Page 1 of The Orc Protector's Secret Baby

1

HAYDEN

“Shit!” I shout, almost tripping over a stick. I manage to keep my footing and keep running, kicking my legs faster and faster.

I have good stamina, but even this is a lot for me. My chest is heaving, I’m so out of breath I feel like I could fall to the ground and die right now.

“Keep going,” I whisper to myself. “Just keep going.”

I can hear them behind me, hooting and hollering. They think this is funny, and they always have. This is far from the first time they’ve done this to me, it’s their favorite game to play when they’re bored.

But this time, it’s different.

This time, they have an end goal. And it involves me, bleeding out on the forest floor. I feel sick to my stomach imagining what they would do with my body afterwards.

“You can’t run forever, you infertile bitch!” one of the orcs shouts, cackling.

“Let her try,” another one adds. “It’s more fun that way.”

I know they’d love to see me reach my limit. They want nothing more than to see the look on my face when I realize they’ve finally captured me.

A sob makes its way out of me, because I know in my heart that that moment is coming. And it’s coming today. I’ve gone over it and over it in my head, but there’s just no way out.

Sill, I can’t give up just yet. I can’t give them the satisfaction of breaking me that easily.

And if I’m actually able to get away from them, I’ll never have to return to the Sword Hammer clan. In fact, I won’t be allowed to, even if I wanted that.

They capture and use human women as breeding slaves. It’s been going on for years, and the things I’ve seen, the things I’ve been through have been absolutely brutal. None of us have a choice in the matter, unless we prefer death.

Some have.

They’ve been trying to get me pregnant for a long time now, but today, they finally deemed me infertile. Therefore, I am useless to them. Garbage.

Which is why I’m currently running for my life as they hunt me, seeing me as nothing but a target for them to hit.

I dodge to the left without even looking back, hearing the sound of an arrow whizzing past. That sound is ingrained in my brain, and always will be. The amount of times I’ve heard it… well, it’s probably in the hundreds.

“Look at her little legs going!” An orc laughs, and others join in.

Their little comments only fuel my urge to keep running, fuel my little legs to not stop.

They’ve caught me out here many times before. It’s why I’ve become so accustomed to the sound of that arrow.

After the first few times of getting hit, I made damn sure it wouldn’t happen again. Especially since I was never given any medical help after returning to Sword Hammer’s territory.

Right now, I run away from the border, with no set destination in mind. It doesn’t matter where I end up, just as long as it’s far away from here, where they can’t find me.

A whimper escapes me as my foot slams into the ground particularly hard. I glance down, wincing at the sight of blood trailing down my legs. My body is littered with bruises and cuts, and every single muscle hurts beyond belief.

But I’m used to this. It barely fazes me. In fact, being scared for my life to this extent doesn’t faze me either.

None of this is new. I’ve been treated like this my whole life. Not once have I known what happiness feels like, or peace. There hasn’t been a single night where I felt safe or cared for. I don’t even know what that would look like at this point.

I don’t feel sorry for myself though. Not when every other human woman is going through the exact same thing. I’m not special.

“You’re slowing down!” an orc calls in a singsong tone of voice.

I pant, my skin and muscles burning as I pump my legs faster still. He’s right, I was slowing down. But not intentionally.