7. Chapter Seven
Chapter Seven
Nalina
T his beastly orc was absolutely not getting to me.
“It’s just this way,” he said, gesturing for me to follow him through the underbrush. He carefully held it back so I could follow without getting scratched and kept a slow clip I could easily manage.
He glanced down at me every few moments, eyes just as pleading and dejected as they had been when he was groveling at my feet. On his knees. In the dirt. His pants were still soaked and caked with mud.
All to apologize.
No. No! I would not give in. In fact, if the woods weren’t so dangerous, I would have told him to leave here and now. I could find my way back to Oakwall just fine, though it might take a while. Some folks from Oakwall liked to wander the woods, but I had never been one of them. There were too many keen predators. Saber cats that could rip out my throat with a single swipe. Wild boars taller than me, with tusks as long as my arm. Even the elk could be territorial if you crossed one on a bad day.
“Do you sense a threat?”
I jerked to find Hendr’s brow furrowed into a tight scowl.
“Woman, speak. You’ve tensed up. What do you sense?”
“The only threat I sense around me right now is you ,” I muttered darkly before I could think better of it.
But instead of anger, he snorted with amusement. “That is true. I could split any beast in two just from one claw.” He held up a finger and his claw shot out from beneath the nail like a cat. It was almost as long as my thumb and sharper than any blade I’d seen.
And yet, seeing it made my body relax. He really was the most dangerous predator in these woods. Nothing could stand against him.
“Put that away unless you’re going to use it.” I was uncomfortable with the fact that I wasn’t as alarmed by him as I should be. “There aren’t any threats around here.”
He snapped the claw back into his hand with a quiet shlink that was honestly more unsettling than the sight of it. His fingers must have been tough to house such deadly sharp weapons without getting shredded to bits.
“Does extending them like that hurt?”
He quirked a brow, grinning slyly, and my heart did a little flip. “Are you worried about me, beauty?”
“N-no, it just seems impractical. You could cut yourself so easily.”
“How often have you cut yourself with your own nails?”
“That’s different. Mine aren’t as sharp as blades . What is the point of even having nails so sharp?”
“Survival.”
The word cut through me, and it made me blush. My eyes trailed the length of his body, focusing on the dozens of scars along his chest and arms.
Somehow, I’d forgotten that he was a warrior orc. That he’d served under the warlord and had seen more bloodshed and battle than I could ever fathom up from my nightmares.
“Fuck, beauty, don’t look like that.”
I blinked up at him. “Like what?”
“Like you’re about to weep and shudder. Once you make a shirt for me, most of these will be covered up and you won’t have to be horrified anymore.” His voice was tight, and his face was stern.
“What? Oh, no, it’s not that! I don’t care about your scars,” I said, “I’m just . . . sorry you have them at all.”
His eyes went huge, and he stopped walking.
“W-what?” I glanced about, wondering if he sensed something stalking us beyond the tree line, but he kept his gaze firmly on me. “Hendr, what is it?”
“You are worried about me.”
My cheeks were so hot it felt like my skin was going to melt. “Shut your mouth and let’s just go . I’m ready to be rid of you.”
As if startled by my words, the birds in the trees above us took flight and the flapping of wings made me flinch as I watched them dart away. My cheeks heated at the thought that my voice was so shrill that it would scare them off.
“We should keep moving.” Hendr’s tone was clipped, and his eyes scanned the tree line.
My chest tightened with alarm. “Do you sense something?”
“I—”
A loud creaking sounded to my right, and I jerked toward it in time to be pelted with twigs and leaves.
The trunk of a massive oak was growing nearer .
Falling!
“Nalina!”
The roar was so loud it seemed to burst in my head, and I was shoved forward. I landed hard on the sloshing, muddy ground and scrambled to get out of the way. Feet slipping. Mind reeling in panic.
The boom of the tree was so loud it shook my bones. The snapping and crashing of limbs were right behind me! I could feel them on my legs. I darted away on my hands and knees.
And then all was quiet, and my mind was reeling for a different reason.
I crawled to my feet and spun around. The oak was enormous. Its black trunk was gnarled and broken like a tangled web. Its yellow and orange leaves littered the ground like a thick blanket. There was a huge hole from where its roots had come free that was filled with water. Some underground current had washed out the tree and caused it to topple.
There was no time to think about it. “Hendr!”
There was no green to be seen anywhere.
I pushed aside branches as I searched. Fades, the debris stretched taller than I could stand. I tried to climb up so I could get a better look. “Hendr, where are you?”
“Here!”
Relief slapped me so hard I wanted to weep. I jerked toward the sound and climbed through the branches, uncaring that they tore at my hair and scratched my cheeks.
Finally, I pushed aside a leaf-laden branch and found him. His arm was pinned beneath a huge chunk of wood that was wider than I was at the hip.
“Hendr! Oh Fades.” I pushed my way through and got to his side. My vision was blurred by tears. My chest tightened with panic as I saw a red puddle beneath his trapped forearm. “Your arm! We need to get you free. Do you have something to use as a tourniquet? Fades, how are we going to get you out?”
“Nalina.” His voice was tight and clipped, but I was so thankful to hear it that my tears flooded over. He searched my face as I tried to dash them away.
“I need to go back and get help. I need to tie off the wound first. Do you have a belt? You’ve lost so much blood.”
“Nalina.” His voice was even fainter.
“Fades, stay awake,” I demanded. “You have to stay awake, Hendr, or you might—”
My chin was gripped hard and my mind snapped to attention as he turned my face until my eyes met his.
He was grinning.
“You really are worried about me.”
I was overwhelmed with the urge to rip his arm off the rest of the way and beat him over the head with it.
His grin only widened. “Admit it, beauty. You do like me just a little.”
