Captive of the Horde King by Zoey Draven

Chapter Twenty-Four

Stunned silence filled the tent at my unexpected appearance.

Arokan straightened from the table he was standing over, his brows pulled down, the first to recover. “Rei Morakkari, is something wrong?”

My lips parted and I stared wide-eyed at the group of eight other Dakkari standing in the large tent. Arokan, six Dakkari males—four of them warriors, then his pujerak, then another elderly male—and two older females, Hukan included.

Profound relief mixed with shame and mortification made me stutter, “I—I—no, I just—”

It was a meeting. All were standing around a drawn out map of what I assumed was Dakkar. They had been discussing something before I’d barged in.

Fool, fool, fool, my mind whispered, over and over again.

Hukan’s eyes burned into mine but I looked away, towards my husband. He came closer, concern obvious on his face. He must’ve thought something was wrong. I was close to tears and I’d come to find him.

“No,” I said, clearing my throat, hardly able to meet his gaze. “I apologize for interrupting. Everything is fine. Excuse me.”

“Kalles—” he called, but I was already backing out from the tent, my proverbial tail firmly tucked between my legs.

Once outside, I walked as fast as I could back to our tent, praying that he didn’t come after me. I didn’t think I could face him now, not after that, not after I tried to spy on him.

Luck wasn’t on my side. I’d only made it about halfway back when I heard his heavy footsteps, when I heard him call out, “Morakkari.”

I didn’t turn. I walked faster because I was a coward and I was too embarrassed to tell him everything going on in my head.

He didn’t press the issue, fortunately, and simply kept up with me—not that it was difficult on his end—until we made it back to our tent. He spoke with the guards outside, probably dismissing them for the night, before he entered, his gaze finding mine.

“Luna,” he said slowly, looking at me like I’d lost my mind. “What is—”

“I’m sorry,” I burst out, turning to face him, my hands shaking at my sides. “I’m sorry. It was so foolish. I didn’t mean to—to do that. But then I did. And Hukan was there and you thought that something was wrong.”

His brow furrowed, his expression perplexed. It was the most confused I’d ever seen him…and for good reason. I was acting like I was mad in the head.

Maybe I was.

But I didn’t know when it had changed between us. I didn’t know when my feelings had started to develop into something more, but it was driving me insane.

“Kalles,” he said, still frowning, but he approached me, placing his heavy hands on my shoulders. “Calm down. Tell me what is wrong.”

“Nothing,” I said, closing my eyes for a brief moment. “I mean, something is wrong, but it’s not…” I took a deep breath. “Now I’m just embarrassed. I feel foolish.”

“Why?” he asked quietly, trying to understand.

I realized there was no way out of this. I needed to be honest, though it frightened me.

I looked up at him, my heart thrumming in my chest, and licked my lips before I confessed, “Because I thought you were with another female.”

Arokan stilled. His frown deepened and he watched me carefully as he asked, “Why would you think that, kassikari?”

I wondered if he used that word on purpose. Kassikari. Mate.

My eyes fluttered to the chests lining the wall and his gaze followed there.

“Because I’ve always assumed,” I began, “that there were others. Why else would you have those trinkets? Those necklaces…the night dresses you’ve given me?”

Until that moment, I’d never seen the range of my husband’s anger. Of course, he’d been upset, he’d argued with me, we’d bickered. The closest I’d ever seen until that moment was after I almost foiled the Ghertun’s execution, when I got the warrior hurt, when Arokan had told me about his parents.

Even then, it wasn’t like the controlled fury that flared his nostrils. He stalked over to the three chests lining the walls. He opened the lid of one, brought it over to where I stood, and dumped its contents at my feet.

Shocked, I watched the contents tumble out, glittering and beautiful. Strands of jewels and polished, shining stones…intricately crafted figurines of a pyroki, of two figures I assumed were their deities, of other animals roaming Dakkar…golden hair pins with ruby-colored crystals…rings and baubles and silk cloths…shimmering sheer dresses and fur scarves…

“Arokan—”

Arokan brought the second chest and tumbled out its contents…and then he brought the last and did the same.

I was standing before a small mountain of riches, of beautiful things I’d never even seen.

Slowly, I took my eyes from the pile of wealth to look at him hesitantly, wondering what I would find in his eyes.

He was staring me down, his jaw clenched, the empty chests tossed carelessly behind him.

“I do not know what infuriates me more,” he said softly, slowly, the yellow of his eyes appearing golden in his anger. “That my queen believes these gifts belong to others or that she was indifferent when she believed I was straying from our furs.”

“Arokan,” I breathed, my eyes wide. “I was not—”

“This,” he said, cutting me off with a clipped tone, gesturing to the pile in front of me, “is a deviri.”

Hesitantly, I whispered, “And what does that mean?”

“It is an offering to my chosen mate. A gift to my bride.”

