She bites me with her small teeth as she clings to my back. Today the sun came out like it has this whole week, and even though it is a little cold, but it hasn't rained in 2 weeks, and I finally got Aria to let me out of bed so we can collect wood.

My little dove is insatiable, and I am but a loyal subject in her temple and I am here to give everything to her. Only her.

She matches me because I want her legs apart for me all the time too, I want all of her in my lips. I never want to waste any of her sweetness, so I remain between her legs getting my dose of her nectar. Her scent drives me feral; it awakens and feeds the beast inside of me, I've never inhaled anything like it.

It is considerable effort to do anything else. We have been on each other since we started and I don't think any of us can slow down or stop.

But it is more: I am in love with her, I know this. I haven't told her, but I know it's true. I am in love with this little dove of mine. And mine, she is.

There isn't a creature alive or dead that can tell me otherwise. And that is a conviction I will fight for. No one is ever going to take her away from me.

"You know, when you offered to carry me on your back, I had hoped for a more exciting ride, like maybe run like a horse." She teases me.

"So, I am a horse to you, dove?"

"You are more. Don't discount your value, orc. Horses can never give me what you give me." I hear her seduction and I can only smile to myself, knowing what my little dove means and what she already needs.

My cock stiffens in my pants at the anticipation. We have to make dinner, but I can think of something else I will be doing as we wait for the food to cook. I lick my tusks.

"I still can't believe you are 400 years old, and you've been in this realm for 100. I think you are the oldest creature I know." She remarks.

"Hm, does that mean you won't introduce me to the parents, dove?" I tease.

"My stepmother would surely throw rotten potatoes at you. A creature with no political affluence? No position for her? She would melt to the ground. Call the mourners, cue the funeral songs." I hear the note of amusement but also hurt under it.

I hate how she was treated amongst her kind, and I have never understood it. Aria is kind, she is loving, and she is intelligent and strong. She isn't just a beautiful cover, but she has depth. And curse all her humans for not seeing it.

"You wouldn't tell her I'm a prince?" I look over at her and arch my brow.

"A prince from an unknown world? Ha!" she jokes, and I grin.

Me and Aria understand each other's teases and she makes me playful and light-hearted too. Something I haven't done since I was a young orc free of the pressures of being next in line to rule my people.

I dump the sack in front of the house, and I unload her on the porch. I pull her in for a kiss before I start loading the wood in our supply container. She goes inside and she gets started on dinner.

Here in this small house in the deep of this forest I am content with my life. There is nothing else I desire. Before, I had thought I would follow the path that has been laid for me and go home and take my place and be ruler, but here, with her, I have so much more.

What's more, I feel like I am living, truly living for the first time and I never want to let it go.

My back tenses. Someone is watching me. I turn and I scan the edge and I sweep again and again until those black eyes come into view.

I feel a seething anger. My eyes fall to the axe that's on the floor. I'm trying to figure out how to get that axe and get there in time so I can teach the little animal a lesson on propriety.

My chest rumbles in a growl when it steps out of the shadows. It also growls back. I start walking towards it as it takes threatening steps towards me. Does this little thing think it has a chance against me?

But I can't help wondering what it's doing here. It must be here for something, and I wish it could talk so it can tell me what it wants with my woman. Does it think it has some claim on her? What does it want? Is it here to challenge me?

It stops when I flex my shoulders and balling my fists getting ready to grab it. I find it interesting that it isn't backing up. What is it about this wolf?

I see its eyes darting from me to behind me and its demeanor changes. Aria must be here.

"Igor." Her voice stops me in my tracks.

"Go back inside, Aria." I don't take my eyes from the animal in case it moves.

The wolf growls at me.

"Igor, don't do anything to her." I hear her faint footsteps behind me. My eyes don't leave the feral beast as it bares its canines to me, speaking the very language I understand, one I am also affluent in. I growl and let my tusks show. This is a game I am very good at. Who knows, maybe I can eat wolf tonight.

Just as I'm about to step and take it on its challenge the little body steps in the middle. I immediately pull her to my side.

"Aria."

"Igor, she won't hurt me."

She says that as the thing growls even louder.

"You see that, right?"

"She's just angry at you, not me."

"Aria, this is an animal."

"Let me go, Igor. I... I think she has a message."

"A message from who?"

"I don't know, but can you calm down. Both of you aren't helping." Her eyes don't leave the wolf. Like she's trying to communicate with it. If I didn't know better, I'd say she's trying her hand at mind linking. "He won't hurt me, or you. Please calm down so we can talk."

