Kelraz the Vicious: Orc Mates

By Cara Wylde

When the orcs invaded the human dimension, no one could stop them. War raged for years, and now the monstrous beasts have agreed to peace on two conditions: one, the human scientists must rebuild the machine that brought them to this world; and two, they must be provided with fertile brides to bear them orc babies.

 

Silvie has always believed in the saying, "be the change you want to see in the world". That's why she volunteers to become a tribute and goes to one of the first institutes for orc brides to open in North America. Then the institute is attacked, and an orc horde saves the young women from a terrible fate. The orc captain must be rewarded, and Silvie ends up being his prize. She's always known she would be mated to an orc. She just thought she'd have more time…

 

Kelraz the Vicious is a monster on the battlefield. He spills his enemies' blood without remorse, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have a code of honor. There's one thing he won't stand for – innocent females and children being hurt. On his way to the mountains, he hears the screams of the human females, and swoops in to save them. As a reward, he can pick one of them. He picks Silvie, the curvy, green-eyed beauty who doesn't flinch at the sight of blood.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cara Wylde
• Release date: Jun 17, 2022
• ISBN: 9781393759676

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

The institute was close to what Silvie had expected. An old building had been repurposed, but the funds hadn’t been enough to cover all the renovations, so only the east wing was open. The paint was peeling off the outside walls, but inside, the place was roomy and cozy enough. The dormitories were upstairs, each hosting four beds, and the girls had all chosen to share one, so they wouldn’t put too much of a burden on the manager, Ms. Garcia, a lovely woman in her forties who was doing her best with little money. The toilets and showers were communal, but the girls didn’t mind. Even though they’d only known each other for a few days, they were like sisters already. On the ground floor, there was the cafeteria, the common room, a few smaller rooms that served as classrooms, and another one that served as the library. Actually, to call it the library was a bit of a stretch. The shelves that were supposed to host books and scientific papers about the orcs and the world they came from were mostly empty, and there were only two computers, one of which worked when Mercury wasn’t retrograde.

But it was a start. The government had provided the institute with some funds, but so many had opened across North America so fast, that a lot of them had to rely on private funding and donations. Not many people were willing to donate. It would take humans some time to get used to the idea that the war with the green-skinned beasts had ended and now there was peace, and both parties had to compromise for said peace to last. It was a hard pill to swallow, and more so for the humans than for the orcs. The otherworldly monsters were here to stay.

The girls were gathered in the cafeteria for breakfast. One of the best things about the institutes for orc tributes was that they provided great food. The women were encouraged to eat healthily and put some meat on them, seeing how the orcs were big and preferred their females curvy, voluptuous, strong and capable to give birth to orc babies.

Do you think if the orcs had more females in their hordes and didn’t need us, they would’ve still agreed to make peace? Lila asked.

Silvie shrugged. I don’t know. What else do we have to offer?

Well, lands?

They can just take those. And they have. Mrs. Vane said they like to live in the mountains and woods, and a lot of small towns were abandoned and now belong to the orcs.

Dina and Wanda nodded thoughtfully. Lila wasn’t convinced, and she looked like she was trying to think of ways humans would’ve made peace necessary for the green monsters if female tributes hadn’t been involved.

Silvie sighed. It is what it is. What’s the point in thinking ‘what if’? Personally, I’m glad the war is over, and we can start rebuilding instead of destroying.

They destroyed more than we did, Dina mumbled.

It was our fault in the first place, Silvie said. She liked to be impartial when it came to these matters. She didn’t take sides, even though everyone around her thought that she should. It was one of the reasons Silvie had lost touch with her family. They didn’t agree with her perspective on the war and the peace treaty, so they’d cut her off. They hadn’t even agreed with her working as a nurse on the front, either, but at least that was something they could brag about to their friends. When she announced she’d be volunteering to become an orc bride, that was where they drew the line. Not something they could brag about. It still pained Silvie to think about it. She had never been their favorite anyway. The second born, the younger child who’d always been rebellious and had a mind of her own. They liked her older sister, Penny, better. We opened the portals between their dimension and ours.

Not we, Wanda said. A handful of scientists. And then the same people made the mistake of destroying the machine and the plans for it. The war was all their fault, and now the orcs are trapped here, and we’re stuck with them. We all have to suffer because of a few idiots who thought they could play with inter-dimensional travel. And what happened to them? Nothing.

They’re working on rebuilding the machine and reopening the portals, Dina said. They’ll get theirs when it’s time. For now, they can’t be locked up, seeing how they’re the only ones who can undo the disaster.

The orcs want to return to their home world just as much as we want them to leave ours, Silvie said.

How can you be so calm about it? There was curiosity in Lila’s voice.

There’s nothing we can do about these things. All we can do is contribute to keeping the peace.

Were you this calm on the front, too?

As a nurse, I had to be.

How was it?

Silvie shuddered and shook her head. Her shoulders slumped, and she made herself small as she poked at the food on her plate. Blood, torn limbs, infected wounds... The orcs don’t have firearms, but their weapons, as medieval as they look, are laced with magic. Their mages enchant them, and when they strike, the magic seeps into their enemy’s blood and poisons it. In this case, we were the enemy. Well, our troops.

It always baffled me how we couldn’t defeat them even though we had the numbers and the advanced weapons.

There’s no weapon like magic. Silvie closed her eyes for a moment, trying to stop the images that flashed through her mind at top speed. She sighed. She really didn’t want to think about her days tending to the young and old wounded soldiers, holding their hands when she couldn’t do anything for them. She opened her eyes, and a single tear ran down her cheek. She wiped it quickly. If the poison started in a limb that could be removed, then there was a chance of survival. That rarely happened.

Lila reached across the table and took Silvie’s hand in hers. Dina and Wanda were silent. No one was eating.

I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.

It’s okay.

I can’t believe you volunteered as tribute after all you saw, Dina said. Don’t get me wrong, I’m here too, and I’m willing to do my part and take one for the team. She chuckled. It wasn’t that simple. But you? You’ve been through enough.

Silvie shrugged. I just want to help. The situation is volatile, and if we are to convince the orcs that peace is advantageous to them, we need to give them brides. I don’t have anything else going on for me, anyway. And I’ve seen them on the battlefield. They’re dangerous, fierce, born to be warriors and conquerors. But they have a code when it comes to war. They fight with honor. It’s almost like a form of art for them.

It sounds like you admire them...

"I don’t know. I try to see them for what they are. The hordes were

Reviews for Kelraz the Vicious

[karol0kamara · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great read love it looking forward to reading more of this series