Chapter 13
Jordan
I still couldn't quite believe how quickly my life had transformed.
A week ago, I'd been stressing over finding a new job and student loan payments, and now here I was, driving back to the Orc village with my mate—my mate—who'd casually wiped away my student loan debt like it was nothing more than dust on a windowsill.
"You're thinking too loud," Ruka rumbled from the driver's seat, one massive hand leaving the steering wheel to rest on my thigh.
I laughed, covering his hand with both of mine. "Sorry. I'm just... processing."
"Still worried about the money?"
"No. Well, maybe a little." I squeezed his fingers.
The memory of that gold nugget—plum-sized and gleaming—that he'd left at the nurse's station should have been my first clue.
Money meant something entirely different to Orcs who literally pulled precious metals and gems from the earth by the truckload.
"It's just surreal. Last month I was calculating that I'd still be making payments in my fifties, and now. .."
"Now you have a mate who mines gold and gems for a living." His tusks gleamed as he grinned at me. "Get used to it, little human. What's mine is yours."
My heart did that stupid fluttery thing it had been doing all week whenever he said things like that. I was in love with him—completely, ridiculously in love—and the fact that he seemed just as smitten with me still felt like a dream I might wake from at any moment.
"Kelsey texted me this morning," I said, changing the subject before I got too emotional and started crying happy tears. "She wants to know if you have any single brothers."
Ruka's laugh boomed through the Hummer's interior, rich and warm. "Your friends were... enthusiastic last night."
"That's one word for it." I grinned at the memory of last night's party, where my skeptical friends had transformed into Orc fans the moment Ruka ducked through my doorway. "I think Kelsey took about fifty pictures of you. I’m pretty sure she's already made you her phone wallpaper."
"I have two brothers who still live underground," Ruka said thoughtfully. "Though I should warn your friends that Krag has terrible table manners and Durn never stops talking about mining techniques."
"I'll pass that along." I settled back in my seat, watching the familiar landscape roll by as we got closer to the village.
Pine trees blurred into a green wall on either side of the highway.
"I can't believe I'm really doing this. Moving to an Orc village.
Becoming someone's mate. It sounds like the plot of one of those romance novels the nurses read. "
"Having second thoughts?"
"Not even for a second." The words came out fierce, certain. Despite how fast everything had happened, this felt right in a way nothing else in my life ever had. Like every choice I'd made had been leading me here, to him. "I'm just happy. Really, really happy."
Ruka lifted my hand to his lips, pressing a gentle kiss to my knuckles that made my breath catch. "Good. Because you're stuck with me now, Jordan. Orcs mate for life."
"I'm counting on it."
The past five days had dissolved into a haze of tangled limbs and breathless discoveries, the outside world fading to nothing beyond the walls of my cabin.
We'd existed in our own private universe—one built on whispered confessions at three in the morning and the intoxicating exploration of each other's bodies.
Even now, sitting in the passenger seat of his Hummer, my skin still tingled with the phantom sensation of his touch.
"What are you thinking about?" Ruka's voice held a note of amusement that told me he already knew.
"The weather," I said, far too innocently.
"Liar." His hand found my thigh, fingers spreading possessively across the denim. "Your pulse just jumped, and your scent gives you away every time."
Heat crept up my neck. "That's cheating. You and your Orc senses."
"All's fair in love and teasing my mate." The word 'mate' still sent a thrill through me every time he said it.
Behind us, my entire life rattled around in two overstuffed suitcases.
I'd packed in a frenzy that morning, grabbing what felt essential and leaving the rest for later.
Ruka promised to task Zuhra to orchestrate the great cabin exodus over the coming weeks, which he insisted she would accept with the enthusiasm of a general planning a military campaign.
"So," I ventured, desperate to think about something other than the way his hand felt on my leg, "this clinic you mentioned building. Were you just trying to sweeten the deal, or...?"
His expression shifted, playfulness giving way to something more earnest. "Jordan, you're a healer. It's not just what you do—it's who you are. I saw that the first time you treated Ardin." His fingers tightened briefly on my thigh. "I won't be the reason you give that up."
