Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Jonus
The house is quiet now. Just me, Sloane, and Loki in the open, expansive kitchen and living area.
Everyone else has scattered. Garlen and Ellie have gone to work. Dane and Laurie are back home. And Aldar has gone out to get the equipment I specified. Even Zoe is gone at school. I’m alone with my female for the first time since I carried her out of that jungle.
My female. I keep thinking of her that way. Can’t seem to stop.
Sloane is now on the couch, with Loki snuggled next to her. Her bandaged feet are propped on pillows and she looks frustrated. I recognize that expression. She’s a hunter without her weapons. A journalist without her laptop. It must be driving her crazy.
I promised to clean the kitchen, so I get to work. “Aldar will return as soon as he can with your new phone and laptop,” I tell her as I clear the last of the breakfast dishes from the table. “Are you in pain?”
“No, my feet are just sore.”
“Good. Keep them propped up like that. The best thing you can do is rest and heal. You just recently got out of a tough situation. You’ll still need a lot of sleep so your body can heal not only the feet but the bruises.”
She sighs heavily. “I hate just sitting here without my phone or a laptop. I’d like to think that my coworkers from the Washington Bureau at the Times are wondering what happened to me. I’m itching to break that story and because I can’t…I feel useless.”
I start the dishwasher and wipe down the counters. “You’re not useless. You’re recovering.”
“I should be working on the story. I should be—”
“Aldar will be back in a couple hours. Until then, rest.” I glance over at her. “Or talk to me. I’m not going anywhere.”
She studies me for a moment, then pats the cushion beside her. “Come sit with me at least.”
I hesitate. The kitchen is clean now so it’s true that I can go into the living area, but being that close to her, with her scent surrounding me, is dangerous. But I can’t say no, so I settle onto the couch beside her, careful to leave a few inches of space between us.
Loki immediately lays his head in her lap. Traitor. Although I can’t blame him. I want to lay my head in her lap too.
“This is better,” she says, smiling at me. “Now I don’t feel like a patient being monitored.”
I grunt. “You are a patient being monitored.”
She laughs. “Yes, but you don’t have to make it so obvious.”
I find myself smiling back. This is what I want—her here, relaxed and safe.
The decision to stay in Truckee was the right one.
We thought sending Anna to the commune was the right call, but if we’d had safe rooms back then, we would’ve kept her at the house too.
At the time, Maine was the best option. Now things are different and strategically, it’s smart to keep Sloane and Anna on opposite sides of the country.
This makes it harder for Aldridge to target them both.
“Your family is nice and very welcoming. Thank you for bringing me here.”
I nod in agreement.
“How long have Garlen and Ellie been married?”
“They got married only two months ago. And now they have an offspring on the way.”
She blinks. “What? Are you saying that Ellie is pregnant?”
“Yes, I can scent the change in her.”
“Oh really, it’s not that she’s told you, it’s that you can literally smell a change?”
I nod in agreement.
We continue talking about a variety of subjects.
Not about the danger or the story or what comes next.
Just... talking. It reminds me of those late-night video calls.
Hours disappearing while we discussed everything and nothing.
Except now she’s here, close enough to touch.
At some point, my hand finds hers. I don’t even realize I’ve done it until I feel her fingers intertwine with mine.
“Tell me more about growing up,” I say. “You mentioned your parents were distant.”
She shrugs, but I see the old hurt underneath. “I was an only child. I was an ‘accident,’ according to my mother, a bad accident she wished she could take back. She admitted that to me once, when she was frustrated during an argument. I don’t think she meant for it to hurt as much as it did.”
A growl rumbles in my throat before I can stop it. What kind of parent calls their child an accident?
“It’s fine,” she says quickly. “I’m over it.”
“You shouldn’t have to be over it. It shouldn’t have happened.”
She looks at me, something softening in her expression. “You sound angry on my behalf.”
“I am angry on your behalf.” I pause, then add quietly, “I know what it’s like. To feel unwanted.”
Her eyes search my face. “What do you mean?”
“My mother left soon after I was born. Just... left. And my father died from a disease not long after that.” I don’t talk about this.
Ever. But with her hand in mine and her eyes on me, the words come anyway.
“I was raised by my uncle Dane and the extended family. They took me in, treated me like one of their own. But I always knew I was the orphan, an orc whose mother didn’t want to stay. ”
“Jonus...” Her voice is soft.
“I’m not telling you this for pity,” I say. “I’m telling you because I understand. Parents who should have loved us, who should have stayed, and didn’t. It leaves a mark.”
She squeezes my hand. “But you turned out okay. More than okay.”
“So did you.”
She laughs, a little watery. “Did I? Some days I’m not so sure.”
