She laughed, the sound warm and genuine. "Is that a threat or a promise?"
"Both." I tightened my arms around her. "Definitely both."
Chapter 13
Jordan
I still couldn't quite believe how quickly my life had transformed. A week ago, I'd been stressing over finding a new job and student loan payments, and now here I was, driving back to the Orc village with my mate—my mate—who'd casually wiped away my student loan debt like it was nothing more than dust on a windowsill.
"You're thinking too loud," Ruka rumbled from the driver's seat, one massive hand leaving the steering wheel to rest on my thigh.
I laughed, covering his hand with both of mine. "Sorry. I'm just... processing."
"Still worried about the money?"
"No. Well, maybe a little." I squeezed his fingers. The memory of that gold nugget—plum-sized and gleaming—that he'd left at the nurse's station should have been my first clue. Money meant something entirely different to Orcs who literally pulled precious metals and gems from the earth by the truckload. "It's just surreal. Last month I was calculating that I'd still be making payments in my fifties, and now..."
"Now you have a mate who mines gold and gems for a living." His tusks gleamed as he grinned at me. "Get used to it, little human. What's mine is yours."
My heart did that stupid fluttery thing it had been doing all week whenever he said things like that. I was in love with him—completely, ridiculously in love—and the fact that he seemed just as smitten with me still felt like a dream I might wake from at any moment.
"Kelsey texted me this morning," I said, changing the subject before I got too emotional and started crying happy tears. "She wants to know if you have any single brothers."
Ruka's laugh boomed through the Hummer's interior, rich and warm. "Your friends were... enthusiastic last night."
"That's one word for it." I grinned at the memory of last night's party, where my skeptical friends had transformed into Orc fans the moment Ruka ducked through my doorway. "I think Kelsey took about fifty pictures of you. I’m pretty sure she's already made you her phone wallpaper."
"I have two brothers who still live underground," Ruka said thoughtfully. "Though I should warn your friends that Krag has terrible table manners and Durn never stops talking about mining techniques."
"I'll pass that along." I settled back in my seat, watching the familiar landscape roll by as we got closer to the village. Pine trees blurred into a green wall on either side of the highway. "I can't believe I'm really doing this. Moving to an Orc village. Becoming someone's mate. It sounds like the plot of one of those romance novels the nurses read."
"Having second thoughts?"
"Not even for a second." The words came out fierce, certain. Despite how fast everything had happened, this felt right in a way nothing else in my life ever had. Like every choice I'd made had been leading me here, to him. "I'm just happy. Really, really happy."
Ruka lifted my hand to his lips, pressing a gentle kiss to my knuckles that made my breath catch. "Good. Because you're stuck with me now, Jordan. Orcs mate for life."
"I'm counting on it."
The past five days had dissolved into a haze of tangled limbs and breathless discoveries, the outside world fading to nothing beyond the walls of my cabin. We'd existed in our own private universe—one built on whispered confessions at three in the morning and the intoxicating exploration of each other's bodies. Even now, sitting in the passenger seat of his Hummer, my skin still tingled with the phantom sensation of his touch.
"What are you thinking about?" Ruka's voice held a note of amusement that told me he already knew.
"The weather," I said, far too innocently.
"Liar." His hand found my thigh, fingers spreading possessively across the denim. "Your pulse just jumped, and your scent gives you away every time."
Heat crept up my neck. "That's cheating. You and your Orc senses."
"All's fair in love and teasing my mate." The word 'mate' still sent a thrill through me every time he said it.
Behind us, my entire life rattled around in two overstuffed suitcases. I'd packed in a frenzy that morning, grabbing what felt essential and leaving the rest for later. Ruka promised to task Zuhra to orchestrate the great cabin exodus over the coming weeks, which he insisted she would accept with the enthusiasm of a general planning a military campaign.
"So," I ventured, desperate to think about something other than the way his hand felt on my leg, "this clinic you mentioned building. Were you just trying to sweeten the deal, or...?"
His expression shifted, playfulness giving way to something more earnest. "Jordan, you're a healer. It's not just what you do—it's who you are. I saw that the first time you treated Ardin." His fingers tightened briefly on my thigh. "I won't be the reason you give that up."
My throat constricted with unexpected emotion. "It will be expensive. Medical equipment, supplies, and I'll need—"