I give him a brilliant smile with my best attitude. “My name is Drew Reilly.”

Stony silence.

I try to remain calm and quell the inner fright at their beastly green muscles and those flashing tusks. Whelan didn’t scare me, but these two are different. Ancient Orcs used to routinely kidnap human women from their villages and fill them with their sons. Hence the reason orcs are still remembered by many humans as dangerous beasts. But these are modern times and there is nothing to be afraid of because I’m here to visit a resident.

I can do this. I can do this.

“What is your purpose for arriving at the commune, human?”

I swallow. “Well, um… I met an orc about a year ago while visiting Bangor. We had, um, one night together and then I left him to catch a prearranged flight back across the country to my home in Southern California. But something happened as a result of our meeting that he doesn’t know about. And I’d like every much to be let inside of the commune so I can speak to him about it.”

“What is this orc’s name?”

“I’m here to meet up with Whelan Overlook.”

They nod and glance at each other. One of them goes into the guard shack and I see him talking on a phone.

“Whelan is not here,” the other guard announces.

“What?” I squeak. My heart drops into my stomach and my control slips away. And then I start babbling out of pure desperation, trying to quell the heat welling at the back of my eyes. I knew this could happen, but it had always seemed impossible. But after everything I’ve gone through to get here, along with the long drive and my lack of sleep, I can tell I’m about to have total breakdown. “But…but he must be here. I was told this was where he lives. I have to see Whelan. I have to. I have nowhere else to go and the babies need him.”

At that exact moment both of my sons awake in their car seats behind me because they hear the distress in my voice. Bran and Owen cry from the back, a familiar chorus. Tears start streaming in my eyes because now we’re all crying together.

“Orc infants?” the males shout and they each rush for the rear of my car.

I lower both back windows.

The guards end up on either side of the SUV, both leaning into a window to coo at the babies in their car seats. Bran and Owen instantly stop crying.

Wow. I turn around in my seat and see my babies smiling up at the males with sparkling black eyes. “How did you do that?” I rub at the wetness on my face and click out of my seat belt and open the door and step out. I gesture at Bran and Owen, sudden delight hitting me hard. “That might be the happiest my babies have been their whole lives. Keep smiling at them, it’s working. They like it.”

The bigger orc shrugs. “Infants need other adult orcs nearby to thrive. They have been unhappy without their kind nearby. Without their father.”

The other one flashes a look of anger at me. “You took these infants from their father?”

“No,” I try to explain, “No, I didn’t know I was pregnant when I left. I didn’t even know I could become pregnant. I was on birth control. I didn’t find out until later, after I’d returned home to Southern California.”

“We are very potent,” the male agrees.

“Well, when I discovered I was pregnant I didn’t know that orc’s name or where he lived or how to reach him. Plus, I still wasn’t sure that I wanted to…”

“You didn’t know if you wanted his offspring?”

“No, of course I wanted my babies.”

“Even if it was two orc sons?” the shorter guard challenges.

My brow furrows because I literally don’t understand this line of reasoning. “They are my sons. I love them no matter what and I think they’re adorable exactly the way they are. I want what’s best for them and coming here is obviously what’s best for them. So, I’m here. Yes, it took me a bit, until they are three months old, because there was a lot for me to sort out before I arrived. But again, I’m here.”

Their demeanor softens.

I turn because the metal gate rumbles open and an older orc with gray hair at his temples thunders through, charging straight for us. He looks mad, becoming easily the scariest orc I’ve ever seen and with horns taller than Whelan’s.

I take a step back, starting to doubt coming here in the first place. Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea. What if they try to take my babies away from me?

“You’re the female who drove my son mad?” he growls.

Heat rushes across my face as the babies’ grandfather confronts me. “Um…maybe?”

He stops at the SUV and glances into the back seat and his features soften. Large, rough fingers reach out through the open window to brush against Bran’s horns. “You’ve brought my grandsons back?”

“Yes. My name is Drew Reilly and these two are Bran and Owen Overlook. I wanted them to rejoin their father, Whelan Overlook. I’m here to see Whelan.”

He nods, seeming pleased by the discovery of their names. “I am Rogan Overlook, Whelan’s father and the grandfather of these two. We are family. You can drop the orc offspring here, with their belongings, and return from whence you came. I will take them in until my son returns. Thank you for traveling this long distance to return these infants where they belong. You may leave.”

Chapter 2

Drew

“What?” I gasp in horror. “I’m not dropping off my babies and leaving them behind for good. Bran and Owen are mine. I’m their mother. I’m here to let Whelan know he has two sons and…and…well, I need to talk to him in private.”

The taller of the two orcs stomps forward. “My name is Urdan Overly, the head of security at this commune. And as I already explained, he isn’t here.”

“Where is he?”

“Whelan is on a hunting trip and isn’t scheduled to return until late this evening.”

I cross my arms and flash a determined glance at all three green orcs in the vicinity. I’ve never met or confronted this many orc males in my entire life, and they are certainly big and a tiny bit scary but I’m not backing down. No way. No how. “Then I will wait until he returns. I need to talk to him.”

They each stare at me in confusion, then look at each other.

“You’re not here to drop the babies off? You want to stay?”

“Yes. I’m staying.”

The head of security crosses his arms. “Did you originally leave Whelan because he tried to harm you?”

I rear back. “No, he didn’t hurt me. But he did call me his Bride and he growled and talked of kidnapping me. I was uncomfortable. That’s why I left.”

“He threatened to kidnap you and bring you to the commune?”

“No, he was half asleep, mumbling about kidnapping me. I felt unsafe hearing of his secret plans.”

“Whelan is a Wild Orc,” Rogan Overlook ways with a thoughtful look on his harsh features. “My son is not from a modern tribe. His blood runs with Overlook family traits. He’s wilder than me or any of his closest relatives. And you need to know that he’s not in his right mind at this moment after being separated from his Bride and offspring for the past year. When an orc male mates with a human female the outcome is always pregnancy. This is how it is with our species. He mated to breed you and his intention was to stay at your side so he could attend to you during pregnancy and hopefully convince you to remain with him as his Bride for the rest of your lives. But you ran away. This has happened to orcs since ancient times and the outcome is always tragic. He assumed you would never return and that it was possible you’d terminated the pregnancy.”

And now the guilt is debilitating. “Whelan knew this entire time I was pregnant?”

“Yes. You were unaware that human birth control doesn’t work on orcs?”

“No. I’ve never heard that in my life.”

“Heh, I thought that was common knowledge.”

“Yes,” Urdan nods. “I’m certain Whelan thought you knew what you were getting into. He thought you knew you were being bred.”