My throat constricted with unexpected emotion. "It will be expensive. Medical equipment, supplies, and I'll need—"
"Then we'll make it happen." He said it like it was the simplest thing in the world. "Whatever you need. Equipment, medications, additional staff if you want them. We'll make it happen. We will build you the best clinic not only in the village, but in Franklin as well."
"Other than what happened with Ardin, I really don't know the first thing about treating Orcs," I admitted. "Well, except for your anatomy." My face burned. "Which I've become... intimately familiar with."
Ruka's laugh was rich and warm. "Morg will teach you. And you'll teach us things we've never known. It will be good for everyone."
The idea took shape in my mind—a real clinic, my own practice, a chance to actually help people instead of just patching them up between insurance battles and hospital politics. "I could actually make a difference."
"You already have." The sincerity in his voice made my chest ache.
"Well," I said, trying to lighten the moment before I got too emotional, "at least I won't spend my days bored out of my mind."
His grin turned wicked. "Oh, I have extensive plans to keep you occupied."
"We have to leave the bedroom eventually."
"Do we though?"
"Ruka!"
He laughed, but his eyes softened as they flicked toward me.
"Zuhra will be beside herself with excitement about your return." His tone carried a hint of amusement. "I'd wager good coin she’ll orchestrate some elaborate welcome celebration."
My stomach dropped. "Please tell me you're joking."
"Afraid not. The village will want to honor the arrival of the chieftain's mate."
I let out a theatrical groan, though I couldn't suppress my smile. This was my reality now—a world of ceremonial feasts and mountain villages, where an Orc chieftain gazed at me as though I hung the stars themselves.
The Hummer conquered the treacherous mountain road with impressive ease, its robust frame swallowing the worst of the terrain that would have rattled my old truck to pieces.
When we finally came to the last ridge and began our climb toward the village, something warm and certain bloomed in my chest. Home.
The word resonated through me with unexpected power.
Then Ruka went rigid. His knuckles whitened on the steering wheel, and his nostrils flared wide as his gaze swept the surrounding forest.
"What is it?" My pulse quickened as I straightened in my seat.
"The guards." Each word came out clipped, controlled. "They're not at their posts."
I peered through the windshield, searching for whatever had triggered his alarm. The woods appeared tranquil enough, but now that he'd pointed it out, I felt it too—that unnatural stillness. No welcoming calls echoed through the trees. No figures moved along the perimeter.
"Could they have just—" I began, searching for an explanation.
"Impossible." His jaw set like granite. "My warriors would sooner die than abandon their duty."
Dread coiled in my gut. "The hunters. You don't think... after what they did to Ardin, maybe they decided to escalate."
The possibility chilled me to the bone. Anyone capable of shooting a child wouldn't hesitate to target an entire community.
Ruka eased the Hummer to a halt, his attention fixed on the shadows between the trees, cataloging every potential threat. The silence wrapped around us like a shroud, heavy with menace.
"Whatever happens," he said, his voice barely above a whisper, "you stay within arm's reach."
We abandoned the Hummer and slipped into the forest on foot, moving like ghosts between the ancient pines.
Every step deeper into that oppressive silence felt like wading through quicksand.
My heart hammered against my ribs as the wrongness of it all sank in—no children's laughter, no voices raised in conversation, no comforting sounds of daily life.
Just that terrible, suffocating quiet that screamed danger louder than any alarm.
The rasp of steel against leather made me flinch.
Ruka had drawn his blade—a wicked thing, easily the length of my forearm, its edge gleaming like captured sunlight even in the forest's gloom.
I should have been afraid. This was the warrior side of him, the predator, the part that would kill without hesitation if threatened.
But watching him move with that deadly grace, weapon in hand, I felt something else entirely.
Safe. Protected. Like nothing in this world could touch me while he stood between me and danger.
He turned, those golden eyes burning into mine with an intensity that stole my breath. "Jordan, listen carefully. If I tell you to run, you run. Back to the Hummer. You drive away and you don't look back. Understood?"
"Absolutely not." The words came out sharper than I intended, but I didn't soften them.
"Jordan—"
"We're mates, Ruka." I closed the distance between us, my voice dropping to a fierce whisper. "Partners. That means your fight is my fight. Your danger is my danger. Whatever nightmare is waiting for us in that village, we face it side by side."