16. Willa
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
WILLA
The world stopped.
The scribe wanted to see us in our shared household?
My apartment had one toothbrush. A closet full of my clothes and nobody else’s. A bed I’d slept in alone every night since I’d moved to Bramble Creek.
No orc-sized chairs. No orc-sized bed. Traig’s feet would hang off the end of my queen.
I didn’t even know what Traig’s place looked like.
The scribe would know the second he walked through the door that we weren’t living together.
Traig’s hand tightened around mine.
“Of course,” I said, my voice smooth despite the screaming in my head. “We’d be happy to have you at our home.”
The scribe closed his ledger. “I’ll return here at six this evening and follow you to your home.”
He stood, tucked the ledger under his arm, and strode to the door, where he paused, one hand on the frame.
“One more question,” he said, not turning around. “What is it about her that you couldn’t live without, Traig?”
“The way she sees me,” Traig said in a hoarse voice. “Not what I do or what I’m useful for. Just me. She counts good things, and I’m on the list.”
The scribe left without another word, the door shutting behind him.
My hand was still in Traig’s, and I couldn’t remember when that had happened. I’d reached for him or he’d reached for me.
We’d just told a scribe from the Ancestral Council that we were mated. That I was his, and he was mine.
My ribs ached with holding it all in.
We turned toward each other.
“What did you just—”
“I couldn’t let them—”
“We don’t live together.”
“I know that.” My voice cracked. “You’re not mad I jumped in, are you?”
He searched my face. “No. No, I’m not.” He pulled out his tablet, his fingertip moving across the screen. “The scribe will be back in—” He stopped. “Two hours.”
“That’s not much time.”
We stared at each other.
“I don’t think my apartment will work,” I said. “It’ll be clear right away that an orc has never lived there.”
“I have a cottage,” he said.
“Then we’ll move enough of my things into your home to convince the scribe that we live together.”
“You’d do that? Move your belongings to my home? Pretend we’re—”
“Mated. Yes. That’s what I said we were.” I held his gaze. “Unless you’d prefer I tell the truth and you go back to the kingdom.”
“No. I’m not going back.”
“Then we have two hours to make your cottage look like both of us live there.”
We left his office and found the others in the break room.
Brovish looked up from where he sat with Laina, Sofia perched on his shoulder. Drogar leaned against the counter, a mug in his hand. And Greth stood near the window, silent as always.
They turned when we walked in.
“The scribe is coming back tonight to observe our household,” Traig said.
Drogar’s grin spread wide, his gaze sweeping between me and Traig. “Your household?”
“We told him we’re mated,” I announced.
Whoops rang out. The orcs sprang from their chairs and crowded around us, patting Traig’s shoulder, Drogar giving me a big hug and sweeping me off my feet to spin me around. When he placed me back on my feet, he kissed my cheek.
“So happy for you,” he said.
“It’s pretend,” I shouted, breaking through the congratulations.
Silence dropped immediately, the orcs exchanging looks.
“What’s pretend?” Krem asked, stepping into the break room.
“Their mating that I guess is not a mating.” Drogar’s smile faded fast.
“Mating?” Krem asked, his eyebrows lifted. “I…actually wanted to let you know that the school called and asked if they could delay the first visit. One of the parents who volunteered to assist is away that week.”
That was good. The last thing we needed right now was to deal with a pretend mating plus a looming school visit.
“Why a pretend mating?” Drogar asked.
“Because—” My voice broke. I tried again. “Because they were going to take him back to the kingdom. He was about to tell the scribe he didn’t have a mate. I couldn’t let that happen.”
Traig’s hand found mine.
“Because Willa saved me,” he said quietly.
“I jumped in to help Traig,” I said, my voice shaky. “The why doesn’t matter—”
“Sure it does,” Greth said, studying my face.
“Not right now,” I said. “The scribe is coming back in two hours, and he expects to find a couple living together in Traig’s cottage.”
“We need your help to move Willa’s things there,” Traig said.
“Of course.” Laina gave me a concerned look. “We’re happy to help.”
Traig’s gaze swept across his friends. “We need to make it look like—”
“Like you’re mated.” Brovish was already striding to the door. “Let’s go.”
The others followed us outside.
My apartment looked smaller with five orcs and two humans crowding into it.
Brovish surveyed the living room, his hands on his hips. “We’ll need boxes. Many boxes.”
“I have some in the storage closet,” I said, already heading that way.
Drogar followed. “This is exciting. Like a mission. A mission for mating.” He grinned. “I’ve always wanted to go on one of those.”
“It’s a logistical nightmare,” I said.
“That too.”
