Page 10 of My Orc Package Deal

“I’m sorry, Korrad,” she said quietly, her voice sad.

I had to set her straight. This marriage had been my idea; I wasn’t giving up on anything. With a gentle squeeze, I started walking us toward our wedding toast.

“Don’t be, sweetheart. No one gets a second Mate.”

Chapter Three

Kesha

Look, I don’t think I can properly convey what it’s like to pack up from a wedding, focus on getting your sugared-up ten-year-old into the car—“Where is your tie? No, don’t worry about it, it’s time for bed, go find your shoes!”—and trying to settle you both into a new bedroom all while knowing it was your wedding and your new home.

I didn’t have time for a freak-out, but I was most definitely due one.

Holy crap, I was married.

I was married to Korrad, and we’d just gotten a quick tour of our new home, and this bedroom was our new space, and I was married.

The hyperventilation was the first sign of the impending freak-out, the thinking in italics was the second sign.

But any parent knows that it’s rare to have the time you need to freak out. Nope, you’ve gotta keep your game face on and be strong and certain and positive, even when—“Milo, just spit the toothpaste in the sink, please!”

It was well past his bedtime when I finally finished cleaning the hall bathroom we’d share with Jay and wrestled Milo into the top bunk, but he was still chattering.

“Do you like this room, Mom? I wish it was painted green and purple, don’t you?”

“Uh-huh,” I murmured absent-mindedly as I finished pulling out his clothes for tomorrow. I was going to have to organize our stuff in the drawers Korrad had cleaned out for us.

“Jay said it was just a guest room—he said his Uncle Brak sometimes stayed over—but then it was gonna be my room and they were gonna paint it⁠—”

“Going to be,” I corrected automatically.

“But then they decided it should probably be your room, and I’m just going to stay until Jay and I are ready to share a room and then we’re going to take these bunk beds and move them into his room, and you can have a room all to yourself, and I don’t think you’d want it to be green and purple because you like⁠—”

“Breathe, honeybear.” I cut him off sternly, deciding the unpacking needed to wait. I crossed the room, pushed myself up on my toes, and kissed his elbow, the only part I could reach. “You need to sleep.”

“I’m not—” He yawned hugely. “Tired.”

I grinned as I turned off the light. “Well, I am. Go to sleep, Milo. We have tomorrow to learn about our new home.”

“You gonna say goodnight to Mr. Korrad?” came the sleepy-sounding question in the darkness. “I saw you kiss him.”

“I’m not going to give him a goodnight kiss, but I guess…”

Since Milo was already half-asleep, I slipped out before I could think of what I would say to him anyhow. Did I want to give Korrad a goodnight kiss?

Well, I wasn’t against it. Sure, my body had responded to that kiss at the altar, and the way he’d held me—Surely he was just trying to be polite—at our wedding reception. But I wasn’t going to go looking for something that wasn’t there.

The way he’d spoken about his dead Mate, Jay’s mom…my heart had broken for him. The connection he described, the Mate Bond…I couldn’t imagine having that and then losing it. It was bad enough when divorce or assholery or death ended a human relationship; it must be impossible to bear when you know that was your only chance at happiness.

“Well,” I breathed, rolling my neck to try to relax. “You’re married to him now.”

Right.

Korrad wasn’t ever going to get back the connection he’d had with his Mate, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be happy. He was a good guy, a noble, honorable one, and I was now his wife. There was no reason we couldn’t be partners and make this marriage successful and happy.

He might not ever love me the way he’d loved Sharra, but I could still make him happy.

Mating Bonds weren’t necessary for that—some humans managed it.