Chapter Five
Audrey ran to her room the moment Monica dismissed her. A bunch of documents had needed signing to make her officially Morgath the Skullreaper’s property.
Her hands shook as she turned the doorknob and slipped inside, closing the door behind her with more force than necessary. She needed to change out of this ridiculous dress and pack her things before Morgath finished the paperwork downstairs.
She stripped off the green dress and threw it on the bed. Morgath clearly didn’t care what she wore. The whole idea of seducing him had been a waste of effort. She pulled on her usual clothes – jeans, a tank top, and a worn leather jacket – and instantly felt more like herself.
She forced herself to focus on the task at hand rather than the humiliation she’d just suffered.
Standing naked in front of him while he looked at her like she was a piece of meat he was considering buying had been degrading.
But it had worked. She was going with him, and that was all that mattered.
She would identify her family’s killer soon, maybe even today if she was lucky.
Audrey grabbed her duffel bag from the closet and started stuffing her belongings inside.
She packed her clothes, then carefully placed her weapons at the bottom of the bag and covered them with more clothing.
The knives went in first, wrapped in a spare shirt, then the handgun tucked into a rolled-up pair of jeans.
The radio and extra batteries were wrapped in a sweater.
She made sure nothing rattled or shifted when she picked up the bag.
Her phone buzzed with a text from Shauna asking for an update, but Audrey ignored it.
She would text everyone once she was on the road.
She grabbed her charger and the two power banks, shoving them into the side pocket of the bag.
Once the power banks and her phone died, she would lose all connection to the modern world.
Because orcs didn’t have electricity. That was why the radio was so important.
It ran on batteries, and she had brought plenty of those.
She took one last look around the room to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything, then hauled the heavy bag over her shoulder and headed downstairs.
Morgath stood near the front entrance. The skull helmet turned toward her as she approached, and she felt that same jolt of fear she’d experienced the first time. She’d need to get used to that skull if she was going to live with him.
He reached for her bag, and she let him take it. It was heavy enough that most men would’ve struggled with it, but he lifted it like it weighed nothing.
“A lady shouldn’t carry heavy things,” he said. “Make sure you behave like a lady from now on.”
Audrey huffed and followed him outside. She wasn’t going to argue with him, not when they were still at the institute and he could change his mind.
The afternoon air was chilly, and Audrey pulled her jacket tighter around herself. Early spring in Montana meant the temperature still dropped when the sun wasn’t high in the sky. The institute’s gravel parking area was nearly empty except for an orc car parked near the gate.
The vehicle looked like a hybrid between a car and a carriage, like it had been pieced together from other vehicles.
The color was a faded gray, and the metal body was dented and scratched in places.
It had no roof, just a frame and open sides, with huge wheels that looked like they’d been taken from a truck.
Another orc sat atop a krag nearby, and Audrey recognized him as a raider by the tattoos around his neck and wrists. The krag was a massive brown beast with a rich mane that reminded her of a lion’s. The creature was almost as big as an elephant.
Morgath threw her bag into the back of the car, then turned to the raider.
“Raknar the Steadfast, ride ahead and let them all know I am bringing a bride home. Prepare a feast.”
The raider inclined his head and urged the krag forward. The beast moved with surprising speed despite its size, and within moments, it had disappeared down the dirt road.
Morgath turned to help Audrey up into the car, but she didn’t wait for him. She grabbed the side of the vehicle and hauled herself up with no effort, settling into the back seat.
“What did I say–”
“Fuck off,” she cut him off, crossing her arms. “I’ll behave like a lady when we arrive.”
He shook his head and climbed into the front seat. He started the engine, which sputtered and coughed before finally catching. The whole car shook as it idled, and Audrey wondered if it would even make it to the horde’s town.
Morgath pulled out of the parking area and onto the road.
Audrey knew exactly where they were going because she and the Tusk Hunters had spent months tracking his horde.
The town sat in a valley in the Cabinet Mountains of Montana, about forty-five minutes from the nearest human settlement.
It was isolated and surrounded by forest, which made it the perfect place for a horde to claim as their own.
She pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to the group chat with the Tusk Hunters.
On my way. He chose me. Will check in when I can.
Then she sent another text to Monica.
Thank you for everything. I owe you.
The road was rough and full of potholes, and the car bounced with every bump.
Audrey held onto the side to keep from being thrown around.
The forest closed in on either side of them, dense pine trees stretching up toward the gray sky.
Mountains loomed in the distance, their peaks still covered in snow.