“You did,” I say firmly. “You became a hunter. A truth-teller. You flew to Colombia alone to expose a powerful man’s crimes. That takes the kind of strength that gets forged when you learn early that you can only count on yourself.”
Her eyes are glassy again. “I learned pretty early that I was on my own.”
“You’re not on your own anymore.” The words come out before I can think about them. But I mean them. Every single one.
She turns to look at me, those blue eyes searching my face. “You keep saying things like that.”
“Because they’re true.”
The moment stretches between us. I’m very aware of her hand in mine. The warmth of her body beside me and her scent, warm and sweet, stronger now that she’s clean and healing.
My cock stirs.
I try to focus on the conversation.
“What about you?” she asks. “What was it like growing up as an Irontree?”
I let out a breath. “Complicated. I’m the youngest of the cousins. Garlen was always the scholar—brilliant, respected, destined for academia. Keric was the warrior—strong, decisive, a natural leader. And I was...”
“The charming one?”
I look at her, surprised. “Why do you say that?”
“During one of our late-night calls you said that you were the one who was best at talking to humans. You said it as if it wasn’t a great skill. Like it was a bad thing. To me, it just means you’re charming. How can that be bad?”
“It’s not that charm is bad,” I explain. “It’s that it felt like all I had. Garlen had his intellect. Keric had his strength. I had... what? A nice smile? An ability to talk my way out of trouble with humans? It didn’t feel like enough.”
She shifts on the couch, turning to face me more fully, and her scent wafts toward me.
Gods, she smells good. Is that…? “Jonus, you flew to Colombia when you got that call. You organized the extraction team. You found me in that jungle when the compound was on fire and everything had gone sideways.”
“That was—”
“That was you, Jonus. Not Garlen. Not Keric. You.” She squeezes my hand again.
“That all happened so quickly because of your ability to communicate. All the contacts you’ve made and worked.
Only you could’ve done that,” she continues.
“You got me out. You’re here, taking care of everything. You’re…you’re amazing.”
No one has ever said anything like that to me before. I stare at her, this female who sees me in a way I’ve never been seen.
She must be my mate.
The scent of her arousal wafts in the air between us.
I’ve scented arousal from many humans in the past and always entirely ignored this because all I felt towards those females was passive friendship.
But this time I’m proud. Happy. Pleased to know this amazing female wants to, at the very least, pleasure mate with me.
I do not know if she’d want what I want—to have her as mine for life and have her carry my orcs sons.
I can’t stop touching her, even now, my thumb tracing circles on the back of her hand.
I’m lucky this need to make her mine is not hitting me harder.
It’s late May, which is the reason why I can remain sane.
If this were the middle of winter, like Garlen was when he met Ellie, I’d need to be chained too.
Keric was reasonable until that scent bomb hit.
But I’m still in control of myself and plan on staying that way.
If I were to lose my mind and turn into an Irontree of old, I’d kidnap her, not caring about consent and possibly carry Sloane off into the mountains to find a cave where I could take her and fill her with my seed.
I refuse to treat my female that way. Modern orcs do not kidnap.
I can let what is growing between us go slowly.
Sloane sighs and looks down at herself and changes the subject. “God, I must look like such a mess right now. No makeup, hair I just air-dried, wearing borrowed pajamas...” She gestures at herself with her free hand. “You probably think I look like a disaster.”
I stare at her. Is she serious? “You’re beautiful.”
“What?”
“You’re the most beautiful female I’ve ever met.”
“Are you being serious right now?”
I’m genuinely confused. “Of course I’m being serious. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Because I—” She gestures again, more frantically this time. “Look at me, Jonus. I’m a mess. I have bruises everywhere. My hair is a disaster. I’m wearing Ellie’s old pajamas and I don’t have any of my own clothes and—”
“You’re beautiful,” I repeat. “You’re the most beautiful female I’ve ever seen. And I wouldn’t change a single thing about you. Not one.”
Her eyes go glassy. Fuck, is she going to cry?
“No one’s ever said that to me before,” she whispers. “Not like that. Not like they meant it.”
“Then everyone else is blind.”
A tear spills down her cheek. She wipes it away quickly, embarrassed. “Sorry. I don’t know why I’m crying. That’s stupid.”
“It’s not stupid. You are perfect. Exactly as you are.”
She laughs, wiping at her eyes. “Okay, you need to stop or I’m going to be crying all day.”
I reach up and brush a tear from her cheek with my thumb.
Her breath catches.
I find myself gazing at her perfect lips, wondering what it would feel like to press mine against hers and sweep my tongue inside. How would I make sure my tusks are not in the way? I could kiss her. I want to kiss her. I want to—
The front door opens. Loki barks and jumps off the couch.
Aldar is back.