We worked fast. Laina helped me pack clothes while the guys placed one object after another inside boxes. I ended up having to help them, leaving Laina to pick what she thought I’d need. Whatever it took to convince the scribe that I’d lived with Traig for at least a few weeks.
“I can’t believe the scribe had no issue with me and Traig deciding almost from the moment we met that we were meant to be together.”
“That’s how it always is with orcs,” Laina said, setting two bags of clothing by the door for the guys to carry out to Traig’s truck.
I frowned Traig’s way.
“I knew Laina was my mate when I met her, though it took her a few days to figure that out,” Brovish said.
Laina went over and leaned into his side. “Humans take longer, though I was pretty quick deciding.”
Was that what Traig had been trying to awkwardly tell me yesterday? I wanted to ask him, but there was no way I could do it in front of everyone else.
“Interesting,” was all I said.
I hurried over to where Krem was loading books from my bookshelf into a box, and selected only a few. “Not all of them. We won’t need them.”
“What about wall hangings?” Drogar asked, gesturing to the few I’d hung on my walls. “Traig’s home is…sparse.”
Greth snorted. “Sparse is a good word for it.”
“You haven’t lived there long, have you?” I asked Traig.
“We built our cottages first,” he said. “Then the rescue building. We all have homes, though they’re small.”
“Some might be getting bigger soon,” Laina said, smiling up at Brovish.
“An orcling?” Drogar breathed, his hands stilling on the picture he’d started to remove from the wall.
“Maybe. Maybe not,” Laina said, color rising into her cheeks. “We don’t know yet.”
Drogar left the picture swinging and bounded across the room, sweeping Laina up and spinning around while she laughed. “I get to be an uncle, right?” he asked as he placed her on her feet.
“All of you, if we’re blessed with an orcling,” Laina said. “Let’s not get too excited yet. There may not be anything to celebrate.”
“Try harder,” Krem told Brovish.
“We’re not going to discuss this,” Brovish said in a stern tone that was contradicted by the happy gleam in his dark eyes.
We got back to work.
Drogar took down pictures and carried them out to the truck while Krem grabbed my coffee supplies.
Greth moved through the apartment like a shadow, collecting a framed photo, the plant on my windowsill, and the throw blanket I kept on the couch. Things that made a space feel lived-in. Perfect, actually.
My notebook sat on the kitchen counter. I picked it up, tucking it into my purse.
“Is this everything from the bedroom?” Laina asked, carrying a box that Brovish promptly took from her.
“Nothing heavy,” he growled.
“We don’t know if there’s an orcling on the way, and even if there is, that doesn’t make me an invalid.”
“Sit on the sofa,” he said. “Supervise.”
She rolled her eyes and stepped past him, coming straight over to me.
Her arms wrapped around me in a hug. “Welcome to the family,” she whispered by my ear.
This wasn’t real. But it felt real when she said it like that. When Brovish smiled at us with all his tusks showing. When Drogar spun me around like I’d given him the best news of his life.
“It’s just while the scribe is here,” I said, but my voice wobbled.
Her smile felt too knowing. “Sure it is.”
We finished loading the truck.
Traig set a box in the truck bed and turned to find me watching him.
“What?” he asked.
“This is really happening.”
“Yes.”
“We’re going to live together. Starting tonight.”
His gaze held mine. “Only if you’re certain.”
I thought about the alternative. Him being dragged back to the kingdom. Mated to someone who’d never understand why he needed everything labeled just so.
“I’m certain,” I said.
We drove to Traig’s cottage, where the guys quickly brought everything inside, placing boxes and bags in the small entryway.
“I’m sorry we can’t stay to help more,” Brovish said.
“It’s alright,” I said. “We can handle it from here.”
One hour until the scribe arrived. We’d have to handle it fast.
“You’re sure?” Laina asked, concern in her eyes. “If I didn’t have to run the clinic, I’d stay and help.”
“We’re sure.” I met Traig’s gaze, and he nodded.
We waved and watched from the open doorway while they left. Then they were gone, and it was just me and Traig and a living room full of boxes and bags.
We shut the door and got to work.
Traig’s cottage was exactly what I’d expected. Clean, organized, and minimally decorated. Actually, there were no decorations—yet. Wait until I’d finished unpacking.
Nothing appeared to be out of place, and that might be a problem.
His kitchen held enough plates and silverware for one orc who washed the dishes often, the basic appliances, a well-stocked cupboard, and a table with two chairs, one of them looking like it had never been used.
He’d positioned his couch at a precise angle to the fireplace. His bookshelves had been organized by subject, then alphabetically within each subject.
He’d been living alone in a cottage built for two.