Bored out of her mind after twenty minutes of staring at the back of Morgath’s skull helmet, Audrey decided to climb into the front seat. There was no reason to sit in the back like a child when she could sit up front and maybe get some useful information out of him.
She scrambled over the seat back, her hands grabbing onto whatever she could find to steady herself. The car hit a bump, and she lurched forward, her hands slamming into Morgath’s shoulder. She clung to him to keep from falling, her fingers digging into the leather of his vest.
“What are you doing?” he growled, his voice sharp with annoyance.
“Getting comfortable,” she said, shoving at him to make room. “Move over.”
“There’s no room.”
“Then make room.”
She pushed harder, and he shifted slightly to the left, though it didn’t help much. She squeezed herself into the small space beside him, her body pressed against his side. As she tried to settle in, the back of her hand scraped against one of the curved horns.
“Ow, fuck,” she muttered, looking at the small cut. Blood welled up along the scratch, though it wasn’t deep.
Morgath glanced at her, and his hand shot out to steady her before she could slip again. His grip on her arm was firm but careful. He held her until she managed to wedge herself into the seat properly.
“Don’t blame me if you fall out,” he said, letting go of her and returning both hands to the steering wheel.
She wiped the blood off on her jeans and looked up at the skull helmet. This close, she could see the texture of the bone, the way it had been carved and shaped to fit over his head.
“What’s with the helmet?” she asked. “Don’t you ever take it off?”
All these years, she’d been obsessed with him.
She’d pieced together every scrap of information she could find about Morgath the Skullreaper, until she felt like she knew him better than she knew herself.
It was strange to be so close to the orc she’d been obsessed with since she was a child, to see him as a real person instead of the monster from her nightmares.
He growled at her.
“Mind your own business and let me drive.”
She huffed and leaned back. Or tried to.
There wasn’t much room to lean. She was squeezed in so tightly that she could barely breathe.
Morgath occupied two thirds of the seat.
His thigh pressed against hers, warm and solid, and she could feel the heat radiating off his body.
His muscles were taut and strong beneath his clothes. He was as hard as a boulder.
“Fine,” she said, turning her attention to the road ahead. “Then tell me about your horde. If you want me to sell the story that we’re falling for each other, I need to know about them.”
He was silent for a long moment, and she thought he might ignore her completely. Then he spoke, his voice still edged with irritation.
“Until recently, I forbade my orcs from taking human brides. I hoped we’d be able to return to our world. But now they’re restless, so I decided to give them what they want. I need to set an example to convince them that I’m serious.”
“An example,” she repeated, glancing at him.
“Yes. As soon as they see that my new bride and I are mated and happy together, they’ll feel safe to take brides of their own. They’ll know that I won’t suddenly change my mind.”
Audrey considered this, turning the information over in her mind.
It made sense. If Morgath had forbidden human brides for so many years, his orcs would be cautious about believing he had truly changed his stance.
They would need proof that he meant it, and what better proof than seeing their captain take a bride himself?
“They must fear you if it took them so long to say a word against you and your rules,” she said.
“They do fear me. I’m not only their captain, but also their mage. One of the most powerful mages in our world and this one.”
He muttered something under his breath that sounded like, “I hope this will change soon.”
Audrey filed that piece of information away for later.
“Well then,” she said, shifting slightly to try to find a more comfortable position, though there wasn’t one. “If you’re both a captain and a mage, when you ignore me, it won’t look suspicious. You have so much on your plate.”
“Exactly,” he said. “Now shut up. You talk too much.”
He pressed the gas pedal, and the car lurched forward. The engine whined in protest, and the whole vehicle rattled like it might fall apart.
Audrey rolled her eyes and turned away from him to stare at the landscape. The forest stretched on endlessly, broken only by the occasional clearing or rocky outcrop. The sky was overcast, and the air smelled like rain.
She couldn’t help but notice how close they were, pressed against each other in the tight space.
His thigh was warm against hers, and she could feel every shift of his body as he steered the car around curves and over bumps.
The heat radiating off him was intense. His muscles flexed and tightened with every movement, his body feeling immovable and unyielding.
She thought to herself that it was a good thing Morgath wasn’t interested in mounting her.
She’d end up crushed under his weight. The man was enormous, easily three times her size – and she wasn’t a small thing herself.
She doubted a human woman could survive being intimate with an orc that large without serious injury.
Not that it mattered. He’d made it clear he had no interest in her. She had no interest in him either.