She actually talks to the beast. I would narrow my gaze at her if I didn't have to keep my eyes on this beast.

"Aria..." I warn.

"Let me go, Igor."

"Aria."

She touches my arms. "Do you trust me?"

I turn to her slightly. "Aria..." I try to find any hesitation, but I don't.

"She won't hurt me."

I turn back to the beast, and I give it one last growl so it knows that I will rip it to shreds if it even thinks of trying anything. She moves slowly from next to me, but I don't let her go far.

"Igor, please."

"Aria, if it won't harm you then it should be fine with me here. I won't harm it too."

"She. Its she, Igor." She reprimands and I feel bad for insulting the thing.

I look between them. they are looking at each other like they both know a secret no one else does. The she-wolf steps forward in a tentative step as Aria moves too.

"Hello, my name is Aria."

The wolf just stares at her. And then the unexpected happens, it lowers its ears then its head and leans a little closer. I am in high alert as she takes a step forward and then raises her hand to run her hand on its head and it purrs, the animal purrs.

I am trying to stop myself from jumping in and moving them apart. I mean, she could communicate with the animal, but does she have to touch it.

"You are the one who saved me?" Aria says and it purrs for her. "Thank you. I would be dead if it wasn't for you." The animal makes a low noise like it's in pain. The animal lifts its face to her. There is something behind her eyes and I don't know but Aria is still captured by its gaze.

I clear my throat because my chest is getting a little hot watching my woman and this beast connect and communicate something I don't understand. Aria looks at me from her side eye, but she says nothing.

Her attention goes back to the wolf. "Why do you come to check on me? do you want to see if I'm safe?"

The animal doesn't reply but it makes a little noise that I don't understand.

"Where do you live, is it close by?" she continues talking even though I bet the mutt can't understand her fully. "Do you live with your family?" that makes one of its ears to rise and I frown. I step a little closer because I don't like that. The animal turns its face to me, and it starts growling.

It steps back a step.

"Igor, stop it. you are scaring her."

"No, I think that's enough talking for today." I say and I put my arm around her. The thing has backed away a few steps from us now and is growling at me.

"Igor, we were still talking." She is mad at me.

"It didn't like you asking about its family."

"Come back tomorrow. Please." She ignores me and frees herself from my hold. "I will talk to him, okay? He will behave."

Did she just say she will get me to behave? Me? A low growl rumbles in my chest. This little human.

The animal takes off and vanishes in the trees. Aria turns to me with a thunderous expression in her eyes and I am taken a bit aback. She storms to the direction of the house, and I am left standing there like an imbecile. She is mad at me? why is she mad at me? I'm the one who should be mad.

I growl loudly in exasperation.

Is this what having a human as my woman is going to be like? Does she see nothing wrong with what she told the wolf? Does she expect me to just sit and let the wolf maul her to death on animal instinct?

Doesn't she know raised ears is alert and alert means danger to animals and danger means attack. Does she think the wolf is her spirit guide or something? Her protector? Then she gets mad, mad at me for trying to protect her, her actual protector.

Humans.

She can barely protect herself and even small thorns break her skin, does she think she can handle a wolf? My feet move to the house.

When I enter the kitchen, I find her face twisted in anger. Okay, she's definitely angry. But why is she mad at me? I was protecting her.

"Dove?" I call to her when she won't acknowledge my presence in the middle of the room and keeps going around me and looking at everywhere but me and taking out her anger on poor radishes.

"Dove, are you angry at me?" I mean, I am the one who should be angry, but right now I am trying to practice something my mother tried to teach me for many years: diplomacy, solving conflict through dialogue.

It is difficult because I want to grab her and shake her to make her understand that I am the one who is on her side here, not a wolf she doesn't know. It occurs slightly that I may be a little mad too because another had her attention.

"Dove, it—she is a wolf and those aren't really known for their deep thought process when it comes to defending themselves and harming others. They attack first. I was trying to protect you."

"The only one I needed protection from was you." She spits and I stagger back a little.

"For caring for you? You don't even know that wolf!" I raise my voice and she turns to me so quickly.

"And you don't know her either!"

My face burns with rage. I turn and I walk out. I want to hit everything I see. So, I'm the bad one? Humans and their irrationality. She is weak, can barely fight. I bet even a chicken can give her a good run, but she has the confidence to stand in front of a wolf and think she doesn't need my protection.

I feel violent.

I want to hit something.

I am so frustrated.

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After chapter thoughts?