Page 47 of My Orc Package Deal

“What’s up?” I asked.

“There’s something different about you.”

The flush hit my face so fast I nearly dropped the serving spoon. “Nothing’s different.” Could they hear how unnaturally high my voice had gone?

Milo’s frown deepened. Jay smirked over his sandwich but didn’t say anything.

“You were humming earlier,” Milo said flatly. “People only hum in movies.”

“Plenty of people hum, Milo.”

“Name one.”

“I—me. I hum. I’m a person.”

“You don’t hum.”

“I hum constantly.” Today at least.

“Hmm.” He didn’t look convinced. He took a peach slice, still watching me. “It’s different.”

“It’s what happens,” Jay said, “when you find your Mate.”

It was so innocently certain I sucked in a breath, half heartbroken for him. And for me, I supposed, to have to explain things to him.

Milo turned to him. “You mean like fall in love?”

“Sort of.” Jay shrugged. “It’s an orc thing. When an orc finds their Mate, they just—know. And then they change like that.” He waved his hand in my direction. “Happy all the time.”

Oh, this kid.

I was going to have to tread carefully.

“Jay, sweetheart.” I chose my words, picking my way carefully through what was coming. “I can be you and Milo’s mom and your dad’s wife, but I can’t be your father’s Mate. That’s not how it works.”

Jay looked skeptical. “Why not?”

“Because your dad already found his Mate.” Gently. “Your mother. When Sharra passed away, that must have been devastating for him. He’s still carrying that.”

Something I couldn’t read moved through Jay’s expression. He looked back down at his sandwich.

“Can’t Dad have more than one Mate?” Milo asked.

“No,” I said. “Apparently not.”

“Why not?”

Good question, kid.

“I don’t know the exact reason.” This wasn’t my area of expertise; I just knew what Korrad had said to me at our wedding reception. “I just know that orcs only get one. That’s how it was explained to me.”

Milo chewed this over along with his peach. “That seems like a bad design.”

His bland delivery surprised a laugh out of me. “You’re right, it does.” Because I was coming to realize I was jealous of a dead female, one who still held my husband’s heart. “But I’m really happy with the way things turned out. I like being Korrad’s wife.”

I mean, would I like it more if I was also his Mate? If I had the connection, the certainty Brakkor and Joss had? Sure. But what I had now was a thousand percent better than anything I’d had in the past.

Suddenly, Jay spoke up. “You know who we could ask about having two Mates? Giza. At the tattoo shop.”