Summoning the Orc (The Kingverse Orcs #2)

Chapter Thirty-Two

Rok

Staring at the little black box in front of me, I looked over at Rudgar, who gave me a smile, still patient after all these weeks.

“It’s broken,” I told him, with finality.

He touched the little black lump to the right—that Rudgar had called a mouse, but it didn’t look like any rodent that I was familiar with—and the black box came to life again, showing an image of blue sky.

“It’s dark magic,” I added, gesturing toward it.

“It’s a computer,” Rudgar said with a sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose between his fingers. “And you’re going to have to learn to use it.”

“My mother said you should never mess with dark magic,” I told him, shaking my head and keeping my hands firmly tucked against my side.

I’m not touching it.

“It’s not dark magic, though,” Rudgar said, moving the mouse until something happened on the box. I didn’t know how they were connected, but I wasn’t going to touch the rodent to find out. “See? If you click on this, you can see the entire building,” he told me, and images appeared on multiple black boxes in front of me.

I hissed at them, taking a step backward, until I noticed Becca on one of the lower screens. I pointed at it, horror filling me.

“How did my Becca get trapped in there?” I demanded, prepared to smash it to release her. Rudgar tipped his head back to look up at the ceiling, a sigh leaving his lips.

“That’s just showing that she’s home,” he said in a dry voice.

“Where?” I glared at the miniature image, growling low in my throat.

“She’s outside,” he said, scrubbing his hands across his face.

I turned to leave right away, waving my hand at the boxes behind me. “Don’t get trapped in the dark magic, Rudgar. Warlocks don’t play fair,” I warned him.

He grunted and I continued to the elevator, having learned how to use it from Rudgar. The wiring and machinery that facilitated its use was amazing. The plane that we were in now was a wonder.

The doors parted and I hurried through them, lifting my head to search for my female’s scent. My brow furrowed. There wasn’t a hint of it anywhere. I almost returned inside when I spotted her—a flash of gorgeous dark hair.

I grinned, heading toward her, but slowed when I realized that her scent was all wrong. When she turned toward me, her eyes a bright red instead of her usual gorgeous hazel, my eyes widened and I took a step back.

“I’m sorry about this,” Becca’s likeness said, waving her hand in front of her, her appearance changing right away as she held a tome out to me. The female in front of me had short, spiky blue hair and fawn-colored skin. “But you have to go back.”

My lips parted in a snarl. “I’m never leaving her,” I said, but she’d already started saying words that I didn’t understand. I turned, but I felt myself being pulled backward.

I spotted Rudgar running toward me, his eyes wide with horror, but I wasn’t able to make it to him, pulled backward, my world spinning in the way that it had before, when I’d been brought here.

“Tell her I love her and I’ll find a way back,” I bellowed to Rudgar as he faded into nothing.

The wrench of pain in my chest had me falling to my knees, grasping at my heart.

My Becca.

I’d lost her. In my recklessness, I’d run straight into a trap and now I’d lost my female. A loud sob left me as I squeezed the flesh over my broken heart.

I needed her. I needed to return to her.

And I’m going to kill anyone who gets in my way.

As my eyes cleared, rage replacing the pain, I saw that I was back in my cave.

Alone.

I released a loud bellow of pain and fury. The sound of running footsteps behind me, in a cave that had always been empty, had me spinning and facing them.

Becca?

Disappointment and anger replaced the tenuous hope I’d had as the scent of male orcs filled my nose. I looked around, seeing that my once-neat cave now was filled with furs, tools and weapons, all haphazardly piled on each other.

I scowled, baring my fangs as the males entered, axes at the ready.

I know them.

Three clanless mongrel males who’d asked to join me in hunting parties in the past. I’d allowed it, because there weren’t any older males left to train them. Their clan had been hit with the same sickness as mine. I’d even considered asking them to join me, but I was glad I hadn’t.

The little thieves took over while I was gone.

I growled low in my throat and the biggest of the group—Krusk—lowered his axe for a moment in shock.

“Chief Rok?” he asked, his brow furrowing as he looked over my clothing. I was still wearing one of the suits that my female loved. “Is that you?”

Fury filled me at everything—the fact that I’d been snatched away from my mate, the damn witch for taking me in the first place, and now these males who stood inside my stronghold when I just needed to find a way to go back. I threw my head back, howling a loud battle cry and the males raised their weapons again, their eyes widening in fear.

You should be afraid you filthy thieves.

I barrelled forward, aiming for Krusk—the most pressing threat—and ducking under his raised axe with the finesse of a well-seasoned male. The notches on my tusks had almost fully covered each while these three only had notches for the hunts and battles they’d accompanied me on. I slammed into Krusk, not bothering to grab a weapon.

My bare hands would do.

We fell to the floor with a loud crash, the mess that they’d spread all over my floor cushioning the male. I pulled away and slammed my fist into his face. He grunted, his head turning with the blow, his jaw taking the brunt.

“Krusk!” the second oldest, Savla, yelled. “Brother!” He tried to pull me off, only succeeding in snagging my arm before I plowed my fist into Krusk’s face again. I used my elbow, shoving it backward into the second male’s stomach.

A wheezing breath left him as he crumpled to the floor, releasing my arm. I pulled my fist back to hit Krusk again where he was staring up at me in horror, when I felt a sharp pain to the back of my head. The blow had me slumping forward, my vision blurring for a long moment before I stood, turning to face the threat behind me.

The youngest male—Enka—stood behind me, holding the decorative crystal my mother had gifted me, for when I found my mate, in his hands, his eyes wide with horror. “Chief Rok—” he started, accurately gauging the intent for murder in my eyes, but Krusk rose as well, hurrying to stand in front of him, slamming his fist against his chest and dropping to one knee in supplication.

Enka followed in kind and Savla staggered to his feet, his wheezing breaths loud in the quiet of the cave as he mirrored his brothers.

“Chief Rok, please forgive us,” Krusk said in a low voice. “When we arrived two weeks ago for our usual winter hunt with you, we found your cave empty and another tribe trying to take your land. We decided to stay and defend it for you.”

“And you weren’t trying to steal what’s mine?” I snarled, looking around at where my weapons and jewels were spread on my bed as if they’d dug through them.

“W-we were just looking, I swear,” Enka called, peeking up at me before ducking his gaze again. “We’re loyal to you, Chief Rok.”

My ire was dying a fast death, as I realized that while they’d made a huge mess, it didn’t seem like anything was missing. I surveyed the three males—scrubbing my palm across my mouth as a plan formed in my head.