Shock made my head swim.

“W-what?”

His anger was still palpable as he explained, “I have been collecting these trinkets for you since before I was even a horde warrior. Before I was a Vorakkar. Some jewels were my mother’s. Others I acquired from Dothik, from outposts spread across Dakkar, from merchants and stalls and traders that come from all across the universe.”

“Arokan,” I breathed, frozen, my heart thumping so loudly in my chest.

“You think they belong to others? They do not. They belong to you and only you, Luna. From the moment I saw you in your village, they have belonged to you.”

I’d really fucked up this time.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I—I didn’t know.”

“Nik, it is obvious you did not,” he scowled.

A weight released off my shoulders as I studied him. There were no others, I realized with relief. He was too angry that I thought he had ‘strayed from our furs,’as he’d put it. Now, I realized he hadn’t. He wouldn’t.

I had a lot of explaining to do.

Carefully stepping over the—huge—mountain of gifts, I hesitantly pressed my palms to his bare chest, feeling his heat beneath them.

He still wore a scowl and his anger was still evident as I looked up at him.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “Arokan, I really didn’t know. Please forgive me. I never meant to…to insult you.”

Which was what I’d done. Perhaps without realizing it, since I didn’t know what the chests were, what they represented. But I’d also questioned his loyalty, his fidelity because I didn’t know whether the Dakkari were monogamous like humans tended to be.

“Dakkari…” I started hesitantly. “They only take one mate?”

His expression darkened. “Do humans take multiple? Is this something I need to consider in my future with you? Because I will never allow you to take another, or so much as touch another male. Know this, Morakkari. Absolutely not. You will ensure his death if you do.”

I blinked. “No,” I breathed. “No, Arokan, we only take one mate.” I groaned, closing my eyes. “This is a mess. A complete mess I’ve made.”

I needed to explain this, as clearly as I possibly could, even if it revealed my jealousy. Because there was no way around it. Not now.

“At first,” I started, “I didn’t care if you had others.”

He growled, looking away, irritated.

I turned his face, so he looked back at me. “You can’t blame me for that. I was a virgin, taken from my home, everything was new. I was scared and uncertain. As long as my brother was safe, I didn’t care. So when you gave me that night dress from one of the chests, I just thought it belonged to another. I thought nothing more of it.

“But then, it changed. Something changed. Maybe it was after the tassimara or even before then, I don’t know. All I know is that when you gave me that necklace before the Ghertun’s trial…I could hardly look at it because I thought it—I thought it was someone else’s.”

“It was,” he said, his voice sharp. “It was my mother’s. The way you reacted to it…I simply thought you did not like it.”

I pressed my lips together. “It was beautiful. But it made me…it made me jealous. So jealous I felt like I couldn’t breathe.”

Arokan blinked and he made a sound in his throat, some of the rage in his eyes lessening.

“Then whenever I even looked at those chests, I couldn’t help but feel jealous. Truthfully, until just now, I’ve hated them. I’ve hated the sight of them.”

“Kalles—”

My voice shook with nerves as I said, “Then we stopped having sex.”

Arokan stilled.

Meeting his eyes, though my face was burning with mortification, I admitted, “I thought you were going to other females because you certainly weren’t coming to me.”

“Vok, Luna…” he hissed, disbelief flashing over his expression. But at least it wasn’t anger. I hoped he was beginning to realize why I’d acted so foolish this night.

I bit my lip and then whispered, “So tonight, I couldn’t take it anymore. It was stupid and jealous, but I went out to see if—”

“You seemed indifferent whenever I touched you,” he growled. “I watched you carefully, looking for some indication. You never gave me one. Despite what you may think of me, I am not a beast. I will not force you if you are not willing.”

“I know,” I groaned softly, squeezing my eyes shut. “I know. Until today, I didn’t even realize that was how you were perceiving it. I am inexperienced in matters like these. But…I liked when you touched me, Arokan. I just didn’t know how to show you.”

He froze. Underneath my hand, I felt the muscles in his chest flex.

“Neffar?” he growled.

His eyes were glowing golden now, but not in fury. In something else entirely.

I remembered my talk with Mirari and Lavi that morning. Determination shot through me. That and pent-up frustration and desire despite the mess I’d made that night. I definitely had some lost ground to make up.

With that thought, I brought my hands—albeit trembling—to laces of his hides.

His breath hitched. “What are you doing, kalles?”

Nervous adrenaline and need rushed under my skin as I carefully tugged him to sit on the edge of the bed.

Arokan looked stunned as I dropped to my knees in front of him, reaching into his hides for his thickening, hot cock.

“I’m taking some much-needed advice from a very wise female,” I told him, eager and anxious and determined.

Though I had no idea what I was doing, I ducked my head and wrapped my lips around his pulsing cock.

His resounding bellow could probably be heard all around camp.