Chapter Two
Becca
I stared up at the building in front of me, awe filling my chest. This couldn’t be right. I could not be living here. It had been a few weeks coming, but I had to give notice at my old job and clear out my old house before moving here.
“If you keep gawking at it, your face is going to get stuck that way,” my best friend told me, chucking my chin to close my mouth from where it’d been hanging open.
“You live here, Pen?” I asked, clutching at her arm.
“I know, right?” she giggled, hugging me to her side. “And now so do you! It’ll be like when we were kids. Sleepovers all the time.”
An annoyed grunt from behind me told me that my best friend’s mate had heard us. Dristan wasn’t the most social male on the best day and I knew that sleepovers might be going a little too far. Still, I enjoyed picking at him.
I sent a beaming smile over my shoulder. “Wouldn’t that just be great, Dristan? We could braid your hair and beard!”
His scowl bared his fangs and I held in the nefarious laugh that was building inside me. Riling him up was one of my new favorite pastimes. Just last week, Pen, Rudgar and I had both texted him that Pen wanted to host a party and insisted that he help us plan it. He’d pouted the entire day.
“And then I’ll spend all night saying thank you for being patient and sweet,” Penelope cooed, sending a kiss his way.
That eased some of the annoyance from his expression, heat filling his gaze instead. I didn’t bother to hide my grin.
Males are so easy.
The pang in my chest—the one that had existed inside me since I was old enough to understand what loneliness was—decided that it was the perfect moment to make itself known. I never got a break from it.
I wasn’t sure why I felt this way. As far as I understood it, no one else did. I’d asked Penelope multiple times since we were young if she ever had that emptiness inside her. She’d nodded, saying she thought she was the only one.
We’d kept that loneliness to ourselves—since it didn’t seem to affect anyone else. I was certain it wasn’t something we could do anything about, though. I’d begun filling that hole inside me with stories of love and romance and she’d focused on her family instead.
Since I was young, I’d devoured books on love and fated mates. I was certain that was the missing thing inside me. I was sure that there was a male out there that would recognize me as his other half—the jagged ends of our souls just waiting to be sewn together.
So far my search had been a bust. It didn’t help that I’d grown up in the smallest town in the history of towns. My options had been miniscule at best.
But now I’d moved into the big city with my best friend and her very own fated mate, Dristan. Grebath would be the place to find my own mate if I had one. There was a huge, eclectic mix of species and millions of beings bustling along the streets.
I eyed Dristan’s brother as he moved up behind us, looking at us with concern. I’d hoped that this towering male would spark some interest inside me. Even as a child I was drawn to watching orc actors, but orc males in particular had intrigued me since I saw one for the first time in person, on the street as a teenager.
My heart had pounded with interest as the male had sauntered right past me, ignoring me completely. My obsession had begun then, and it still held strong.
I’d been disappointed when a fated bond hadn’t snapped right into place when I met Rudgar, but I’d just have to keep looking. Rudgar sent a smile my way and I waved.
“I heard we’re going to be neighbors,” I told him, and Penelope squealed with happiness next to me, still gripping my arm.
“Yes! Rud can join us for sleepovers too!” she giggled.
I watched the male’s complexion go pale and a queasy smile spread across his face as he glanced at his brother. Dristan’s expression was smug and he nodded, slapping him across his back.
“Yes, of course. He’d love to,” Dristan answered for him, handing a key card to me. “This is yours. Access to the elevator and your apartment.”
I took it with shaking hands, having never imagined that I would be standing where I was. I was a poor orphan from a tiny town with no one except a best friend to call my own. I’d been working at the underfunded library there, burying myself in books and dreams, and now here I stood, with my entire future laid out in front of me like a gift.
“Thank you,” I told him with a watery smile that seemed to make him uncomfortable. With a grunt and a nod, he turned away from me.
Penelope snorted out a laugh, hugging me close. “What he means to say is you’re welcome ,” she said with a grin.
She released me, making her way over to her mate and hugged him around his waist. He leaned down for a kiss from her right away and that pang of longing in my chest ached even harder.
They were so very in love and while I didn’t envy my best friend at all, I wished I could find the same. I watched them whisper to each other and Rudgar came up next to me.
“They do that a lot,” he said in a quiet voice. “Getting lost in their own little world, I mean,” he clarified. “I’ll give you the tour since they’ll start making out soon.”
I grinned at the male, taking his arm and allowing him to lead me toward the entrance of the building. I peeked back at where Dristan and Penelope had started making out in the middle of the courtyard for the world to see—and I rolled my eyes.
“I swear, if she’s not knocked up by next month—” I started, but Rudgar’s laugh cut me off.
