Claimed By the Horde King by Zoey Draven

Chapter Twenty-Six

We rode on Lokkas’ back in silence beyond the gates of the encampment. An easy, gentle pace so the wind didn’t chill Nelle too much.

We rode until the encampment was nothing more than a glowing speck, until the Hitri mountains grew sharper through the thick clouds.

“Why did you want to come out here?” she asked.

I’d felt starved for her voice and the way it wound through me, pulling away the tension that had been building over the course of the last four days and nights.

“Because I feel less like a Vorakkar out here,” I rasped. “I am simply a Dakkari male on the back of my pyroki, as it should be.”

“I don’t think you could ever simply be a Dakkari male, Seerin,” she said quietly. “You will always be a Vorakkar.”

And therein lay the problem.

“I knew who you were the moment I saw you in my village,” she added. “You were dressed no differently than the others. But I knew that you were one of them, a horde king we’d only heard about in legends and stories, because I felt it. You could be nothing else.”

“Would you wish that I weren’t a Vorakkar?” I asked, my fist tightening on the reins.

“It doesn’t matter,” she told me and I could hear the confusion in her tone, her confusion as to why I would ask such a question. “This is who you are. This is who you’ll always be.”

I dropped my head, pressing my forehead to the back of her warm neck. My breath fanned out over her flesh and I felt a responding shiver rack her body.

“Seerin,” she said quietly as I inhaled her soft scent, letting it fill my lungs. “You shouldn’t—”

“I am yours, Nelle,” I rasped.

She froze as a gust of wind whistled past us, rustling her braid.

Then she turned in her seat until she met my eyes.

“And you are mine,” I said. “You know this.”

“Yet you denied it,” she answered.

“I am sorry for that,” I murmured, reaching out to cup her face. “I am sorry for pulling away and for hurting you, thissie. You do not know how much. I have thought about it every moment of the day, every moment of the night.”

It was what she wanted. It was exactly what she wanted to hear, I could see that in her expressive face.

But still, she demanded more. “Then why did you do it?”

“Because you frightened me,” I told her honestly. Her lips parted. “I have lived my life a certain way for a long time. Even when I was young in Dothik, I had a certain freedom. I did not have to answer to anyone, not even my mother. As Vorakkar, one would think I would have more freedom, but there are certain things to be considered and sometimes it leaves me shackled, not free.”

“You…” she trailed off, her eyes flickering between my own. “These things you have to consider…is one of them your choice of Morakkari?”

My lips pressed together. It was here I had to tread carefully.

“Lysi,” I rasped, running a hand through my already disheveled hair. “I…I will not lie to you, Nelle. I cannot make you promises, not the promises I wish I could make to you, but I will try. For us.”

“You’re still frightened,” she observed softly, frowning.

“Aren’t you?” I returned.

Her gaze dropped to my chest as she pondered my question.

“You’re offering me not a ‘yes’ or a ‘no,’ but a ‘maybe.’”

I inclined my head, my nostrils flaring, my heartbeat ringing in my ears. Because truthfully, I didn’t know what I would do if she rejected me—if she rejected this.

The past few days had proven that she’d found her way into every part of me. I’d barely eaten, I hadn’t slept, and when I’d tried, I’d found myself reaching for her throughout the long nights.

“I’ll need to think about it,” she said softly, meeting my gaze.

It wasn’t the answer I wanted to hear, but it was better than a refusal.

I swallowed, nodding. “Lysi. I understand.”

“You’ll be leaving for Dothik soon,” she said next.

“I leave the morning after the frost feast. I have lingered too long here and the moon is almost full.”

Its light shone over her even then, growing with each passing night.

She let out a small breath and nodded. “You’re still my friend, Seerin. No matter what. I’ll still worry for you. I’ll still miss you.”

I brushed her cheek once, but then my hand retreated.

“And I will miss you, rei thissie.”