“You are such a beast!” I wrenched out of his grip. “Only you would be an ass while you’re dying .”
“I’m not dying, woman.” He shifted his weight and brought his uninjured hand over to push against the branch.
The whole blasted tree moved.
I yelped in surprise and moved closer to his side as he lifted the oak and dragged his damaged appendage out. My stomach churned at the gruesome sight of his mutilated forearm. I could see the white of bone and the gushing of blood before I jerked my eyes away and felt around for something that might be able to tie it off.
“Nalina, you’ve gone green. I didn’t know humans could match my color.” His voice was laced with obnoxious humor.
My anger drowned out my nausea. “You shut your mouth! I’m trying to help you.”
He reached up to stroke my hair. “And you’re doing an excellent job, too.”
“Fuck you!” I slapped his hand away, and he roared with laughter. The warm, rich sound did so much more to calm my nerves than I ever would have thought possible. “Only you would be an asshole while you’re bleeding out.”
“I’m not bleeding out, woman. It’s already stopped.”
“What?” I looked and really shouldn’t have. His arm looked like a hunk of mangled meat and bone.
He gripped my chin again, and I was forced to look into the beastly male’s bright, mossy eyes. “Don’t look, Nalina. Vomit doesn’t help injuries. I’ve learned that the hard way.”
Oh fuck, my stomach rolled with disgust.
“Deep breath through your nose.”
I followed his instructions, but the metallic smell of his blood only made the nausea worse.
He grumbled under his breath, and suddenly, a bundle of damp leaves was placed right at my face. “Again. Deep breath.”
I sucked in another gulp of air and this time, only the clean smell of wet foliage filled my lungs. I exhaled hard through my mouth and a tremendous amount of tension went with it.
“That’s it.” Hendr’s voice was as warm and calm as the summer rain. “Good girl.”
Something jolted in me at that praise. Something hot and primal and utterly confusing. My body lit, my mind instantly focused, and my thighs clenched together.
And thank the Fades, Hendr did not seem to notice. His brows rose, and he asked, “Better?”
I nodded slowly.
“You aren’t hurt anywhere, are you?” He took a deep breath in through his nose. “You . . . er—uh . . .” He coughed, eyes wide, and I could not fathom what was wrong with him.
“Are you okay? Are you in pain?”
“Not anymore.” His voice was so low I could feel it rumbling in my stomach. “What are you . . .?”
“What . . . am I?”
His eyes narrowed as he examined me, and I couldn’t hold his intense gaze. I glanced down.
Toward his arm.
My stomach rolled and his hand shot up to cup my chin again. “For the will of Fades, woman, stop looking at it.”
“I can’t help it!” I cried. “You’re the one who’s glaring at me.”
“I’m not glaring at you, woman. I’m trying to figure out how your mind works.”
“Good luck with that,” I mumbled before I could think better of it.
But in response, he burst into laughter. It was so wonderful I couldn’t help but melt under the warmth of it. A smile stretched my face as his own split into a handsome beam I would never have thought he could make while his arm was crushed to a pulp.
Fades, we’d just had a tree come down on top of us and now we were grinning like complete fools.
“You’re uninjured, right? I don’t scent any blood on you, and you don’t appear to be favoring any of your limbs.” He stroked his burly hand down my arm, and I suppressed a shiver.
Why did his touch feel so good? I should shove him away and instead, I let his palm linger on my arm. He was so warm. “I’m fine. You’re the one we should worry about. You need a healing tincture. We need to get you back to the clan.”
He shook his head. “The cave is closer. I’ll get one from there.”
“You . . . brought healing tinctures to the cave? I thought it was just food.”
He met my eyes. “I gathered many treasures for you, beauty. Have you changed your mind about wanting them?”
My back straightened. “I don’t need them.”
The hope that had been sparkling in his eyes dimmed so quickly that it was almost startling.
“Look away for a moment,” he said, and I did so immediately. I looked around at the oak branches caged around us. The ground was wetter than it should have been. There were a few muddy puddles beneath the leaves.
Odd. We haven’t had much rain recently. Why was everything so damp?
The sound of fabric ripping met my ears. He grunted and hissed a few times as he bandaged his injury, and my stomach churned with guilt.
He was hurt because he saved me.
“All right. Done.” His voice was tense and when I turned back, I could see his brow was furrowed and his breaths were coming in quick pants as he fought the pain. He’d ripped up the leg of his leather pants to make a sling. My chest hurt all the more.
“I’ll take you back to Oakwall first,” he said.
My eyes widened. “What?”
“I know you don’t want to be alone with me any longer.” I couldn’t read his flat expression. “I’ll take you back first and then fetch the tincture.”
“No. You can’t. You’re in so much pain already.”
“I won’t die. And I’m not going to let you walk the woods alone, Nalina. Not with trees coming down all around us.”
“I would hardly call one tree all around us,” I said. “This was a freak accident. I’ll be fine.”
“No,” he said firmly. There was no room for argument here.
And honestly, I didn’t want to go alone either. Trees aside, there really were predators in these woods.
My eyes lifted to his bandaged arm. Red blood was already staining a few spots.
“I’ll go to the cave with you.”
His expression lit with shock. “What? You will?”
“Yes. It’s my fault you’re hurt. You got that from saving me.”
“I won’t argue with that.”
I glowered at him. “Excuse me?”
He grinned in a way that made me want to smack him. “I want nothing more than to show you my gifts, Nalina. I should be thanking this tree for giving me a second chance with you.”
“You are completely insane.”
“I am.” His voice was a low rumble that made my stomach flip right over itself. “And you like it.”
“I do not!”
His grin only widened. “You do, beauty. And by sunset, I’ll prove it to you.”