“Trust me when I say that they’ve been trying,” he scoffed, giving a shudder, and I shook my head with amusement. “There’s going to be dozens of little half-orc babies running amok soon.” He peered over at me with an assessing look. “And you? Do you have someone special?”
I shook my head, heaving a sigh. “Not yet. I’m looking, though. You?”
He grimaced, shaking his head and rubbing his hand behind his neck. “I can’t say the same. I might be better off single.”
I tsked, my arm still tucked through his while I patted his hand. “I have dozens of books I can loan to you that would tell you otherwise,” I told him. “You don’t know what you’re missing until it smacks you in the head.”
“Books?” He asked, blinking at me. “Instruction books on finding love?” He shook his head. “I don’t need that kind of help—”
“No, of course not,” I scoffed, waving him off. “ Romance books. Oh! There’s this one,” I started as he led me to the elevator. I released him to gesture in front of me. “Where the main male character is an orc and he falls for this milk maid—” I spent the entire elevator ride regaling a scowling Rudgar on the gist of the book. When he made it to our level—one below the penthouse, he all but ran into his apartment.
I shrugged, making my way to the door opposite his. I blinked up at it, intimidated by what could only be real wood. Swallowing hard, I used the keycard on the reader to the right of the room and turned the knob. The cavernous interior lit up with automatic lights and I found myself staring in awe at the stunning layout.
I released a low whistle, impressed with everything I could see. The furniture was all modern and sleek, sized for orcs—and I sent up a thank you to Dristan since my plus-size self could fit in the chairs. I wasn’t a little woman by any means.
I had curves in places that I loved—like my hips and breasts—and then curves in places that I hated—like my stomach and thighs. I stepped into the apartment, locking the door behind me. Narrowing my eyes on one chair in particular, I cuddled comfortable into the seat, swimming in how big it was before wiggling my butt into the cushion.
Oh, this is nice.
I surveyed the apartment from my seat, joy and hope bubbling inside me. This was my life now. This . Shaking my head in awe, I stood, walking into the dining space, running my fingers over the glass of the gigantic table and moving to the floor to ceiling windows that opened onto a patio. I swallowed hard as I stepped outside, surveying the prettiest view I’d ever seen.
The massive park lay in front of me, the perfect green spot in the huge city. On the other side were towering buildings made of glass and steel. I pinched myself, yelping as I realized that I was actually here . This was happening and I wasn’t still in my old bed, dreaming.
The breeze that hit my face refreshed me before I stepped back inside, eager to explore the rest of the apartment. The kitchen was next, and I poked inside the pantry, seeing new groceries that I just knew my best friend had bought for me. I was going to have to yell at her for paying for everything later, but for now, I was just so grateful.
I explored the two bathrooms and four bedrooms next, squealing at the hot tub and starfishing on the duvet that was spread over the huge orc-sized bed. I released another excited squeal as I opened the walk-in closet and found dozens of racks of clothes already filled. I swan-dived onto the bed again and grabbed my phone.
Becca: You bitch, I love you.
Pen: You deserve all of the things.
Becca: Thank you so much. I’ll babysit to pay for all of these things eventually.
Pen: You don’t have to pay back a single thing.
Becca: Yes, I do. I need all the receipts. It will take me fifty lifetimes, but I’m going to get it paid off eventually.
Pen: I never get receipts. Dristan just lets me pick out things without tags and then he buys them. So we’ll both never know.
Becca: I’m going to make my best estimate and write an IOU.
Pen: Can you just take this as the bribe that it is? I need you here and Dristan knows it, too.
I giggled, making blanket-angels on the bed. She was right. Dristan was aware that his wife needed her family and best friend nearby, so he’d done what any billionaire gentlemale would do—he’d bought us homes closer to her.
Her parents—who I loved as if they were my own—had a new house in a nearby suburb, and I was being spoiled with this colossal space. I wiggled with joy as I sent another text.
Becca: Thank your mate for me, please. And thank yourself, too.
Pen: No gratitude needed. Do you love it?
Becca: So much! I’m obsessed.
Pen: Perfect. Now I’m going to make out with my mate.
Becca: My offer stands on babysitting those babies that you’re about to conceive.
Pen: laughing emoji
A breeze blew onto my face, the scent of the forest and something wild and tantalizing teasing my nose. I turned to look at the window, but I didn’t see even a crack open. Confused, I sat up, looking around.
There wasn’t anything that would have caused that gust of wind. My eyebrows swept up in confusion, but I couldn’t stop myself from closing my eyes and savoring that scent. It made my chest pang with longing, but that couldn’t be right. I’d never smelled anything like it before.
Shaking my head, wondering if I was losing my mind, I fell back onto the bed and made some more blanket-angels.