, more often than not. And Abydos…”

When he trailed off, I tried to catch his eyes, but he just shook his head. “We’re here.”

I wasn’t sure I’d recognize Sakkara’s home, but I did recognize Simbel, jogging toward us, wearing his police uniform, a huge smile on his face. “Memnon! Can you believe it?”

We met him by the front walkway, and Simbel clasped his twin’s shoulders and shook him. “Can you believe it?”

“No,” growled Memnon. “I can’t. Can’t wait to hear what Sakkara offered them to get them here.”

“Why, a chance to be with us , of course. And Mates. Hi, Maya! Rissa told me to invite you to dinner this weekend if you’d like. You can bring your Mate if you want .”

Since this last part was said with a smirk, I slid my arm around Memnon’s waist and squeezed. “I will, thanks. I’m partial.”

Simbel’s expression softened at my acknowledgment of the Mate bond, and he nodded to both of us. “I’m happy for you.”

“Yeah, well…” Memnon shifted side to side. “Thanks. Happy for you too,” he mumbled, staring at the house.

“Come on,” I murmured, nudging them both up the walkway toward the house. There were a few cars in the driveway, but no moving trucks. “Let’s go hug your brothers.”

“I’m not hugging them,” my Mate muttered. “They’re strangers.”

Simbel huffed, “No, they’re not. They’re our brothers .”

“Oh yeah?” Memnon jerked his head toward the front door as we reached the porch. “Then you knock.”

“No, you knock.”

Memnon pulled away from me. “I’ll use your head to knock?—”

“ I’ll knock ,” I declared, fighting back laughter at the pair of them trying to hide how nervous they were. I bounced up the steps and rapped smartly on the door, which was opened a few seconds later by Nikki, Sakkara’s Mate.

She was carrying eight-year-old Emmy piggyback, and since Emmy was half-orc, she was bowed almost double. Her normal cheerful smile sobered when she saw who stood behind me, and she opened the door wider.

“Go on through,” she said. “They’re in the backyard.”

Simbel whooped and pushed us aside, hustling toward the back door. Memnon followed more slowly.

When we reached the porch, it was to see Simbel laughing and embracing orcs I didn’t recognize. Sakkara stood near the doorway, his hands on his hips, surveying the scene with a look of satisfaction. As he noticed us, his expression turned guarded.

“I’m sorry for not mentioning this sooner,” he said to my Mate. “I honestly wasn’t sure if it would work, and I didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up.”

Memnon was watching his twin’s antics. “Hopes. Yeah.”

I smiled at Sakkara. “How’d you get them out here? Memnon tells me they’re not fond of humans.”

A new voice broke through. “Oh, Memnon is very, very wrong, you lovely young thing.” This orc was suave and perfectly groomed, and swept up my hand as if he was about to kiss it. “I’m Tarkhan, and I’m a huge fan of human females.”

Stifling my chuckle, I glanced up at my Mate, who was glaring daggers, then back to Tarkhan. “Ah, yes.” I pumped his hand, then withdrew. “The handsome ass.”

Sakkara snorted as Tarkhan pretended offense. “I suppose, if you arrived with him , your taste in males?—”

“Don’t insult my Mate,” Memnon growled.

And to my surprise, both males burst into laughter.

“Congratulations, T’mak ,” Sakkara said, as Tarkhan winked at me. “You should have said you were off the market, I wouldn’t have tried.”

“Why are we laughing?” came a new voice, and Sakkara turned our attention with another introduction.

“Maya, this is Akmim. Akmim, Maya is Memnon’s new Mate, the one I told him he was meant for, and he’s going to tell me I was correct any moment now.”

As my Mate growled, “I hate you,” to Sakkara, I stuck my hand out to greet Akmim. “You’re the computer whizz, I’ve heard.”

The younger male brightened. “You’ve heard of me? That’s awesome!”

And then a third newcomer joined our circle with Simbel. This male seemed content with his little brother’s arm over his shoulder, a soft smile curving his lips.

“Hello, T’mak ,” he said to Memnon, almost gently.

I was surprised to see my Mate’s expression soften, and he nodded. “Aswan. Good…” He cleared his throat, then finished gruffly, “Good to have you here.”

I had the impression he meant it. For all his worry and grumbling, he was pleased to have these newcomers here. I wondered what it would mean for Eastshore Isle.

“And you must be his Mate,” Aswan was saying, holding out his hand for me to grasp. “My little brothers would only be glowing like that because they’ve found love.”

Glowing ? More like glowering. But I decided I liked this big brother of Memnon’s. I grasped his hand. “I’m Maya. We’ve only just… You know.”

The other males glanced between the two of us, making noises of understanding, and Memnon’s glower deepened.

I glanced up, and my eye landed on the last male. He was standing off to the side of the porch, his arms folded across his chest, his brows hard. He was as stone-faced as Memnon once was, and their features were similar. I nudged my Mate, and when he followed my gaze, his own expression hardened.

Still, he gently tugged me across the porch to stop in front of his older brother. Clearly, this was Abydos, the patriarch.

“Abydos,” Memnon began slowly, glancing at me. “This is Maya, my Mate. We work together.”

I waited for them to embrace, to do something to indicate they were glad to see each other…but Abydos made no move to do so. Instead, he turned his steely gaze my way, and after a long moment, nodded.

“I’m happy for you.”

I resisted the urge to raise a brow and say “ Really? Could’ve fooled me .” Instead, I smiled sweetly.

“Welcome to Eastshore, Abydos. I’m sure you’re all going to be happy here.”

The stone-faced male turned his gaze from mine to slowly look around the yard. “Maybe.”

“Everyone is very welcoming, and I know you’re all going to fit in in no time.” I was gushing. “We’re going to be excited to have you living here with us.”

Finally, a response! His lip curled into the smallest grimace. “Living here …” he muttered.

And I winced. What was that Memnon had said about hating humans?

Apparently, that was still true for Abydos.